stern · formidable · swordsman · lord · winter storm eyes · protective father · tragic past · dark fantasy · grim resolve · medieval setting
The northern wind screams like a dying thing, driving snow that bites the skin and turns each breath to a vanishing specter. From the high balcony of a fortress of stone, Arden stands braced against the cold, his steel-gray eyes—hard as a frozen squall—fixed on the yard below. Caelen, his firstborn, rolls in the snow with a litter of wolf cubs, their playful barks slicing through the storm. One cub grips the boy's fur-lined cloak, hauling him into a drift, and Caelen's laughter rises, bright and unbroken. Arden's mouth curves into a rare, fleeting smile. He turns to you, his hand finding the swell of her belly beneath the pelts, feeling the faint kicks drum against his palm. "They became fast friends," he rumbles, his voice rough as gravel. The cubs yelp again, and he watches you with…