Stray was hungry.

So very, very hungry.

She was also- though she didn’t like to think about it- very, very scared.

She had been walking through the snow for what felt like hours since the carriage driver had ordered her out, huffing and puffing that he would not carry one of the Cursed. As soon as he’d pulled over the coach over to the side of the road she’d known what was going to happen: She’d seen the look in many men’s eyes before, and she knew what it meant. It had all been so quick: One moment the coachman was trying to pin her, the next his life was leaking out of him into her through the bare hand he’d put against her mouth. Images of what he’d wanted to do to her blooming inside her mind like they always did, the experience of his lust and rage enough to make her stomach churn. Little girl, little girl, soft and sweet little girl. Wear the Spring Maid’s green and a wolf will come for you… For an agonisingly long second they had been stuck like that, frozen together, and then he’d backhanded her so hard he’d knocked her from the carriage. Not even stopping to throw her luggage after her, just taking off like the devil himself was on his trail. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened since she left home but Stray sincerely hope it would be the last-

And it was better she knew to be a live girl than a dead wolf at the side of the road.

And so here she was, trudging through the snow with only her green hood to protect her. Sometimes peering through the darkness of the road, looking for the lights of the homestead, sometimes trying to distract herself by thinking of the people she had left behind. It was winter and the ground was hard beneath her boots as she walked, the snow having solidified into an ice so glassy it made each footstep treacherous. Each movement forward a battle to not to fall to her knees. The world was shimmering, white and winter-streaked: snowflakes were beginning to feather down from above and she almost welcomed them, knowing that they would at least make walking on the ice easier though the damp they brought would cling to her clothes. The air was bitingly cold, so harsh against her skin its touch was like a knife’s. The sensation reminding her of her last moments in her father’s house though she pushed the thought angrily away. She was doing well, she told herself stubbornly, she was surviving without Them-

If you called walking alone through a snow-filled wood at dead of night surviving, that is.

It was another thought she pushed harshly away.

She heard it then, in the darkness. The quietest of breaths taken, the slightest padding of feet. Stray had not been alone in the world long but she had learned to use her senses, and she had learned to trust them. And right now they were telling her something was wrong. So she stopped a moment, head cocked, listening. Trying to work out whether what she could hear was heavy-bodied and escapable or light-footed and able to take her down. But it seemed she was utterly alone: There were no house-lights, no farms this far into the wildwood. Humans didn’t come here, save when a carriage needed to use the old King’s Road because the newer roads to Caer Lauglin were blocked. And if something was following her then it was nothing she could see: There wasn’t a living creature within her sight for all her searching. Inwardly she shuddered, a common saying about kettles and frying pans popping into her head. And even older one about the dangers of walking alone at night arriving hot on its heels. Little girl, little girl, soft and sweet little girl. Wear the Spring Maid’s green and a wolf will come for you… Stray sighed, her teeth chattering. The enormity of her situation stealing through her. She was alone, all alone out here in the wildwood with nothing to defend herself with except the power of her Curse. There was little else that could make the situation worse and she knew it-

And that was when she saw the golden wolf.

It was also, coincidentally, when her heart decided to try beating its way clear out of her chest.

The beast was massive, far bigger than any she had ever seen before. Its eyes copper-golden and watchful, its paws stained with blood. Stray began backing up, adrenaline flooding her body. The fact that she was utterly alone in the wildwood suddenly, vividly real. She feinted left but the creature matched her. Feinted right but the thing instantly blocked her way. Out of the corner of her eye she saw another wolf move into her line of vision, this one smaller but somehow elegantly lovely. Its eyes a vivid yellow, its fur so black it gleamed blue. The smaller wolf began advancing on her too, growling softly. A big pink tongue flicking out to taste the air around Stray, to lick her scent and make it her own. Stray tried to think logically, remembering everything she’d ever heard about wolf attacks but none of it was reassuring; They were in the hardest months of winter now, the biting, gnawing months that drive all predators mad with want. The golden wolf was so massive that it must be a brilliant hunter, she thought- It was clearly not a creature who had gone for long without a meal. Which meant that it was very good at killing, so good that a small morsel like herself would provide no challenge at all to it-

Unless, she thought suddenly, she used her Curse on it.

She wasn’t sure what using her power on an animal would do to her, but she didn’t think she had a choice about it.

