“Hey Franz,” Hansel said, walking besides his friend as they made their way through the village, “I have a question for you about wolves.”

Franz looked to him. “You know you can ask me anything. I’ve dedicated my life to their research. I probably know more about them than almost anyone else in the kingdom.”

“What exactly is a heat?”

Franz snickered, lacing his fingers together. “Hoo, hoo. Heats are quite the interesting topic. You see, wolves have a strange biological need to mate, regardless of gender. It’s mostly a power thing. Whichever wolf is stronger is the...hmm...how do I put this in the most scientific way possible...the...err...alpha…in the sexual position….that uh….enters the other with their genitalia-”

“Oh, you mean the top?”

“Okay, you didn’t need to put it that bluntly but yes.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway, the alpha wolf proves it’s dominance over the other causing the other wolf to become the alpha’s submissive. That means they become the other wolves property until the next heat cycle where this will either wear off or be restored if the two constemate again. If a wolf doesn’t engage in well...err...intercourse during their heat they can be in extreme pain until the full moon passes. I know that sounds super complicated but does that kind of make sense?”

Hansel nodded. “Yeah. How do you know all that?”

“Well, wolves aren’t the only ones that have gotten dragged into heat cycles. There have been a few reports of humans that were unfortunate enough to have run into a wolf in heat. Wolves grow even more powerful during the full moon so it was pretty much impossible to escape.”

“So,” Hansel asked curiously, “what happened to the humans who became submissives to wolves?”

Franz shook his head. “It’s best to not talk about it. The symptoms caused by becoming an alpha wolf’s submissive are...extremely degrading.” Franz’s eyes narrowed playfully. “Why are you so curious about this?”

“No reason, I just heard it mentioned.”

Franz smiled thinly. “You’ve been going to the woods a lot lately. It’s almost the full moon.” Franz put a hand to his brow and fake swooned dramatically. “You should be careful, I don’t think I could live with myself if my best friend got ravished by a wolf.”

“Oh come now Franz. I would never put myself in a position to-” that’s when he stopped in his tracks. “Did you hear that…” he said slowly. “It sounded like a scream.”

-----

John had been snatching children for years and had never been caught. It was simply his job. He had no idea what happened to the kids once he was done with them. All he knew was that there was someone in the city willing to pay a high price for four to five year old kids every year. His strategy had always been simple, find little street urchins that no one would go looking for, lure them away (or simply snatch them if he had to) deliver them to a drop off point and then collect his reward. The little boy he was currently mid kidnapping however was being quite bothersome. Luckily they were far away enough from town that no one could probably have heard him scream. Still, it was quite annoying. He wasn’t worried of course. His entire gang was there. The five lumbering men stood around them, all large enough to knock someone unconscious with one punch. If anyone tried to stop him they would take care of it.

“Ivan,” John said, turning to the large man beside him, “stuff this kid in a bag would you. He won’t shut up.”

Ivan nodded, moving towards the boy, a large black bag outstretched. “Here little guy,” he said in a low voice, “if you don’t struggle I promise we won’t hurt you.”

“I don’t think that boy will need to worry about being the one that gets hurt,” a soft voice suddenly said from behind them. The men looked up, noticing a young man standing at the other end of the alley. John had to nearly stifle a laugh. What the hell was this kid doing? He was so small and slender that the boy looked more china doll than man. To top it off he was even carrying a little basket.

“Move along kid,” John said gruffly. “It would be a shame for us to ruin that pretty face of yours.”

The boy’s gaze darkened and he took a step forward. “Let that boy go-” before he could even finish his sentence he erupted into a little fit of coughs. This wrought a chorus of laughter from the men. Nevertheless, the boy didn’t budge.

John shook his head, still chuckling. Was this kid insane? Why was he still there. “Sorry, no can do pretty boy. I’ll give you one more chance to move along before we kill you.” He looked to the other men now. “He almost looks like a girl, doesn’t he? It might be fun to see how many lovely bruises we can leave on that lily white skin before we kill him.” He cast the boy a little wink. “Last chance to run sweetheart.” The boy didn’t move, simply lowering his basket down to the ground.

“Watcha doin’ that for?” Ivan said.

“I just bought some items and I don’t want them to get dirtied,” the boy said sweetly, offering them a gentle smile. This kid had to be fucking insane. Well, John figured he was at least about to have fun with him. Snickering he made his way towards the boy and threw a punch at him. That’s when the boy grabbed his wrist and snapped it as if it were a twig. John screeched hysterically in pain. The boy threw a punch to his gut now causing John to scream again before sinking to his knees as he clutched his broken wrist. Shock was plastered to the rest of the men’s faces. Before they could even move the boy sprung forward slamming one of the largest men’s heads against the stones of the alleyway. He let him crumple to the ground and John had no idea if he was dead or unconscious. Ivan lunged for him but the boy threw a punch straight to his jaw causing the lumbering man to fall to the ground almost immediately. The boy moved to the next man who tried to move towards him, skillfully doding before knocking him to the ground and punching him over and over again in the face until he lost consciousness. Finally the boy stood up, wiping the man’s blood from his face. He smirked at the two remaining men who stared wide eyes, both in shock and in terror. They looked about ready to piss themselves and John couldn’t blame them. He had never seen strength like this. This boy had just taken out one of the toughest gangs in the kingdom without even breaking a sweat. That shouldn’t be possible.

The boy’s gaze was terrifying and unwavering. “Do you two want to fight me too?” And just like that two of the toughest criminals John had ever met simply took off, running as fast as they could, like little kids looking for their mothers.

The boy looked to the child now who had been standing there terrified almost the entire time. He smiled at him kindly, ruffling his hair. “Are you okay? I can bake you some cookies to try and make you feel better.”

“W-Who are you?” John stammered, his entire body shaking.

The boy’s attention snapped back to him and John’s stomach dropped. The boy slowly made his way over to him, staring at him with an expression that would have frightened even the devil himself.

“Me?” He said slowly, grabbing for a large rock from the street. “I’m monsters, like yourself, worst fucking nightmare.” And with that he raised the rock above his head before bringing it down hard over John’s temple.

And just like that his world went dark forever.