A/N: Hey my very few but lovely readers! I'm so sorry for not updating my story for... more than a year... Don't worry, I'm not going to quit writing this story, I've just been a little busy...So sorry and hope you guys like this chapter! :)

Chapter 4

The sound of twigs snapping and dead leaves crunching got closer to Elsa. Suddenly, she felt a warm breath on her neck. As she moved her head, she heard a low, menacing growl. She lifted her head to come face to face with a large wolf. A set of razor sharp teeth gleamed in the moonlight, and there was the pungent smell of rotting flesh in its breath. Behind it was its pack and they were all drawing closer to her with their teeth bared and hair raised, waiting for their leader's signal to attack the prey.

Elsa felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. They must have smelled her blood. She tried to summon her powers in her hands to strike the wolf, but she was too weak, and it was as though her powers had been drained out of her. Her last resort was to run. Though it did not seem likely to make a large difference in her fate, there was no harm in trying.

She felt adrenaline pump through her veins and her heart raced. Okay. 1. 2. 3. She pushed herself off the ground and scrambled over the tree roots, running as fast as she could. She knew without looking back that the wolves were closing in on her as she could almost feel them clawing at the hem of her dress.

There was a sudden sharp pain in her right leg, causing her to scream in agony and fall to the ground. A wolf had sunken its teeth into her leg. Before she knew it, she was being brutally dragged along the cold hard ground, thrashing and writhing in agony. The pain was so unbearable that she thought she might pass out. Just then, something whizzed right past her face and lodged itself into the wolf's shoulder, causing the wolf to release her leg with a sharp yelp and run away. It was an arrow.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" someone shouted. It was a boy's voice, but she did not recognize it as Jack's.

A few more arrows were shot and the remaining wolves backed off and ran away.

"Are you alright?" A boy with dirty-blonde hair, freckles and astonishingly green eyes appeared in front of Elsa looking extremely worried. He had a bow and arrow slung over his shoulder. Not buff, but toned, and he looked around the same age as Jack. Maybe slightly older. She was suddenly made aware of her terrible state and how awful she must have looked. Still out of breath, she quickly nodded, bowing her head so that the boy would not see her face. "No, you're absolutely not alright." He concluded, seeing the gaping wound in her leg. "I'm going to carry you back to my house cause you're in serious need of medical attention."

"No, it's okay, I can walk." She said suddenly.

"Nope. Not an option. And also, you're not wearing shoes, so that's final." He said firmly. And before Elsa could respond, he scooped her up in his strong arms. Elsa winced when he moved her leg. "Sorry… I'll help you clean up that wound when we get to my house." She was too weak and tired to struggle, so she just closed her eyes and let him carry her.

When they emerged from the forest, Jack noticed them from afar and immediately recognized Elsa's distinct platinum blonde hair. He dashed over in record time. As he got closer, he noticed her beautiful blonde hair was streaked with blood, her dress torn and tattered, multiple cuts and bruises on her face and arms and there was a large, gaping wound on her right leg.

"... Elsa..." he barely choked out. Elsa opened an eye when she heard her name. When she saw Jack, she was hit with immense guilt for leaving him behind and she could tell he was very worried. The sight of the village coming into view suddenly reminded her of the harsh reality she had tried to escape, causing her numbed senses to wake up to the emotional and physical pain that now hit her all at once. She felt Jack's worried and painful gaze sweep over her, but could not control the tears that flooded down her cheeks. Seeing Elsa in this state broke Jack's heart.

"What happened to her? And who are you? Where are you taking her?" Jack demanded answers from the blonde-haired boy.

"She was attacked by wolves and I'm taking her to my house to get her cleaned up," The boy replied breathlessly as he continued walking briskly.

"Like hell you're taking her to your house! What makes you think you can just take the princess home?! I'm taking her!" Jack flared up, attempting to snatch Elsa from the boy's arms.

