All I could think was the idioticity that had possed me to run without even a dagger as I saw the first wolf almost upon me.

I looked at the stick, ehem, the branch in my hand and did the most easiest thing I could in the situation. I swung the beach down on the beast's head.

Crack!

Nope, that wasn't the skull of the wolf making that sound, but the branch. It had broken into two.

And the wolf? It didn't even look fazed.

I gulped in my pending demise, thanking my lucky stars as I saw it retreating before circling me again.

I held the broken stick in my hand tighter as I stared at it.

"Beau!" I heard a voice call out and I almost sobbed in relief when I realised that it was Adam.

"Here! Help! Wolves!" I shouted back, disregarding the fact that I had sounded almost girly.

Nope, dying made sounding girly the least important thing on my mind.

'Cause I had other impending things. Like being torn apart and being eaten.

Adam broke out of the trees in the front of me and gave a frightening growl at the animals in warning as they still prowled around me.

Half the animals broke away circling adam, testing the new, larger threat.

The one in front of me turned and stepped closer to me.

Honestly, my mind was waring between fight and flight.

Leaning more to flight, I was half in the mind of throwing the stupid stick on the wolf head and running away.

On the other side, Adam was already rolling on the ground with the oversized dogs as he tried to kill them.

How could I run away when he was fighting for me?

My attention having diverted for a second, the wolf pounced, this time knocking away the stick as it pinned me to the ground.

It opened its huge jaws in anticipation of my blood and I gagged at the foul smell that wafted from its mouth.

I closed my eyes waiting for the pain to come and nothing.

Suddenly I was being suffocated to death instead to being bitten to death as I was smothered under the heavy body of the beast. Struggling, I clawed my way out and sat in suprise as I saw a huge bolt sticking out of its neck.

It was dead.

So were the ones around Adam.

I hurried to him and saw him covered in blood.

"Should I kill him too?" I heard a voice behind me and I turned and almost fell in suprise.

It was the half buried guy that I had rescued. Ivan.

And he was holding a huge crossbow that was trained on Adam.

" No, no! Don't!" I shouted, frazzled to my last nerves.

"Oops?" Ivan said shrugging, pointing to Adam's leg and I turned to see an arrow sticking out of his thigh.

I scampered to him and leaned down on worry as I lightly touched the arrow, cringing at the hiss that he gave.

" I am fine Beau. Just gotta remove this."

"I can do it." Ivan said coming from behind.

"Stop. I'm fine. I can do it myself." Adam hissed at him.

I stood quietly as I my head swung to and fro at their conversation.

Adam sat down and opened the pack that he was carrying and went on the remove the arrow from his thigh wincing every time it moved.

"Perhaps, you should allow him to help you." I said, but gave up when he shook his head adamantly lightly pushing me away.

Now that the danger had passed, I looked at Ivan. Not stuck under snow and starved, apart from my old assumption of him being handsome, I realised that he was almost the height of Adam.

"So, what are you?..." He trailed as he looked at Adam in puzzlement.

"Are you blind?" Adam hissed back venomously.

"No offence, but you look like a dog."

"And you look like an arse."

What was up with these both? They had just met and they were at each others throats?

And why did Ivan even have a crossbow?

"Aren't you a carpenter?" I interrupted, annoyed at their pissing compition.

"Umm, yes. But, I also do hunt sometimes." Looking proud at his expaination.

"So far from the town?" Adam asked looking at him suspiciously at the fact that Ivan was taking the appearance of Adam rather calmly.

" Well-"

"Stop." I jumped before they could argue again.

I turned to Adam and said:

"He saved us. So, stop it!"

"And you," I said turning to Ivan.

"Stop arguing with him and help him up. He is injured."

Ivan looked at me with amusement apparent on his face and proceeded to do as I had said with a 'yes sir'.

I huffed at him and went to Adam as he tried to stand but failed when his leg buckled under him.

"Adam! Stop. Let me help you!" I sighed in exasperation at his stubbornness as he once again tried to push me away form him.

"I'm fine." He growled at me.

Ivan gave a sigh at his behaviour and put his hands around Adam's shoulders and heaved him up despite Adam's protests.

I heard him give a low groan of pain every time Ivan made him take a step.

Slowly, torturously, we made our way back home.

It was past afternoon when we reached home.

"Oh dear lord! What happened?" Mr Clok demanded as he scurried around us like a headless chicken at his master's state.

"And who are you?" He narrowed his eyes in suspicion when he saw Ivan.

"Ivan. Nice to meet you. And this err, guy here just got bolted." He replied with a wink.

"Wait a minute-" Mr Clok's voice faded away as we carried him up the stairs.

We? Ha, it was just Ivan, me being the useless, tiny waif that had got us in this trouble at the first place.

At last we got him to the bed and I looked the the wound on his thigh in worry.

It was bleeding heavily, the bandages already having turned deep marron with his blood.

"Don't worry." Adam said as I looked at him with blurred eyes.

"Nothing will happen to me. I can't die. Yet."

I nodded at him as I was shooed away by one of the helpers of the household.

Going to my room I sat on the bed as I stared at the huge window and realised that the seasons here fluctuated wildly.

Almost to the mood of the residents.

Did it freak me out? Nope.

Today, the howls of the winds echoes in the silence of the mansion and I looked out to see the trees shed their yellow leaves despite it being winter.

I suppose that it was a part of the curse.

My mind took me back to the words that he had uttered before I was pushed out of the room.

"I can't die. Yet."

It troubled me.

Why had he even said that? He had sounded so sad. Like he almost couldn't wait to die. As of there was some good to it.

What had he meant?

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