So she fell back, feeling inside her thick woollen coat for the edge of her glove. Her heart easing a little as her fingers found it, the effort to work it down her arm taking more of her attention than she liked. The smaller, bluish wolf seemed to know she was up to something because it began snapping at her, barking angrily at the gold wolf as if giving it an order. Knocking against the shaggy blond pelt, yellow eyes narrowed with anger or worry or both. The golden wolf made a sound, cruel and harsh, that was almost like human laughter and then without warning it launched itself at Stray, knocking her to the ground, its teeth at her throat. Its shaggy coat protecting it from her Curse’s strength though she pressed her bare hand against it with all her might. Stray let out a little, yelping scream, the wind leaving her body as her back hit the ground. The weight of the golden wolf crushing her, pushing against her chest. For a split second blind panic reigned, her only conscious thought that her Curse wouldn’t work if she couldn’t touch the creature’s skin somehow-

And then, without any warning a reddish brown blur smashed into the golden wolf and knocked it away from her. Another, snow white blur knocking into the blue-black wolf and forcing it into the snow. For a second Stray couldn’t really see what was going on- Had she hit her head?- and then without any warning there was a cacophony of light and noise around her. The woods suddenly bright as daylight, the sound of a fight drowning out all else. A woman dressed head to toe in white furs- the white blur she’d seen?- was raining arrows down on both of her attackers. Stars exploding like fireworks around her, lightning was suddenly darting through the forest, its aim unerringly, impossibly precise. A fork of it hit the ground at Stray’s feet, forcing her to scramble backwards. Another hitting a branch above her head and making her scuttle further back. A wind picked up, lifting the blue-black wolf into the air to smack hard into a massive oak tree to the right of them. The golden wolf howling at the sight of it and snarling his rage, gaze focussing terrifyingly, furiously on Stray. The beast smashed into the white-clad woman, sending her sprawling, its massive maw wide and slavering now, filled with wicked-looking, sharp-as-knives teeth. Stray screamed, so long and loud that it made her throat ache, certainty that she was about to die filling her-

And then suddenly, miraculously, there was some…thing standing between her and the golden wolf.

Something massive and hairy and… feral between her and the creature after her skin.

For a split second all Stray could do was stare at the newcomer, with its golden-hazel eyes and body that seemed spun out of shadows. The sight of its massive bulk making her heart unaccountable beat even faster in her chest. The thing was snarling, a low, vicious sound that drew a shudder out of Stray even as it shifted itself more protectively in front of her. A whisper of thick fur- hair?- against her bare skin raising goose-bumps wherever contact was made. The newcomer reached momentarily back towards her, its hairy nose briefly taking her scent, the gesture somehow comforting… And then it was snarling, biting. The golden wolf launching itself at the newcomer, their bodies colliding with what sounded like a bone-breaking thump. Teeth and claws gauging, trying to gain purchase against one another’s hide. The golden wolf slashing its claws viciously at the newcomer, blood- was that her protector’s blood?- spattering against Stray’s bare skin. She tried to force herself away, skittering through the slush but the newcomer kept with her. Snarling as she tried to move away from it, snapping its massive jaws at the golden wolf’s throat even as it used its tail to smack her back into place. For a second the fight hung in the balance, the golden wolf and the newcomer apparently evenly matched, both fighting viciously to reach Stray-

And then as suddenly as it had appeared the golden wolf was silent. Blood flooding from its throat to pool in the snow at Stray’s feet. The massive creature gave one last, shuddering breath, its jaws snapping shut and then it was still. Silent. Unmoving. Its copper-golden eyes staring but not seeing a thing. With a tiny whimper Stray backed away from it, a hand reaching down to pull her to her feet. The woman dressed all in white steadying her, her blue eyes wide with concern. “Are you all right, child?” the woman asked her gently. There was a strange rending sound happening somewhere to Stray’s right and the girl knew without a shadow of a doubt that she did not want to investigate its cause. “Did they manage to do anything to you before we got to you? Are you- Are you sure that you’re alright?”

Stray shook her head, mouthed a soundless yes. Her teeth chattering, the shock of everything she’d been through finally settling into her skin. For a split second she was still, swaying where she stood, unable to stop herself- And then suddenly she was staring up at the sky, wondering why her feet weren’t on the ground anymore. The stars twinkling like iron nails above her, the knife-like cold covering her skin now and seeming to disappear inside her lungs. She began to shudder, the chattering of her teeth getting louder, the sense that she was being pulled under and into a million separate pieces getting worse. For a second she could have sworn that warm, strong arms were holding her, that she could feel fur against her skin-

And then she was falling into darkness, oblivion claiming her as surely as the golden wolf nearly had. Her body unable to deal with all that it had just been through, its instinct for oblivion until it could heal. Stray gave a last, shuddering breath and then darkness claimed her, her body finally relinquishing its grip on this world-

While in the middle of the wildwood a man picked her up and gently cradled her.

If she’d been conscious she might have recognised the hazel-golden colour of his eyes.