She gave a startled jump as a howl came from the left of her, it was very close, about 12’ away that’s all. It was the low short howl, which was followed by the higher pitched longer lasting howl, and then all the whimpering, finishing with the nicer sounding howl piercing the night air.
She knew they were closer now. Lyanne closed her eyes with the thought that if she couldn’t see them maybe it wouldn’t be quite as bad. She was breathing fast and could see her vapor drifting out into the night air.
Lyanne heard a deep growl in front of her and as she looked, she could see what looked like at least 4-5 wolves stealthily approaching her, cutting through the darkness on silent paws. Lyanne knew some wolves had webbed feet and could travel over snow with speed and silence. They suddenly stopped and stared at Lyanne and she looked down at the ground, as she didn’t want to provoke them. The silent air was filled with another sound, not a wolf howling but a high-pitched screaming sound, Lyanne worked out what the noise was it was Nathan screaming for his life.
As the wolves heard the screaming they started to move toward Lyanne again, and then her world turned black as she fainted.
Lyanne woke up feeling warm and dry, her last memory was sitting alone in the snowy wilderness and then she remembered the wolves and Nathan’s screams. She sat bolt upright and rubbed her eyes, Lyanne was confused. Somehow she’d ended up on a couch wrapped in a warm blanket, there was a fire blazing in front of her. She glanced around her surroundings trying to make sense of where she was when she noticed a pair of eyes staring at her; she let out a quiet scream. The eyes came closer to the couch followed by a fluffy body with a massive pair of ears, it was a snow hare.
“You’re awake, thank god,” a male voice sighed, Lyanne looked around to find the source of the voice and her eyes landed on a guy walking toward her. He was around 6’2” with brown longish hair and Lyanne guessed he was about 31. Even though it was freezing outside, he was dressed only in a t-shirt and jeans. Lyanne could see he had an athletic build and as he moved closer, she could see he was also very handsome in a rugged, man of the wilderness type of way.
“Where am I?” Lyanne asked as the guy knelt on the floor next to the snow hare and was joined by other creatures from the forest.
“You’re in my home, I’m Darian and these are my friends,” his voice was silky smooth and Lyanne warmed to him immediately.
“What happened, did you save me from the wolves?” she was totally perplexed but didn’t feel at all concerned about being alone with a total stranger.
“Yes, you could say that,” as he spoke, he smiled shyly at Lyanne and looked straight at her. His eyes were a warm hazel color.
“How? Why didn’t they hurt you?”
He shifted awkwardly and sat down now rather than kneeling, “Wolves are actually more afraid of people then you think miss, what’s your name by the way?”
“Lyanne, and they looked as though they meant business to me.”
“You were injured, an easy target. They may have pushed their luck with you.”
Lyanne remembered her leg and lifted the blanket back. Her leg was neatly bandaged and she could only see this, as she had no jeans on.
“I had to remove your jeans so I could see if your leg was badly hurt. There appear to be no wounds just swelling and bruising, the bandage is simply for support.”
Lyanne suddenly felt very naked and pulled the blanket back over her legs. Her anxiety was starting to kick in now and she felt awkward, so started to make small talk.
She looked at Darian and at all the animals sitting beside him on the floor, “You’ve a lovely home and some cute friends by the look of it.”
He smiled up at her, “I help the injured animals the same way as I helped you. You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve helped from the forest, and you don’t have to feel nervous around me.”
Lyanne blushed. Darian was so striking and charming, she felt like she was in a dream. Here she was surrounded by animals in a lovely rustic looking log cabin with a particularly handsome guy.
“Did you find a guy nearby when you helped me?”
Darian looked at her, “No, I’m sorry I didn’t. If you were with someone there was no sign of them anywhere.”
“I heard screaming so I don’t think he made it,” Lyanne said as the tears started to roll down her soft cheeks. Darian handed her a tissue.
“Don’t cry Lyanne, you’re safe and you’re welcome to stay with me until your leg heals and the worst of the snow clears. I will look after you,” as he spoke the last words, he touched her hand lightly making Lyanne jump slightly.“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Lyanne looked at him through tear-filled eyes and whispered, “I’m just jumpy at the moment, are you sure you don’t mind if I stay? We’re strangers.”