The Forest

Thirty-Seven.

Isaac.

The same man who had started all of this stood in front of me. He fanned the flames that started the uprising in the village and practically burned it down to the ground. Hell, he might as well have been the one to start the fire.

He had captured Court and even intended to kill him as well as me. He had been nothing short of villainous and now stood in front of me.

Except Court had killed him. He had told me how he had ripped apart Isaac in retribution for the lives he had taken.

"Isaac's dead." I whispered.

"Seems he is, torn apart by that wolf you lay with. Such a bad way to go honestly. They can be quite savage when they want to be, which is most of the time. Although I will admit I can thank your little wolf for this skin. I mean he's not bad looking and his memories are so interesting."

It even sounded like him. But it's not him.

"Especially towards you. He barely knew you, but he had quite the. . ." 'Isaac' paused before smiling. "Disgusting thoughts on you. Especially at the end. I bet it's a big regret of his never being able to act on them."

'Isaac' took another step forward as I took a step back. The smile on his face is sinister.

"If you have common sense you would leave. The wolf-shifters will be doing rounds and will tear you apart."

'Isaac' let out a laugh. "Oh, I have no doubt they'll be wanting revenge for you. Especially their leader. But I've mapped out their patrols, none are coming for you anytime soon. It's just you and me. . . and him."

A loud thud came from behind 'Isaac' and any courage I might've had deflated. The thing that came out behind him is massive.

It had to be at least eight feet tall. It had the head of a bull which faded into a human torso with fur covering it. Then from downwards the legs of a cow appeared but larger and standing upright. Large horns curled at the top of its head. It was a brown color with specs of white.

I had heard the wolf-shifters talk of them. They had pressed boundaries, but Court said there hadn't been any sightings recently. It means they had been planning this. A chance to get me out here.

A minotaur.

None of the wolf-shifters seemed enthusiastic when talking about them. But now with one in front of me I could understand. It's massive and had to be terrible to take down.

"And if they do find us, I'm sure they'll have their hands with my friend."

"When are we attacking?" The minotaur's voice was rough and scratchy.

"Soon, they'll come for her eventually. For now, I think you and I should have some fun. I can't wait to see your little wolf's face when he realizes he failed to save you."

I couldn't even check to see if my mom were alive or not. I had a terrible feeling about it. The words of the pack on what minotaur's did to human women pounded through my head as the large beast stared at me.

I had to try. Even if it meant abandoning my mother.

I turned around and took off. My first goal was to run straight to camp. If I alerted one of the wolf-shifters, they would come out and kill them.

There is only one minotaur and one skin-changer they could do it.

The minotaur charged off in my direction.

"This one is mine! You can have the other human women; I'm going to kill this one!" 'Isaac' yelled at the beast.

The only thing it changed was its path to grab me. Instead, it charged ahead of me blocking off my path to the camp. My only choices were further into the woods or straight into the minotaur.