I made an error in thought concerning this piece of work. Though I'm confident of the story content, it seems unfair to debut this work on Pa-tree-on exclusively, when only like 4 people can see it. XD haha.
So... until I garner enough interest to justify my earlier sentiment, I'll be launching it as I see fit. For this chapter, I'm going to give it straight to the public for all to see.
Be Free!
Anyhow, I'm hoping people, whether my avid followers, or new people specifically looking for this, are enjoying it thus far. Yes, the first chapter was a bit... condensed. That was mostly on purpose. I wanted to showcase the elements of what I wanted people to see I'm trying to do, but it gets somewhat slower in plot from here. I plan to have this story play itself out for a long while. Lots of twists and turns and a few dark tinges too.
A word for you though... this work is in inspiration of and for the love of my life. So, it's a labor of love I deign to share with all. I will take criticism, though do not expect me to modify my methods and writing because people dislike something I wrote. To note as well, this is a mature work that will have violence, gore, sexually implicit and explicit stuff (eventually)
NOW THEN, enjoy, read, fav, follow, review, and grab that strange snack. I'm getting myself some cheese bread stuffed with spicy bbq chips. No, it's technically not a thing but I like putting soft and crunchy together.
Fen's arms encircled Scarlett faster than she could react, a small gasp of surprise leaving her mouth as the wolf boy embraced her tightly, a small heave to his chest as she heard small whimpers from him.
"That's all I ever really wanted to hear," he murmured into her ear in a whisper. While she couldn't see it, she could tell he was in tears. Asking as to his health, physical or emotional, seemed a moot point in light of what seemed obvious.
Her arms slowly wrapped around him, heat pouring from him like the warmth from a sun soaked stone. It heated her to her very core, bringing a blush and a smile to her cheeks.
Fen was almost like an animal, afraid and trepidatious of humans, taking those tentative sniffs and licks of an outstretched hand to ascertain whether someone is dangerous.
Her grin fell upon contemplating the nature of his soft spoken nature and skittish tendencies. Found and attacked by hunters, whom would likely only perpetuate the tales of him being a beast, given over to savagery, the boy should have grown to hate humans. Someone of his supposed strength, as he had displayed, would surely be able to defend himself.
However…
He was so afraid of his own 'in between' nature that he didn't feel he belonged to either human or animal realms.
Scarlett squeezed him tighter, tears pricking the corner of her own eyes in growing sympathy to his circumstance.
In addition to all of that, his refusal to use such strength to perpetuate that fear of him in order to gain solitude because he didn't want to hurt others… only made him ripe for torture by opportunists. Ousted by humans and demonized, she could see no reason he would be as kind as he seemed, but he was.
"So… you're staying here tonight, right?" she dared to ask, trying not to sound too eager of the prospect.
"I… uh… should probably get back out there," he mumbled. "I don't do well near towns."
Scarlett's face became stern and admonishing as she stood tall, though somewhat diminutive compared to the wolf boy, hands on her hips as she cocked them to one side and spoke firmly, "Let me correct myself… You ARE staying here tonight. I'm not letting your wandering paws shed those bandages until you are healed. Plus, they would need changing eventually. Do you know how to do that?"
With ears pinned back and tail tucked, Fen smiled sheepishly and shook his head in the negative, barely able to hold eye contact with the fiery girl.
"I heal too quickly for me to think about that…" he began, seeing her gaze harden on him, whereas he amended, "...but I'll stay the night to make sure I do."
The short girl reached up to tussle Fen's hair, his face scrunching up and shoulders bracing as she did so.
A thought occurred to her, a sting of guilt ready to strike if she were right in her deduction.
"Am I keeping you from a family? A home you need to check in on?" Scarlett inquired quietly.
Curious eyes met hers, a light behind them that gave her some hope as he answered, "They'll be fine without me for a night. I've been gone far longer than a night on a regular basis. A den can get pretty cramped sometimes."
Scarlett perked up in confusion, trying to process the one word that didn't quite fit in that entire reply.
"Den?" she asked. "As in… with wolves?"
"Mhm," came his immediate response, a happier tone to his voice and tail swishing behind him.
"How… but you can talk like…" the girl stumbled in her wording, clearing her throat with Fen giving her a tilted head and inquisitive gaze. "You seem so… intelligent for one who lives with wolves… no offense…"
The wolf boy seemed far from offended, face falling slightly as he contemplated an answer with a scratch to the back of his head.
