The Greatest Fear

Moonlight

                 

The forest that had seemed so beautiful on day rides now had shown a whole new facet, picturesque trees hid the moon and a distant howl could only mean one thing.

Wolves.

Her heart pounded in her chest, it's rapid beat distracting her. She drew a long breath of chill air into her lungs. They wouldn't find her, she told herself, they couldn't. But they were no longer her biggest problem. She had always pooh-poohed the idea of wolves, dismissing them as something she would never encounter, a distant threat, not worth the worry, Now a not-so-distant threat that she hadn't accounted for, and u
with that thought, she started to run.

Branches whipped her face and tore at raven curls, the howls grew nearer, louder, in anticipation of a hunt...

and a kill.

Staggering through the undergrowth she tossed her dainty slippers aside, the ripped and tattered silk doing her no favors as it snagged and tripped her up. Black cloak trailing in her wake, she fled, her frantic mind paying no heed to her bleeding feet as she dashed through the woods.

A faint panting was audible behind her and in an act of desperation she hurled herself into the branches of a gnarled oak. She clawed and scrambled into the tree, tears of fear drying on her face as she tried desperately to get to safety. Adrenaline pumped through her blood as she hauled herself up, but, alas, too late.

The leader hurled itself up at her. Her heart missed a beat. Then she was up and out of it's reach, climbing higher and higher until she was above the canopy, frightened face illuminated by the full moon. She hugged her legs to her, her hands finding...blood.

Adrenaline had numbed the pain but as the cool breeze calmed her it set in and she gasped when she saw the four long scratches from which the blood was dripping. So the wolf hadn't missed after all.