Alessandra winced as the roots, twigs and pine cones stabbed her bare feet as she was led through the forest.  She tilted her head trying to see out of the small space between the blindfold and her nose but it was too dark.  Evergreen fragrance filled the air along with the sweet smell of crushed leaves.  Their trampling drowned out the sound of crickets and bullfrogs in the thickets lining the small stream.  Every now and then a branch scratched her cheek as they navigated her through the thick woods.   

She stumbled and hands caught her. 

Alessandra stopped.   “Guys, where are we going?” 

“I promise, you’ll love it.”  His voice coaxed her back into motion. 

“Jeremy, where are we going?”   Alessandra asked again, allowing the group to lead her along the forest path. 

“It’s a surprise.” 

The group giggled.  There were three of them, including Jeremy, and they were just as drunk as she had been when they left the house. 

“This isn’t funny.”  Alessandra interrupted the mad snickering.  She stopped again.  Hands pushed her forward. 

“Come on Ally, I told you it was a surprise.”  Jeremy whispered in her ear, running his hands over her shoulders.

Alessandra shivered under the blanket she was wrapped in, turning her head in the direction of his voice.  “But did you have to tie me up and blindfold me?”  

“You didn’t have a problem with the idea at the party.”  Jeremy pushed her along. 

The group chuckled again. 

“I was drunk and I thought it was just gonna be the two of us.”  Alessandra mumbled.  The late October wind lifted strands of her long black hair whipping it around and tickling her face with each gust.  Underneath the blanket, she was naked.   

***

His invitation had been casual.  “Hey Ally, want to come up and party?”  He called from the balcony. 

Alessandra looked up from the sidewalk, hugging her books.  The guys were ogling her from the balcony of the frat house.  She was used to the offer by now.  At least twice a day since the semester started she heard the catcall, but so had every other sorority girl on the block that walked by the Alpha Beta Pi house. 

Jeremy leaned against the railing with a beer in his hand smiling down at her, his bright green eyes reminding her of a mountain lion.  He raised his beer with a slight tilt of his head.  “Come on Ally, we won’t bite.” 

His smooth voice caressed her ears and she paused inhaling deeply, memorizing his musky scent.  Yeah, but I might.  “Why should I?”  Alessandra turned fully toward the house, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder and placing her hand on her hip waiting for an answer. 

Jeremy drained his beer and put his index finger up before he disappeared.  He stepped out of the front door moments later and trotted down the sidewalk, stopping a few feet in front of her.  “Come party with me.”  His eyes drifted over her hour glass figure.  Even under the fall coat, she stood out in the crowd. 

Black eyelashes batted over her azure eyes.  “Again, why should I?”  Alessandra asked. 

“Because I’ve wanted you since I first set eyes on you.”  Jeremy leaned in as he spoke, his breath reeking of Corona.  “And I can tell you feel the same.”   A knowing smile spread over his lips. 

Alessandra took a deep breath.  Jeremy was one of the better looking men on campus, arrogant but sexy as hell.  He was a little over six feet tall, his body hard and sculpted from weight lifting and football and he was gazing at her like she was his for the taking. 

“I have class.”  She answered and went to turn away.

His hand clamped down on her arm, stopping her.  “At least come to the party tonight.  It’s homecoming.” 

Alessandra bit her lip, considering his invitation.  She didn’t think the smile on his face could get any bigger, but when she agreed, it widened.  She looked at the hand clasped around her upper arm and he let go, taking a quick step back as she raised her eyes to his.  

“It starts at eight.”  He dug his hands into his pockets, the wind had kicked up and he was without a jacket.  “See you then.”  He turned and disappeared into the frat house. 

The party was in full swing when she arrived.  Bodies were crammed into the backyard, bouncing to a hip hop beat that blared through the surrounding neighborhood drawing more and more people in. 