"I… had a real family, though for now these wolves are kind and caring to me," he explained. "As for… intelligence… there is a kind woman who has helped me since I was small. Educated me and taught me what I know…"
"Kind woman?"
"Yeah… I haven't seen her in sometime, though," he softly spoke as his ears fell. "After a certain age, I felt like a burden on her."
"You should visit her," Scarlett stated in support to his supposed lamentation. "When you're healed of course. Best not to worry her."
"You mind if I get some sleep then?" Fen questioned in a mild tone, voice laden with a hazy sleepiness to it.
"Sure! Just let me clear my bed, so you can use that," the woman offered, quickly getting up to go to her room and ready the bed.
The few minutes she spent away from the wolf boy gave her mental room to mull over the knowledge she now obtained from him.
Apparently, Fen had a family but lived with the very creatures in the forest that the tales seemed to circle around. He was getting some form of education from a woman who lived in the forest as well. He also had to evade hunters who seemed to have it out for him and want him dead, most recently and especially that hunter who was tossed like a ragdoll those few nights ago by the boy himself.
Barreling into her room, Scarlett began to hastily pick up the leftover mess that obscured her floor. After having dumped the mess into either a corner or a chest, she quickly made the bed, sniffing the sheets and deeming them clean enough to not change out. It wasn't like she was hosting some sort of noble but the girl felt some sort of obligation to 'prep' the room for a guest.
The wolf boy limped his way in, startling her with his premature entrance.
"I wasn't… uh… nevermind. You can sleep here."
Fen all too eagerly made his way to the bed and slowly settled in, splaying his limbs out as comfortably as his injuries would allow. He seemed to be rolling around and sniffing the air, a scent unknown to her being something of interest to him.
She made to exit the room, deigning to give him the room for the night and sleep in front of the hearth on the chair that the boy just vacated. With a couple blankets and a small pillow, she would be fine.
A small whimper made her freeze in mid step and turn to see if her guest was in distress. A light gasp left her mouth as she witnessed something endearing.
The wolf boy was curled up like an animal on top her bed, tail curled around his legs and chin resting just over an arm, his eyes looking pleadingly into hers.
"Where are you going?" Fen asked innocently, blue/amber eyes perusing her curiously.
"I'm giving you some privacy," Scarlett spoke plainly, trying to be a thoughtful host. "I'll sleep near the fire. It wouldn't do for us to share a room, much less a bed."
His ears perked and head tilted to the side in confusion as he inquired of her, "Why not? This bed is big enough for both of us."
The hooded girl blushed, mouth working open and closed as she fought for a reason to refute him. The innocence of which he asked that question was so much so that she couldn't muster the will to tell him why. It wasn't like she could say that most in this day and age were ingrained to believe that it was shameful to share a bed with a man you weren't married to, herself included. She was intelligent enough to know he wouldn't understand the concept if it didn't already occur to him.
"It's... it's not right for…" the girl began, shedding her red cloak to hang it up for the night. Her sentence fell short when Fen's face seemed to fall, ears pinned back as it seemed he took it as some sort of rejection.
Turning away and running a hand through her hair, cheeks and ears aflame, she gulped and turned back to offer him a very meek, "A-alright…"
The boy's tail went wild, thumping on the bed and relieving a bit of the tension within her with his display. There was a happy whine from him as he shuffled carefully over, allowing Scarlett the space she would need to climb into bed.
About to start her nightly ritual for changing for bed, she stopped short and realized Fen would see her undressing, with his inquisitive eyes not leaving her form. The blush returned full force, realizing he was half dressed, she was fully dressed and unable to sleep in her current garb, as well as completely at a loss with how to approach her situation, being that she had never been in such a predicament before.
"I'll… uh… be right back. I promise," she told him, grabbing her sleepwear and exiting the room in haste.
Nearly falling over multiple times, with her fear being that the wolf boy would follow her, Scarlett stripped down and quickly tried to throw on her loose sleepwear. Panting heavily from both nerves and trying to so fastidiously dress herself, she got everything on in record time.
"Are you ok?" came his concerned question from inside her bedroom.
The girl tripped and fell against the wall, barely having gotten her top on when she heard him.
"Y-yeah! I'm fine," she called out, entering the room once more.
