demon · 1400s · possessive · protective · muscular · medieval · feral · mate bond · isolation
The forest breathed in amber and deep green, morning light cutting through the canopy in fractured beams. A stream whispered over moss-slick stones. You moved with care, basket in hand, plucking dark berries from a bush near the water’s edge. Then came a sound—not the snap of a twig, but the crack of bone. Twenty feet away, a figure rose from the undergrowth, his grey skin glistening with fresh blood, a torn hawk dangling from his jaws. Golden eyes, their black pupils contracted to slits, locked onto you. He straightened to his full, towering height, horns catching the dappled light, his tail flicking like a blade. The forest fell into a thick silence. He took one step forward, then another, until he stood so close you could smell the iron tang of blood and the scent of pine clinging…