I wrestled with Xander. He reached for me with a horrifying determination, intending to wrap his arms around my torso, but I smacked his hands away with every ounce of strength I could muster. Fear welled up inside me like bile at the thought of sitting on top of Xander in wolf form. No way was I riding a werewolf!

He gave me an annoyed look, stepped back, and then his skin began to ripple and rip.

I felt a stab of renewed fear, audibly gasped and backed away from him, intending to get as far away from him as I could. By now I knew full well what those unnerving cracking and breaking sounds meant.

It happened quickly. Before I could spin around and run in the opposite direction, Xander was already in wolf form. He crouched low and then flung himself at me. A scream bubbled to the surface and rippled through me as his sharp teeth closed around my jacket and he tossed me into the air as if I weighed absolutely nothing. I screamed harder as I came falling down and landed right on top of Xander, at which point the scream died abruptly in my throat.

Wide eyed, mouth agape and body shaking, I stared down in disbelief at the wolf I was straddling.

Xander looked over his shoulder at me, and I could swear that his wolfish face was wearing a smug, triumphant expression, his golden eyes twinkling with mischief.

Hold on, he instructed.

That was all the warning he gave me before dashing off. Instinctively, I grabbed onto his soft fur and held on for dear life.

The pack hollered and cheered as we bolted from out of their midst, headed for Evergreen Forest.

****

I was bent low, my hands fisted in Xander’s fur, and my teeth clenched so hard I could already feel the onset of a headache coming on. Trees blurred by and the wind whipped past my ears and hair as Xander ran, no, flew like a bat out of hell through Evergreen Forest. We delved deeper than I’d ever delved -or more like dared to delve- before. I wasn’t much of a hiker, so I generally stayed on paved terrain and roads. My parents had insisted on it, in fact.

I guess now I know why.

For being so incessant on riding him, Xander sure wasn’t bothering to ensure I stayed on top of him. It was all I could do not to fall off him and plant my face in the dirt. I’d probably break a few bones too, and my neck was a bone last time I checked.

“Would you slow down!” I screeched through gritted teeth, my eyes squinted against the rushing wind carrying tears right out of my eyes.

Xander did, much to my immense relief. He slowed down considerably, almost to a trot. A little less frightened, I straightened a bit, peering past his head to see the path ahead.

It wasn’t much of a path, really. In fact, there was none. There wasn’t even a dirt road marking the way. To an outsider, Xander was just a wolf running around in a forest.

But he seemed to know exactly where he was going.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked.

I told you, we’re going home.

Home.

My home -the only home I’d ever known- was in the opposite direction.

Suddenly I wanted to jump off Xander, for the home Xander spoke about was a town for werewolves.

Sensing my unease, he said, We’re going straight to my house. As if that would ease my concerns one bit.

I didn’t reply. I had nothing to say. Besides, I suspected a scream would rip out of my mouth if I but opened it. In a desperate bid to keep my mind from being overwhelmed by my emotions of horror currently tearing through me, I took in my surroundings. Evergreen Forest was a dense forest, but this part of it seemed to be even denser. It was so thick and dense, in fact, that there was more of the color green than the white of snow that was covering the trees. It seemed that the dense evergreen trees were keeping most of the snow from reaching the forest’s floor.

I tried to imagine a town in the middle of the forest that no one knew about. How could a whole town go unnoticed, undetected by modern means of detection like satellite imaging? Such a thing was impossible. Unless…

“Is your home… underground?” I asked.

No. There was amusement in his voice, as if my suffering was so amusing to him

My already-jagged nerves bristled.

Forgive me if my ignorance amuses you. This is my first forced marriage slash kidnapping!

What the hell did I say?

You-!

Xander leapt over a fallen tree branch and I yelped, tightening my hold on his fur and tugging a bit in response.

Don’t pull on my fur so tight! Xander protested, his annoyance palpable.

“Don’t go jumping around like a rabbit and I won’t have to!”

A low-hanging branch smacked me right in the forehead and I howled in pain. One hand involuntarily let go of Xander and flew to my face.

I teetered on top of Xander dangerously and began to lose my balance. Instinctively, I started screaming as I began sliding off.

Xander slammed on the breaks, burying his feet in the dirt. Naturally, as the unsecured cargo on top of him, I lost my only grip on him and wenting flying forward.