The night was cold and full of a terrifying and chilling evil. The forest of Lycridan stretched out for miles and held a dark secret inside of it. Many had abandoned their villages on the outskirts of the forest for one simple reason.
Werewolves.
The forest was huge and had been the home of a clan of werewolves for centuries. For a long time they merely terrorized those on their border for fun and because they didn't want their clan to be discovered and hunted down much like other dark creatures of the night. It wasn't until they realized that they were dying and their women weren't having children that they finally took a brutal turn.
The clan lashed out at the few villages that surrounded their large forest. They easily snatched the women and drove the men away. There was nothing to stop the wolves as they attacked and killed innocent children and men only to take their sisters and mothers away.
There was only one village that put up a good fight and held the wolves at bay for several years.
Alba.
Alba was a rather large village and might even be considered a town in other areas across the land. They had many strong men that defended their women and homes. It was a valiant fight, but the wolves eventually received the upper hand.
Now the elders in the wolf clan knew that merely taking the women wouldn't solve the problem. Human were frail creatures, especially the women, and they didn't live as long as the wolves. They knew that they needed to keep this village going if they wanted to keep their clan from becoming extinct as others before them.
Once the elders discovered a route around extinguishing Alba they quickly put their plan into motion.
Sacrifice.
Sacrifice was the only way. They decided that they would ask for a young woman, preferably in her best child bearing years, every five years. Since the members of the wolf clan lived long lives they didn't necessarily need to procreate more than every five years. They also didn't want their secret discovered and demanded tribute to them as well.
The elders were afraid of what would happen if those in Alba truly knew the need for the sacrifice.
The clan had been sick for a long time. They didn't understand where it came from but decided they must've been cursed. Their women could not bear children. If the humans ever found out then they would have the advantage.
In a clever attempt to throw off the villagers in Alba, the elders began to send some of their people to visit the village as travelers. No one in Alba ever saw the wolves and lived, and they especially had never seen one in its human form. Even if they did see one, such as when the strangers came through the village, they didn't suspect a thing. The werewolves looked quite human and knew human behavior very well.
It didn't take much to convince the frightened villagers of the horrors that took place when their beautiful daughters were stolen into the night. They quickly spread rumors of the wolves mutilating and eating the heart to give them strength. It was all nonsense but the villagers believed it without a single doubt in their mind.
As a last precaution to make sure that their clan lived on, the elders made sure the ritual was done on the night of the new moon. Despite the popular belief that the wolves changed during a full moon they had the ritual and sacrifice take place on a new moon where they were at their strongest.
Rafe.
Rafe was the son of a rather unimportant and long forgotten werewolf. His father had stolen one of the human brides and forced himself to her. He had been desperate to prove himself and only received banishment for his heinous crime. Naturally the deed was done and the human mother gave birth to a healthy and quite strong baby.
The poor boy was at the bottom of the food chain in the clan. He was recognized for nothing and often was given little recognition. He hated it, especially since he couldn't understand the traditions. He was quite close to his mother and she told him more about humans than was typically allowed. Rafe realized that he related more with the humans than with his clan.
Red.
She was the most beautiful woman he had ever known. For the past ten years he had watched over her. He had stumbled upon her quite by accident even though she was none the wiser over the incident. It was just after he was recovered from a terrible fight and had gone for a run along the edge of the forest.
The first time he spotted her was by a stream retrieving water. She was young then, but still beautiful in his eyes. Her hair was rich in its color of red and she was always alone. He had noticed a rather hungry wolf stalking towards her in the trees and knew right then he had to do something. This was no one from his clan, but rather a regular wolf who was suffering from an empty stomach.
Rafe refused to accept the law of nature in that moment he saw the wolf with his eye on the young girl. Rafe tore through the shadows and the trees before snatching the wolf and taking it far away from that stream and away from Red.
After that day Rafe realized that he didn't have to be alone any longer. Even though he never approached her he felt close to her and she always made him feel better when he was struggling in the clan. He knew she didn't know of him but he was tempted on several occasions to reveal himself to her just to see how she would react. Red was different from all of the other humans in the village. She didn't mind straying close to the forest and she never seemed scared when the dark shadows took over the land as night fell.
As Rafe kept a careful eye on her over the years he realized slowly that she was hated by those in her village. It was at this realization that he knew she would be put up to sacrifice one way or another. The first time she was of age to be sacrificed he was relieved to find she wasn't the one to wear the cloak of red.
New Moon.
It had been five years from that time that Rafe tried to do his best in approaching the counsel of elders to see if there was some other way to keep their clan from dying. He had a terrible feeling that hung over his head for those five years that Red would be next. He didn't understand it in anyway. All he knew was that her time had been cut and the sand was running down slowly but steadily.
That terrible night Rafe shifted into his wolf form like the other men in the clan. Even though Rafe was as close to an outcast as he could be without actually being tossed away he was still one of the strongest in the clan and was expected at the ritual. They always sent the biggest and the strongest to bring the sacrifice back just incase the humans decided to turn on the century old agreement and fight back.
Waiting.
They had waited in the dark shadows for over an hour. He could feel many of the others around him getting restless as their paws shifted on the crispy and dead leaves. Fall was nearly over and the first storm of winter would be there within a few short weeks.
It had seemed like a long wait in eternity before they heard the soft footsteps approach. The night was blacker than ink and the stars were barely able to twinkle against such a looming darkness. Without the moon to guide them in the sky they seemed lost and stuck in a hopeless search.
The wolves loved this time. Their eyes were accustomed to such darkness and had no trouble seeing through the trees with such limited light. Their senses were alive and tingling as the woman stepped further and further into the forest. She couldn't possibly know she was only moments away before she would be surrounded.
The first wolf stepped forward before the others spread through the trees and flanked themselves around the woman who wore the devil's coat. The cloak of red had never been a demand of the clan. Rafe supposed that the village made their women wear it as werewolves were supposedly damned creatures and that the women would have no salvation.
Rafe stepped into his place and felt the hairs on his nose ripple uncomfortably as the wind tugged her scent his way.
It was Red.
The pain that ripped through him was unnoticeable by those around him. He did not want such a beautiful and lonely creature to be doomed to such a terrible fate. He glanced her way as they moved quickly through the woods shepherding her towards their home deep in the forest. He was surprised to see a small smile on her face.
Despite the ugly evil that surrounded her she seemed calm. Had she accepted her fate so easily? It seemed preposterous to Rafe that this woman was easily walking to her ill awaited doom. All of the others he had seen come to the village were terrified and some even wailed for days.
Even in all the years he had watched over her and having the feeling she would be sacrificed he had never excepted this from her. Red was different and he hoped that for once this would be in her favor.