She stood quietly in the wooden shack, staring at nothing but the empty darkness surrounding her. This place was small, only big enough for her to stand still and possibly squat down to rest her tiring knees. They were nice enough to take out the village’s public gardening tools, which they usually kept here so they could lock her up in here.

They hadn’t bothered tying her feet since they knew she wouldn’t be able to run away with the shack locked and chained. Her wrists were tied though and she was beginning to feel sore from the rope burn, due to her struggling during the first twenty minutes of her captive. Now she was just standing there without a word because she knew it was no use. No one was going to let her out after how they witnessed her protecting the pack of wolves, who had brought bloodshed to the village.

She didn’t regret defending whoever it was she was defending though. She didn’t want to see another wolf be harmed and she was glad that he had been able to get up and leave with the rest of the pack. She asked herself if she would’ve defended them the way she did had she not known they were actually humans. She wanted to say yes because regardless of the wolves being humans or not, they were only taking revenge for what had been done to their pack leader. But, she knew that in reality, she would’ve cared more about the village people’s safety had she not known the wolf they killed was her Father.

But they did kill her Father and she felt anger boil in her blood. Even if she never met him before, he was still her Father and because of the people in the village, she’ll never have the chance to get to know what kind of person he was. She was beginning to think that the villagers had deserved it. An eye for an eye, as they would say but there was nothing that could be done to bring her Father back.

Nicole, are you okay?

Hoya’s voice in her head pulled her from her bitter thoughts and relief washed over her. She was so glad he was safe.

Yeah I am. They locked me the shed for now. I doubt they’ll do anything to me. How are the others?

Everyone’s okay. Myungsoo’s the only one who got shot. It’s thanks to you he was only shot and not killed. He’s just resting up now, it should be healed by tomorrow morning.

 She felt proud of herself that she was brave enough to jump in front of a gun just to protect them.

Nicole, please don’t do anything like that again. If that man really wanted, he could’ve shot you. I don’t want anything happening to you.

 I know. She heard the sound of a door closing and foot steps approaching her, hoping that maybe it was her mom and she came to release her.

When the shed door opened, it was her mom carrying a stern look just as she had expected.

“Mother!” Nicole said with excitement, though she knew her Mother was nothing close to being excited to see her. Her mother had brought a cup of water for her and Nicole grasped it carefully between her tied hands and drank it quickly.

“Don’t you ever associate yourself with those monsters again.”

Nicole was shocked by her Mother’s first words. Had her Mother known all along what those wolves were? What she was? What Father was?

“Monsters? They’re just wolves, Mother.”

“Don’t play stupid with me Nicole. You and I both know very well what those disgusting creatures are.” The iciness in her voice sent chills through Nicole. This woman couldn’t possibly be her Mother.

“You knew they existed all along didn’t you?” Her Mother was standing in front of her yet Nicole felt like they were miles apart. For 18 years, she’s lied to her. “You also knew why Father left didn’t you?”

“Don’t call that man your Father. He’s a monster and he’s dead now. Loving that thing was the worst mistake of my life.  Now don’t say a word about these monsters and I’ll beg the chief to release you. After that, we’ll find you a way to break that monstrous curse of yours before anyone finds out.”

She was horrified by the words coming out of her Mother’s mouth. The disgust in her voice told Nicole that she regretted having Nicole. She saw Nicole as a mistake and she was willing to do whatever it took to hide this mistake. “You killed Father, didn’t you?”

Her Mother’s face darkened before Nicole felt a hard slap across her face. “You call that man your Father again and you’ll end up the way he did.”

And those were the last words Nicole heard before the door slammed shut once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hoya stared into the crackling fire, trying to decide what to do next. Now that Dongwon sunbae was gone, he was the head of the clan. The others relied on him to decide on what was best for them.

But right now, he couldn’t think of anything but Nicole. He couldn’t just leave her there with the village. There are only a few more weeks before her birthday and the minute they find out she’s a werewolf, they’re going to burn her just as they did with Dongwon sunbae. But there was no way they could just stride into the village and rescue her without risking the clan’s safety. He clenched his fists in anger, wishing there was a simple answer to all this.

“You’re thinking about her again aren’t you?” Woohyun said, taking a seat beside him. “How is she?”

“They locked her up in the shed,” he stated, feeling anger bubble from the pit of his stomach.

“Well at least they didn’t do anything gruesome to her,” he said, hoping that would make Hoya make a feel less worried but it obviously hadn’t from the way he grimaced.

“If we don’t get her out of there soon, they will.” He didn’t want to think about it but his mind raced with terrible thoughts of what they would do to her.

“And if we don’t leave soon, they’ll catch us and kill us all,” interrupted Dongwoo, who was leaning against a nearby tree and had been listening.

