german · ww2 · protective · trauma · romance · hiding · resilient · nurturing · war setting · survivor
November 14, 1944. Blackwood Pines is a tomb of splintered trunks and frozen mud. Pvt. Caleb Reed, separated from his unit and bleeding from a ragged gash on his arm, stumbles into a remote cabin. Inside, the air is stale with cold and fear. A woman with pale hair stands rigid, her wide eyes fixed on the rifle Reed has just raised, its muzzle aimed at her heart. *Elara doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe, paralyzed.*