Dressed in loose, wool pants and a blouse, Scarlett tentatively crawled into her own bed, careful of Fen's curious eyes and doing her best to avoid his energetic tail.
"Are you used to sharing a bed… er… den?" the woman asked, slipping under the covers and trying to keep some space between him and her. He nodded, curling up once more and scooching closer to her.
"It is common for us to share heat," he explained. "Why are you so nervous about it though?"
"I… uh… It's complicated. We… other people I mean… have different ideals on this sort of thing," she tried to reason, finding that his innocent and animal way of thinking seemed to make so much more sense now than her cultural misgivings. "Just… do what feels natural I guess. I want you to be comfortable while you heal."
"Alright."
Snuggling in close, Fen rolled over on his side, nestling his back against her chest and legs, his head under her lazing arm. One of his ears flicked and twitched randomly, with it moving less often as the wolf boy's breathing slowed, his chest rising and falling slowly.
She, on the other hand, was a broiling mess of conflicting thoughts and emotions on the inside.
As an only child, she had never really shared a bed with anyone. A boy of similar age to her, and in such close quarters as they were 'enjoying', was something completely foreign to her in any aspect.
With a trembling hand, she raised the arm that laid across Fen, resting her palm upon his head. He tilted his head upward into it, her fingers digging in to scratch his scalp and feel the thick black hair within her digits. His hair was so soft and fluffy, heat pouring off of him in droves from any point of contact with her body.
Scarlett wasn't sure if this was something she should be doing, but she couldn't stop herself. It was calming and Fen seemed to be enjoying it, with his tail thumping occasionally and a small whine emitting from him if she slowed or stopped. She couldn't tell if he was still awake, with him facing away from her, but his reactions seemed very natural.
It had to be minutes, but it felt like hours as she continued to soothe the wolf boy nestled up against her like a wounded animal. In a way, she had to admit he was, but he wasn't a feral creature or some beastly monster.
A draft washed over her, sending chills across her body and giving any exposed skin goosebumps. Proceeding to curl up, Scarlett hunkered down beneath the covers of her bed, shivering as she tried to warm up.
Reaching out with the hand she had used to stroke Fen's head, she lightly touched his exposed back, with the wolf boy appearing to have fully fallen asleep. There was an overwhelmingly powerful warmth coming off of him and heating her fingertips. Biting her lower lip, the girl shimmied closer to him, lifting one side of the covers over her to throw them over him.
With chilled hands, she tentatively touched his back, trying not to disturb Fen as she overcame her embarrassment in favor of a source of warmth. Eventually, Scarlett was able to press herself completely against his back and legs, his body heat bleeding well into her as she released a ragged sigh of relief.
The woman's face was barely an inch away from the back of his neck, her breath washing over his skin as she couldn't calm herself well enough to sleep peacefully. Breathing slow and deep through her nose, the girl was greeted with his scent.
Given his supposed vagrant nature, being homeless in the woods, she was half expecting him to stink. To her surprise, she smelled something earthy and almost wood like about him. It began to calm her, Scarlett's mind finally settling down, with all her waning focus now confined to Fen's comforting scent. It was like a fresh autumn breeze or that smell when she helped her Gran garden behind her forest cabin.
A few fleeting images, like faded memories, presented themselves to her increasingly hazy mind, sleep drawing her ever further. She saw herself and a small boy playing in the garden, both getting very muddy and dirty, being chastised by someone else with a smile on their face.
Before she could ascertain whether these images were memory or fantasy, she was finally lulled to sleep, nestling as close as she could get against the wolf boy's back.
0000000
Chirping birds and errant beams of sunlight stirred Scarlett from her slumber, eyes foggy and hair a mess.
An out of focus dark shape began to coalesce in front of her, causing the girl to scoot closer for a moment to see what it was.
She was met with a mass of black hair, thick and fluffy to the touch as she reached out to grasp at it. A smile broke out on Scarlett's face as she ran her fingers through it. Fen had quite the soft and fluffy hair. It was almost like an animal with a plush coat of fur…
Like fur…
With her vision clearing and mind finally waking up enough to process more than the haze of before. The young woman let her eyes wander and pupils focus.
She wasn't ruffling her fingers through Fen's head. The girl wasn't sure in the slightest what part she was playing with, though that wasn't the most pertinent question.
What was this large mass of black fur lying next to her?