Jeremy had coerced her into drinking when she wasn’t supposed to.  She passed on the beer that was offered, explaining that she was allergic to alcohol.  When he offered her fruit punch, she readily took and downed it without detecting either the grain alcohol or the ecstasy he had laced it with.   She downed three more glasses before she began to feel the effects.  It dulled her senses, eliminating her ability to recognize trouble and stunted any opportunity she might have had for escape.   

When he told her what was in the punch, he was running his lips up the smooth skin of her neck and nibbling on her earlobe.  She didn’t care; his caress as intoxicating as the drugs and she allowed him to lead her away from the party. 

He seduced her, saying she had a figure to die for and he wanted to feel every inch of her silky skin with his tongue and fingertips.  That was before he bound and blindfolded her, conning her with kinky ideas.

Aided by both Jeremy and the ecstasy laced alcohol, Alessandra had allowed him to lead her bound and blindfolded to his van.  She didn’t know the others had been waiting, but as soon as the door banged shut and the first set of hands slid up the inside of her legs, prying them apart, she understood.  She had no choice but to give in to all of their demands.  

***

That was over two hours ago and now she was sore and walking barefoot in the middle of a forest, surrounded by a bunch of men she didn’t know.  And she was no longer drunk.   

Light bled in from behind the blindfold as she was led out of the woods.  Midnight was approaching and the full harvest moon illuminated the perfectly round clearing.  The group let out muffled laughter again as she was navigated carefully to the center.  Her arms were yanked for a moment before they rested at the small of her back again.  The blanket was stripped from her shoulders. 

“W-w-what are y-you d-d-oing?”  She shivered, the night wind caressing her body making her skin break out in bumps.   Her teeth began to chatter. 

The sound of liquid being poured on leaves and the shuffle of feet was her only answer.  Hands ran over her bare skin covering her in a wet substance that dripped down tickling the skin as it traced paths down her legs.   The smell reminded her of a fine steak cooking on the grill. She licked her lips.     

“I bring all my whores here.”  Jeremy’s lips caressed her cheek and then the sound of running feet filled her ears. 

“Hey!”  She called after them taking a step toward the noise.  Her bound arms stopped her.  They had anchored her to something in the clearing.  “You son of a bitch!”   She struggled to break the binds. 

“Don’t leave me!”  Alessandra cried once more then listened to the footfalls and laughter growing fainter, the sound of a car ignition spark, and the fading sound of the engine before she began to sob.  Her teeth chattered, the cold soaking through her skin and into her bones.  She tried to dislodge the blindfold with her shoulder, but only succeeded in becoming more frustrated with her situation. 

She jumped when an owl let out its screeching hoot.  In the distance she thought she heard the cry of a wild cat. 

She screamed a roar of frustration, struggling to break the binds that held her in place, but the rope wouldn’t budge.  “Son of a bitch!”  She repeated over and over at the top of her lungs until she had no voice left. 

That’s when she heard the leaves shuffle. 

Alessandra crouched down low to the ground, bringing her face to her knees.  She was able to shimmy the blindfold far enough up her forehead to uncover her eyes.  Her breath hitched in her chest as she looked around.  The ground was littered with gleaming bones, whole rib cages and skulls along with disembodied arms and legs. 

Her wrists were anchored to a metal bar that was planted in concrete in the center of the perfectly round clearing.  The rope anchoring her was discolored and in the light of the full moon, she understood what the black dripping liquid falling from the binds was.  

The shakes that gripped her were not from the cold. 

The ground around her feet was soaked with blood, it pooled in small divots, shimmering black in the moonlight.  It dripped from her torso down her legs and it was all she could smell.  They had painted her with cattle blood, marking her as fair game to the scavengers in the woods.  Thoughts of bears and any manner of wild cats, especially cougars, made her skin break out with droplets of perspiration, despite the chilling wind, announcing her fear to any beast surrounding the clearing. 

She raised her eyes to the wood line.  Golden eyes peered out from the dark, dozens of them and a low grumble surfaced in unison.  Her eyes darted to the bones on the ground and back to the eyes. 

