The Price of Freedom

Disclaimer: Wolf, the Evil Queen, and the concepts therein belong to the great person who created them and gave them to the fans. This is just a little bit of fluff that I wrote after reading the book. Enjoy!

Thirteen years in prison is a long time. But a lifetime is even longer. Nobody knew this better than Wolf. Just Wolf, since his mother hadn't been creative enough, or perhaps foresighted enough, to give her only son a name that wouldn't get him humiliated at school. Wolf the Wolf had been serving a life sentence in the Snow White Memorial Prison since he had eaten three farms' worth of sheep when he was seventeen. He had just hit his thirtieth birthday two months ago. A lifetime spent behind bars.

Wolf shifted slightly from his position on the bare prison floor, his body contorted into a pathetic, little ball of torn clothing and embarrassingly furless skin. It just about killed his back but it was still better than being in chains twenty-four hours a day as was the customary imprisonment for criminal wolves who had not been burned. Sometimes being half human had its advantages. Most of the time though, it bit tail.

Just as Wolf was about to get up and pace his cell floor for the umpteenth time he heard shouting in the halls. The voices were his unseen prison mates but over that was a scent. A new scent that wasn't dirty or smelly or male. A delectable female scent. It had been years since Wolf had seen a real woman. He just had to see this woman that had that incredible scent!

Hopping lightly to his feet and pointedly ignoring the ache in his back, Wolf went quickly over to his door. He stopped momentarily to carefully lick his right hand clean and then ran it through his wild, dark hair. Self-grooming may have been considered a disgusting animal trait by his fellow inmates but there was no denying that it kept Wolf cleaner than everyone else. That became important now. A man, even a half man, had to look presentable when a lady was around.

Wolf curiously peered out of his tiny door window. It was only big enough for the guards to shove what they called food through it. When they remembered to feed him that is. They said the window size was for the guards' protection but Wolf knew better. It was to torment him, to keep his view of the world outside of his cell as limited as possible.

Standing before him was a lovely, older woman with an aura of power around her that was practically palpable. Wolf could almost smell the magic radiating off of her. As it was the woman made his hackles rise. Suddenly the woman noticed him and he fought the urge to shrink away. Her stare was cold, unattached, and violating all at the same time.

"You," she said and her voice was as lovely and powerful and horrible as the rest of her. Wolf knew he should turn away or call for the guards; this woman was so obviously bad. But he wanted to be set free more than anything and something told him that she might grant his desire if he played along. And after all, who was he to judge? Wasn't he a big, bad wolf?

"Hello," he said, his voice only slightly hoarse from disuse. He managed to flash the woman his most charming smile.

"What are you?" she asked and Wolf cringed mentally. Was it that obvious that he wasn't completely human? She would be repulsed if she knew his true nature. Everyone was. He decided it would best to lie.

"Me? A very fine chap, falsely imprisoned on a trumped-up-"

"Do not make me ask again." Her voice had gone even colder and despite his best efforts Wolf shivered. She was not a woman he wanted to mess with when she was mad. Or even happy for that matter. Perhaps it would be best to tell the truth after all. He was a terrible liar anyway.

"I'm a," Wolf paused and put a finger to his lips for quiet, knowing as he talked that his eyes were flashing that irritating yellow color, "half wolf."

Instead of being disgusted and walking away as he expected, the woman smiled. Somehow that smile frightened Wolf more than anything else. There was evil in that smile. The regal woman came close to his door and the unlatched the lock. Wolf would have bounded out and left the woman far behind had she not had her hand still on the door, keeping it shut.

"If I let you out, you must agree to serve me without question," the Queen, for she could be nothing else, ordered, still staring at him intently with those penetrating eyes.

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, I'll serve you anything. I am your wolf. Loyalty is my middle name." He knew he was babbling, which he did when he was nervous, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. The Queen could though, glaring him into silence as he stepped out of his cell for the first time in thirteen years.

"Give your will to me," the Queen demanded. Her voice had taken a strange, melodious quality to it, the sound of which filled Wolf's mind and made him feel confused and unsettled. His fear came back tenfold and he struggled to find his voice, to refuse, to accept, to do anything except stand there and listen to her wonderful, terrifying voice.

"Be mine, to summon and control." This time her voice was completely irresistible and Wolf knew he couldn't refuse her. He blinked once and nodded rapidly, trying to look away.

"Yes," he answered finally and the spell was immediately broken. Wolf could move again and move he did, trying to put as much distance between him and his new boss as he could. He had dreamt of leaving his cell and being free for years. He was now out of his cell, but he was most certainly not free. Wolf had just sold his soul to the Devil and he knew it. He just hoped that when the time came he'd be able to pay the price.