Another stroke of her hand was met with the large mass heaving with a… deep breath? A whine followed shortly, sounding like one of the neighborhood dogs.
The confusion was dispersing from her, with an anxious fear setting in, especially exasperated by the fact that the large mass was turning, with a pair of perky ears and a large, aggressive looking snout turning towards her.
Amber eyes, brilliant and piercing, honed in on her, a long tongue snaking out from the muzzle to wet their nose.
It was a ginormous wolf, rivaling in size to a small bear and taking up most of her bed.
Scarlett scrambled into a sitting position and pushed away, pinning herself to the wall behind her.
"F-Fen?" she called out so low, it was barely a husky whisper. "Is that you?"
The giant wolf cocked his head, seeming to respond to the name, giving her demeanor a once over and splaying his body out to stretch and yawn, large maw and ferocious fangs in full view.
Scarlett was letting the fear get to her, short and rapid breaths causing her greater distress. Part of her said 'This is Fen. It's fine.' with another part screaming 'We don't know. There is a giant wolf in your bed.'
While her heart seemed to know this was Fen, her mind was flashing images of one instance in her muddled childhood memories that seemed to drown out most others.
A wolf, supposedly aggressive and hungry… latched onto her arm and drawing blood. She couldn't quite remember the age she was, but the event was enough to make her randomly anxious around any animals that bared their fangs.
Her hand reflexively grabbed at her left arm, the scars from so many years ago tingling with a phantom pain of the memory itself.
The giant wolf finally took some real notice of her demeanor, crouching low and shuffling forward on the bed to approach her cautiously.
Scarlett raised her left arm in a defensive posture, using the other hand to clasp over her mouth and avoid letting him hear her strangled breaths.
The sleeve pulled back to reveal a set of scars, making Fen pull back in shock and ears perk up. Seeing her state, he approached once more, giving the arm a look, along with tentative sniffs.
With a whine, the giant black wolf darted off the bed with a grace unbefitting his size and exited the bedchambers.
The young woman crossed her arms and got control of her breathing, feeling quite guilty over her reaction to the young man. A small scuffle could be heard, making Scarlett peek over her arms from the bed and watch a more humanesque Fen open the door again with a long creak of the hinges.
"I'm sorry…" he barely murmured, entering the room with a rather ashamed look. "I forgot… about that."
Any lingering fear and anxiety was quelled by her own guilt as she spoke defensively, "It's not your fault! It's not you. I just… got surprised."
"You've been harmed before… by a wolf," Fen stated, his tone denoting it wasn't a question.
Sliding down the sleeve again, Scarlett revealed the age old injury once more, nodding.
"I don't remember much but I was a child playing… in my grandmother's garden…," she began, eyes looking down and to the side in her contemplative state to pull upon faded memories. "I was playing with a boy, I think, and a wolf came and attacked me. He locked onto my arm and wouldn't let go… but… I don't remember much of what happened after. I never saw that boy again, so I assume he was killed by that same wolf."
Looking up, she noticed that Fen had a stunned expression, eyes laden with fear and guilt.
"I'm sorry," came his soft tone again.
"Don't be," she chastised gently. "It wasn't your fault, right?" The last part was a teasing attempt at diffusing the tension.
Instead, the dark haired boy's shoulders stiffened and locked up, eyes unable to meet hers.
"That was a joke," the brunette finally told him, trying to clear up the mention more directly.
Fen visibly relaxed, still unable to meet her gaze.
"I just mean I'm sorry it happened," he clarified. "I'll try to keep from being in that form from now on. I usually do that when I'm going to sleep, since I'm usually in a den with other wolves."
"No no no!... it's fine," Scarlett stammered in response. "I was just surprised. That's all. I promise."
She smiled for him, being met with a soft one of his own. It struck her as more of a bittersweet smile though, coaxing her to bite her lip in frustration that things became what they were.
"How about breakfast?" she asked, clapping her hands together.
Fen perked up once again, the promise of sustenance deflecting well from his downtrodden spirit. As if to line that thought, his stomach growled in a most aggressive manner, drawing a giggle from Scarlett and a pouting blush from the wolf boy.
"Let me go into town and grab a few fresh supplies," the woman offered, then looking down at her attire and adding, "allowing me time to get dressed first."
He nodded innocently, ears pert and perky now.
