SCOTTISH ROMANCE: My Sinful Surrender to a Highlander Werewolf (Scottish Werewolf Pregnancy Romance) (Historical Medieval Shape Shifter Paranormal Science Fiction Short Stories) (86 page)

He walked forward, eyeing her and shifting his snout firmly in her direction, letting her know that he was the stronger animal.  Abigail shrugged at the beast, letting him know in just a look that
Yes, you win.  I mean you no harm.

The bear stared another long moment before deciding to grab Abigail with his long arms and rough hands, first dangling her in his arms and then foisting her body over the shoulder, her stomach sliding back and forth upon his shoulders.  

“Help meee!” she screamed, pounding on the monster’s back and wiggling her legs with all her might.

The bear grunted in response, still walking forward and ignoring her cries for help.

“Let me go!  Help me, somebody!”               

Abigail pounded on his furry back again, but couldn’t seem to get a good shot of any weak area.  She tried karate-chopping the monster’s shoulder blade, but to no effect.  Movies always made knocking a man unconscious look easy.  Not that this thing was a man.  It was a giant and still walking freakishly upright, as if an intelligent capture.  Even with limited knowledge of the forest, Abigail knew no ordinary bear would kidnap a human and walk back to its cave—which was apparently was this creature was doing.

And for God knows what purpose.  She trembled at the thought of the bear thinking it had found a human mate.  What if it tried to mate?  What would be the polite way to reject the beast…or was there a right way?  How would she escape if she were cornered by such a brute? 

And just how big is the monster’s penis?
she had to wonder, as it was a legitimate question to consider, even in the face of death.  A giant monster penis could well be the death of her, depending on just how huge its member was.  She stopped struggling for the time being, figuring she would try to escape after it reached the final destination.

The beast walked to its cave, a hollow place with tall rock ceilings and even a few ghastly looking skeletons.  It set her on the ground and released her, though it wasn’t hard to see that the beast was blocking the exit, its massive body standing in front of the cave entrance.  She backed away from the monster, panting and sweating, moving farther back into the dark expanse, letting the creature no she wasn’t about to become his bear naked lady.

The bear stared at her in contentment, feeling no particular desire to lunge out or attack.  It keeled over and fell on the ground unconscious.  It was still alive, as its huge rising and falling back told her, just sleeping soundly.  Unfortunately for Abigail, the monster’s body was so big and so awkwardly positioned, escaping the cave would make for a tight squeeze.

She lay frozen for a good hour, studying the creature and panicking at the thought of it suddenly awaking, ready to eat or mate.  Eventually, she started to move, slowly, lightly, not wanting to wake the creature.  Bolting out would be a problem, as escaping through the entrance would require stepping across or on its massive rolled up body which would probably awaken it.

Another idea—she decided to walk back into the cave, going deeper, wondering if there might be an alternative exit.  She wandered for a good ten minutes, feeling her way through the dark.  Nothing but rocks and stone walls, as far as she could feel.  The dark cave corridor was uninhabitable and appeared to lead nowhere, only into deeper confusion.  She began to fret; what if she couldn’t find her way back?  What if she got lost in the cave? 

She shuddered when she began hearing strange noises, a jungle of a different sort, stuck behind layers of hard stone.  What if there was another monster waiting in the dark?  Did she have a better chance with the animal upfront or the unknown element?  Within twenty minutes of seeing nothing but darkness and starting to feel tired, she decided to turn back around. 

Maybe it was better to face the monster or at least to try and outsmart it, rather than getting lost in a maze of caverns, risking starvation.  At least if the monster attacked her it would be fast and painless after the first painful gouge.

She ran back for some of the distance but started slowing down as she approached the light again.  Abigail treaded carefully, not wanting to make a sound.  She was too afraid to look in and see the beast awake, still afraid that it might catch her wandering.  She had another thought:
what if I wait in the darkness behind?  The beast may believe that I’ve escaped and will wander away to look for me.  Then when I know it’s gone, I escape.

It was an idea as good as any other, and didn’t require much in the way of confrontation—definitely a good thing.  She curled up inside the cave, a good hundred feet from where the monster was sleeping.  She tossed and turned another hour, still hearing grotesque noises of the monster grunting and growling in his sleep.  But eventually, she allowed herself to rest, exhausted from the passing of adrenaline. 

**

Chapter 2

A series of light snaps awoke Abigail, coming from the distance.  The cave was far more illuminated now, as apparently morning had come.  She rubbed her eyes awake, remembering what had happened in the forest last night.  She walked cautiously into the light, listening closely for any bear growls or claw movements.  Her instincts were telling her it was safe; that the bear had already taken off for the day.  But years of living with a bunch of abusive assholes surely taught her one thing if nothing else.  Quiet certainly doesn’t mean the coast is clear. 

She finally emerged from the deeper chamber of the cave, seeing nothing but sunlight shining from the morning sky.  The bear had left, thank God.  Just after deciding that the coast was clear she walked closer to the entrance, wondering where she was and what direction was back home.

Home. 
Damn
. 
I have no home.  Wherever I am now is the only place I call home.

She walked to the entrance door and did a double take.

“Oh…”

A man was standing just outside the cave, a dark haired white man with a good tan.  He was young, probably not over twenty-three, and had a ripped body.  Not that she was trying to check him out—the young lad was butt naked, having just come from a dip in a nearby pond.  He squeezed his long hair dry and turned to Abigail, his dark brown eyes certainly taking her in but having no immediate reaction. 

“Oh!” she said, staring straight into the eye of the young man’s semi-erect penis. 

“Get a good look?” he said bitterly, as he turned around, showing her more of his beautiful tight bare ass.  He grabbed a pair of shorts and put them on.  He turned around, eyeing his competitor and wiping off excess water from his slightly hairy chest.