"I wasn't gonna leave her there in the forest to die! And who are you to say I cannot be trusted with the princess?! I know I can be trusted, but how would I know I can trust YOU with the princess?" Before Jack could retort, the boy carried Elsa into one of the houses and shut the door in Jack's face. Jack could not understand his own emotions, he did not know why he would suddenly get mad at someone else for no reason. It was not like him at all. But what he knew for sure was that he had to protect Elsa no matter what… and he had failed that day.

When the boy had carried Elsa into his house, he walked into one of the rooms, gently set her down on a bed, and left the room without a word. He returned later with a large bowl of water, a few towels and bandages. Elsa was still curled up in a ball, hugging herself tightly and staring straight ahead with a distant look in her eyes.

"Hey," The boy whispered, waving a hand in front of her face. "You alright?"

She looked up at him sadly. He could see the pain and grief in her large blue eyes and his heart ached for her. Setting the bowl and towels on the table, he then walked over to help her sit up properly by propping up some pillows behind her. "Okay, I'm really sorry, but I'm going to need to clean up the wound on your leg first. It's probably going to hurt... Like a lot." He passed her a pillow, "Here, you can hug it or scream into it. It'll help ease the pain."

With that, he soaked a towel and started to clean up the dried blood around the wound. He looked up to see her hugging the pillow tightly with her face buried in it. "Hope that didn't hurt too much… cause what I'm going to do next may feel like the end of the world." He held up a glass bottle containing a transparent brownish liquid. "I'm going to pour some vinegar on the wound to reduce the chances of infection. Please bear with me." Uncorking the bottle, he then held her ankle gently but firmly and poured the liquid over the wound. Elsa bit her tongue in attempt to mute her screaming, but it did not help. She found herself screaming her lungs out into the pillow. He was right. The pain was excruciating. More excruciating than being bitten by the wolf itself. She tried to kick her leg out of his hand, but his grip was too strong.

As the pain slowly began to subside, she leaned her head back and drew in deep breaths. She could no longer feel her leg and did not even realize that he had covered the open wound with medicinal herbs and wrapped her leg with bandages.

Dipping a new cloth in the bowl of water, he gently picked up her hand to clean up the cuts, and cringed when he saw the large crimson gashes on her palm. She avoided his questioning gaze and stared solemnly out of the window. He attempted to dab away the blood that oozed out from the cuts, but as soon as the towel came in contact with a cut, she winced and the towel suddenly turned to ice. The boy instinctively let go of the towel and stared in astonishment as it fell to the floor with a solid clunk. Elsa immediately withdrew her hand and scooted away fearfully from the boy.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that it was an accident I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." More and more tears began spilling down, stinging the cuts on her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, it's alright," The boy beckoned to her.

"No, please, I don't want to hurt you..."

"It's okay… I know you won't," he said with a sympathetic smile, "I know how you feel." As she lifted her tear-streaked face with a hint of curiosity in her eyes, the boy unclasped his hand, and to her amazement, an orb of yellow light floated out of his palm, its warm, gentle glow pulsing like a steady heartbeat.

Elsa gasped. "Y-you have powers too...?" She could not believe her eyes. There's someone else like me... I'm not alone...

"Yeah, and I never thought I'd meet someone else who had powers too. I thought I was alone." He spoke her mind. "... And of all the people, the princess."

"It's beautiful... I wish I had the same powers as you..." She sighed, staring at the orb of light in awe.

"But I think your's is even more beautiful,"

"But all I can do is freeze things, cause destruction and hurt people. You can give light and warmth... People would hate me. I don't understand why I was cursed with these powers. I just want to be normal..." Her voice was brittle and she was at the brink of tears.

"That's just what you think and keep telling yourself. But once you start to embrace your powers, you'll find out that it is not a curse, but a gift." The boy reached out and brushed a stray wisp hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "So, there's no need for you to hide it. Your powers are a part of you and you shouldn't be afraid or ashamed of it. You can only learn to control it by setting it free."

Elsa nodded slowly, trying to take in everything he said. She had never seen her powers in that light. Her parents had always taught her to conceal her powers, not to let it show, and that that way would help her control her powers. But this boy was telling her to free her powers to learn to control them.

