Run to me - Darlene Gibbs (free children's ebooks pdf .txt) 📗

to stay with him; not as a captive but as his wife. I smiled to myself again and hummed a happy tune as I imagined the look of surprise and yes; joy that would spread across Anzel’s face. He wanted me; he had made that quite clear.
“Grrrrr….” The soft low growl in the distance caused my heart to skip a beat.
“Oh dear.” I glanced around nervously, Anzel had warned me not to travel too far from the cabin. I would have to give up on my hope of a rose and hurry back. Bright red eyes stared at me from behind a rock just a few feet away. I swallowed hard. It was low, no more than two feet off of the ground. It looked like a child’s eyes, and yet not.
“Hel..hello…” I called nervously taking a tentative step backward, there was no response. I turned and started to hurry back in the direction I had come, the sound of small footsteps behind me caused me to start to run.
“Grrrrr….aaaarrrrrrr.” The sound seemed to be increasing in volume. It sounded like more than one.
“Please…please leave me alone!” I was running and screaming at the same time. My heart seemed to be racing double time, faster than my feet could carry me. The feel of a small body on my back made me scream louder.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhh!” Its teeth seemed to be like the blades of a saw and as they sank into my shoulder I felt another grab my foot and bite in.
“Get off…” I struggled but they were coming too fast now. They might be small but their combined weights were forcing me to the ground.
“Please…aaaaahhhh.” Tears stung my eyes as sharp teeth sunk into my neck and I collapsed to the ground gasping.
“Raaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.” It was the sound of a moan or groan, I couldn’t be sure because I was curled into a ball my hands covering my face and sobs racking my body.
“Hoooooooooowwwwwwlllllllll…..!” I wasn’t sure how, but I recognized the sound immediately. It was Anzel, and he was calling to me.
“Help!” My voice was low and weak to my own ears but somehow it seemed as if less of these creatures were about me. Had the sound of Anzel’s howl scared them? Anzel had said that the creatures of the forest avoided him, they stayed away from him, did that mean he was coming? Was he coming to save me?
***
**Anzel**
I had never slept like that, so soundly that I hadn’t even noticed when Carrie had left my bed. I cursed at myself mentally, I had been complacent. Perhaps I might have thought what we shared was beautiful, but clearly Carrie had been using the opportunity to escape from me. Could she hate me so much that she would risk going into the forest alone to escape?
It was the scent of her blood that woke me. I had transformed immediately and raced after the smell that not only haunted my nostrils but my mind as well. If I could smell her blood…it didn’t bear thinking about. I had to believe she was still alive!
I stopped dead in my tracks. She was laying there, her body covered with blood and one last Werepraun sitting on her shoulder feeding. It must have gotten carried away with its meal and neglected its own safety. It would pay dearly for that, in fact it would pay for all the other Wereprauns that had ran off before I arrived. I dove gripping the creature in my mouth, its eyes widened with fear and the sound of its bones scrunched as my teeth pressed down against its body. I dropped it to the ground and proceeded to rip it apart with my claws – bit by bit. It was dead after the first tear, but I didn’t stop; it was my way of getting over my pain.
“Anzel…” The voice was soft and weak but it was Carrie. I dropped the bit of Werepraun I was still holding and transformed into my human and hurried over to where Carrie laid, she wasn’t moving.
“Carrie?” I slid my fingers along her neck and my heart skipped a beat. There was a pulse, she was alive, barely, but alive none the less.
She was my mate; surely I could nurse her back to health? Surely? I glanced around once more for a sign of more Werepraun, part of me wanted to tear through the forest, hunt them and kill everyone of them, but I had to subdue the revenge side of my wolf, the man understood that right now more important than revenge was caring for Carrie.
Chapter 8

Chapter 8
I opened my eyes and saw Anzel standing over me; he was stirring a paste in a bowl.
“Anzel…” I whispered.
“Don’t try to talk.” His voice was flat and dry. He seemed angry or upset. He plastered some of the contents on my chest; I looked down and made a face. I had large scars and bite marks all along my body. A tear trickled down my face and I wondered if he found me disgusting to look at. Was that why he was so upset, was he sorry he had offered me marriage?