They stared at one another for a moment before…
"...I would like to get dressed…" she used her hands, palms up, to goad Fen into leaving.
He simply nodded, not quite getting the gesture.
Scarlett facepalmed, getting up and letting her feet touch the cold floor, walking on the balls of her feet to avoid suffering the cold much. Her hips swayed with each delicate step, stopping in front of the wolf boy, who looked confused.
Deciding to play it blunt, the short girl placed a hand on his chest, drawing circles with her fingers as she spoke, "What I mean by that is…" Scarlett stretched up on the tips of her toes, pressing her chest into his and stroking a lock of hair away from his ear to whisper further, "I plan to undress… with all laid bare… and slowly but surely clothe myself to go out. I would prefer to retain some modesty… but if you want to stay and watch…"
"R-right," Fen muttered, a most pervasive blush threatening to burn his cheeks. He began to shimmy beneath her touch, moving towards the door and practically bolting out the door when Scarlett stepped away from him to allow him freedom to move.
She smiled gently at him, a light chuckle leaving her lips as he stumbled away and closed the door.
Well… that was fun, the girl mused to herself, finally allowing her own cheeks to flush from wondering what might have happened if he stayed. He's way too innocent.
0000000
Minutes later and she emerged from the bedroom, clothed and toting a small basket. A quick touch of the window told her that there was a settling chill outside.
To counter that, she threw on her red cloak, a sight a few had gotten used to seeing as of late.
Fen was sitting in the hallway outside her door. The fire in the hearth had long since died, though the smoldering embers still warmed the chamber well enough. He jumped up upon seeing her exit the room.
"You could have waited near the hearth," she offered as a matter of factly.
He shook his head in the negative, remarking, "I didn't want to be seen from the windows."
The hooded woman looked around, seeing the windows, of which the two out front were partially covered by simple curtains.
"It's not like people are nosy enough to go peeking in the windows to see a human like person with wolf ears and a tail," she chided him softly. "...however, I'll make you some clothes, if you wish it, to hide them around here?"
"You make clothes?" came Fen's surprised question.
"Mhmm," Scarlett hummed. "That's more or less my trade. I'm also apprenticing in alchemy."
She then gestured to her cloak and attire, voicing, "See all this? Most of it is my own making. Oh… except the shoes. I'm not a good cobbler."
"That explains the herbal poultice," he remarked.
"Oh!" the red hooded brunette exclaimed. "That reminds me…"
She closed in quickly, lifting up Fen's bandages and taking a peek at his leg. He lost his sense of balance and leaned his back to the wall, the inquisitive touch of her fingers sending tingles up his spine.
"Wow!" came a pleased tone from the girl. "You do heal fast. Any normal person would have turned ghostly white and probably succumbed to illness and blood loss by now."
Her hands brushed over the faded scars, looking as old as her own instead of something that happened the night before. The wolf boy sucked in a breath at her touch, finally snapping her from her inspection with a minor blush.
"I'll be out for maybe an hour," Scarlett explained, going to the windows and sealing the curtains more effectively. "Most of what I'll need is at the market nearby, so it should be an easy trip."
"Alright," Fen replied politely. "I'll be waiting."
Closing the door behind her, Scarlett actually felt a bit excited to do a supply run. Usually, it felt like a waste of time, given that it distracted from her work or hobbies, not to mention her free time.
0000000
The market felt quite lacking in traffic today, probably due to the storm clouds on the horizon, making most of the city stay safe indoors. That meant some of the merchants with more 'delicate' goods might be packing up early.
"Jerome!" she called, waving to a burly baker across the way. He appeared to be looking at the sky nervously, his bread and other baked goods being the most problematic thing to have out in the market during a potential rain storm.
"Ah! My dear Letty!" the large, dark man answered with a bright smile, wiping his hands on his apron before reaching out to hug the much smaller girl. "Come to take a burden off of me before the rain ruins it?"
"Only what I need," the hooded girl told him, breaking from the hug and giving him a pointed glance. Friendly the large man might be, but he didn't skip any chances to sell his product.
With a smile almost as large as the man and skin as dark as the chocolate he sometimes drizzled over pastries, Jerome was one the friendliest people to Scarlett, always sweet as pie.
"Of course. Of course," he defended, gesturing to his stock on the market shelves.
