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Saffron woke with a jolt. She looked around her to see she was still in the wretched cabin in the woods, but it was empty. The door was wide open, letting in a cool breeze that drafted over the dying fire. On top of the stove sat a clear dish full of what looked like pie. When she looked at her legs, her stomach churned at the thought of what was in that damned pie.
“Hello?” she called out, feeling rather unnerved at the sudden abandonment. Was this some sort of screwed-up test she had to somehow figure out, or had she genuinely been left alone?
The tiger had disappeared too. Was it going to come back and attack her? Was this some sort of adrenaline-inducing game Addie wanted to ‘flavour’ her meat?
Saffron shivered at the thought whilst still struggling with reality. She knew she needed to move, needed to leave. Help would be miles away, but it definitely wouldn’t be any closer if she stayed in here.
Noticing the blanket still in her hand, she looked around her for something to cut it with. She soon spotted an axe hanging by the door. It was only a matter of twenty feet or so, but it may as well have been fifty miles. The instant she moved a leg, roaring agony caused her to cry out in pain.
Determined to move, Saffron took a deep breath and swung her legs off the side of the table. There is no pain. There is no pain, was the only thought she allowed to dominate her mind. Unfortunately, when she attempted to stand, her legs couldn’t bear the strain. She collapsed on the floor in a crumpled, sobbing mess.
Heavy thudding sounded from outside, becoming louder and louder by the second. Completely vulnerable and with nothing to defend herself with, Saffron didn’t even bother trying to hide. Through the open door, a man ran in, tall, broad, and pulsing with muscle. From his bulging arms straining against his red-and-black-checked shirt, mud-covered jeans, and heavy rigger boots,
Saffron recognised him immediately as a lumberjack. Then her brain kicked in and she realised he was the man from her dreams. How was this possible? Not caring how he got there, bearing in mind the only known loggers were well over twenty miles away, she cried in relief.
“Please help me. Please.”
“Oh, dear God,” he said, his husky voice only adding to the masculine image before her.
He rushed over, reached behind him, and pulled Saffron’s knife from his belt. He took the forest-green blanket from her hand and shredded the soft material into two halves.
“Beautiful knife, this,” he said, winking at her. “Could probably even kill a wolf.”
Saffron sucked in a breath. “You’re the wolf?”
“Alrik Baumhauer, Miss Saffron.”
“You know my name?”
Alrik carefully laid one of the halves flat on the floor. From inside his shirt, he pulled out a strange, weaved sheet of plant leaves. With no explanation at all, he wrapped it around her exposed muscle and bone.
Saffron held her breath, waiting for the explosion of excruciating pain. But all that followed was the gentle soothing of cool gel against burning tissue. To keep it in place, Alrik wrapped one half of the blanket over the sheet of plants, tying an exuberant knot to keep it secure. He repeated the process with her other leg and then gave her a dazzling smile.
“Of course I know your name. It is my business to know all about those whom I attempt to save.” He scooped her up and carried her outside. “You are my first success. Congratulations.”
Saffron managed a small laugh. “I’m so sorry. My Pap—Walter had told me—”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I understand.”
The clumping of boots on the wooden porch outside alerted Saffron to another presence. “Have you got her?” said a familiar male voice.
Saffron stared at the open doorway, then when the familiar face of Sam, the librarian, appeared, she gasped. “Sam? What are you doing here?”
He grinned at her. “It’s a long story. I’m here to help, Saffron. You don’t need to fear me.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, smirking. “Indulge me.”
The two men carefully lifted Saffron back onto the table. Alrik plumped the remainder of the blanket into a pillow and gently tilted Saffron’s head up to place it underneath.
“I’m a witch,” Sam said.
Every muscle in Saffron’s body immediately tensed. Her hands clenched into fists as fear poured into her in fresh droves.
“Of the good kind,” Sam said, chuckling. “Adala has been somewhat of a curse to our kind for many centuries. We have been trying to stop her for a long time, but her magic has always been too powerful. I hate to admit it, but she’s a clever bitch.”
“What made this time different?”
Sam held his hands out over her left leg, hovering them a few inches above her mutilated shin. “One, she killed the previous girl early so her powers are weaker than normal. Two, you.”
“Saffron!”
Saffron looked to her left to see Mia running through the door. “Mia? What...what?”
Mia ran to her friend and threw her arms around her neck. “I’m so pleased you’re alive.”
