"Go away!" Jack's voice cracked from shouting so loudly as the black monster jumped up at him yet again. He had managed to break off several of the lower branches in its attempt to get to the boy and honestly? Jack was shaking in fear.

"There was no way that is the behavior of a normal wolf." Jack thought to himself, his fingers digging into the bark of the tree, even his legs were looped around to keep him out of death's reach. His eyes were transfixed on the black predator that was snarling and stalking around the tree.

Thank gods that Jack had been so smart to climb as high as he could go. But luck wasn't exactly at his side as he soon realized two crucial things. One, he had managed to pick a dying tree and though it was a bit taller than its neighboring younger trees, the fact remained that these branches were easier to snap.

The second mistake was that the closest tree wasn't within reach. Jack couldn't scale from tree to tree to escape the wolf. With other words, he was trapped. And the wolf beneath his feet seemed to know it as well.

If Jack managed to flee, it would be by jumping down and running away as fast as he could. His brows furrowed, eyes flitting down at the wolf and back at the otherwise quiet forest. There was no way he could outrun that monstrosity. He remembered the swiftness of the beast as it had charged after the pup or even when it had killed his mother.

It was all over in the blink of an eye.

Another dry snap announced the death of another branch, drawing Jack's attention down to the wolf and away from his thoughts. Dread and panic was swirling through his stomach, along with the growing urge to take his chances and bolt.

Red eyes looked up at him as the wolf hissed, baring its teeth. Its eyes were vicious...calculating. Jack hadn't finished frowning before the wolf took several steps back, only to come charging at the tree. As it bashed its side against the wood, Jack let out a startled scream as the tree groaned and wobbled the slightest bit.

But it was a rather big incisive for the wolf to continue. It ignored Jack's fearful screams, telling him to stop as it backed away again and charged continuously at the tree. Every collision was paired with groans and muffled cracks until, eventually, the old dying tree snapped with a final groan.

Jack cried out in shock before he fell down, grunting in pain as he bumped against the big log, jarring his arm rather painfully before he dropped down on the cold floor. Pain rushed through his senses and he groaned loudly before his mind reminded him that more pain was soon to come, if he kept forgetting about the wolf.

Turning around, he all but forgot about the pain in his arms, back and shoulders when he stared up at the black wolf. Slowly, he pushed himself away, trying to get back on his feet while the wolf snapped its teeth, seemingly grinning at the pale boy.

Just when it was ready to pounce when Jack spun around, digging his feet into the earth to run away, the bushes to their sides rustled and the brown wolf launched itself straight onto the black one.

It was the moment Jack had been waiting for and without deeming the wolves worthy of a sideways glance, he ran for his life. The sun was slowly setting, turning the light from a brilliant gold into olive and orange tones as it seeped through the canopy. A sliver of fog was snaking through the woods, announcing the new presence of winter in the forest.

Cold air whistled through his throat as he took deep breaths, stumbling over roots and hidden rocks. Jack's fear was bordering hysteria as he rushed through the forest, only thinking of escaping the two wolves he could still hear behind him. Horror crept up inside as he slowly realized the sounds weren't diminishing at all.

They're following me!

He dodged another tree, zigzagging between the trees as they slowly grew further and further apart, nearing the edge of the forest, or so it seemed. Just as Jack stumbled over another rock, a black blur shot past him, halting him on the spot.

The wolf snapped with its teeth, growling threateningly as it took a slow, menacing step towards Jack. The boy's chest was heaving from exertion, his normally pale cheeks flushed and white hair tussled messily.

His blue eyes widened as the black wolf came to a stop, just when Jack heard a low growl rumble behind him. All his hairs stood at end as Jack slowly, cautiously turned around so that the wolves flanked him. The black one on his left, and the brown wolf on his right.

As the silence grew tense and the wolves did nothing but stare, Jack tried back away, thinking that there could be some bad blood between these wolves and he was just caught up in between them. He stopped moving as the black wolf snapped its teeth sharply, focusing Jack's attention on him.

The boy frowned, bright eyes flashing back and forth between the two wolves as he had the odd sensation that he had to choose. It was as if one of them was waiting to gain the upper hand on the other one.

He took a moment to glance away from the black wolf, who had taken a more intimidating, threatening posture, to glance at the brown wolf behind him. Its fur was a mix of deep tones of brown that was softened my creamy white and a hint of chestnut and black.

It barely glanced at him but when their eyes did cross, Jack didn't feel threatened at all. There was something that was drawing him to the brown wolf. Maybe it was the unnatural intelligence in those golden eyes or the way that the brown wolf wasn't eying Jack like a piece of cheap meat, like the black wolf was doing.

Setting his foot down, Jack slowly but surely turned back to the black wolf. It sneered, lip curled up as it glanced from Jack to the brown wolf, seemingly grinning again. Its expression quickly changed when Jack took three quick strides...backwards.

The boy was shivering from white hair to curling toes as his arm brushed against warm fur. The brown wolf merely stepped closer, pressing against his side before it lunged at the black one. Jack took one moment to look as the brown wolf graciously leapt over the black one before the fight turned brutal.

One wolf wasn't going to walk away from this.

Jack glanced back at the brown wolf before he took a few more steps back. When neither of them stopped lunging and snapping at the other, he quickly turned and ran as fast as he could. He only slowed down when he saw a light in the distance. A warm flickering light of a lantern.

"The witch's house...I made it!" Jack mumbled in shock before speeding ahead. The woman was sitting outside, working in a small garden as she hummed to herself. She must've heard him one way or the other, because she looked up and smiled warmly, as if she was expecting him.

But just when Jack stopped to walk the last few feet, he was shoved to the ground. A furry, growling body had smashed against him and was now hovering over him, snarling. Jack laid flat on his stomach, expecting the witch to shriek or maybe help him but instead, her smile only widened.

Jack whimpered as the wolf sniffed at his hair. From the corner of his eyes, Jack could see a pair of paws pressing beside his head. He nearly let out a little sigh of relief as he noticed the fur color. Brown.

Brown paws that were oddly shaking...Jack started panting as bones cracked, his attention fully focused on the paw a few inches away from his face...a paw that was quickly shifting and turning paler...before a hand pressed beside Jack's head.

The growling above him had never stopped but now Jack felt a large body pressing him down on the floor. Warmth seeped through every part of his body as the wolf- werewolf- nuzzled closer to Jack's neck before they heard a soft clearing of the throat.

A woman of middle age stood in front of them, brushing the sand off of her hands before she pushed her curly greying hair behind her ear and smiled as she looked at the duo. "Yours?" the one word rang through the air as she tilted her head, looking from the stunned Jack to the werewolf hovering above him.

"Mine." The answer rang clearly through the forest, a hint of pride and possessiveness wriggling its way through. The woman smiled and nodded. "I'm glad, its not often that the moon decides to bless the pack. If Merikh got his claws on the boy, it would've been a slaughter."

Jack couldn't understand what was happening, his mind couldn't comprehend the fact that there were such things as witches and werewolves. And said witch knew of the werewolves. Fear and adrenaline rushed through his body, the exhaustion creeping up slowly but surely. So his mind picked the quickest and safest route to protect Jack.

For the very first time in Jack's young life, he fainted.