" She's just the right amount..." Adrian unconsciously mumbled but he quickly shook his head at the thought. Thinking to himself that he had no business thinking of such things.

She was bundled deep within the doctor's thick fur coat. Thanks to the doctor giving him back his fur tunic, his arms and torso, were no longer exposed to the atmosphere, nor were they numb with the cold that bit down to the bone. Each step did feel tiring though since his boots kept sinking deep into the fresh powder.

Halfway home, his frozen foot caught on a hidden tree root beneath the snow.

" Arck!"

He stumbled forward with a grunt, his body twisting instinctively to protect his charge and that he did.

He fell hard onto his side, the impact jarring his teeth, but he managed to keep the girl cradled safely against his chest, taking the full force of the fall on his own shoulder and hip.

For a moment, he just lay there, panting, his face in the snow, the cold a shocking agony against his skin. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself back up, checked that the girl was still peacefully asleep, and continued on, his body aching a bit but not so much that he would complain about it, he'd already gotten used to living in this wintery wonderland.

Finally, the familiar, small shape of his cottage came into view. A faint, warm light flickered in the window, a candle his mother had left burning for him. He shouldered the door open and stumbled inside, the wave of warmth from the banked fire feeling like a physical embrace after the brutal cold.

"Adrian!" His mother's voice exposed her lack of sleep and immediate relief. She emerged from her room, wrapped in a shawl, her face pale with worry.

"Its been so long since you left, where have you been? I was about to go out and send Thomas and the men out looking for you! I thought…" Her sentence trailed off as her eyes fell on the bundle in his arms, specifically on the cascade of unique grey hair spilling out from the fur coat. Her jaw went slack. "Adrian… what… who is that?"

"I'm so sorry I worried you, Mother," he said, his voice rough with exhaustion as he gently laid the girl down on his own small bed in the corner of the main room. "I'm fine, I promise. It's… a long story."

Melissa approached slowly, her worried gaze shifting from her son's tired, cold-reddened face to the unconscious girl. A strange, knowing look suddenly crossed her features, and she clicked her tongue softly. "Adrian," she said, her tone shifting from concern to gentle, amused scolding. "I know we had a little talk about you finding a nice girl someday, but this is rather sudden, don't you think? Sneaking off into the night and coming back with a sleeping maiden? You mustn't be so impatient, dear. You can't just make off with someone's daughter because you liked our harmless chat about marriage."

Adrian felt a hot flush of awkward embarrassment spread across his cheeks. "Mother! No! It's not like that at all, I swear! It's… complicated."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow, folding her arms. "Is it? Then perhaps you can explain where this complicated young lady is from, and why she is asleep in our home?"

Adrian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He couldn't tell her the truth. He couldn't say he'd found her as a wolf in the woods, or that the village doctor had performed a blood ritual in a secret basement. The words stuck in his throat, and he could only stand there, looking guilty and flustered.

Seeing his silence, his mother's smile widened, convinced she had uncovered a youthful romantic scandal. "I see," she said, her voice dripping with playful mock seriousness. "Well, until you decide to tell me the real story, I suppose I'll just have to assume the worst of my son, who's become a dashing kidnapper of innocent girls."

" M-Mother I promise, it's really nothing like that!" Adrian huffed but his mother merely chuckled.

" Ok, ok. I've heard you dear. Now, get a blanket for yourself before you catch a cold. We'll discuss your… guest… in the morning."

" I left some food for you, warm them up after you're done. Ok" She shook her head, a fond, tired smile on her face as she retreated to her room, leaving Adrian standing in the flickering candlelight, caught between exhaustion, frustration, and the impossible reality of the wolf-girl now sleeping in his home.

" Wait? Where should she sleep?" Adrian blinked at the thought.

" Well I can't have her with mom... But we only have two rooms."

" If I leave her here alone in the parlour then who knows what she might get up to..." Adrian furrowed his brows. He suddenly found it tiring catering to this new guest of his.

In the end he carried her into his room and layed her to rest on his bed before covering her with his bedsheets.

" Forget it, I'll just sleep on the same bed with her for tonight... I'd rather not catch a cold if I slept on the floor... And this way, If she tries anything, I'll be the first to notice." Adrian muttered beneath his breath with a sigh. Since he'd already brought her home, the least he could do was offer her a good place to rest tills he awakened. And like the good doctor said, she was now his responsibility...

In some instances, responsibility worked both ways. He had to look after her till she recovered and also, he had to make sure she didn't try anything, whether it be harming anyone else.

" Come to think of it. I'll have to figure out how to feed her now that it's come to it..." Adrian thought to himself as he got into bed next to her.