The first wolf stepped into the clearing baring his teeth and keeping eye contact with Alessandra.  The mammoth grey wolf stood close to four and a half feet tall with grey, black and white markings and dark hungry eyes.     

Alessandra stopped shaking and struggling with the binds around her wrist.  It was just a wolf and not some beast from beyond or worse, a wild cat. 

“Come on then.”  The words came out in a low rumble from her chest and the wolf paused, its slow stalk forward halting, his teeth no longer barred. 

The pack stepped into the circle, lining the wood line. 

Alessandra broke the stare with the alpha wolf, glancing around the clearing and counting.  She brought her focus back to the first animal, tilting her head slightly.  There were fifteen wolves including the magnificent grey wolf in front of her and not one of them was growling.  They sniffed the air bringing their tails between their legs as they lowered their heads in unison, bowing in submission.  She smiled. 

The mighty beast resumed his approach, slowly crossing the distance alone.  The rest of the pack hung back watching their leader.  

He smelled the blood on the ground around her feet and lapped at it without breaking eye contact.   

Alessandra slowly dropped to her knees in front of the wolf.  “Get me out of these binds.”  She whispered. 

The harvest moon reflected red in the wolf’s eyes as they moved from her face to the soft tissue of her neck. 

“Don’t even think about it.”  Alessandra warned, causing the wolf to return his gaze to hers. 

His eyes shifted. 

Alessandra felt the teeth graze her wrists as another wolf took the rope in its powerful jaw.  She glanced back at the pristine white coat and the silver eyes offering a smile before she focused back on the alpha male. 

He was lapping at the blood again.  The pack had closed the distance, but was too skittish to partake in the spilt blood surrounding Alessandra. 

“It’s ok.”  She whispered, glancing at the circle. 

Tentatively, they lowered their snouts to the blood and began to lap. 

Alessandra felt the bind loosen and she shifted her wrists so the wolf could break the binding the rest of the way.  A few minutes later, she was rubbing her wrists scanning the surrounding pack.  She stood and they parted, letting her through.  Without looking back, she walked into the thick woods, her head tilted low, her teeth grinding together and her eyes glimmering with the red moon. 

She had a score to settle and before she stepped out of the woods onto the edge of the road, she tilted her head back, letting out a haunting howl.   The pack followed suit. 

She lifted her nose to the air and caught the scent, heading in the same direction they had a few hours earlier after leaving her in the clearing.  Jeremy had mentioned they were camping tonight.  That was before he seduced her, promising forever.  Before he bound her and left her for dead. 

She walked, heading downwind.  It was almost four in the morning when she approached their campsite.  His musky scent mingled with the smoky smell of burning pine and hickory.   They were laughing, toasting their success at bringing another stupid slut into the woods, wondering how long she had lasted before the animals attacked and if anyone heard her dying screams. 

She stopped, still hidden by the thickets. Reaching her hand out, she found the soft fur of the alpha male at her fingertips.  She stroked his massive head, feeling the flick of his tongue on her calf cleaning a small patch of dried blood off her silky skin.  

She whistled, a sound too low for the human ear, sending out her command.  The pack silently padded through the woods, surrounding the clearing.  No one was to get through. 

She stepped into the opening accompanied by the mammoth grey wolf.   

The laughter died as three pair of wide eyes stared in her direction. 

Jeremy shot to his feet, eyes darting between a blood-soaked Alessandra and her companion.  He put his hands out in front of him.   “You don’t understand.”  He began, taking a step back as a wet spot spread across the front of his jeans filling the air with an acrid stench. 

The pack stepped into the clearing, blocking any chance for escape.    

Alessandra smiled, slightly tilting her head as her teeth transitioned from blunt incisors to razor sharp fangs.  The full moon was low in the sky as the collective growl of the pack filled the clearing.

The alcohol that prohibited her from transforming had finally worked its way through her system.

“Forever, huh?”  Her teeth gleamed in the moonlight; the long canines glistened, saliva dripping at the prospect of her next meal.