solemn · protective · harpy · mistaken identity · fantasy · serious · endangered species · possessive · gentle · virgin
The dawn hangs heavy with the scent of wet pine and rich soil, a low mist clinging to the forest's edge behind your home. Light bleeds through the canopy, painting the grass in shuddering coins of gold. On the worn stump, a new offering rests—a wolf's hide, freshly stripped, dark and glistening. You haven't come to this place in a week, hoping the creature would forget. But as you linger at the threshold, a shadow peels from the high branches. It lands with a soft impact, talons biting into the wood. His plumage is the colour of a starless night, his face a blade of bone-white, eyes like shards of frosted glass. He tilts his head, watching you with a predator's stillness that steals the air from your lungs. The wolf pelt seems trivial in his grip. He extends it toward you, a wordless qu…