"I am however, in need of more than normal, so… lucky day for you," she offered him, grabbing a generous selection of the baker's product. Grabbing breads both soft and crackly, the hooded woman paid her way with a few coins and shoved the items in her basket, looking around for other merchants she needed to visit.
"Psst, Letty?" Jerome called to her with a smirk. "Do you remember that hunter who was dragged back to town drunk and raving last week?"
That piqued her interest, though she was skeptical, with the baker being an almost overly incorrigible gossip.
"I remember something being mentioned," she replied, truly curious if this was the man who tried to attack her some time before.
"He and his band of fools have been playing out that whole 'Beast man' story all morning and some of last night," the large baker told her in detail. "Been griping about being unable to catch it. Despite the lack of evidence to support his story though, aside from his lackey's being yes men to all he says, he's been causing a bit of a fear filled ruckus about it. Wants to get a whole party of hunters to track this beast down."
Though the news did mean very much to her, she did have to play her usual sass towards the subject.
"Oh yay…" Scarlett sarcastically drawled, rolling her eyes. "Big muscle heads going on a drunken rampage through the forest to assault poor woodland creatures in a stupor. Should I be swooning over their deplorable aim and nausea inducing belches?"
She put the back of her hand to her forehead, playing up the drama. The baker let out a hearty chuckle.
"Such fire and sass," he bellowed between laughs. "Your spirit alone could keep my oven aflame. You'll give whatever man that captures your heart a few burns."
"As if any man could handle me," the hooded girl fired back, waving goodbye and resuming her trip.
Thunder sounded in the distance, making a few merchants scowl at the sky, silently cursing the weather as if nature itself was trying to be a thief of their respective coin purses.
With the sour mood settling in, Scarlett could only quickly grab her needs and pay, moving on with as bright a smile she could muster, so as not to hold up the merchants from feeling restrained if they chose to pack it in before the rain fell.
Sure enough, as she got the eggs from the local farmer, the sky darkened considerably and small drops began to impact the cobblestone streets. Larger drops quickly followed, though the downpour she could see in the distance hadn't reached the town yet.
The red hooded woman stuffed her full basket underneath the cloak, pulling her hood further forward to deflect the cold rain.
She felt quite proud of her creation, seeing the red cloak easily let rain roll off of it like water off a duck's feathers. It was definitely worth the extra effort to oil the cloak for the rain.
However, Scarlett wasn't sure she wanted to test it's limits in the coming rain storm, with the wind picking up and drops becoming far more frequent. Stepping up her pace, she found her way back to her home, giving the door a gentle knock to not surprise Fen too much.
"It's me," she cooed. "I'm back."
The young woman pushed open the door, latching it behind her.
Silence.
Her face fell as she looked around and didn't see the young animalistic wolf boy. Her place wasn't that large, making the only two places he could be being the lavatory or her bedroom.
Choosing to try the bedroom first, she deposited her basket on the table, lowering her hood to run her fingers through her hair.
The bedroom door was open, the fire stoked back to life on the hearth, making her hopeful he stuck around.
Sure enough, the dark haired boy was curled up on her bed, cuddled up with her pillow and sleeping once more, giving occasional sniffs of her pillow.
"Oh geez…. There is a limit to how cute you can be," Scarlett mumbled to herself, pouting at how unfair it was, a hand on her cheek.
Seeing him not stir from his renewed slumber, the girl leaned in close, running her fingers through his hair once more.
"Fluffy…" she giggled.
Fen finally stirred, making her back off and turn away with a small smile.
She spent the next half hour letting the wolf boy rest, making her simple breakfast. Most meals might take hours of real prep but with eggs, ready made bread, and a few other fresh ingredients, all she needed was a fire and a few minutes.
With a cast iron skillet over the fire, she cooked the eggs, beaten and mixed with fresh milk and butter. The brunette hadn't much inclination as to his preference when eating eggs, so she went with scrambled, as most seemed to like them.
In a small pot next to them in a pot, Scarlett cooked oatmeal, throwing in some crushed pecans and chopped apples. It was a favorite and relatively simple dish her grandmother taught her.
Having used all her ingredients wisely, with nothing to spare and be left to spoil, the young woman gathered the hot meal and added in some of the fresh bread she bought as well, making her way with a large tray to her room.
Giving the door, now closed, a hip bump, the girl entered the room casually.
While she had tended to him the night previous, and also slept next to him during the same night, the light of day had a way of bringing a new intrigue to the predicament of having a taller and very lean male half naked in her room and dressing.