"My name's Gabriel by the way. Gabriel Hunter, but people call me Hunt or Hunter. Or Gabe. Or Riel. All are fine." The boy smiled warmly at her. Elsa's lips curled upwards slightly as she looked up at him. "Yeah, that's it. Smile! You look ten times prettier than you already are when you smile." She blushed slightly.

Gabriel picked up the towel and melted the ice with the warmth of his powers. Then he dipped the towel in the water again. "Okay, I know it stings, but I still need to clean up the rest of the cuts, so you have to bear with me for a little while more," He said while picking up Elsa's hand once again and dabbed the warm cloth on her wounds. When he had finished cleaning the wounds on her hand and arm, the cloth had turned from white to scarlet. "That, is a lot of blood." Gabriel stated, looking at the towel in his hand. He then picked up another towel from the stack next to him, and started to clean up the wounds on her other hand.

"... Hey..." Elsa whispered, her voice barely audible. Gabriel looked up into her sapphire blue eyes. "Thank you, Gabriel."

His heart nearly thumped right out of his chest when he heard her say his name, but he acted calm.

"Why are you thanking me so soon? I still haven't finished cleaning up all the wounds," He chuckled nervously.

After he finished cleaning up the wounds on her other arm and bandaging them up, he looked up at Elsa's face and noticed a few small cuts on her cheeks and forehead. "Want me to help you with the ones on your face too?" She nodded mutely.

Gabriel picked up another towel and soaked it in water, wrung it and moved to sit on the bed next to her. He gently wiped the blood off the cuts on her face and when he moved her hair aside, he noticed yet another deep cut on top of her eyebrow. He gently dabbed it clean. He felt Elsa's cringe when he touched the cut. "Sorry..." he whispered apologetically.

"No, it's alright. I deserve it..."

"But what were you doing in the forest though? I thought you never left the palace?"

"I was… running away. I-I just wanted to get away… I didn't know what I was doing… when I heard about my parents… nothing made sense. Nothing makes sense… I don't know why I was born. I don't belong here. The people I love have all been taken away from me… First, my sister. I can't even go near her or I might hurt her… and now my… parents… I… have no one to turn to." Tears began to well up in her eyes again. She still could not accept the fact that her parents were gone. Maybe it's all just a nightmare. I'll wake up soon without powers and my parents will still here. She thought to herself. But deep inside she knew it was all real.

He hesitated for a moment, before wrapping his arm around her. Immediately, she broke out into uncontrollable sobs. He gently rocked her back and forth in a soothing manner, the way his mother used to do so when he was little. They stayed like that until the sobs subsided and she calmed down again. "Better now?" Gabriel asked. She nodded, wiping the tears from her cheeks and trying to smile.

"I think you should stay here and get some rest before going back. You look exhausted," he carefully readjusted the pillows and draped a blanket over her. But when he got up, Elsa tugged at his shirt.

"Please… don't go." Her large blue eyes were clouded with much uncertainty and fear. The fear of losing everyone around her. The fear of being… alone.

Gabriel's heart ached for her. "I won't," he smiled sadly. "I'm just going to put the towels and things away. I'll be back." He assured her before carrying the bowl of water and towels out of the room.

He quickly returned and sat on a stool by the bed.

"I'm scared, Gabriel," Elsa sighed.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to have to be queen soon, and I can't rule with these powers… The people will think I'm a monster… And I won't have my parents to guide me… I just don't know what to do… " She sniffed.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll make a perfect queen. And don't care what people say about you, they can't change who you are." He took her hand, but she quickly withdrew it and looked up at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want to accidentally freeze your hand off… "

"You won't. Do you trust me?" Elsa stared into his emerald green eyes for a moment before nodding her head. "Then give me your hand."

Gabriel took her hand in his and to her surprise there was no frost crawling up his hand. Elsa looked up at him amazed. He had used his own powers to neutralize hers. He chuckled when he saw her eyes light up and she quickly looked down in embarrassment.