A Luna for Alpha Kieran-Chapter 133: Taming the Beast

[ continued]

The forest shifted.

The breath of it changed.

Autumn didn’t wait. She charged forward with a wild snarl, eyes glowing, claws crackling from the tips of her fingers. Her feet half shifted to paws and pounded against the moss and earth.

Her teeth were bared, ready to sink into flesh...whoever or whatever her stalker was... because she was pissed. And hell knows the wrath of a woman who is pregnant... and angry...

She didn’t get far though...A shape flew overhead.

Four legged. Massive. Silent like mist but heavy like a boulder.

It leapt right over her head in a clean arc and landed with an audible thud behind her. The ground trembled. Leaves scattered.

Autumn skidded to a stop, heart pounding, nostrils flaring. She turned around in a blur, already crouched low, claws drawn fully now, her eyes glowing brighter like a twin set of suns ready to blind.

And then she saw it.

It wasn’t a man.

Wasn’t even something humanoid.

It looked like a ... Hound.

Something like what she had seen before...that night...unleashed on the Curzons...but not quite exact.

This looked taller...bulkier than a bear. Its coat was not fur, not exactly...it looked like a moving shadow. Wisps of darkness coiled and peeled off its body like smoke ( not how it had moved around the strange man who looked eerily like Kieran,the enemy of her enemy..psst!Whatever...).The shadow around this beast was subtle.

Its eyes were slit. And its stance... it was that of a predator on the edge of attack... Startled too.

It turned its massive, tilted head and fixed its gaze on Autumn.

She didn’t flinch.

"Let’s go then," she whispered.She was scared (What if it really was what she was thinking) but she was too irritated to admit...

The creature lunged.

Autumn met it halfway. Their bodies collided with a brutal crunch.

She wrapped one arm around its neck, trying to pin it, but its sheer size dwarfed her. It growled...a deep, ear rattling sound that vibrated through her bones...and threw its weight sideways.

They rolled.

Her back hit the forest floor with a breath stealing thud.

She flipped them, mounted it, claws ready to strike across its face, but it kicked up with powerful hind legs, knocking her off again.

She landed hard and scrambled to her feet. The beast was already on her.

She ducked under a snap of its jaws, rolled under its belly, and clawed at its underbelly. The creature yelped and twisted, but she barely had time to blink before it retaliated, ramming her against a nearby stone slab.

A gasp left her lungs.

Little pain spiked through her ribs.

Still, she refused to relent.

Autumn twisted, pushing off the stone, and launched herself back. She managed to grab a hold of its thick neck, wrapping her legs around its torso, trying to choke it down.

But the creature reared, like a bucking horse. She slipped.

In the next moment, she was flat on her back.

And it was on top of her.

The weight of it crushed her lungs. One massive paw pressed down on her chest, claws grazing the curve of her collarbone. She could barely move.

Its snout hovered above her face...long...steaming. Saliva dripped down splashing across her cheek...her lips.

Eewwk! Gross!!!

She turned her face away with a wince.

Her claws dug into the soil.

Autumn braced herself.

This was it.

She was going to die naked under a monstrous hound in the middle of this forest in a land nobody dared map.

Its jaws opened wide... But instead of a bite, she felt...

A wet, sloppy lick across her cheek.

Another on her nose.

"Wh..what the...?"

The beast wagged its misty tail.

Its giant body slowly slid off hers, and it plopped beside her like a satisfied dog lounging in the sun. Its glowing eyes looked up at her with the most pathetic puppy-eyed expression she had ever seen.

Autumn blinked.

She sat up, mouth slightly open, chest still heaving.

"You have got to be kidding me," she whispered.

Just then... "Autumn? AUTUMN! Darling, where are you,my sweet pea?!"

The now familiar, rumbling voice tore through the forest like a war horn.

Autumn’s heart seized in her throat.

"Thorgar’s here?" she rasped.

A few moments later, Alpha Thorgar himself burst through the foliage, flanked by a few of his warriors. His eyes widened as they fell upon the scene before him.

He skidded to a stop.

"Oh, there you are!" Thorgar let out a breath like he had just survived war. "Moon’s grace, girl! You scared me half to death!"

He approached in hurried strides and dropped to a knee in front of her, his hand cupping her cheek with a relieved grunt.

"By the bones of the Old Fathers," he muttered. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Autumn blinked. She was still in shock.

Thorgar’s sharp eyes swept down her form...bare, bruised, dirty. His expression twisted, and without hesitation, he unfastened his thick fur cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"There," he said, tucking it close. "Now you look less like a feral pup and more like my daughter again. Let the lads gasp," he added dryly, glancing behind him at his men who respectfully kept their distance.

Autumn clutched the cloak tightly and finally turned to look at the creature again.

It was sitting.

Tail wagging.

Looking up at her with adoring, glowing eyes.

Thorgar followed her gaze and then gave a low whistle.

"Well, well," he said. "Would you look at that."

He rose to his full height, arms crossed over his chest.

"My girl’s got a new pet. Just like a true Skarthheim." He beamed. "Daddy’s proud, baby. You truly are your father’s blood."

Autumn blinked again.

Pet?

She stared at the creature.

Its ears perked at the word. It yelped softly. Almost... happily.

It nudged her calf with its nose.

"Wait...this thing?" she asked, voice still not believing it. "This thing likes me?"

Thorgar gave a nod. "Shadow Hounds," he said. "Rare to see them so... friendly. Most of them got stolen by the New World Council. Turned into rogue hunters. Those cowards still use them as weapons."

Autumn frowned. "This... this is a Shadow Hound?"

"In its natural form," he said, "yes. Before those bastards made them monsters."

She crouched slowly, the cloak still draped around her. The Hound tilted its head and let out a curious whine. She extended her hand.

It licked her palm.

"You must have felt threatened in the woods," Thorgar said gently. "And he came to help you. You alright now, sweet pea?"

Autumn looked up at her father, eyes wide, then back down at the enormous creature nuzzling her hand like a domesticated pup.

She gave a stunned, almost breathless laugh.

"...I dunno."

The hound wagged its tail again, sending a gust of cold wind through the grass.

Thorgar reached down, patting her shoulder. "Well then. Let’s get you home before you start adopting hellhounds next."

Autumn looked at the beast beside her and muttered, "Might consider that..."

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