“Uhhh…” she looked around the cave, thoroughly confused.  “Uh…”

“Are you a Neanderthal?”

“What?!”

“Well you’re not making a lot of human sounds right now.  So I’m not sure what you are.”

“I’m a human!” she said defensively, folding her arms and still trying to figure out what happened and where the hell she was.  “Am I dreaming?”

“No.  Because I’m far too real to be a figment of your brain’s unconscious imagination.”

“Well…where the hell am I?”

“As far as I can tell, you’re in my home.”

“You…you live in a cave?”

“At present time.  So the real question is, why are you here?”

“I…I have no idea.”

“I don’t know either.  So I guess you should be going.”

“Well…wait a second.  I mean, who are you?  What’s your name?”

“My name’s Malleus.  You?”

“Abigail.”

“Ah.  Okay.  So…I guess you’ll be leaving now, Abigail.”

“Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

“Why are you trying to stall and see me naked?” he asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing Abigail was staring at his washboard abs.

“Sorry…just confused.  Because see…well…”

“Well what?  Why are you trespassing?”

“I was kidnapped last night.”

“You were kidnapped?”

“I mean…I used to live down towards Woodville Road.  But I ran away from home.  Last night.”

Malleus stared in curiosity. 

“And I ran into the woods.  And then a wolf threatened me.  And then…well, you’re going to think I sound crazy.”

“Maybe,” Malleus said in suspicion.

“A bear kidnapped me.”

Malleus laughed heartily.  “A bear kidnapped you?”

“Yes.”

“You know, usually when a bear attacks you, you either shoot him dead or he goes all Timothy Treadwell on you.  I’ve never heard of a bear kidnapping someone.  You have…a very inflated opinion of yourself, don’t you?”

“I’m just telling the truth!” Abigail grouched.  “That’s what happened.  I was scared to death and waited in here.”

“Why didn’t you just run away if you were scared for your life?”

“Because he blocked the exit.”

“Yeah right,” Malleus said.  “I think you just wanted to get nailed by a werebear.”

Abigail flinched.  “Why did you call it a werebear?”

“That’s what you said.”

“No, I said a bear.  I didn’t even mention the fact that it was walking on two legs.  What the hell do you know about it?”

“Nothing.”

“No, you know something.”

“Look, just get the hell out of here.  This is my cave.  I don’t have to waste any more time talking to you.  Unless of course you want me to strip naked and we can start having some hot bear sex.”

“Shut up,” she said, walking ahead of him and hoping to find her way back to town.  But maybe the same old town was a mistake.  Maybe trying to run back home was a mistake.  After all, her stepfather and her mother had a lot of powerful friends around town.  Would they really accept the words of a renegade daughter over the prominent Campos name?

“Hey you, weirdo,” Abigail said, looking backwards.  “Do you know the way into town?”

“Uhh…yeah.  Just go up that road.  And keep heading right.”

“That road?” she said, pointing to a trail that led only into deeper woods.

“Yeah.  Yeah that one.”

“You…really don’t know what you’re talking about, do you?”

Malleus looked miffed.  “I don’t know.  You’re the one who was trespassing in my cave.  I don’t really have all the answers.  I’m not a fucking tour guide, okay?”

“Fine, geez, you don’t have to be such an asshole about it.”

“Roar,” he said sarcastically.

Abigail left him behind again, trying to walk up the trail to see if there were any roads besides just tall and unending acreage of woods.  All she seemed to find where dead ends and glimpses into a huge maze of trees.

“This is insane!” she said, loud enough to be heard by the angry fellow.  “I was literally dragged out here into the middle of nowhere.  How the fuck am I supposed to know what to do?”

“Didn’t you ask yourself that before you ran away from home?” Malleus said turning to face her.

“Well yeah…I just figured I’d…”

“What?  Run into the woods until you found a new town to start over again?  You’re not that bright, are you?”

Abigail broke down and started crying, turning around and hiding her face in her hands.

Malleus stammered and winced, hating the sight of grief.  “I didn’t mean it like that.  Look, stop crying.  I’ll try to help you find your way back.”

Abigail turned around and stared at him, rubbing her tears away.  “You don’t have to do that.”

“Well yes, I obviously do.  I mean…just tell me what were you thinking coming out here in the middle of nowhere?”

“I was thinking…” she shook her head.  “I was thinking I hated my family.  I hated my life.  I was thinking…the woods were peaceful.”

Malleus stared at her until she looked away, sending her eyes to the hard ground beneath her feet.

“You…weren’t planning on leaving the woods, were you?”

Abigail answered him by looking towards the ground and flinching away her thoughts. 

Malleus thought it over and shut his eyes but reopened them with a new outlook.  “Well, your planning skills are lacking.  Because if you want to live in the woods, first you have to find shelter.  Then you have to find resources.”

“But…I didn’t…what I was saying was…”

“Just listen up,” Malleus said, raising his arm and commanding attention.  “Living out in the wilderness is not impossible.  It just takes planning and it takes strategy.  First, you think about essentials.  Utilities like rope, knives and nets.  You need a firearm.  You need a flashlight, flares, fire steel…”

“I…I don’t have any of that.  I just ran away from home with all I had on.  I gave this no thought at all.”

Malleus sighed.  “Fine.  Look, you can stay with me for just  a few days.  But eventually, you’re going to want to go back to civilization, okay?”

“What do you eat and drink?”

“Well, meat.  Some vegetables and plant food, but yeah mostly a carnivore.  You’re not a herbivore, are you?”

“A herbivore?  You mean a vegetarian?”

“Yeah, that.”

“No.”

“Good.  So you’ll have no complaints in what I serve you.  I’m not running a restaurant here.”