Lokis

 

The manor glowed eerie orange in the setting sun of the summer day. Great trees surrounded it, hiding the Count’s home within a forest few dared enter. The abandoned home had once been glorious, faded curtains and broken windows whispering of a time when parties lived behind them and of secrets long since forgotten. 

I inhaled the smell of earth and timelessness as nature slowly reclaimed the land that once belonged to nobles, their familial line ended by nature itself. My boots made rough suns on the ground, even as I avoided broken branches. Birds and wildlife shifted in the trees, moving into the property of the manor, even braving moving into the home.

As I walked around the home, I turned to the side facing the North, eyes wandering up to a wide open window nearly torn off its hinges. Aged dried blood lined the window sill, drips showing on the brick below. The moth eaten curtain rustled in the breeze, undisturbed by the carnage that it had once witnessed.

From within the woods, a snarling heavy breath echoed, as though the woods itself held the hunger of nature. I paused, turning towards the darkness beneath the trees, and watched for a sign of a moving shadow. Nothing stirred, save a few of the birds that picked at the grounded, small bodies hopping from spot to spot.

Yet the woods promised that something waited and watched, peering back into me as I studied the great trunks of coniferous trees, their dead needles scattered all over the forest floor. Between the trees, a strange path emerged, like a deer path but wider. It cut through the once manicured gardens and wound its way to the courtyard of the manor and eventually to the broken door.

My brows drew together as I walked down the stairs to the courtyard, following the premade path. It was too wide to belong to a deer or even a pack of feral wolves, but something wandered daily across it, as though drawn back to the manor. I tilted my head, glancing at the door that had been broken pen, great claw marks through the wood, to the path that led into the heart of the wood.

I took a deep breath and walked towards the woods, following the path in. The trees were tall, their lower branches broken by time and wind. Sunlight filtered in through the needles, warming the cool air as I stepped inside, listening to the birds as they moved from branch to branch. Spruce and cedar filled my nostrils, mixing with the decay of the forest floor and the cool wind from the North.

The path led deeper, pulling me towards the heart of the forest. It passed between the trees, ignoring small ponds and caves, moving with a single purpose to a destination I could not imagine. Now and then the trees were gouged with deep claw marks, marking the territory of the man I sought.

As the path went deeper, the forest grew denser, ferns and foliage filling in the empty space between the trees. Fresh smells entered the air, mingling with the coniferous trees. I smiled at the bunches of herbs and plants, mushrooms poking out here and there. Some had been harvested, deliberately plucked.

I ran my fingers over the mushrooms, touching the rounded teeth marks from where they had been bitten. My thumb brushed against a stump where a sharp edge had been used to cut it free. I hadn’t thought of what would bite it with canine like teeth but also cut it off so thoughtfully, other than perhaps two different harvesters had visited the plant. 

The dwindling sun turned the sky orange to pink, brushing the plants with warmth as I stepped into the darkest part of the ancient forest. Branches had been broken and destroyed to mark a clearing beneath the boughs of cedar. A cave nestled itself between trees, dark and forbidden. The pathway I had been following led to the cave, promising that whatever stalked it was waiting. 

Scattered around the cave were hints of the manor. Curtains rested in a pile by the entrance, likely abandoned where they ought to have hung. A picture frame of a painted portrait sat broken and abandoned beneath a tree. The odd sparkling trinket glimmered in the low light as I approached. 

Low light filtered into the cave as I entered, creating a golden warmth against the cold stone walls. It was shallow, not extending further back than thirty paces. An old but well made wooden table sat on one side, silver cutlery sitting beside porcelain decorative plates. I gently caressed the fork, grimacing at its tarnished beauty. 

A pile of sheets and covers made a strange nest upon the ground, dirty and covered in mold from its damp home. Great rips were in the sheets, showing where a clawed creature had once attacked. I let my fingers wander over the shorn fabric, but found no blood. 

Whatever had attacked had missed the occupant. Despite their best efforts, claw marks showed against the stone of the cave wall. I wondered if a strange heated fight had broken out, yet I could find no evidence of blood or wounds. Great paw marks lined the earth in mud, ending in clawed tips. 

