A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and your patience. Here's the second installment, in Loki's pov as promised. I hope you enjoy. I did rush it out, so please forgive any typos. Let me know, and I'll correct them asap.

Little Red

Part 2

When Loki Laufeyson arrived in Snow Haven from the town of Blithe nearly a month ago, he hadn't really expected to find that which he was sent for. The official reason was to look after his maternal aunt, Frigga, and keep her safe from the beast that hunted the surrounding forests while his cousin, Thor, and his uncle-by-marriage, Odin, traveled with the hunting party up the mountain for bigger game. His father had an entirely different reason for sending him however. Loki's mother had passed away nearing five years ago, and Laufey was growing impatient for grandchildren. Since Loki firmly refused to marry any woman from Blithe, Laufey had sent his son back to the obscure village of their birth to search for his true mate.

"It won't be easy living with wolf hunters," Laufey had warned. "Take extra care, and resist your urge for trickery, my son."

As Loki had sworn, he'd done his best. There were times when Thor had grown curious as to Loki's speed or agility, but the werewolf had managed to play it down to simply lacking the muscle bulk that Thor possessed. Two weeks after Loki had arrived and one week before the hunting party had left, something wondrous and yet awful happened.

Since his arrival, Loki had scented hints of something divine in the air of Snow Haven. He'd instantly longed to track it, but with the villagers milling about in the town square muddling it up, it was all but impossible. On that fateful day, however, Thor had managed to convince his father of his intent to wed one of the Foster girls. Loki had, of course, been certain the blond oaf had meant the elder daughter, who was still unattached, but in a blatant disregard for tradition, the man had announced his desire for the younger of the two. Thor's insistence for Jane Foster was one of the only things Loki could recall father and son of the Odinson family every disagreeing on – rather loudly at that. Being the only oddity he could find in this small little village, he began finding himself watching Jane to see if he couldn't place what was so special about her. For the first few days, it was only in passing as he went about tasks for his aunt. On the third day, however, Frigga had had Loki escort her to the village bakery, where he found that elusive and divine scent that had been teasing him coated the place with heavy abundance. But was it the elder or the younger daughter's, he wondered.

That night, after the Odinson household was fast asleep; Loki transformed under the moon's light and went to the Foster's home. Again the divine scent his wolf recognized as his mate's cloaked the area thickly, but the other scents were so closely intermingled, it was difficult to separate them. He'd decided the next day to watch the eldest sister more closely, since she was more his own age of twenty and five. Thor's beloved Jane, though lovely in every way, was certainly still more child than woman – or so he told himself.

He'd risen the next morning fully intent on watching Sif, when a small, cloaked figure in the distance heading into the forest had caught his attention. Grey eyes squinted as he tried to get a better look at the figure, but to no avail. With a soft growl and a cautionary glance around, Loki went about following the mysterious stranger. He grinned as he gave into a stealthy chase. His observatory prey was both lithe and nearly silent as they rushed through his forest, and the werewolf relished in the simple pleasure of giving into his baser self.

He could tell by the way the figure would pause every-so-often, their body dropping close to the ground before promptly straightening back up and moving again that this person was tracking something. 'Ah, hunting a hunter,' Loki grinned to himself as he fought off his transformation, stayed a few paces behind, and slyly ducked around trees. Then it happened, the figure stiffened and removed the bow that was a crossed their back, taking an arrow out of their quiver as well, and prepared to take aim at a straggling elk.

Most of the larger animals had fled further up the mountain the moment Loki had stepped foot into Snow Haven, instinctually knowing his true nature. Now, watching this hunter take aim at one of the only large game animals left in the forest, Loki was both impressed and slightly fearful. If they could track this lone creature with such ease, what hope had he of escaping them when his wolf form left such large tracks? It was obvious by the mere fact they were here, in his forest, alone that they were fearless. If this particular prey didn't fear him, he'd have no choice but to kill them to ensure his survival – though he loathed the idea of killing any human.

The wind shifted as the huntsman released his arrow and struck down the elk. Loki could now smell that this huntsman was in fact a huntress, and not any huntress at that. "Mate," he growled softly to himself, swallowing thickly and closing his eyes as a wolfish gold invaded his usual grey. The beast within him wanted out, wanted to claim her now. "No," he whispered, fighting it back, sweat beading across his brow, "not now."

Normally the alpha blood that coursed through his veins would grant him absolute control over his baser form, but the presence of their mate and the sound of an approaching mountain wolf, drawn by the fresh scent of elk's blood, left him as vulnerable as a bitten cur. Clamping his top teeth over his bottom lip, Loki ignored the blood dribbling down his chin as he attempted to muffle the sounds of pain from fighting against the transformation. He wanted to speak to her, to see her face and finally know her name, not frighten her away with his hellish form. But the knowledge that she was in danger over ran every other instinct in his body.

