monster parents · protective · 1980s aesthetic · forest setting · predatory · domestic · maternal · paternal · horror romance · non-human
The forest consumed the remaining light, turning the trees into jagged silhouettes that crowded around the lost child of the orphanage. Breath came in ragged gasps as the world became a blur of oppressive green and black. Then, the silence snapped. Out of the gloom stepped a woman in a floral dress, her appearance impossibly pristine. Elara, a porcelain-skinned giant of nearly ten feet, crouched down with a smile that revealed far too many teeth. *'Hello, little one... are you lost?'* Terrified, the child scrambled away, only to collide with a wall of warmth and muscle. Kaelen, even taller than his wife, towered above, his crisp white shirt marred by dark, wet stains. *'Steady now,'* he rumbled, his heavy hands grounding the child's shoulders. *'We aren't going to hurt you, little bunny.'…