Spoiler! :
Twilight tinted the blankets of snow blue as Marguerite hurried by. She didn’t mind the cold, but the heavy drifts were slowing her down and making her trail rather obvious. She ducked under a blackened branch, but Cheyne had already spotted her.
“Wait,” he called.
She had to stop. He was close enough now that she couldn’t simply pretend she hadn’t heard him. If she kept running now it would only cause trouble later.
“Why are you following me?” she asked, turning.
“I need to talk to you. I wanted to say I’m sorry for your loss.”
Marguerite shrugged. She was still getting used to being an orphan, but it hadn’t really been a shock, and she seriously doubted that he wanted to talk about her mother’s death.
“What are you doing out here? You don’t even have a decent coat!” he said.
“Yes I do. It’s just not finished yet,” she retorted.
“You know perfectly well that I meant you’re not wearing one,” he sighed. “Will you just come back to the village with me?”
She shook her head. “I want to be alone for a little while.”
“Out in the forest? You of all people should know how dangerous that is.”
Disgusted, Marguerite started walking away. Cheyne followed her, easily keeping up with her strides.
“Don’t be like that.”
“How could you throw our history in my face like that?”
“I’m sorry, alright? But you know how I feel about you, and you’re always so cold to me.”
“I am not!”
“Then why won’t you marry me?” He said, grabbing her arm and forcing her to stay still. “I’m getting tired of waiting.”
“I’m still only twenty,” she protested, trying to struggle out of his grip.
“Lots of girls younger than you are already starting families. Besides, what are you going to do now that your mother is dead? Be my wife. I can take care of you.”
“Right now you’re just hurting me.”
“Say you’ll marry me.”
“No!”
Suddenly she heard something moving through the forest around them. A familiar sense of fear struck her that had nothing to do with her current precarious situation. She thought she saw a something large and black streak past, but it didn't matter. She didn't need to see the beast to know it was there.
"Cheyne, you need to let go of me, right now!"
"What are you so scared for? I've barely touched you!"
She was about to tell him that it wasn't him she was frightened of, but just then the real threat burst through the trees. Cheyne barely had time to throw an arm up in protection before he was attacked. Marguerite was knocked into the snow as the creature pounced.
The young man was shouting as he tried to fend off his attacker. Marguerite swallowed her screams along with her panic. Cheyne didn’t have an axe to protect them with this time, but she had a knife in her belt. It was for precisely this reason that she always carried one.
Crouching, she slashed at the wolf before it could finish off its intended victim. She couldn’t help shrieking a little as it turned to snarl at her, blood on its muzzel and white teeth flashing. Again she bit back her terror.
“I know you can understand me,” she told it. “Go away, and leave him alone.”
They hadn’t been this close in seven years. While she had encountered the wolf since then, there had always been plenty of time to run away. Technically there still was, but that would mean abandoning Cheyne.
It was just as immense as she remembered. A child’s eyes had not been what made this creature seem larger than any normal wolf should be. From her kneeling position the black animal loomed over her.
It growled again and made as if to lunge at her. She swiped at it again with her blade. There was blood on the tip, so she must have at least scratched it, even if it hadn’t seemed intimidated.
“I dare you,” she said, meeting the wolf’s dark glare. Miraculously, the beast broke away first.
She hadn’t really expected it to just give up. Yet ahe watched it lope away into the woods, disappearing into the darkness of the oncoming night just as swiftly as it had appeared. Even when she knew they were safe her nerves sang with tension.
“Get up,” she told her wounded companion. “We need to get home.”
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