The wind howled like a beast outside, slamming against the stone hill and forcing the pine branches to scrape together with rough, angry sounds.
Inside the hidden cave, the night felt darker than usual.
Only a yellow-red glow from the dying fire struggled against the cold that slithered in through the crack at the cave entrance.
Tonight, the storm came without mercy, with icy gusts that could freeze skin in seconds.
Valerie sat huddled in the corner of the cave, clutching her knees so tightly her fingers turned white.
Her body shook hard even though she had wrapped herself in her thin cotton blanket.
Her lips looked pale and trembled slowly, and her breath made little white puffs that vanished into the dark.
“It’s so cold,” Valerie whispered.
“So freaking cold…” Across the room, a pair of golden eyes glowed faintly in the shadows.
Caleb had been watching her movements for the last hour without saying a word.
The wolf man sat quietly with his legs crossed, wearing only a simple cloth around his waist.
No shirt covered his broad chest, showing the long scar that once marked his back, now completely healed.
His body was built far stronger than any normal human, so this extreme cold only annoyed him, never truly hurt him.
“Come closer, human,” Caleb said, his heavy voice cutting through the storm’s noise.
“I’m fine right here,” Valerie answered, trying hard to hide the shake in her voice.
“DON’T BE SO STUBBORN WHEN YOUR BODY IS SHAKING LIKE A DRY LEAF, VALERIE!!!” Caleb said in a cold tone that did not accept any argument at all.
“This cave is not even huge.
We’re less than three meters apart!” Valerie argued, even though her teeth were already clicking from the cold.
“It’s the same!” “Three meters is enough to let your fragile body freeze before dawn comes,” Caleb replied, shifting his position a little closer toward the center of the dying fire.
“Move.” Valerie looked at the last glowing embers with doubt.
The wind pounded through the vines at the cave entrance again, making her body jerk from the sudden shock of cold.
Realizing her pride wouldn’t warm her blood, Valerie finally gave up.
She stood slowly, dragging her blanket, and stepped closer toward the side where Caleb sat.
“Sit in front of me,” Caleb ordered briefly.
“Huh?!” Valerie startled, stopping her steps in an instant.
“What?!” “I don’t plan to eat you tonight, so drop that stupid idea from your head,” Caleb huffed, pointing with his chin to the empty space in front of him.
“This is kinda weird, you know,” Valerie muttered, still unsure to move closer.
Caleb did not answer with words.
His huge body moved forward, and before Valerie could protest, his strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her with one smooth, firm motion until Valerie was seated right in the empty space between Caleb’s long, open legs.
As soon as Valerie sat with her back against Caleb’s broad chest, she froze in surprise.
A powerful wave of heat radiated from his body.
Caleb did not really hug her, but they were so close that Valerie’s back could feel Caleb’s steady heartbeat.
The warm air from his chest soaked through Valerie’s thin cotton blanket, wiping out the cold in seconds.
“How can your body be this hot?
Like a live furnace!!!” Valerie asked, amazed, her face suddenly burning from the too-close distance.
“My people’s physiology is different from weak earth creatures,” Caleb answered, his heavy voice vibrating low right behind Valerie’s neck, sending a strange, tickling sensation down her spine.
“Thank you,” Valerie said honestly, lowering her head deeply.
“Save your thanks.
I just don’t want to deal with burying a human corpse in my cave,” Caleb said flatly, even as his gray furry tail moved slowly to wrap around the side of Valerie’s legs, protecting her from the night wind.
Valerie smiled faintly at that.
After living together in this isolated stone room for some time, she had started to understand that behind Caleb’s sharp words, there was hidden care.
The thick suspicion from their first meeting had been wiped away, replaced by a strange, sweet tension between them.
“Why do you never ask why I’m in this forest?” Valerie broke the silence, trying to distract herself from her heart that was starting to race wildly.
“Because I’m not interested in human problems,” Caleb answered lazily.
“Liar!
Your sharp nose must have known something already, right?!” Valerie guessed, tilting her head slightly back, so her nose almost touched Caleb’s strong jaw.
Caleb opened his eyes, staring straight into Valerie’s eyes from a distance of only a few centimeters.
“My nose only says you carried fresh blood and extreme fear that night.
And till now…
that scent of fear still often comes from you.” Valerie froze.
Caleb’s golden eyes locked onto her so intensely, as if he could read every hidden wound she carried.
Valerie quickly turned her face forward again, staring at the dying red wood with empty eyes.
“I ran away from the city,” Valerie said briefly, her voice suddenly soft and shaking from suppressed emotion.
“Human cities sound like loud, fake places,” Caleb replied lazily, slowly clenching his hands.
“True, especially my family’s home,” Valerie murmured, memories of her terrifying escape night hitting her heart again.
“There was a huge family problem that forced me to leave.
They…
they wanted something from me.” “Something like what?” Caleb asked in a slightly softer tone, as if his curiosity was truly triggered by her sadness.