My lips pursed as I looked over a small shelf with trinkets clearly taken from the manor, including a hunting knife. Its hilt was decorative, functional but made for a lord or noble. Even as I caressed the dulled blade, I knew it was once a gift to someone of status. 

With a sigh, I turned from the inside, giving one more glance around before I walked back towards the forest. A branch snapped, echoing around the woods as I stepped out from the shadows, sunlight blinding me briefly. 

I heard the growling breath before I saw the creature, his open maw panting with rolling huffs that made my body tremble with the instinct to run. He was tall, a few heads higher than I was, with a massive hairy body. Great fangs showed in his maw, half ursine, half human features looking down at me. Long claws extended from each finger as he stood on two massive feet, erect as any human would walk, yet with the girth and shape of a bear.

I gasped, stepping backward as he stepped forward, an angry snarl coming from his lips as he lowered his head, lip curling back to expose his fangs. The forest suddenly seemed dark and dangerous as I stared at the creature, eyes wandering to the human visage that looked at me from behind the bear’s roar.

“Count Michel?” I asked, voice faintly quivering as I watched him taking a hulking step forward, his weight pushing into the earth so that the long claws on his does gouged the forest floor.

He leaned his head down. I winced, doing my best not to flinch away from him. The head tilted, nostrils flaring as he inhaled my scent. He snorted, blowing damp hot air over my face. Slowly I looked up at him, concerned meeting his eye would have him believe I was challenging him.

“Everyone thought you were killed,” I said softly, remembering the broken window and blood. “But I heard your mother was attacked by a bear-”

The creature snarled and stepped away, paw moving out to strike the tree. It splintered, pieces of it flying off. I stepped forward, reaching out to touch his shoulder, fingers sinking in to the coarse fur. He smelled of musk and wildness, a hint of pine, and a touch of beast.

In an instant he turned, roaring at me, paw moving out to swipe at me. I ducked, then moved to the side to better stay out of his reach. “Is that your plan? Just throw your anger at anyone who realizes it was you that killed her?”

Another roar. He was fast but lumbering as he staggered towards me, mouth open to grab my shoulder. II pushed his head away and slipped around him, moving into the woods to put a tree between us. 

“You’re more than a beast, Michel, you can control yourself. You’re just as much a great, kind man as you are the king of the woods.” I took another step back, eyes following his with each step. I touched the bark of a tree behind me and slid around it, increasing the distance as he walked steadily towards me.

“I know you didn’t mean to hurt her. You were changing. Becoming your true self. I can’t imagine how horrible that was for you.” He paused, panting as he stared at me. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

The werebear didn’t move, but instead, watched me with a strange sense of remorse and hunger. “You can control it,” I said softly, walking towards him one slow step at a time. “You can be you, without killing anyone.”

He made a soft grunt as I finally stood before him. “You can be wild. You can be rough. You can be yourself, without killing me. Is that what you want? To be both? To be yourself?”

Michel starred, long and hard, as thoughts swirled in his mind. He breathed heavily, panting with a low growl for every breath. We looked at each other for several lingering minutes. His muscles tensed as his thoughts raced. 

I finally smiled. “Should I run?”

The werebear growled and gave a curt nod. I smiled again, briefly, before turning and running. The woods flew by me as I moved through the trees, hearing nothing behind me until an infernal roar echoed through the woods.

The ground trembled beneath me as the bear thundered after me. My heart raced as I changed direction suddenly, feeling the beast slide past, unable to turn as quickly as I did. I turned again just as claws hit the air behind me, touching the tips of my hair. 

As I passed a large tree, needles fell down atop me as he caught up. The tree cracked and creaked as he crashed into it, nearly breaking it in half before I felt a great paw push against my back, propelling me forward. 

I slammed into a tree, falling to the ground at its roots. My lungs burned as the bear was on me in an instant, great hands picking me up and throwing me against the great cedar. I coughed, trying to catch my breath as he approached, claws slashing at my chest and stomach.

Burning pain ripped through me as the claws sliced through my shirt and underclothes, breaking the skin with frightful ease. Blood dripped down my chest and over my stomach. The cuts weren’t deep enough to hurt me, just enough to sting and draw blood. I whimpered, crying out as the pain sunk in.