“You don’t…” It was a strain to talk. I closed my mouth and eyes, there would be enough time to tell Anzel that he could find someone else, I wouldn’t hold it against him. A tear slid down my cheek and I tried to pull the sheet up to cover my ugliest.
“Don’t worry, I won’t touch you.” Anzel said.
“You…should have let me die.” I muttered and buried my face in the pillow and wept bitterly.
***
The next time I opened my eyes was to the feel of the sun streaming through the bedroom window.
“You were upset so I gave you something to help you sleep.” Anzel said. He was sitting beside me the same bowl in his hand and I had to wonder if he had slept.
“Oh.” I wasn’t’ sure what to say but the growl from my stomach told its own story.
“You’re hungry.” He got up and hurried out to the kitchen. “I’ll take you into town today. I’ll leave you with some money.” He was shouting to me from the kitchen and I had to strain to hear him. So this was it then, he was ready to be rid of me.
“I’ll make sure you have somewhere to stay for a few months at least.” Anzel was still shouting. “And you’ll have your freedom. You’ll be free to go wherever you want.”
“I…” Had he grown tired of me or was he disgusted with the way I looked? I pulled the sheet down to take in my body. I gasped. There wasn’t a mark, not a scratch, not a sign that I had been attacked, bitten, almost killed by those little monsters. How was that possible? What kind of magic had Anzel worked on me?
“There is some water in the corner to wash up with.” He was entering our bedroom again with a tray ladened with food. “You can clean up and get dressed, we’ll leave in an hour.”
“Thanks…” I started.
“No need, consider it paid in full.” He said dryly and I blushed a bright red. Was this payment for what we had shared?
“I’m not a whore.” I said.
“Whatever.” He seemed dismissive and a tear pricked the back of my eyes. Was it all make-believe, had he meant nothing of what he had told me?
“I guess the ring isn’t covered then.” I said dragging the ring he had given me from my finger and throwing it at him angrily. I half expected him to catch it but he allowed it to fly by; strike the wall and fall to the ground unnoticed.
“That’s true. The ring was worth much more than anything I got from you.” He said and I tossed the breakfast tray at him. Again, I was surprised he made no effort to move.
“I’ll go clean up, meet me outside in an hour.” He turned and walked away without another word.
I cried. I was falling in love with Anzel and suddenly he didn’t want me anymore. If I just knew what I had done that made him change his mind about me; I would certainly undo it. I dragged myself from the bed; washed up and put on the dress I had arrived in together with my shoes. It was washed and tidied and I considered the many skills Anzel had, he made for a fine husband indeed but it seemed as if it was too late for him to be my husband.
I brushed my hand across my face quickly; I wouldn’t let him see how desperate I wanted to stay and how much I had come to care for him.
“On time. Must be really anxious to leave.” Anzel said as I strolled out from the house.
“No more anxious than you are to have me go.” I muttered.
He reached out a hand; I took it and he pulled me up to sit beside him on the wagon. We stared at each other for a long moment, our hands still clasping each other.
“How long is the journey to town?” I asked.
He laughed but it was not a cheerful laugh. He dropped my hand and gathered the horses’ reigns in his hands.
“That anxious to get away?” He clapped the reigns angrily and I rocked back in my seat.
“I…” I wasn’t sure what to say. I wish I could figure out what went wrong, why was Anzel so angry at me?
“Save it, don’t waste your time being polite.” He said and focused his attention on the horses.
The journey to town took almost five hours most of which was in silence. Every conversation I tried to start Anzel shot down. Eventually he looked straight at me and asked if I minded if we didn’t talk.
Anzel was as good as his word. He took me to an Inn and paid the innkeeper, he had lunch ordered for me and he left a pouch of coins that from the look on the innkeeper’s face I knew they were worth quite a lot. It was strangely exciting to think of myself out in the world as a free woman, but strangely sad as well. I wanted to see the world, I wanted to know what was out there, but I had