Howl at the Moon Leif's Story Ch. 03

From the wayward forsaken gas station, Leif ran ten miles to the nearest town. It was a small town, under 2,000 people still it had a Wal-mart that served the entire area. Leif went into the Walmart. As an immortal, Leif didn't carry mortal money. He never bothered with it. Governments rose and fell to often for an immortal like him to keep track. Still, he went into the Walmart. Daisy needed to get better.

He walked up and down the aisles. Amazed at all the useless crap the small Walmart carried. Then he did something he wasn't proud of. But, he was ashamed either. Leif shop lifted. It was just some clothes, soap, medical supplies and canned goods. It was what Daisy needed. Leif had promised to take care of her. The Walton family could take the lose of fifty dollars or so. Leif was in and out of the Walmart in a manner of minutes. He had to get back to Daisy. Something was amiss with her. She had a aura of strange magic that he hadn't encountered in his long life. Daisy called to him.

When Leif returned to the wayward gas station, Daisy was still asleep. He thanked the Heavens for that. She snored, in and out, in and out. Leif watched her protectively. He looked at the mortal's body. It was damaged...badly. Somehow out of all the vital bones in Daisy's body, her attacker had only managed to break both her collarbones. They hadn't broken through the skin but Leif could see the bumps.

"I got you some soap...to wash everything off. It's lavender. They didn't have any daisy scent. There's no bath or shower in the gas station but there's a brook about 1/2 mile away. You can wash off there." Leif stated as he held out the soap to Daisy.

Daisy took the soap from Leif and almost smiled. He had brought her something. He was taking care of her. He was worried about her. Daisy stood up and grimace at the pain. No bones were broken but pain radiated throughout her entire body.

"I don't think I'll be able to make it to the brook. I don't think I'll be able to make it to the door." said Daisy matter-of-factly.

"You need help, I'll carry you down to the stream." stated Leif and before Daisy could protest. She was hoisted up in his muscular arms and taken down to the hot spring.

"Undress yourself, I'll get in the water with you to make sure...you don't fall or drown or anything." said Leif.

"But...I'll be naked...you're a stranger...and a man." protested Daisy as she blushed a deep red.

Lief looked at her. Damm...that blush was so tempting and Daisy was so beautiful. It was true, he did want her but if he took her like this, he would be no better than her rapist.

"I don't have any interest in a battered woman, Daisy. I gave you my word that I would get you better, that I'll take care of you and that's what I'll do." Leif said lying. He wanted to be entwined with her. He wanted to mate but he was a man...well wolf of his word.

"Well...uhmm...okay then. I trust you." said Daisy. She didn't really know if she could trust Leif though. He just hadn't beaten or raped her so far. Still, she let him carry her to the hot spring. The hot water felt nice against Daisy's legs, still the pain was too much for her to bear. She passed out. Leif caught her in his strong arms.

It was true she was naked, and Daisy was even more beautiful nude. Leif wanted her but Leif also had a duty. He washed her hair using the soap and tried to remove the oils. He gently cleansed her wounds and washed away the dirt mingled with blood. The stream ran brown with her caked on blood for a while, but when he was done, he was almost satisfied. It was the best he could do. He carried Daisy out of the stream and dried her off with one of the cheap towels. Leif carried her up to the sunny meadow. It was better than the gas station. It smelled of flowers. Leif knew that the Earth magic of the meadow would help her heal.

It took awhile for Daisy to come to but Leif watched her all the while. Daisy sat up, stretched and groaned. The towel fell off exposing her breasts.

"I'm glad you're awake. I have some aspirin for that headache and clothes." said Leif as he passed Daisy the clothes and aspirin.

"Uhmm, thank you? I think you've been taking care of me...I have some trouble with my memory. I'm Daisy." said Daisy again.

"I'm Leif, you're going to stay with me till everything gets all sorted out." said Leif. He shook her hand.

"I can't...I have to go home. I have work...and things to do." stated Daisy.

Leif didn't want to use his magic on her. That would be wrong. But, he knew she couldn't go home until he'd figured out what ancient evil pursued her. Leif had promised to protect her and he would. How could he protect Daisy without seeming like a creep?

"You've had a rough couple of weeks. A lady like you deserves to rest. Please stay here. I've gotten some nicer stuff for sleeping. You won't have to rough it in that rotting armchair anymore. I'm sorry for putting you there to begin with. It's all I had and I figured it was better than having you sleep on the ground. Now have some more water, beef jerky and a granola bar, we need to get you healthy." said Leif as he passed all of them to Daisy.

The waifish Daisy gave him a cat-like smile. "Thank you!" said Daisy as she bit into the jerky. "Some for you?" she questioned as she broke it in half and passed him a piece. Daisy ate her breakfast.

"I'm so tried is it alright if we go back now?" she questioned Leif. He nodded and helped her up. They went back to the gas station where Leif had an air mattress set up. He put Daisy down on it.

"I'm so tired too...do you mind if I join you?" he questioned.

