Wolfen One Part 3
Heero slid under the blankets beside him, leaning back against his pillow. "Do you think you can manage not to squirm so much tonight? Or do I need to hold you down again?" He drawled.
Duo felt a slow burn start in his face and neck. "I'll try to lie still."
"How flattering."
Duo blushed harder. Heero turned over on his side and looked out the window. "Storm's getting worse."
Duo looked too, and shivered. "Thanks for letting me stay with you. I'm glad I'm not out in that."
"I doubt many are. I'm sure even the animals have found places to take shelter. You may have to evict a few from your camp when it stops."
The wind howled and Duo pulled the blankets a little tighter around himself. "They are welcome to it. I wouldn't even care if the wolf found his shelter there."
Heero rolled back over and gave him a strange look. Then he smiled. "I'm sure the wolf is smart enough to be curled up someplace warm- and relieved that his death has been put off for a few days longer."
Duo raised an eyebrow. "I doubt he's thinking that..."
Heero's smile widened a bit more, his teeth glistening in the firelight. "You think he's contemplating the ways to kill you instead?"
"I know wolves are smart, but..." Duo thought back to the way the wolf had managed to dodge the arrow. "Huh, maybe he is..."
"You sound disturbed by the thought."
"It would be nicer to enjoy your last days, not knowing what's coming..."
Heero nodded, his smile gone. "I suppose so. You never know, perhaps the wolf is relieved by the thought of death."
"Why?"
"He is here by himself. Wolves are supposed to have a pack, or a mate, he has neither. He's alone. Maybe he's tired of being alone. Maybe he's tired of being both feared and afraid. Maybe he wants to die..."
Duo frowned. "I don't think I could trap him and take him elsewhere, not by myself..."
Heero blinked.
"Unless I got a cart of some kind, but the wolf's scent might bother the horse..."
"You aren't really contemplating it?"
Duo sighed. "You're making me feel bad for him. I'm only hunting him because the village wants him to leave their sheep alone. Makes me wish I had one of those folktale powers and could talk to the beasts..."
"You wouldn't be a hunter then."
"I know," Duo sighed, "but then I could just persuade him to leave."
Heero smiled. "Maybe you have already. Maybe your arrow scared him off... but then you wouldn't get paid."
"Doubt the damn village is going to pay me anyway." Duo yawned. "Wonder if the wolf would pay me to get rid of them?"
Heero chuckled and settled deeper into the pillows. "You're getting absurd. Go to sleep."
Duo closed his eyes and did just that.
~*~
The nightmare was a bad one.
Snow fell in thick heavy sheets making it hard to see past his nose. A few steps and he stumbled over a body.
His foster mother lay dead in the snow, her blood crimson and frozen looking. A few steps later and his foster father lay there, his throat torn out.
Duo shivered in the whirling snow, making himself move away from the frozen corpses.
A few more steps and he heard the growl of the bear. He turned around but the snow was too heavy, obscuring his view. He could hear the bear, feel its hot breath, but he couldn't see it.
Pain flared in his shoulder and he screamed, feeling the claws tear his skin open.
"Duo!"
He woke up gasping, his shoulder aching, his body shaking with the memory of cold. He reached out and found warmth.
Arms encircled him, helped him pull the warmth closer.
"It was just a nightmare," a soothing voice murmured in his ear. A hand slipped underneath his braid, began to massage the back of his neck. "Just a nightmare."
Duo nodded, unable to find the words, still holding on tightly to the warm body next to his. Still clung to the reality of warmth and safety. He moved closer, using both arms and legs to pull the warm body as close to his as he could.
The arm around his waist tightened, the hand continuing its soothing strokes, as the voice reassured him again. "Relax. It was only a dream."
Duo's breathing evened back out, he relaxed, soothed that it had only been a dream... and then felt his face heat up when he realized the position he was in.
"I'm... sorry..." He managed and tried to slip away, but Heero didn't let go.
"You all right now?"
"Yes. I'm really sorry... I didn't mean..."
"It's okay." Heero sounded amused and Duo squinted up at his face in the dim light that the fire provided. Heero's lips were curved in a faint smile, but his eyes were concerned. "Always glad to help."
"I will repay you for this- I'll do anything..."
The smile increased. "Really? Anything?"
The hand on the back of his neck tightened, tilting his head up.
"Any..." Duo started, but the rest of the word was smothered as Heero bent his head and kissed him.
TBC...
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