The Witch On The Mountain

Chapter 3

His face crumpled in obvious confusion, I looked away cringing at my obvious deflection. 'Why did we say that?'

"Okay."  His reply conveied indifference.

My head snapped back to him as he peered at the bucket of water. He was just accepting my lack of reply so easily?

He bent taking my waterer and filling it before sprinkling the row of dirt nearest to him. I made the mistake of trying to get a judge of his technique and was reminded he was still very naked. I felt my body warm, I couldn't have a naked wolf hanging around my home.

I had no clothes that would cover his large frame, my poor dresses would rip if I offered them to him. I had a table cloth however, he could be Tarzan. I bit my lip at the though of leaving this strange wolf alone in my precious garden, I glanced at him again for a moment. He was engrossed in his task, pouring water carefully on a mound. I decided he could be left alone for a moment.

I quickly entered my home and retrieved the mahogany cloth, bundling the fabric in my arms. I paused allowing the rows of mounds to separate us.

"Nathaniel" I called out to him.

He smiled and looked over at me opening his mouth but I cut him off before he could speak.

"Use this to cover yourself from the sun." and my eyes.

He raised a single eyebrow as he came over but took the bundle regardless. He wore it in a way I had not anticipated, drapping the fabric over a single shoulder leaving the other bare. The fabric rested unevenly above him knees covering one arm slightly.

"Satisfied?" he asked allowing his arms to fall to the side he did a slow twirl, "How do I look?"

I decided to ignore his pointless question, he seemed far too pleased with himself for someone wearing a large rag. Inspecting the land I decided to continue my earlier tasks.

" There are more things to do over here. "

He followed behind me like a puppy, willing to enact any of my commands.

'Ours'

....

He was surprisingly competent in completing the tasks I had laid out. As a result I cleared what was usually two days worth of work in a few hours. Having him around was proving beneficial after all.

I never had help with my tasks before.

Although he was a loyal servant and made my work a lot easier doing so many things in such a short time was still tiring. I sat in the grass next to him with an exhausted sigh. I felt the need to thank him.

"Thank you for helping me today." I said looking out into the sunset.

He turned to me from his position sprawled across the grass closing the short distance I had left between us. Over the hours we spent together I noticed this wolf liked to invade my person space.

"You don't have to thank me. I'm glad I could make you burden lighter. " I looked away from the sky and gazed down at him.

Another thing about this wolf he was always smiling.

He let his hand fall to my thigh drawing lazy patterns as he resumed looking at the disappearing sun. " I'd do anything for you"

I liked the feeling of his skin on mine.

I wasn't sure how to reply to his words so I looked back at the sunset. He didn't take my lack of replies as a deterrent. Another thing I noticed about him during his time with me. We watched the sunset in silence. Exhaustion was creeping up on my drained body, I wanted to go to bed.

I sat up, as expected Nathaniel quickly followed. He always followed my moves like a shadow. I entered my home closing the door as he stuck behind me. The enchantment to illuminate the space activated automatically.

Inside the cabin was small having a common area, a small kitchen, my bedroom and a door opposite my cloth cupboard. The door lead to my library, although the library wasn't here the door served as a gateway. The wood walls were in their natural colour, only the essentials. Covent leader was the only person that had been here with me and she was the one who had built the place a long time ago. For some reason I wanted to see his reaction to the place, I looked at him from the corner of my eye.

He took in deep breaths his chest puffing out to accommodate his full lungs.  " Your scent is so heavy in here. " he said the words content.

My brows frowned. He seemed happy to be surrounded by my 'weird scent'. I don't even know why I was interested in his reaction in the first place. I had learnt to ignore his wolfy tendencies like him pausing every chance he got to smell the air.

I opened the cloth cupboard removing my winter blankets. There was no way he was going to fit in my bed. I had had a growth spurt a few months back and could barely fit myself. I handed the blankets to him, he would have to sleep on the floor. I was certain it would be much better than sleeping outside. He was just far too big. He looked at me in question.

" Sleep on them, they'll have to do I don't have anything else. " he looked at the them bringing them to his nose. I'm that moment I was glad I had washed them the day before.

" Thank you"

I reached back and undid my dress allowing it to fall to the floor. A friend of delicate fabrics mud did not make. Working with a wolf was faster but came at the price of being more messy than working alone. I heard a sharp inhale as I retrieved my dress from the floor.

I looked over at my house guest but he wasn't smiling, his intense stare taking in my entire body before focusing on my chest. I looked down at myself wondering if something was wrong.

" Do I look as weird as I smell? " there was a long pause.

"No."

I waited for him to continue but he suddenly wasn't all chatty, I couldn't place his expression either. He did a lot of odd things, this must have been one of them. I could feel his eyes as I walked to my bedroom with a sigh as I fell into bed.  It was a cool night so I sank partially under the warm covers. I fingered my necklace making sure it wasn't caught in the sheets before turing my back to the wall.

After awhile Nathaniel came into the room, I could hear him noisily arrange his makeshift bed. Sleep rapidly chipped away at my consciousness in a semi lucid state I heard Nathaniel call out to me.

"Witch of the mountain."

It took me a second to register his prompt.

I could see his knees eclipse the height of my bed as my eyes fluttered close but I couldn't see his face. I made an unintelligent sound in acknowledgment.

" I'll make sure you're never lonely ever again. " he said it like a bold declaration.

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