Daisy hesitated for a bit to long. Leif had taken care of her, she didn't know how she felt about sleeping with him though. Even if they didn't have sex, she didn't know how she felt. She had just been assaulted a few days ago and now...sleep in the same bed as a strange man. Still, Leif had been nothing if not a gentleman.

"Mi casa es su casa." she said as she rolled over to let Leif lay next to her. The couple soon drifted off to sleep.

Soon Daisy snuggled against Leif's chest dreamily. Her body was pressed against his greedily absorbing his warm wolf heat, delighting in the softness of his skin against hers, and she reveled in his scent each time she took a breath. He smelled like the woods after a spring rain, overlaid with an essence that was male, warm and slightly musky. There was something infinitely comforting about resting in his arms. She felt so protected, so safe.

Drifting closer to consciousness, she noted that she had snuggled against him entwining him in her arms and legs almost possessively. It was as though in her sleep, the strange longing in her subconscious that she had felt and fought the day before had been unleashed. Now her body and mind purred with happiness as though it had resolved her turmoil by laying physical claim upon his body.

She sighed and carefully removed her limbs from him doing her best not to wake him. He was so beautiful asleep like that, and he could probably use the rest after taking care of her. As she pulled away from him he growled softly and rolled over as though to catch her in his embrace again. Curiously she pulled out of his reach and was rewarded with another dreamy growl of frustration.

It was a strange noise; a deep rumbling in his chest that was a mixture between something fierce and a purr. Definitely not human, but she found it rather... sexy. She could imagine that sound as he lay above her kissing her gently, his lips pressing against hers, the velvety texture of his skin against her, his hands caressing her...

Rolling her eyes at herself she slowly worked her way off the air mattress. She grabbed a lose board, on which to brace herself, and started on her way to the hot spring.

Everything about Daisy's situation confused her. The thought of Leif made her belly feel warm and moisture pooled between her thighs and she hated herself for it. It made her feel like some kind of whore whose lust was so insatiable that she would still desire a man even after she'd been raped brutally. Was this some type of sick coping mechanism? Did she feel so defiled that she wanted to wallow in the shame of it by screwing every man in sight?

Gods she felt so ashamed. What was wrong with her?

The acts of her rapist from that night were emblazoned into her memory. Perhaps when she had been near death in the ravine she'd been too sick and too afraid of her fate to let such things bother her. The need to survive outweighed the need to process, grieve and cope with his brutality and degradation.

Now that she was recovering, the memories hit her like the horrible episodes her dad used to have. As a little girl she could remember moments when he'd suddenly pause trembling and sweating as something triggered a flashback to his time in some unknown war that he'd never talk about. They weren't as frequent now, but he still had moments where his eyes would gloss over and she knew he was watching his buddies getting blown into a million little pieces. She wondered if she'd have flashbacks of that night for the rest of her life, just like her dad still was haunted by his personal terrors.

She tried to analyze it, compartmentalize it, and control the memory through consciously identifying her feelings and processing what they meant. It wasn't the physical beating. She could take that. Beating was painful but impersonal. People got in physical altercations all the time.

Hell. She'd been in a few catfights when she was a kid. No emotional scars. No. The scarring came from the intentional acts of defilement; the words, the animalistic grunting as he repeatedly thrust into her were etched into her mind. The horrible things he'd said to her as he humiliated her echoed in her ears. No one had ever called her those words, and as she choked on his cock covered in her own blood, she'd given up to despair and believed him.

Daisy was sure the scent of his sex and body still lingered in her nose, and several times yesterday she felt like she tasted him still in her mouth. It was almost too much for her to bear.

At last, she made her way to the hot spring, tears filled her eyes as she stepped into the hot water. Daisy opened the bottle of lavender body wash Leif had gotten her. She poured a large amount into the washcloth and scrubbed at her skin. Daisy would scour herself down to the bone in an attempt to rid herself of her attacker's scent.

However, the strong lavender fragrance overwhelmed her senses, filling the air with its scent and erasing the scent of her rapist's body for a few moments. She hadn't told Leif why she needed more body wash and Leif didn't ask.

Perhaps the thoughts had been so emotionally charged, he'd been able to read it in her eyes. She rinsed the soap off and stood under the water again breathing deeply. Daisy was sure her rapist's stale scent still lingered, but it was weaker now. Bitterly she wiped at the tears that were in her eyes. She might never get his rancid odor out of her nose.

She got out of the hot spring and lay nude in the sunny meadow. She couldn't be weak right now. Something peculiar was going on with the gas station, her catlike senses told her Leif needed help. The last thing he needed was some weepy human who couldn't take care of herself at his side.

Back at the gas station, Leif woke up. There was no Daisy next to him. DAM her! Didn't she know how dangerous it was? What if that ancient evil returned? In an instant, Leif, in wolf form, was out in the meadow ready to protect Daisy.

Leif looked at Daisy in the meadow, searching all around for potential danger. He was glad she was healing but he was still concerned. He knew it had taken some powerful magic to bring Daisy into that grove. It was protected by ancient magic that went back to the dawn of time. If he was truly going to protect Daisy, which was what he wanted, Leif was going to have to figure out what was chasing her.