“We will leave as soon as we get her,” Hoya stated, glaring at his best friend.

“And when will that be? We’re just going to charge into the village and kill everyone in our way just to save this girl?” he asked as though that was the biggest joke he’s ever heard.

“This girl is Dongwan sunbae’s daughter,” Sungyeol defended.

“Yeah and he’s dead now because of her!” Dongwoo yelled, leaving them all in silence.

After what seemed like a long silence, Hoya spoke up. “He’s right. I’m not going to jeopardize the clan’s safety for her, which is why I’m going to do this myself.”

“You’ve lost your mind haven’t you?” Dongwoo said in disbelief.

“I’ll go with you. I owe her my life after all,” Myungsoo said, surprising the group since he never cared for anyone outside the clan.

“No. You guys will wait for me here. I’ll get her tomorrow night and as soon as we return, we leave.”

No one bothered to argue, knowing that nothing was going to change his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicole’s knees and feet were hurting from standing in the shed for so many hours, she thought about asking them to just cut them off.

She couldn’t believe this was really her own village doing this to her. The same village she grew up in and grew close to. Because she defended the wolves, everyone else now shunned her. Even those who brought her food and water every few hours looked like they dreaded the task. None of them looked at her or spoke and if they did it wasn’t in a friendly way. And it was only during those times they opened the door to feed her that she was also allowed to ask to go to the washroom.

After she was fed her third meal of the day and went to the washroom, she was brought back to the shed again and then the door was shut again. She began to wonder how long they were planning to keep her in there for.

It wasn’t until the loud clanging of the shed locks woke her that she realized she had actually fallen asleep standing up. Before she had the chance to shake the sleep from her eyes, she was roughly grabbed from the shed and shoved onto the floor. Rocks from the ground jabbed at her sides as she tried to recover and figure out the situation.

She was picked up from the floor and pushed towards the centre of the village where a pile of hay had been formed. And then she realized what was happening.

She screamed and kicked, trying to pull away from the Seulong’s father’s grip. Other men quickly came to help grab hold of her and tied her to the stake. Tears of fear were streaming down her face as she cried for help. They were going to burn her just as they did to her Father.

All the villagers had swarmed around to watch as though the circus was in town and she was the next big act. Nicole saw her Mother standing among the crowd, but beside her stood two men who seemed to be guarding to make sure she doesn’t leave. “Mother, help me! Please!”

Her Mother didn’t say a word, only looking away nonchalantly. Nicole looked to Seulong and Jiyeon, her close friends from her childhood but both of them only starred at her with anger and bitterness. None of them felt remorse for her, but why should they? She was seen as a traitor who protected the wolves rather than her own kind. There was nothing she could do but close her eyes and sob, praying that this was all just a nightmare and she would soon wake up from it.

The Chief of the village made his way through the crowd and stood below Nicole, holding a torch. “This vile girl has brought bloodshed to our village with her disgusting creature friends. For years, she’s been living in our village as a human being, cursed with a body that is neither full human nor wolf.”

Nicole was dumbfounded; How did they know? She looked to her Mother who was simply shaking her head and looking at the floor shamelessly. Either her Mother had turned her in or someone had overheard their conversation. Whichever it was, her time was up and this was it.

“But lucky for us, we have found her before she’s transformed into those hideous dogs. Just like her Father, she shall be burned and as she burns, her monster friends are sure to come looking for revenge again. Last time we failed to get them but this time, we’ll be ready.”

The men cheered, waving their weapons in the air angrily. Her heart raced, no longer fearing for herself but rather the safety of Hoya and the others. If she was going to be burned, so be it. But she didn’t want anyone else to get hurt anymore. “If you think using me as a bait is going to get them to come out you’re wrong! You’re all just wasting your efforts.”

“Shut your mouth!” the Chief roared. Never before has Nicole seen this side of him. He was always smiling and greeting her happily ever since she was a child. She was still the same Nicole she was last week but in everyone’s eyes she was a monster now.

“Fire!” Everyone turned their attention from Nicole to the houses around them which all began to smoke. The villagers quickly dropped their weapons and dispersed to their homes to put out the spreading fire.

“This is the doing of you and your dog friends isn’t it?” The Chief screamed, holding the torch inches from Nicole’s face. “You’ll be the first one to pay!”

It felt as though time slowed down as Nicole’s eyes followed the torch as it moved towards the hay. She watched as a small patch caught fire but before the chief could light another patch, his body was thrown to the floor and blood splattered across the floor before he had the chance to scream. His throat was slit and blood bubbled from his mouth as he stared at his killer.