" I can't have her getting startled when she wakes up, letting her stay within arms reach should be the best choice. If she kills me in my sleep, well, then I can at least alert mom in time." He subtly glanced at her sleeping figure before sighing again and turning to face her on the bed before he gently closed his eyes to sleep.

" Goodnight..." He whispered, with a voice mixed with a yawn before he dozed off.

Not long afterwards, Adrian found himself being pulled away from his slumber.

The first thing Adrian felt was a growl. A low, rumbling sound that vibrated right through his ribs. For a second, he thought he was still dreaming about the wolf. But then he felt the weight on his chest.

He cracked an eye open. The room was dark, the middle-of-the-night kind of dark where everything was just shapes and shadows.

And there she was. The grey-haired girl he had brought back, was curled up against his side, her head pillowed on his shoulder and one arm flung right across his chest. Her hair was a total mess, all grey and wild in the moonlight.

She was dead asleep, but her stomach let out another soft growl, answering the one that had woken him up.

" I guess I should've at least fed her something before getting some shut eye." Adrian thought to himself.

' But is she an omnivore or a complete carnivore though? She's hungry but I'm not sure mom's leftovers will do her any good.."

" Urrgh..." Adrian groaned lightly, sliding his palms down his face. " Does that mean I'll have to go out and catch her something to eat."

' But I'm not sure it'll be a good idea to live her here with mom alone. I could take her with me but who's to say what she might do...' He was fine with watching her sleep with him in the bed but having her follow him in that dark forest was far more dangerous. He wasn't exactly what you would call trusting towards monsters...or should he say supernaturals, not to mention that he didn't know what other dangers might be hidden in that forest this night.

With nothing coming to mind, He just lay there for awhile, staring at the ceiling as he wondered what to do.

All in all, today could be said to be the weirdest day of his life. Adrian turned to stare at her soundly sleeping face that glistened in the moonlight. For a strange girl he brought home, she sure looked nothing like the frenzied beast that had almost taken his life.

" Let's just try it out..." He gave in to one of his suggestions.

Moving real slow, like he was trying not to spook a rabbit, he started to slide out from under her. He lifted her arm, it was heavier than it looked but not much of a hinderence. In the blink of an eye. He slipped out from under the blankets.

She made a little grumpy noise in her sleep and immediately curled into the warm spot he'd left behind.

'...Thank god she didn't wake up, I doubt she'd be less calm without food right now.' Adrian sighed, feeling relieved.

Unfortunately, His own stomach chose that moment to gurgle loudly, reminding him he'd basically missed dinner as well.

"..." Adrian didn't move a muscle, staring at her body in silence but seeing as she had only squirmed once more, he sighed in relief, again.

The floor was freezing on his bare feet as he padded into the kitchen. The fire was gone and the charcoal were as dark as they usually were, but on the cupboard was the pot of food his mom had left. He lifted the cloth cover and though the meal was cold, the rich scent of the food was delicious. His Adams apple trembled due to a single whiff. Either he was more hungrier than he thought or he greatly underestimated Melissa's cooking skills.

" I'm not sure what she thinks of a cold meal but I'd feel guilty if she ate it this cold." He said to himself. Adrian beared the cold floor and reheated the meal over the fire he made. After he was done. He made sure to quench the fire, less the disturbance woke his dear mom from her sleep.

Now done, he scooped a big portion into a wooden bowl, the steam rising up in the cold air.

****

Back in the room, he sat on the edge of the bed, he wondered how he should give this to her, this was his first time offering a girl something in such a situation.

"Hey," he whispered. "Wake up, I brought you some food." In the end, he just did what his mind felt like. Basically he decided to wing it.

Her eyes snapped open. Not like a person waking up, all slow and groggy, but more like one second she was up, and in the next second she was completely agitated.

Her head whipped around, pale eyes wide, taking in the dark room, the walls, him.

A low growl started in her throat, this one definitely a warning. She scrambled backwards on the bed, not standing up but moving on all fours, pushing herself into the corner where the wall met the bed. She stared at him, then at the door, her whole body tense and ready to bolt and yet Her nose twitched, sniffing the air before her eyes curiously moved away from the door and towards the object in his hands.

" Hey, call down. You're not in any danger." he said, keeping his voice calm and low. He didn't move any closer to avoid agitating her further.

"It's okay. You're safe here. Nobody's gonna hurt you." He held the bowl out a little, letting the smell of the meal drift toward her. " I simply brought you some food..." Adrian didn't know if she could understand him so he used one arm to demonstrate what he meant.

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