Tears fell freely from Saffron as she embraced her friend fully, thankful to enjoy such a simple moment. “What are you doing here?”
Mia blushed and glanced at Sam. “Sam and I are kind of a thing...he’s been helping us from the outside.”
“I wish you’d read those books I loaned you,” Sam said, grinning. “You might have realised sooner that the beast was a werewolf.”
“When it was trying to claw its way through a door to eat us?” Saffron said. “No way.”
Alrik took hold of Saffron’s hand and said, “I was desperate to get to you and tell you, warn you, of what was coming. The only way I could reach you in the end was through Sam’s magic in your dreams.”
“The symbols...” Saffron said. “You knew what the symbols meant?”
Alrik nodded. “This is Adala’s domain. A domain where endless energy means endless time—”
“And I entered the gateway to it.” Saffron sighed. “It seems so simple now.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” he whispered. “The main thing is you’re alive.”
“What was the deal with the tiger?”
Alrik shuddered. “Tigers are the only thing that can kill werewolves. They relish in our flesh. Of course, once Adala knew I was hunting her, the best way for her to protect herself was with a tiger.”
“That’s why it was always in my dreams. It was hunting you, not me.”
He nodded. “Unfortunately, the distance between Sam’s magic and you was so great, the dreams became distorted, not quite as clear as I wanted them to be.”
A fuzzy warm feeling from her left leg stole Saffron’s attention. Pins and needles danced up and down the left-hand side of her body.
“What are you doing?” she asked Sam.
Sam had his eyes closed and his lips were moving quickly, whispering words Saffron didn’t recognise.
“He’s healing your leg,” Mia said, squeezing Saffron’s free hand.
“But it has no skin.”
“He’s a witch, Saffron,” Mia replied, giggling.
“I didn’t realise that meant re-growing skin.”
“Well now you do.”
The two girls grinned at each other like school children. Several long minutes passed, then Sam fluttered his eyes open and smiled at Saffron.
“Shall we have a look?” he said.
Saffron’s heart back flipped. Had he really just healed her wound? She nodded. Sam carefully peeled back the blanket, then removed the soothing leaf. When soft smooth skin stared back at her, Saffron gasped and cried tears of joy.
“Thank you so much.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and then said, “Where...where is she?”
“Adala has been taken back to the village. Walter and Anna have been captured and arrested,” Mia said, a look of sorrow crossing her pretty features. “We’re going to take you back as proof, a living witness to the horrors that have happened.”
Saffron nodded and sat up. “Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Sam said, pointing to her right leg. “You’re not fully healed.”
“They’re not going to believe me if I walk back in there without a mark on me.”
Alrik and Sam shared a worried look. “You want to go back with your leg so damaged?” Alrik asked.
She nodded. “Sam can heal it once it’s served its purpose. I have to show them what she did to me.”
Alrik pursed his lips. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, Saffron. It’s a long way back to the village.”
“I’ll be fine. I have to do this. What other proof is there? There’s no bodies from the other girls, no one but two strangers and my only friend to back up the story. They need to see this.”
Sam grimaced and nodded. “I think she’s right,” he said, looking at Mia and Alrik. “This community has been closed off from the rest of society for decades. They’re not going to believe you or me, Alrik. And in their eyes, Mia will of course believe her friend.”
Alrik sighed. “Ok. You’re right.” He turned to Saffron and said, “The quickest and safest way to take you is going to be upon my back.”
Saffron swallowed the lump in her throat. “You don’t mean your human back, do you?”
Alrik shook his head. “It’ll be like riding Hanna, just with shaggier fur.”
Saffron laughed. “Ok.”
Stepping to her side, Alrik slid his muscled arms underneath Saffron’s body, scooping her into his chest. With sure footed steps, he carried her outside into the small clearing outside the cabin of horrors.
“I need to put you down now. Do you think you can stand a moment?” he said.
Saffron nodded, hesitant to take her own weight on her healed leg. Holding her still injured leg up like an injured pup with a paw, Saffron tried her best to mentally block out the burning pain coming from her skinned shin. Saffron leaned against a chopped-down tree trunk for some physical support as Mia and Sam stood by her side.
Alrik smiled at Saffron and said, “You’ve had enough shocks for one day. I will change in the darkness of the forest.”
Saffron glanced around her and nervously asked, “Um...where’s the tiger?”
Alrik gave her a mischievous grin. “Roughly about halfway to China.”
“You’re sure? Because my dreams...” She glanced at Sam.
