Justlittlebitshy

The snow crunched underneath your feet, your ragged breathing wringing in your ear. "Stay calm." You whispered to yourself, the worst thing you can do in this situation is panic. You look to your surroundings, desperately trying to find something that looks even remotely familiar.

Coming up empty handed, you look towards the sky, noting that the pines here are so tall and mighty you doubt even a smoke signal could get you out of this. That is, if you knew how to make a fire... which you don't.

Damn it. What were you doing here? Did you think you'd suddenly become Steve Irwin and be one with nature-

A howl interrupts your thoughts.

The wolves of this mountain let their presence be known with the sight of the setting sun beyond the tree-line. It reminds you, like cold water being poured down your spine that this is their home, not yours.

You need to get out of here, fast, but picking up the pace is almost impossible, you're exhausted out of your mind. On the other hand if you let the sunset pass and the dark consumes this forest, what would there be left of you?

Maybe it was the stress or the onsetting paranoia you could feel building in your chest, but there's this strange feeling that rolls down shoulders to your lower back; the feeling of being watched.

"Don't think about that." Its for yourself and for yourself only that you say it, not only because of the lack of anyone else to say it too, but because you know once you think it, it won't be long before you believe it.

Regardless, you doubt anyone else would be out here in this storm. You can't even see a foot in front of you and you think someone is watching you? Ridiculous.

The sight of a clearing makes you smile, you must be getting close! You step further with a little bit more determination than before just for it to be crushed all over again.

A giant, gorgeous, frozen, waterfall stood in front of you.

"No..." You whispered in despair.

You had looped back around.

Somehow, at some point, you managed to turn around. That means you were more than an hour away from your cabin and you had little to no time to get back.

The setting sun began to feel less like a beautiful painting and more like a threat in the sky.

"... no no no..." Your breathing spikes and your heart pumps faster than you've ever felt before. You collapse on the ground, your own weight dragging you down to the snow.

Snow? No, this was ice.

Wait, Ice?-

You don't have time to process the crack that reaches your ears, you only feel the freezing, scraping, cold, water breach your clothes and hit your skin.

You manage to successfully grab onto the edge of the opening you created, slicing your palm open on its sharp edges.

You hang on and try to pull yourself up one, two, three, times. By the fourth, you don't have it in you to push forward. You're out of breath and out of strength. Your eyes close and your hand relaxes, succumbing to the dark waters.

Gasp.

The wind of the mountains greets you sharply, biting into your wet skin. You're confused and dazed as how you're breathing or how you were even pulled out of the water, but it doesn't matter right now.

Something sharp grabs onto your jacket and pulls you onto your side, causing you to cough up whatever water was left in your lungs. You hack and wheeze relentlessly for a moment, desperately trying to find your breath.

"Thank-" *cough* *cough* "-you." You croak once you have the strength. "Thank you.." You whisper it like a prayer. Blinking up to the cloudy sky, you hear a growl or maybe a huff? You couldn't tell, so tired that it didn't even occur to you to be confused.

Tunnel vision slowly set in along with a twinge of fear in your heart. You guessed your tiredness must be causing you to hallucinate because the last thing you saw before you passed out was a blur of thick white fur and a pair of daunting, yellow, eyes.

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"Cmon' sweetheart, don't leave me hangin'."

It's said far away, farther than you can even think of going right now. All you want to do is stay in this warm, dark, place. At least here your bones don't ache and your muscles don't feel tense. What else could you want?

A cold touch meets your temple, you quiver at the sensation.

"Don't you wanna say thank you to me again?" It's closer this time, much closer. "You said it so pretty for me last time." The voice feels almost like it's right up to your ear now but somehow you know it isn't.

Your eyes open slowly.

"There she is."

Crystal blue eyes greet you, so blue and so light, yet dark and cloudy in a way color on its own can't describe. The face that comes with them isn't any less beautiful, despite its clear age. Dark blonde hair with a few gray strands, tamed facial hair to match, and a menacing yet gorgeous scar that ran from the bottom left side of his jaw, up his cheek, through his hair, and ended at the tip of his cranium.

"I-" You tried to speak but only a rasp came out followed by several coughs. "Easy there." The man said, slowly hoisting you up so you could breathe easier. He held you there for a second till your coughing ceased and he was sure you could hold yourself up.

He separated himself from you for only a second to grab something; water, to your relief. "Here." He whispered. "Drink slowly, there's no rush." The blue eyed man held the bottle to your lips and you greedily took it from his grasp, ignoring his words, taking gulp after gulp, feeling like there's a dessert forming in your mouth.

To no one's surprise, you end up in another coughing fit. The man sighed deeply. "Live and learn, I guess." You hear him say, but despite his clear frustration, there's still a hand that comes to your back and rubs slow circles there.

You finally regain your voice after a moment. "Who are you?" You asked to the best of your ability. The man before you smiled, a toothy, sly, grin that was charming in a way you didn't quite understand. "Straight to the questions, huh?" He quipped comically.

