Wolf

It was with annoyed reluctance that Keegan slumped against a tree, sitting on the cold, wet grass. He hated being on guard duty, as nothing ever happened when it was his turn. He didn’t want a full on attack or anything but a little something would have been nice. Instead he spent his entire night fighting sleep and humming old nursery rhymes. What else was there for him to do honestly?

Micah always told him to feel honored, that he was trusted fully enough to keep the entire camp safe. Keegan tended to scoff at that. Sure, his was the first warning but he was more in charge of watching out for the prisoners they had taken and the few extra supply carts they had. Really, it wasn’t near as important as his older brother tried to pretend. Pretending it was had made it better early on, but even that fantasy only lasted so long.

His perch gave him a good view of everything around, from the prisoners to the surrounding fields. Only the woods really blocked much of his sight, but he wasn’t extremely concerned. He watched it closer than the rest of the area, rehearsing scenarios on if he had seen something come out. Bored, he pushed some of his long red hair from his face, green eyes examining everything once more.

Looking back, Keegan still couldn’t quite recall what made him do it but, as he imagined another scenario, he swore he could see a shadow skulking out of the woods towards the prisoners. The way it moved, with its graceful but catlike movements, made him stand up, watching. As the imagined being glanced towards him he saw glowing red eyes and grabbed his horn, blowing into it the signal for a demon.

It took only three minutes for the night guards to come galloping down, armor hardly sounding as their horses galloped in uniform to him. The commander leapt down and Keegan recognized Micah when he land in front of the younger boy.

“Where was it?” he asked, urgent and Keegan suddenly realized what he had just done as the adrenaline pumped through him. If they had found out, he would be in so much trouble. Desperate he pointed towards the woods, shrugging.

“I saw him at the edge over there. His eyes… they were red as the strawberries at camp.” Micah yelled the information before leaping on his horse and tossing the reins of the unmounted horse behind him to Keegan.

“Good watch. Get to the back.” Keegan nodded, leaping onto the horse and allowing the others to pass him before joining the throng of horses. The adrenaline didn’t stop till they reached camp, everyone tired and Micah telling him he must have been dreaming. There was no sign of any demon and Keegan apologized almost sincerely, saying he’d do better at watching.

Exactly a week later he found himself in the same situation, taking the position of someone who had been sickened by some poorly cooked meat. The thought made him scoff. It wasn’t a difficult task to warm up the steak from the cow they had butchered. It wasn’t until he had woken himself up for the third time that he remembered the adrenaline rush from the previous week, the feeling of being important, brave, and he found himself signaling the same report of demon.

Daybreak came and he found himself once more being scolded, the entire guard angry with him. It was worth it though, he thought, still feeling the adrenaline’s affects. He was addicted and couldn’t get enough. If they were going to be stuck here for another month waiting for orders to move, he figured he might as well enjoy his time here. He wasn’t going to just sit around wasting away his time like all the other young men at camp.

His penalty for making the same mistake twice was extra duty cleaning and cooking but he wasn’t put on guard duty until their last week at the camp. Orders had arrived finally, that said in five days they were to move south and head home. The war had been negotiated, a treaty established. The country’s king had forfeited the prisoners and land captured in order to spare the rest of his country from their attackers and the thought made Keegan proud. He hadn’t done a large amount of fighting but he still felt his guard had helped, keeping the prisoners as a tool. Only the king’s lowest troops, those who had been drafted, were being returned home. Any willingly enlisted would stay prisoners, sent either to the mines or the noose.

He was on thin ice, he knew. One more false alarm and he could face the courts. No more, he decided. He couldn’t do that, so instead he perched himself high in the tree, climbing up to watch closely, promising Micah not to screw up. His brother was a hero, well respected for the battles he’d fought before being returned to his current station. Keegan didn’t want to tarnish the man’s name with his stunts.

This thought in mind, when he saw the first shadow of movement from the woods he frowned but didn’t react other than to lean forward, trying to see better. The moon was full, providing more light than usual and he was positive he saw something. Whatever it was stayed close to the trees though and he wondered if it was simply the wind.

Only when the movement left its cover, moving towards the prisoners did Keegan realize he wasn’t seeing things. The creature moved with a catlike grace but with an unexpected twitch, its movements snappish and erratic as it leapt through the air, practically seeming to float above the ground. Keegan couldn’t repress a shiver at the movements, disturbed as the wind picked up even more.

He brought the bugle to his lips, blowing the warning sound quickly. When the creature turned to him he gasped, the air choking out of his lungs. The eyes he’d imagined to be like strawberries turned on him he realized they weren’t. Even through the distance he cold see that they were darker, like half-dried blood. The comforting sound of galloping horses didn’t reach him and he bugled again, urgently as the creature started towards him, movements losing some of their grace as it sprinted, moving almost faster than Keegan thought possible. He could hardly see him, only a mess of glowing eyes and jerking limbs until it stopped suddenly.

Shivering Keegan realized how close they were, only a few human-lengths away, and the creature stood tall suddenly, and he looked like a man; a tall man, with black hair and blood eyes. As he leaned closer Keegan couldn’t help but glance at his lips, their color an odd shade of red that was almost like that of the strumpets he had seen soldiers going into other rooms with, but more natural, more sinister. He wondered if it was blood that had stained them that color.

