Dark and Untamed

Chapter 2: Thawed

Heat caressed her body.

Not the gentle kind. The kind that hurt. Fire licked at her frozen nerves, stirring them awake, Her blood remembering how to move, lungs scraping themselves raw.

Estelle gasped as she opened her eyes.

“ You are finally awake, I was beginning to lose my patience.“ Estelle heard a familiar voice.

‘ So it wasn't a dream.’ Estelle thought. Turning her head towards the source of sound, she saw a pair of luminous blue eyes staring at her in the darkness.

“ A...Adrian...“ Her voice cracked. Followed by a snarl, she felt her wolf coming out.

“Don’t shift.” Adrian warned her. “Your body won’t survive it yet.”

Estelle groaned in pain, while Adrian's eyes glinted with dark amusement. He seemed... to enjoy her suffering?

Then the memories came flooding back: the Deadfall, the chains and his arms carrying her out of death.

Her golden eyes squinted as she surveyed her surroundings. Stone ceiling, wooden floors and wooden walls. heavy animal furs. A fire roaring in a hearth big enough to stand in. The air smelled like pine, iron, sulphur and wolf.

This wasn't Silvervale. Silvervale smelled like mountain ash and blood. Her ears also picked the sound of a gale carrying the snow outside.

This was Frostveil. Enemy territory.

She tried to sit up and regretted it instantly. The traitor’s brand on her chest screamed. Her wrists were wrapped in linen, not silver, but the burns underneath still throbbed. But it seemed the wolfsbane in her system was almost neutralized

“You’re in my den.” Adrian said. He wasn’t looking at her anymore. He stood by the fire, sleeves rolled up, forearms streaked with soot and what looked like dried blood. “The healers said you’d either wake or you wouldn’t. Seems like you’re the same stubborn woman I know.”

Estelle dragged the fur higher, suddenly aware she wore nothing but a long shirt that smelled like him. “Where are my clo—”

“Burned.” he cut her off. “Along with the chains. Silver doesn’t come into my mountain.”

' Does that mean he saw my...' Estelle shook her head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts.

Adrian turned towards her and she could see him clearly this time. He wore no cloak now. Just a dark henley and stood there with the kind of stillness that made him look like a fearsome scarecrow. The scar through his eyebrow caught the firelight. Up close, his eyes weren’t just pale. They looked like they had blue fire flickering in them.

“You saved me.” she said. It sounded like an accusation.

“I took you,” Adrian corrected. “ and I claimed you...." He added again while taking a step closer.

“ Look... Estelle, am sure you know I didn't save you out of kindness. I don’t deal in kindness.”

“Then why?” Her voice was still hoarse. “Your pack wants me dead. I’m Silvervale’s—”

“Silvervales’s nothing.” he said flatly . “Not anymore. Not to them... or us.” He crossed the room in three, large strides and set a clay cup on the table by her bed. Steam rose hypnotically from it.

“Drink. Or die. Your choice. I won’t make it for you.” He said while turning around again to stare at the fire.

Estelle stared at Adrian's back, thinking of how satisfying it would feel to stab her claw into his back. In the end she suppressed that thought and reached for the cup. It was some kind of broth. She slowly brought it to her mouth but paused. Her nose twitching slightly as she sniffed.

Then a deep voice shook her eardrums.

" It's not poisoned. I need you alive."

Estelle couldn't help but click her tongue in annoyance. She hated this man with every second that passed by. Steeling herself, she brought the cup to her dark red lips and drank.

The broth burned going down. Energy seeped into her body with every gulp.

“Darius told the Council you killed three of his scouts before you ran.” Adrian said after a long silence. “He said you went feral. That exile was mercy.”

Lies... She found the bodies Darius hid — There were Frostveil pups he kidnapped, not scouts. And She had confronted him. And that became her crime.

" Exile was mercy!? that man poisoned me wolfsbane, backstabbed me, and threw me into the deadfalls that was 1500 f*cking feet deep! He wanted me to die!!!" If not for the snow cushioning her fall, she wasn't sure wasn't one hundred percent certain she would have survived the fall.

Adrian’s jaw ticked. “He’ll get his wish if you don’t heal. I didn't bring you here to sleep on my bed for 2 days.“

’ 2 Days? that's shorter than I thought.’ Estelle thought internally.

“Then why bother?” Her golden eyes met his. “Why pull a Silvervale heir out of the snow?“ she couldn't understand why the man didn't kill her the moment he had a chance.

Adrian went silent. However she could feel a faint trace of bloodlust linger in the air before vanishing. His fist clenched.

He was quiet for so long she thought he wouldn’t answer. Until: “Because I’ve seen what your father calls justice. My sister wore a brand like yours when they sent her body back to me ten years ago.” He said with a low growl that made the walls of the shake slightly. The wooden floor beneath his feet cracked sending wooden splinters flying.

Estelle's words died in her throat as she lowered her head.

“I don’t want your gratitude,” Adrian said, voice low. “ I don't need it." Then he walked to towards her. Estelle only stared at him plainly. When he was close enough he leaned until his eyes level with hers and spoke in a whisper.

“ Because am going to enjoy toying with you and breaking you." Estelle finally had a reaction. She had a faint idea of what he meant.

Adrian leaned back.

“ It's too bad Silvervale doesn't value you anymore. If it did, I would have sent your head back to them in a box."

He turned to leave, but paused at the door. Without looking back, he added, “The room’s warded. If you run, I will know. And If you try to die, I’ll drag you back from hell again.”

The door shut with a quiet click.

Estelle sank back into the furs, chest heaving. Her enemy saved her and had given her a bed. She knew it wasn't for free. Everything comes with a price.

She just wondered what that price was. But that wasn't her concern as of now. She had to focus on recovering her strength.

She couldn't die yet. Not until she met Darius and her father.