Wild Magic One: By the Light of the Moon-- A Wolf Shifter M/M Romance

3- Like Fire

*****Seriously, this entire story is one big trigger warning. But... mentions of past rape ahead*****

EDON—

Master gave me only an hour after my beating before I heard his voice, extolling the monster. When the tarp was yanked from the cage, I was blinded by the sights and sounds around me. So many people, far too many, surrounded my cage. I could feel the surprise, excitement, and curiosity.

And then, by all the gods, the rage. It hit me like one of Master's sticks, right in the gut. And it amplified as I shifted, my bones realigning into the shape of man.

As the anger moved towards me, so did a man. He was tall and at least double my size. He wasn't particularly muscled, but he was firm, his arms bulging as he glared me down. His eyes flashed from me to Master, his words jumbling with Master's. I had learned long ago to tune out the words of men. They were so very rarely words I wanted to hear. They were usually filled with anger. With disgust. With venom.

So I unlearned how to speak, how to listen. But something about this man made me want to understand again. I feared I had lost the ability to hear the words of men, for his words continued to roll off of my body like water, even as I tried to concentrate.

His ire rolled off of him in waves, and my body cowered away from it instinctively, trying to protect my soft belly and groin, just in case he came at me. But he never did. With a few final words, he turned on his heel, leaving me alone with Master and another man. The second man smelled of blood, and sweat, and work. He smelled of leather, and steel, and a blacksmith's forge.

He smelled like fire.

That man lifted the tarp back over my cage, and I was left in the dark. I shifted back to my wolf, because it was warmer with fur coating me, rather than only my thin human skin. It was only a few minutes later that I felt the cage lift, and then the clatter of hooves as I was dragged somewhere. I tucked myself into as tight a ball as I could, unsure where I was being taken, but uncaring. One cage was the same as another. One Master the same as another.

Hopefully this one wouldn't touch me, force himself inside me, like my last one, the one before my current master. Like the men Master sold my body to. I shivered, forcing those thoughts from my mind. I couldn't think of him, of them. I couldn't think of that time. It was too dark, and I would lose myself again. Like I had when I first left my family. I would lose myself to my wolf, and Edon the man would die.

Just like before.

We rode up for what felt like hours, but may have only been minutes, before the cart stopped, the horse's hooves quieted, and the man who smelled of fire was gone. He took with him the horse and cart, and my cage was lowered to the ground. For a few minutes, I wondered if I had been forgotten. If maybe they would just leave me alone. Let me fade away in this cage.

But no. Of course not. Because humans were never that kind.

Before long, there was the sound of boots in grass, and then the smell of a warm fire, parchment, and ink. The tarp was yanked from the cage, and I looked around quickly, assessing my surroundings. It wouldn't be the first time my master had lent me out for the night, but usually that meant I was tied to Master's bed in his cart, and the man, or men, who bought me were given an hour. Master had never allowed me to be taken somewhere else like this.

I was in a clearing, some kind of garden. A stone wall surrounded it, and my wolf immediately whined in pain at being caged in even further. My cage sat atop thick, green grass, and before me stood the tall, angry man. His anger seemed to have abated for now. He watched me with a face of stone, not showing any emotion. But I could smell it. He was confused, curious, and hesitant. But most of all, he was sad. Upset.