“I’m sure,” Alrik said. “I scared him good and Sam cast a good spell on him, too.” He cleared his throat and said, “Once we’re moving, you can grab my fur. I run fast. You won’t hurt me by doing so. If you need my attention or for me to stop, pat my head three times.”
The temptation to pat his head like a dog made Saffron giggle, at least distracting her from the horrific reality of this situation. She nodded her understanding to him.
He turned from her and sprinted into the shadows, leaving her under the glaring moonlight. With all that had happened, Saffron wondered what the time was. As she debated asking Mia and Sam, who were engrossed in their own whispered conversation, the chilling howl of a wolf echoed through her body, sending shivers up and down her spine.
The ground beneath her feet vibrated. Branches snapped, and loose earth rolled across the floor. From the depths of the trees came the beast, the wolf she’d cursed and thrived off thoughts of killing for months.
He approached her with caution, watching her every muscle in case fear consumed her and took her from him again.
When he stood in front of her, his huge nose almost touching her head, she reached up to touch him, bewitched by the magnificence in front of her. He shied away from her gentle hand and lay down on his belly. Feeling almost giddy with excitement, Saffron climbed astride him, aided by Sam and Mia, and took two handfuls of his shaggy grey fur.
“How are you two getting back?” Saffron asked Mia.
Mia gave her a shy look, the flush of her cheeks visible under the lunar light. “We’re not coming. We’re going to wait at Alrik’s cabin for you.”
Saffron’s heart leapt into her mouth. “You’re not coming back to town?”
Mia shook her head. “I’ve wanted something more for years. This is my opportunity. I’ve made peace with this decision, Saffron. I’m ok.”
“I’ll heal your leg once Alrik brings you back,” Sam said. “Then we’ll work out our next move from there.”
“What if they follow us into the forest?” Saffron asked. “Find Alrik’s cabin?”
Sam shook his head. “They won’t. I’ve hidden it with magic.” His mouth twisted up into an ironic grin. “Magic similar to Adala’s actually.”
Saffron raised her eyebrows.
“I’m not some immortal obsessed cannibal,” he replied, laughing.
Alrik turned his head and nudged Saffron’s foot with the end of his nose. Saffron understood—he wanted to get going.
Giving her friend a big smile, Saffron said, “I’ll see you soon.”
Mia lifted her hand and waved, mirroring her friends smile. “See you real soon.”
“I’m good,” Saffron whispered to Alrik, revelling in this strange twist of reality.
The power with which he took off stole the breath from her body. Behind them, the ground was showered with clumps of mud from his powerful back legs. A cool breeze became an icy whip as his speed took them through the forest like they had wings. Her eyes streamed tears, and her cheeks became numb from the cold, but not once did the smile on her face falter. She felt so free and so liberated.
When her home came into view, Saffron’s heart sank in disappointment.
“I don’t want to go home,” she whispered, tears of sadness mixing with her windswept stream. “I want to gallop through the forest forever.”
Alrik faltered in his stride. Saffron jolted, falling forwards onto his withers. Upon feeling his soft coat beneath her cheek, she hummed in contentment. Talk of silver linings and clouds had always been a favourite topic of her father’s. This wolf was her perfect silvery-grey lining to any cloud.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered. “Please.”
He nodded in response. They entered the market square from behind the town hall, and he padded straight into the centre, ignoring the screaming residents.
“He won’t hurt you,” Saffron shouted. “I promise. He saved me,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I was going to kill him, and he saved me.”
Alrik lay flat on his belly, waiting for Saffron to slide off him. She let go of his fur, and outstretched both of her arms around his thick neck in the best gesture of a hug she could give. Kissing him through his grey coat, she gave him her thanks and stumbled off him.
Humphrey Mayer, the lawyer, caught her before she fell. He yelled for a chair to be brought out. The September sun broke through the early morning, beaming on Saffron’s pale skin, attempting to warm her icy depths. Saffron told the eerily silent crowd what had happened and finished by painfully revealing her mangled leg. Horrified gasps and shouts sounded around her as the residents put forwards their thoughts.
Saffron closed her eyes, leaned her back against the chair, and sighed, tuning out from the busy hum of excited, angry chatter around her.
It wasn’t until Mr. Krüger, the owner of the bar, shouted, “So how do we rid ourselves of this curse?” that Saffron paid attention again.
Herr Fuchs stepped forwards, his hands clasped together in front of him, and replied, “The bloodline has to be cut. They all have to die.”