“Silly little soldiers, playing your games.” The man’s voice was smooth but animalistic, as if holding the undertone of a tiger beneath it. “As if your little signals meant much. I could set free all these prisoners like I was paid for before you even got your little toy horses and arrived but it doesn’t sound like anyone is coming.”

“They’ll be here, and they’ll kill you,” Keegan said adamantly, realizing that he didn’t even recall climbing down the tree in his haste. It made him feel a bit safer, that the demon couldn’t push him to his death.

“Not before you’re dead though,” the demon said, laughing. “With my name carved into your pale little forehead.” This time when the man walked it was easy, effortless and Keegan felt anger rush through him, realizing the jerky movements had been for show, for affect. “Or maybe I could bring you with me, back to my home. I wonder how you’d like that. A bit more exciting I’d bet,” he said, hissing with his teeth flashing. Keegan refused to answer, cursing and knowing there was no way out. He was at the mercy of whatever this demon chose to do.

“What do you want? Set your prisoners free and go then,” Keegan challenged and the demon scoffed.

“Now where’s the fun in that? War is over, isn’t it, so it won’t matter.” By then the demon was in front of him, feet away with a smirk that screamed destruction. Keegan watched him, trying to ignore how attractive he was finding the demon, with his too red lips and hypnotizing eyes.

“Of course, you don’t seem like you would mind a little fun, and you are a rather pretty human.” The demon gripped his face in cold hands, yanking his head to each side to examine him. “Your nose is a touch crooked, and your eyes are too close, but you’re pretty none the less.” Keegan glared at him, trying to yank his head away only for the demon to grip his chin tighter. “You can pull away when I tell you.” He released the boy with a smirk, stepping closer.

Keegan shuddered when the demon titled his head to the side, evaluating him further. He could see the hunger burning in the creature’s eyes, cold and insatiable. He gripped Keegan’s wrist, fingers digging in to leave little half-moon cuts on the milky skin there.

“What’s your name human? Don’t make me wait,” the demon threatened with a grin.

“Keegan.” He was proud when his voice didn’t shake. “What are you called?”

“Wolf,” he said, baring his teeth and Keegan noticed the sharpened incisors. When he looked back to the demon’s eyes they were a cool amber, much like the wolves that company had trained for tracking. “Come here Keegan. You have a secret. Even your precious brother doesn’t know does he?”

“Leave my brother out of this,” he hissed, glaring and suddenly defensive.

“Oh, calm down. I’m not near as interested in him. You’re so much more fun to corrupt, easier, but more fun.” Wolf yanked him forward, lips claiming Keegan’s. One hand wound itself into the human’s hair, preventing him from pulling away, and the other was gripping his hip tightly, painfully. With no chance of pulling away Keegan kissed back, trying to at least gain a semblance of dominance, though he knew it was hopeless. “Wouldn’t you agree?” Wolf asked, eyes glowing.

Keegan found himself nodding without really giving his body the consent to do so, reaching up to pull Wolf’s lips back to his, intoxicated. The adrenaline he felt was better than the false alarms gave him, the thought that as soon as the demon grew tired of him, he could die a strange turn on suddenly. The demon smirked, nipping at his fingers before kissing him again, only briefly before tracing along the human’s jawbone. He left sharp bites along the entire length of it, just light enough to prevent drawing blood.

Keegan moaned when Wolf pushed him into a tree, shoving his knee between the boy’s legs as he bit his neck, hard. This was why he had never been one to pull a strumpet to a room. There was never this type of rough, of total abandonment with them that Keegan could feel pulsing through his veins. He shivered against the demon’s touch as he drew his sharp nails under the boy’s shirt, tracing patterns on his back with little scratches.

It was only when he felt a break in his skin that he grew worried. Blood. Would he die then, in this exquisite mix of pleasure and fear, he wondered? Wolf was laughing though, rough and low as he shoved the breeches Keegan wore to the ground. His nails tore through the shirt he wore and he slid it off the human’s shoulders with ease, mouth still coaxing moans from the boy as he bit skin anywhere he could reach. His hands were cold from the wind around them and Keegan shivered when they traced across his chest, tracing down his stomach and stopping just at his navel, teasing and daring.

Wolf moved his mouth back to Keegan’s ear, biting it once. “You’re quite a disaster, aren’t you, desperate for any kind of rush.” Keegan didn’t respond as Wolf’s hand finally reached its destination.

As the sun and sound of hooves pounding on the ground made Keegan wake up he groaned, head pounding. He was shocked to find he was still alive. He truly hadn’t expected to be permitted to live through the night. All of the horses stopped in front of him and Keegan head his brother curse as he leapt off the horse.

Micah knelt next to his brother, the other men crowding close behind him. The boy was a mess, they could see, with his eyes unfocused and dazed, marks littering his entire body, some bleeding, some with the blood flow already stemmed. They had no idea what had happened but could see from the winding black brand curling up his wrist the creature who had done this.

Micah was on his feet, cursing and furious as he ordered someone to get his brother off the ground. They hadn’t responded, none believing the bugle this time. The one time it had been real, the one time it truly mattered. He brought the injured boy back to camp, carrying him into his tent when they discovered he was incapable of much movement at all, let alone walking.

Just as he drifted to sleep Keegan heard Wolf’s malevolent voice in his ear, softer but still disturbing.

“I’ll see you again. You’re a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t even have to try.”