True Love Hunting

Chapter 21

"I was staring into the eyes of the man my betrothed had beaten and would have killed; the same man that I had been forced to hurt myself before I could release him. He was healed and put together, but it was him. He wore the same concerned look on his face when he watched me get struck down by Dustin.

"I flinched when he reached for me, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he picked me up into his arms and held me to him while he wrangled one of the horses. He climbed up on the horse with me in his arms and started off farther into the woods. The rest of the pack surrounded the horse in a great circle but didn't get too close so they wouldn't spook the horse.

"I was still shaking, and I remember him gently speaking to me about how I was safe, that he wouldn't let any harm come to me, that I had saved him, and he wouldn't harm me. We traveled so long that I fell asleep in his arms and didn't awake until he dismounted off the horse. I remember him setting me down on the ground, on my feet, but still holding me to his chest as he gave orders to his people. I was so hurt I could barely stand.

"He then picked me back up in his arms, as I couldn't walk from my multiple beatings, and he brought me into a cabin. I was set down on a bed, and one of them, that was a medic of some sort, came to check on me with the man still there. I remember them arguing about treating me. The medic wanted me to die because I was a Chivute, and the man was arguing for me. He was in charge, though, and the medic had to do what he wanted.

"In the end, I had a splinted arm and ankle, and they had to wrap my ribs because some were cracked. The rest of my wounds were flesh wounds that were treated and bandaged where the skin was broken. There was nothing that could be done about the bruising all over me. After the medic left, I was lying in bed, and the man was moving around in the cabin. I drifted in, and out of sleep, now that adrenalin was no longer keeping me awake. He told me later I had slept for two days before waking up.

"Once I woke, he sat on the bed next to me, helping me drink water. He introduced himself as 'Hans' and told me he was his pack's Alpha. He felt indebted to me for releasing him and even screaming in the forest, so they knew the Chivutes were approaching. He nursed me back to health slowly over the next couple of weeks. I had to be carried to the restroom, and he helped me sit up in bed when I could eat.

"I remember the first two nights well because he would help get me situated in the bed and then go sit by the fire in an old chair. I would fall asleep with him sitting there, facing away from me, working on something. If I woke in the night, he would be asleep in the chair. After a couple of days, if he had to leave to take care of anything, he always stationed a guard at the door, instructing no other wolves to be let in.

"We started talking and getting to know one another. Hans asked me about the cruelty he had seen, and I told him my whole life's story up until that moment. Gradually I came to trust him, and my gifting came back to life after being repressed by fear for weeks. It affirmed him, and we grew close.

"I remember a night after a few weeks when I could hobble that I awoke to him sleeping in the chair. I slipped from the bed and went over to look at him. In his lap was a book of drawings. The top one was of me sleeping. He woke and looked up at me, and I'm not sure what happened, but I remember seeing his eyes change as I looked at him. I reached down and touched his face, looking into his glowing eyes, and for the first time in my life, I wasn't afraid of a 'magical creature.' I saw him for the man he was, someone who was caring, selfless and honorable.

"I asked him, "Hans, why do you sleep in a chair every night?" He just looked at me with those animal eyes and whispered, "Because you are sleeping in my bed." He had sacrificed so much for me, even when I wasn't aware of it. So I said, "Come lay down. I know you won't hurt me in any way."