Fen was changing out his wraps, checking the areas he was previously wounded and tenderly touching the aforementioned spots.
Turning his head to see Scarlett entering, no doubt having heard and smelled her coming, he eyed the food eagerly and rushed to redress himself, utterly oblivious of the heated blush that painted over her stilled face.
Steps as light as a feather, the wolf boy padded towards her, picking the bread from the tray and ripping off a piece between his fangs.
It took a brief moment for her mind to work again, turning to set the food down on a small table.
Fen's arms roped around from behind and pulled her in, his voice but a wispy breath in her ear as he spoke, "Thank you… for everything, Scarlett."
She was extraordinarily thankful that he couldn't see her face in that moment. The young woman surmised she could have run a forge with the heat pouring from her face.
While never really so inept around men, with plenty being quite fond of her in ways that were usually annoying, it felt increasingly frustrating to her that the one male who had no such impure inclinations towards her was the one causing the most impure thoughts to surface within her own mind.
Using what little mental power she could muster in the moment, Scarlett tried to think of anything that could distract from this feeling.
Her lips parted to speak, having remembered what Jerome told her, "I heard something worrying in town… about that hunter." Not unexpected to herself, but he stiffened slightly, his arms gripping her a little tighter.
"I see…," he sighed. "What about him?"
"He's apparently trying to rally a whole party to hunt you down… in the forest," came her struggled reply. "I think… you should stay here, at least for a little while."
"He won't quit," Fen rebuked her a bit gruffly, separating from her and sitting at the table, smelling the food with a curious nose.
"Maybe," Scarlett relented, "but his friends or followers won't stick to him forever. They have lives to live as well. So, just for a short while, please stay here. Just long enough for them to believe they won't find you."
"I can take care of myself," the wolf boy remarked plainly, using the spoon to taste the oatmeal, humming with satisfaction. "This is delicious."
"Thank you," the woman replied to him, quickly returning to the topic at hand, "and I know you can take care of yourself, but you got hurt after facing them before, bear or not. If they get more people, you'll find it hard to avoid or take them on."
"Are you asking me… or is this something else I have to do because you said so?" came his genuine inquiry. The words, from anyone else's mouth, might have suggested a venomous sarcasm to them, but his eyes and tone were more curious than offended.
Her own mossy green eyes wilted and averted to the side, deep in thought for a few seconds as she tried to choose her next words carefully. Telling him what to do wouldn't work out well, since he was used to being independent. It could cause him to feel like she was another human telling him what he should be or do.
Scarlett sighed heavily, eyes becoming a bit glazed over as she worried for him.
"This is your decision. I can't force you but you're my friend. I just want to protect you as best that I can. Please think about it. I'm here for you and I promise to do whatever I can."
The girl's eyes wandered back towards Fen's blue/amber eyes, hoping he would see that she only means well for him.
It was a relief to her, seeing his shoulders relax and lips curl in a gentle smile, the wolf boy nodding slightly.
"I'll stick around," Fen softly agreed. "Thank you for calling me a friend."
Giving his shoulder a small and playful slap, Scarlett sassed, "What else would I call you?"
Another chapter released!
I feel accomplished. Wait til tomorrow though... then I'll feel lazy and quite the opposite. XD
For now though, let's answer the beginning of reviews for what I hope to earn a sturdy following of true fans.
REVIEWS:
Neakco: Thank you so much for your positive input! and yes... believe me. before doing fanfiction, i've tried getting an original work published. Unfortunately, my stuff was "not relatable" as I was told. haha. I have great grammar and methodical processes for approaching plot... but not relatable. XD Publishers are too enamored with simple plot lines and easy money from young adults.
Starr: Thank you!
queertostay: Love the name. Lol. and I agree to an extent. I won't deny the validity of your claim. I was originally intending to only showcase one chapter and keep the rest exclusive. clearly that didn't happen, lol, but I meant the chapter to show off my style and elements of the story that would come and such. the story slows a bit from here on.
As for your questions, I do have answers written to a few of them in future chapters actually. You asked some of the right ones.
Thank you for your input.
DONE!
Now excuse me while I go wield a gimble for the dimble and timble the fimble.
Did that make sense? who cares?! I never do... mwahahahaha *cough cough* hahahaha!
It's been a pleasure, Sweethearts.