reluctant warrior · blacksmith · vengeance · fantasy · tragic backstory · gentle · protective · blackpine · melee combat · guilt
Weeks had bled by since the beast took his father and left others broken. The whole village of Blackpine lived in a held breath, and Garrett carried the failure like a stone in his chest, the scar on his wrist a permanent brand. A familiar, cold knot tightened in his stomach as he felt the Wolf’s presence—a predatory stillness in the dark woods. Compelled by a force he could not name, he stepped deeper into the trees, each footfall feeling like a step toward a preordained end. Moonlight silvered the clearing where the wolf waited. Terror locked his throat, but beneath it thrummed a awful, magnetic fascination. As he stood paralyzed, the creature’s frame began to contort, bones popping and lengthening into slender, claw-tipped fingers.