You ignored his comment. "Were you the one who pulled me out of the water?" You probe once more. The scarred stranger squinted his eyes at your persistence, looking like he was mulling something over in his mind. "Yes." He said after a moment. "Yes, I was." He continued to stare at you silently.

His response makes your eyes widen. "You..." What should you even say? "You saved me." There really wasn't much else to state other than the truth. "I owe you my life."

He smiled, but not like before. This smile made you uncomfortable in a way that you couldn't quite pin down. Maybe it was because it didn't reach his eyes, maybe it was because it showed off his sharp looking molars, but it was probably because it felt too eager, almost uncanny.

His smile dropped.

"I'll hold you to that."

Without another word, you watched as he stood from where he crouched next to you and walked over to a table in the corner of the... room? Wait, was this not a house?

The sudden realization that you were completely unfamiliar with your surroundings puts you on high alert. its only now that you notice that the walls are not made of wood or brick, but a jagged, uneven, surface that you could only assume was stone. Mountain stone.

Your view of the ceiling confirms your suspicions, as you realize all light in the room comes from an old oil lantern, no ceiling fixtures or electrical lighting to be found.

What is this place?

"Do you live here?" You asked quietly, surprised by the echo, how did you not notice beofre? He looks at you with a raised brow and you immediately rectify your words. "Not that there's anything wrong if you did live here, it's lovely! Actually its perfect, you have great taste in decoration-"

"I don't." He cuts off your restless rambling with two syllables.

Well, that's a relief.

You look around once more, visibly confused, so he answers you without prompt. "I just come to do some work here." Suddenly things become a little more clear to you. "Oh, so you hunt or something like that?" It was your only guess for the array of tools on the table.

"Something like that."

While you didn't appreciate his vagueness, you guessed the man didn't technically owe you anything. Actually it was you who was in debt to him and here you were being rude of all things.

The room... cave?.... goes quiet once more, mostly because you're unable to find anything else to say. Your eyes peer down in your silence and find your hand. Right, the cut from the ice. It's been neatly bandaged since the last time you saw it, though it clearly needed to be changed, the dressing already being multiple shades of red.

That's funny, you don't remember it being that big. It's crazy how adrenaline works, you suppose.

You watch as your savior sharpens a hunting knife, the sound eerily filling the space.

Shing.

Shing.

You try to rise from your spot on top of the stacked animal pelts but are met with hazy vision and labored breath. "Look, I really appreciate everything you've done for me, but I should really get going."

The knife thuds as its plunged into the table, a deafening silence follows.

"Why the rush, sweetheart?" He speaks, but it's different now, rougher now.

You can't lie and say the way he was looking at you wasn't incredibly intimidating. "Well... I should probably get this checked out by doctor-" You raise your hand to show him. "And I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome." You finish with what you hope is a polite smile but probably comes across meeker than you intend.

He huffs like you just personally offended him. "You've really only been here for a couple hours." He pauses to walk back over to you. "That storm outside hasn't blown over yet and we both know you're in no condition to hike your way back." He kneels in front of you, taking your hand in his, as he slowly unwraps the bandage on your hand.

Theres is a strange trance that comes with the sight of this scarred, calloused, man doing something painfully gently. He reaches for clean gauze with his other hand, not daring to let go of your injured one. It didn't occur to you to question why one man would need several dozen stacks of gauze in all sorts of different shapes and sizes.

"You should get some more sleep." You let him lay you back down against the pelts, not too sure why, you'd never let a stranger get this close. "Tomorrow morning, when the weather calms down a bit, we'll see what we can do about getting you back to your cabin, alright?"

You nod against the hand on your cheek, thoughtlessly. Wait-

"How do you know about my cabin?"

The question leaves you before you can even process what it insinuates, but when you do your eyes widen and lock onto him, like deer caught in headlights.

Theres a beat of silence.

He doesn't answer, he only smiles that same toothy grin from before, like an animal bearing its teeth before the pounce.

You stand up slowly, still unstable from your blackout, but determined nonetheless. He watches as you steadily back up away from him towards what you can only assume is an exit.

He sighs and shakes his head, smile still on his face.

"Had to make things difficult, didn't you?"

You run.

You're out the den faster than you anticipated, rushing past trees and hills at speeds that confuse you but are grateful for.

Theres not much time for thinking but you do note that you've never run like this before in your life. It feels like your feet are about to fly out from underneath you, like they're their own being separate from the rest of you.

You run with no direction, or so you think. You let your legs do all the thinking and take you where they deemed you should go.

Imagine your surprise when you find your way to the waterfall you met your demise at?

"Not this again..." You say slightly, but barely, out of breath.

You slowly come to a stop, feeling like you've put enough distance between you and the cave. Your ears assure you that you're not being followed, detecting no signs of rushed footsteps or ragged breath. Actually, did you even see that guy follow you out of the den?

From here, you thought, you should be able to make it back to your cabin, pack up your things, and make it to a town. It's dark out now, but it doesn't scare you. Theres a strange determination building in your head that doesn't quite mind the challenging environment.

You make a point to walk slowly moving forward, avoiding the spots on the ground you know will give away your position. Even though you technically have no reason to think so, there's still a chance that you're being followed.