“My freedom, my future, and maybe my life if I became useless to their plans,” Valerie answered with a broken voice.
Tears she had held back for so long slowly rolled down her pale cheeks.
Her body shook again, not because of cold, but because of deep trauma.
Seeing the small shoulder in front of him tremble slightly, Caleb stayed silent for a long time.
From Valerie’s heartbeat, close against his chest, he could feel a rhythm of unbearable pain.
Without thinking, Caleb leaned forward, pressing his broad chest against Valerie’s back, giving her a solid support.
His big hands slowly rose, wrapping around Valerie’s shoulders from behind and pulling her deeper into his warm embrace.
“Humans are strange creatures,” Caleb murmured in a very low voice, almost like a soothing whisper in Valerie’s ear.
“Physically weak, but they carry huge darkness inside their heads.” “You talk like your people are some perfect holy beings without flaws!” Valerie answered, trying to bring back her joking tone even though her voice was still hoarse as she wiped her tears with the edge of the blanket.
“My people fight for territory, honor, and survival, not because of endless greed like your people,” Caleb defended firmly, yet his fingers moved slowly to rub Valerie’s arm, calming her.
“That sounds very similar to what happened in my home,” Caleb added, his voice suddenly dimming, hinting at similar pain from his own past.
“So your world also knows betrayal?” Valerie asked carefully, remembering the deep wound on his back.
“Any ruler will face betrayal from those closest to them,” Caleb answered softly.
“Ruler?” Valerie completely turned her head, looking at the side profile of Caleb’s face with her still-wet, wide eyes.
“Wait, you mean…
you’re a—” “Focus on your body heat and keep moving less, human,” Caleb said gently.
This time, he did not push Valerie’s head away.
Instead, his thumb moved softly to wipe the remaining tears from Valerie’s cheek, making Valerie’s breath catch from the intimate touch.
“You always avoid every time I start asking about your world!” Valerie protested, annoyed, her face flushing red.
“You’re so stingy!” “My world is too cruel for your fragile little ears, Valerie,” Caleb snapped briefly, then casually resting his chin on top of Valerie’s head, closing his eyes to end the conversation.
Valerie let out a long breath, finally choosing to give up and lean fully against Caleb’s warm chest.
The ice wall between them slowly eroded as time passed without them noticing, replaced by an unspoken comfort.
“Do you think they will find this place?” Valerie asked again after a long silence, her anxiety returning in the middle of the storm’s growing noise.
“Who are you talking about?” Caleb asked back without opening his eyes.
“The people from the city who hunted me that night,” Valerie clarified her fear.
“If they dare step within two miles of this hill, my nose will detect them before they even see the cave entrance,” Caleb said with total confidence.
“What if they bring tons of guns?!” Valerie pressed, worried about human technology.
Caleb opened his eyes, showing his sharp glowing gold irises in the dark.
A dominant smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
“Human guns only work if they know where to shoot.
And in this forest, I am the true master of the darkness.
As long as you are behind my back, none of them can touch you.” Valerie froze hearing those words.
Her heart beat strangely fast.
“That sounds so scary and…
comforting at the same time,” Valerie whispered softly.
“Sleep.
The storm outside won’t end until dawn,” Caleb ordered, his voice softening, sliding his thick tail tighter around the girl’s body and pressing his embrace against Valerie’s chest even more.
“I don’t know if I can sleep with this noise,” Valerie admitted, eyes still on the shrinking embers.
“Close your eyes and listen to my heartbeat.
That will cancel out the wind outside,” Caleb gave her an unusual suggestion.
Valerie followed his words slowly.
She closed her eyes tightly, focusing all her hearing on Caleb’s steady, strong, and calming heartbeat right behind her back.
The constant rhythm slowly blurred the roaring wind outside the cave.
The warm air that surrounded her whole body from Caleb’s embrace made her extreme fatigue start to take over her mind.
“Caleb,” Valerie called in a half-sleepy voice.
“What now?” Caleb answered softly.
“Don’t leave me when I sleep…” Valerie asked, voicing her deepest fear without realizing it.
Caleb stayed silent for a moment, watching Valerie’s innocent face now leaning weakly against his chest.
“I won’t go anywhere in this weather, stupid human,” Caleb answered with a soft growl that sounded like a binding holy promise.
Valerie did not answer again.
Her breathing slowly became regular, showing that the human girl had fully fallen into dreamland inside the wolf’s warm embrace.
Caleb took a deep breath, inhaling Valerie’s sweet scent that calmed his wild soul.
His big hand moved slowly to fix Valerie’s shifted cotton blanket so she wouldn’t get cold again, then tightened his hold like he never wanted to let the girl go.
“Sleep peacefully, fragile human,” Caleb whispered very softly near Valerie’s ear.
“In this place, no earth monster will touch you as long as I still breathe.” That long night kept rolling under the grip of the storm and the violent icy wind.
But inside the narrow stone cave, the warmth and strange pulse created between them became an absolute defense wall that no cold from the outside world could break.