He lifted me by the throat, pinning my back against the tree as his muzzle touched my cheek, teeth nipping at the skin without biting. A long tongue tasted my jaw and then my collar bone, before dipping down to flick over an erect nipple and lap at the blood he had released. 

The other claws ripped into my pants, pulling them off of me without hesitation. They dropped to the forest floor, leaving me naked before him. Teeth sunk into my shoulder as he pushed up against me, pinning me with his body, massive paw closing on my throat. 

I cried out as the teeth closed, ripping into my shoulder and compressing the bone. The pain intensified, leaving me gasping as I struggled through it. The muzzle released, lips covered in blood as he lifted his nose to look at me. I shivered, pain filling me before I nodded, giving a simple small signal I would be fine. 

With renewed vigor the bear roared, pulling my legs apart with one hand and pushed his hips against my own, my body tiny compared to his massive size. A thick, powerful length pushed inside my thighs, pressing against the lips of my entrance and probing upwards. He rested there, letting me feel the size of him, the threat of pain to come.

The paw on my throat closed tighter, cutting off my air as I whimpered against the tree. The bear watched my hands claw and fight at his own, scratching him to no effect as the predatory eyes stared at me. Teeth glistened with my blood as he snarled and then pushed forward against me with one powerful stroke. 

His size slid up inside of me, spreading me apart without remorse. It burned and stung, stretching me around his girth. I gasped, barely managing a sound as he gripped my throat. The bear pulled back, giving me no time to adjust before he snarled and thrust again.

Pain and pleasure shot through my body as he began to slide in and out, stretching the skin with every thrust. I shuddered as tears slid down my cheek, the bear moving within me with one purpose only, the instinct to fill me with his seed and create a new generation within me. 

The paw released, enough that I cried out, filling the woods with the sounds of my ecstasy and horror. Teeth once more bit my shoulder, holding me in place so that I didn’t slide up the tree with his rutting, but stayed to feel the full power of his massive size. 

He sped up, thrusting fast and hard, sending wild waves of pleasure through me. I screamed them out, fingers pulling on the long fur, using the bear as an anchor in the euphoria of his attention. Blood slowly leaked from my shoulder where his mouth clamped down, dripping down my chest and mingling with his fur.

My cries grew louder as the pleasure of his massive size overcame the pain, my own wetness letting him slide in and out with ease. My hips bucked against him as the pressure built, filling me up with each powerful stroke. His clawed finger closed around my throat before he pulled back and threw me to the ground.

I landed face down in the dirt and pine needles. His body was on me in an instant, pulling my hips up to meet his immediate hunger. My teeth closed around the back of my throat, drawing blood and compressing the bone so that I held perfectly still as he began to assault my body.

Claws raked over my shoulder and back, stopping at my hips to dig in and hold me still. Growls were muffled by my neck in his teeth as he began the fast, wanton thrusting of before, filling me deeply and painfully as he stretched me to make room for his length. I cried out, nails digging into the earth.

The teeth bit harder, sending new grinding pain from my bones through my body. I whimpered, gasping, and moved one hand to touch his face. The bear didn’t stop, his body slamming up into my own as he grunted his pleasure against my skin, but the jaw lessened. 

We moved as one, the thrilling pull of pleasure helping me forget the blood dripping down my throat from his teeth or the claws digging into my hips, but instead filling me with a mounting pressure that left me gasping and wanting more. Hee pushed harder, filling me until it ached profoundly. I cried out as it erupted, spilling through my body and sending me over the edge.

He roared in response to my scream of delight, hips stilling as seed exploded inside. I felt him fill me, and the remnants leaked out as my body failed to hold all of his release. He panted above me, teeth releasing my throat. I shuddered and collapsed on the ground, panting as my mind became blank and peaceful in the euphoria of his lust.

I barely noticed when he lifted me from the dirty earth but moaned in soft thank you as he lowered me into the nest he had built. As night fell around us, the bear curled around me, giving me his warmth as his tongue cleaned the wounds, caring for me as tenderly as any lover could.