'Protect,' the wolf growled inside his mind, 'claim.'

And Loki was left powerless to argue. With a silenced roar he held tightly within his throat, he shifted from a man into an animal. His lupine eyes glancing just in time to see the feral beast pull back his lips and growl at his mate – his! A vicious sound left him then and the huntress fell backwards onto her bottom, her cloak's hood slipping off to reveal caramel tresses as her head made contact with the forest's floor. Sparing a glance to make certain she was unharmed, though apparently unconscious, he leaped out from behind the cover of trees to land in front of her with an equally as fierce expression. His mate didn't stir, the stillness of her form and the shallowness of her breathing added to his wolf's growing frustration.

'Protect,' the wolf growled internally again, 'claim.'

The ravenous wolf charged forward then, risking it's life to attack the enormous werewolf in hopes of retrieving the slaughtered elk. Loki's beast was in no mood to allow either mate or her kill to be lost to the creature before him, and surged forward. For several minutes they snapped, growled, and gnawed at each other, each unwilling to admit defeat. Loki, whose main concern was to protect the girl, spent most of the time on defense, hoping the smaller creature would concede him the victory and flee. He'd underestimated how strong hunger could be as a motivator however, and how obvious he'd been in his efforts to protect his mate.

Panting heavily, the mountain wolf had faked a lunge towards the dead elk, only to change direction at the last second, slipping underneath Loki's furry body and sinking his fowl teeth into the girl's tender arm flesh.

Enraged, Loki had let out a fearsome sound before grabbing the pathetic creature by the scruff of his neck and flinging him into the nearest tree as hard as possible. The creature yelped upon contact, the tree cracking from the force of the throw as the wolf's limp body fell to the ground. The threat now neutralized, Loki turned his lupine head to take in his unconscious and injured mate. Stepping towards her, he did his best in his current form to assess her wounds, going so far as to lick the mountain wolf's teeth marks until his saliva had not only cleaned the married flesh, but had begun to nit it back together.

"Oh, love," he sighed out softly, his naked body leaning over the girl as he took in the sight of her for the first time as a man. Internally, Loki argued with himself, but eventually lifted who he now recognized as Jane Foster into his arms and carried her quickly to her grandmother's cabin a short distance away in the woods. Once there, he'd laid her down in front of the door and knocked urgently before running a short distance and ducking behind some trees, where he watched until the old woman had brought her safely inside. He'd returned for his mate's elk, again carrying it to her grandmother's home and knocking on the door before hiding further along in the forest. Loki had returned to the Odinson's late that night, having washed any blood off in the river, but lacking any spare clothes in the forest into which to cover his nakedness.

Having found out Jane Foster was his mate had filled Loki with a joy he'd not know since his mother's passing, but also knowing Thor – a wolf hunter – wanted her for his own… It's nearly drove him to madness. He'd tried to sway the muscle bound blond towards the elder sister under the guise of proprieties sake, but Thor would hear none of it.

"Jane Foster is the loveliest woman for miles," he'd defended his choice. "Not to mention one of the finest cooks. She'd keep a good house, Loki, make a fine wife, and I'll hear nothing more on the matter."

So it was the day before the hunting party embarked on their journey up the mountain that Thor, with Loki and Odin as witnesses, had cornered Erik, the girl's father, and stated his proposal for Jane's hand. Of course Erik had been concerned over Sif, but in the end the old codger had grinned and said, "if you can convince my Jane to wed you, then you may have her!"

Thor, the witless oaf, had smiled his blindingly bright smile and clapped the patriarch of the Foster family on the back roughly. "Consider it done then," he'd boasted loudly, and quite happily.

Loki had felt as if stones had settled into his stomach until a little more than a week after the hunting party had left. His Jane had been in his forest again – alone, he grinned – and Loki had done his best to keep an eye on her as she'd picked berries down by the river. It had been late by the time they'd arrived back into the village, and Loki had hidden as soon as he'd caught scent of Sif growing closer. The two girls had talked a bit as they hurried into their home, locking the doors and windows as wolf's time drew near.

It was later on that night, after the initial pain from his transformation had passed, that he regained enough conscious thought to process the words his mate and her sister were exchanging – and they were about Thor! His mate, it seemed, was entirely opposed to marrying his cousin. In fact, she stated that she wouldn't even consider the idea of it! 'Bless you,' he'd thought, the heavy weight he'd been carrying around lifting instantly.

He'd slept soundly that night, both beast and man, fully planning on officially introducing himself to his Jane the next day. His hope was to woo the youngest Foster and wed her before Thor even returned; or if not wed, then at the very least openly courting one another. Of course with her father currently absent, he'd need the grandmother's permission to call on Jane – it was only proper protocol after all. But first, he needed to lay his ground work…