After what you guessed was about an hour, you finally noticed that the trees started to disperse bit by bit, which means that they are clearing the way for something, most likely your cabin, but at this point you'd take any human establishment.

And there it was was. After what felt like forever and several traumatizing experiences later, you finally made it back to your cabin. it sat there exactly as you left it the night before, lights on-

"You did good."

It's said behind you in a rough, gravelly voice. You whip around, immediately expecting to find the strange man from before but there's nothing there.

Your eyes whip from one direction to the other, scramming to look for the danger.

"I didn't expect you to get this far but..."

The voice seemingly moves from place to place without any motion, moving like smoke over a fire.

"Here we are."

You spin in place, heart pounding as you look for the voices origin but are met with a sight that knocks the wind out of you.

Yellow eyes like the sun, teeth like knifes, fur as white as snow, and a long pointed scar running through its face.

The wolf opened its mouth and spoke.

"Ive never seen it work this fast before." You watch as its inhuman lips curl and enunciate every word perfectly. "I knew I was right about you." Theres a sick and twisted chuckle that follows the last sentence, it left no doubt in you that this thing was the man you met before.

The beast circles you slowly, rounding you again and again in silence, its eyes never leaving your silhouette. "What are you?" The question leaves you in a sour tone that he doesn't seem to appreciate.

"You'll know soon enough."

It's the last thing he says before you hear a growl and a bark. You've been tackled to the ground, back hitting the sharp rocks harshly.

With you down on the ground, the creature walks out of your field of vision and towards your legs. You hoist yourself upon on your forearms to see him standing by your feet.

"This will hurt." He pauses not for a moment of light hesitation. "I'll make it up to you later, I promise." His words make your eyes widen.

"Wait-"

Teeth clamp down on your ankle. A searing pain and your wild screams follow shortly. Your body doesn't know if it should lay down, sit up, or curl up and die. Not that you could though, a swift look downward lets you know that he has not let go.

Looking down was almost worse than the actual pain itself. The sight of pooling blood distorting the view of your limb, where there was once your ankle there was snow a strange, painful, blur of flesh and blood.

Teeth dig deeper into your already damaged joint. The pain is so strong you don't even notice the world around you starts to move as he drags you from your spot on the ground deeper into the woods.

You don't know if you passed out from the loss of blood or the pain, but you were glad it was over. You embraced the dark, heavy, state of unconsciousness like an old friend, hoping that when you awoke once more you'd find yourself in your bed, breathing heavily and a sweaty brow as you realized it was all a dream in your head.

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Leon was never the sentimental type.

He lived his disgraced life as he should, alone. Endlessly wandering this seemingly infinite frozen landscape for however long he had left.

Why should it be any other way?

Wasn't this the way of life of a beast? Of him?

The world had dealt him the card of monster, so that's the one he will play. He clearly wasn't anything else.

So, why? He asks himself.

Why save you?

Why pull you out of the hole you dug yourself into?

He could've done it, if he so wished. Prey had never been served easier or prettier.

He'll never forget that moment, his teeth so close to your neck, your blood audibly pumping through your veins, it was perfect. Like dinner served on a silver platter.

So, why? Why pass up on the first human he had seen in months?

Maybe it's the natural prey drive in him, he thinks. The need to hunt down his meal and play with his food before he can eat. To make you trust him, be comfortable with him, and then and only then sink his teeth into your flesh.

No... there's more to it than that.

It was probably because when he got close to you for the first time, you thanked him. So purely and desperately, not caring who or what was on its receiving end.

Or maybe it was the way your eyes fluttered gently when you were unconscious, dreaming of better circumstances for sure, but he found himself wanting to know.

Perhaps, it was the way your chest rose and fell with the rhythm of your breathing. In and out like a melody. So peaceful, so serene, so alive.

Regardless of the reason, you were an enigma to him, something rare and precious, and that was more than enough for him to take your injured hand, hold it close to his cheek, and then take a small but precise bite.

Not enough for you to immediately notice when you woke but enough for his DNA to mix with yours. He guessed it didn't matter anymore, if that wasn't enough to make the change than the fresh bite on your ankle defiantly will.

He didn't want to hurt you. It just wasn't in his plan for you to be able to get away so fast and he had to bring you back somehow. He's keeping his promise though. As you lay unconscious on his pile of pelts once more, he gently cleans and wraps the wounded area with expert care. He promises to catch something big for you once he can go out again.

He presses a kiss to your shin as you grimace in your sleep. Life may have dealt him a bad hand but you may just have traded him your royal flush, and he's not gonna let it go to waste.

He tucked a strand of hair away from your face.

You're not getting away from him anytime soon.

Anon if your reading this im so sorryyyyyyy, I know this took me forever. But I hope you enjoyed nonetheless! And thank you so very much for being my first request!! Im honored to have written it :)

Incase anyone was wondering, this of coarse does not follow the storyline of the wifey universe. But! if you liked this and wanna see more of my writing or send in a request you can find all of that here.

Lowkey tempted to follow up on this.... mmm idk. We'll see!