Hoya quickly got off the chief and tried to kick away the burning hay. The village was in a fit of chaos as everyone rushed to put out their burning homes. Hoya who was in his human form was able to blend in and grab water from the well to put out the flames. He moved behind her and quickly cut her ropes.

“Nicole! Snap out of it!” Hoya shook her lightly, but Nicole was still in a daze from breathing in the smoke. She pulled her eyes from the Chief’s dead body and looked around her. The fire from the houses had only gotten bigger and trees nearby had caught fire too. At this point, the whole village was going to burn down.

Without thinking twice, he threw Nicole over his shoulder and quickly disappeared into the forest. As Nicole stole one last glance at the village, she caught eyes with her Mother who was staring at her with nothing but disappointment.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, knowing that she was never going to be seeing any of them again. Their screams grew faint the further they ran and in a way, it made Nicole feel a bit better. There was nothing she could do for them; the whole forest was going to burn down and if they didn’t escape, they would only burn with them. That was when she remembered her Grandmother.

“Hoya! Put me down!” He hesitated but did as she asked.

“What’s wrong? We have to keep going. The others are waiting for us,” he said, trying to remain calm.

“I need to find my Grandma. I can’t just leave her like this. The whole forest is going to be burnt down and she’s going to be burnt with it!”

“We don’t have time for that and it’s too dangerous to go back! Who knows if they’re chasing after us right now?” Hoya said with frustration.

Nicole knew he was right but she just couldn’t bring herself to abandon her Grandmother. She was the closest family she had. “I’ll go by myself. You go ahead, I know you have to take care of the others too. It’s okay. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“No, I’m not leaving you again. I can’t lose you,” his eyes flashed hazel and Nicole knew what was going to come next. The process of changing was horrifying; it was hard to believe that a human body could change into this frightening being.

Get on my back.

Still in shock, she slowly approached him placing her small hands on his back.

Nicole, hurry. We don’t have time to waste.

She quickly climbed on, wrapping her arms around his neck as he raced through the forest. They quickly reached the house but it had already caught fire from the nearby trees. She rushed into the house, calling for her Grandmother.

“Nicole?” her Grandmother’s weak voice called from the bedroom. Nicole and Hoya quickly went into the bedroom to find her frail body in bed. Nicole ran to her side and helped her sit up, “Grandma, we have to go now!”

“Who is he?” her Grandmother asked, pointing a weak finger at Hoya who had easily changed back to his human form.

“He’s a friend, I’ll explain later. We have to go now, please!” Nicole begged as she tried to pull her Grandmother out of bed.

“He’s a werewolf isn’t he?” her Grandmother asked, shocking both Hoya and Nicole. Their silence was the only answer she needed. She shook her head slowly, “I know who your Father was Nicole and at first I thought of you as a huge mistake your Mother made. Over the years, I’ve learned to love you as the lovely granddaughter you are to me, but I can’t leave with you two.”

“Why not?” Nicole cried, “It doesn’t have to be like this, Grandma! We’re not monsters and we would never harm you! I promise you.”

“Nicole, just go,” she smiled as she patted her granddaughter on the head. “I’ll always be watching you.”

When Nicole refused to go, her Grandmother gave Hoya a nod. Hoya knew Nicole was going to be mad at him but he had no choice but to pull her away. When the two reached outside the house, the house already began to crumble. Her red cloak had also caught

Hoya easily picked her up and leaped over the flames with unnatural heights. Nicole buried her face into his chest as they escaped through the woods, dodging the falling branches with ease.

When they reached the clearing, they were immediately greeted by the rest of the pack. They carried a look of grimace, wishing things didn’t have to turn out this way, but they were relieved to see the two of them safe.

Hoya had only placed Nicole down for a minute to take a drink before announcing they had to keep moving.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Not sure yet, but we can’t stay here for sure,” Woohyun answered. When the pack transformed to their wolf form, Nicole didn’t feel as fearful anymore. Instead, she felt a sort of bewilderment. All of them had the same form yet not one of them was the exact same. They all had a different coat of fur and different gleaming eyes. The longer she stared, the more she saw the resemblance with their human form.

Nicole stared up into the night sky, finally catching a glimpse of the moon. In a few days the moon will be full and she’s going turn 18. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to handle the change or if she could even learn to accept that this is who she was. But being with Hoya gave her the strength to keep pushing through. She climbed onto his back once again, hugging onto his furry body for warmth.

She didn't have the cloak she always wore anymore, but then again she wasn’t the Nicole she always thought she was.

Is something wrong?

No. I just never would’ve thought the big bad wolf we always heard about growing up would turn out to be my savior. When do you ever hear, “Little Red Riding Hood ran away with the big bad wolf and together they lived happily ever after.”

I guess there’s always a first for everything.

            The End.