The Heart of The North

The Escape

The man leads me through maid chambers, through a back entrance I didn't even know existed. We make it out, and I turn to him.

"Now what?" I ask.

"Now," he watches as the boy from his cell approaches with two horses, "We get out of here before you're missed."

"I... I can't ride. I was never taught." I look at the horses.

"That's fine. Alex, you take the smaller horse. I'll meet you there." The Alpha nods to the boy, Alex.

Alex gets on his horse and gallops away. I feel large hands on my hips, starting to lift me up, and I slap them. "What is it you're doing?!"

"Putting you on the horse, Princess." He smirks subtly.

"I can do this myself!" I demand. He steps back, smiling, and I look at the horse. No saddle. Just reins. I pull the reins so they're resting over the horse's side and I awkwardly try to pull myself up, but I fail miserably and slide down the horse's side.

"Now, will you let me help?" The man asks.

"Fine." He begins to pick me up before I hear a rip. I look down to see the lower section of my dress ripped because the horse is stepping on it. He sets me back down, raising his eyebrow.

I sigh, "What I'm about to do is extremely inappropriate and immodest. I could get stoned in public for this, here." He raises a confused eyebrow before I bend down, ripping the bottom of the dress off, so that it ends just above my knees. The boots make it slightly better, so you can only really see my knees, but still.

The man shakes his head and proceeds to lift me onto the horse. I shove the ripped fabric into my satchel as he gets on the horse behind me. I stiffen, suddenly very aware of how close I am to this man. Inappropriately close, the only man I had ever been allowed to be near was my father, and even that was rare.

He takes the reins, his arms resting over my thighs. He feels me stiffen, and he subtly pulls me back as we gallop away.

His black leather trousers are still stained with blood and dirt from the arena, and his skin on his torso as well. She hadn't seen this man with a shirt at all. His leather boots matched his pants. His pants were tight and showed how big this man really was. His hair was cut on the sides, no hair grew there. Just the top, where he had a long, black braid ending at the nape of his neck. Where his hair was shaved on the sides and back of his head, he had tattoos? Markings? She didn't know, they weren't popular in the south.

They had been riding for a while, and the sun began to hit the horizon. Her hood was no longer on, so her red hair blew in the wind. The man stopped at a spring, where she saw steam coming off of the water. He picked her up off the horse.

"I can walk by myself!" I exclaim as he carries me to the edge of the spring, where he sets me down to make a fire.

"Aye, you can." He smiles.

"Why do you insist on doing everything for me? I am perfectly independent!" I scowl.

"Because you're fragile. You're from the South," He says, looking at me curiously, "I think."

"What does that mean?" I demand.

"Red hair... isn't popular down here. We have a legend that red haired people, especially women, are born with fire in their souls. Don't ever truly submit to anyone." He says, poking the fire.

"Why is it more popular in the north?" I ask, reluctantly sitting next to the fire with him.

"The South is... no offense to you, not really the bravest people." He admits.

"None taken... I am not." I relent.

"Princess, not many Southern Royalty would wander into a prison full of werewolves to help one boy she felt sorry for." He smiles.

"That doesn't make me brave, that makes me compassionate." I sigh.

"Just because you were betrothed against your will doesn't change that," he says gently, "You had no choice."

"Everyone has a choice. I chose survival," I say coldly, before softening my tone, "As did you."

We don't talk much after that, and we later return to the horse, heading North.

"What's your name?" I ask him after a while.

"Blair."

"I'm-" I start.

"Arie, I know." He chuckles.

"Excuse you! Ariella." I correct him

"Ariella. I prefer Arie. Rolls off the tongue easier." He replies. He does have a point, his accent makes Ariella sound foreign. She secretly didn't mind.

"Why did you save me?" I ask curiously.

"You ever heard of the First Wolf?" He asks, and I eye him thighs, very aware of his closeness. I stiffen as I reply.

"Of course. Everyone has, it's what they'd tell me when I was young to scare me." I say.

"Well," he nudges me back towards him with one of his arms, "they tell it wrong. The First Wolf was a hunter, up here in the North. He was a loner. Long cold nights passed and with each, he fell in love with the Moon."

I listen, intrigued. I had always been told he was cursed for being a cannibal.

He continues, and I stiffen again as I realize how close we are, "The Moon fell in love with him, too. They spent every night together. She gifted him the ability of the Wolf, where he'd be able to shift every night.. Then, one morning..." he pulls me back against him, "The Sun had realized what was happening, and she is an angry, wrathful Goddess. The Sun cursed the Moon, restricting her so she'd only come out once a month."

"The full moon?" I ask, stiffening again.

"Aye. So he could only shift once a month."

"I was always told it was a curse." I say.

"Well, it was, but not the part the Southerners think it was. The curse was the gift being taken from him." Blair explains.

"So... what does this have to do with why you saved me?" I ask again, stiffening. It is inappropriate for an unmarried woman to be so close to a man.

"The man held out as long as he could, until the First Men found out about him. They hunted him. As they closed in on him, the Moon sent her heart to him. It created the Northern Valley," I could feel him looking around our area, "sometimes if you listen closely you can hear his spirit howling to his lover."

I listen, and for a second I'm sure I hear a howl. I quickly convince myself it was the wind.

"So... long story short, the Southerners took the Heart. What I've heard, your husband-to-be's Clan holds it." He explains.

"House Tuskan." I mutter.

"So, either having you here will make them give information to us from a distance... or we offer ransom." He says.

"What?! You saved me just to hold me hostage for ransom?!" I jerk forward, stiffening quickly.

"I meant what I said about him not touching you." He says, softly.

"That's not how that works. I am simply a toy between two warring men." I say, lifting my chin at the landscape ahead.

"Yer no such thing." He says, pulling me back against him. I try to resist, but give up as it doesn't work.

"Fallion doesn't care about me. Neither does my father. The most they care about is an alliance, that's all they need me for." I say, my steel cage shielding my soul again.

"I didn't say it was definite, but he will not touch you." He repeats.

I don't respond and instead turn to where Blair laid the pelts. I acted asleep for a while, until I heard him lay down on his. Then I sat with my eyes open for hours before I finally slept.