The Work of Wolves || Yandere!Werewolf X F!Reader

Bonfire

Nothing altered a person's entire worldview quite like fear.

You looked at every stranger you passed on your way through Pine Grove from your grandmother's cabin in the woods to Lanius' sprawling winter manor differently. Not knowing who tried to break into the ranch house that terrible night meant everyone was a suspect. The only person you could safely rule out was your rescuer, Lanius.

Paranoia ate away at you like a flesh-eating disease for a span of about three days. After that, you didn't let it go per se, but you did try to stop theorizing. You didn't have a scrap of evidence or a lick of proof.

The only thing you knew for sure was that you didn't feel safe in Grandmother's house anymore. Not alone. And not at night.

You would have been up shit's creek without a paddle if it weren't for Lanius.

It would have been enough if she recommended a local door repairman. But, no, she fixed your broken door with her own two hands. Apparently, she practiced carpentry in her spare time, did a lot of house renovations. You tried to help and got nothing but a handful of splinters for your trouble.

It would have been enough if she had offered you a place to stay for a couple nights, until you could bulk up security or find a safer place to live in the meantime. But, no, she opened her home to you indefinitely. The only downside was that the two of you had to continue to share a bed, seeing as every other one under her roof was filled.

It would have been enough if she called to make sure you got to her house safe every night. But, no, she drove you to your grandmother's house each morning, aided you in clearing out the place, and drove you to Lanius Manor each evening. Your car was in the shop, would be for at least a week. The only thing that irked you was that all your time spent together gave her plenty of opportunities to say I told you so.

Lanius was beyond neighborly, went the extra mile to be helpful. She served as your protector every day following the night you messaged her for help.

Which begged the question...

"Why are you being so nice to me?" You asked on your commute home one day. You hadn't a clue when you started thinking of Lanius' house as home rather than Grandmother's house, but you did.

She answered with a question, the same one she had posed to you before. "Don't they have any basic human kindness in the city?"

"Must be the country air that makes you so hospitable," you said in a monotone manner. She grinned like a wolf. It was the closest you'd come to teasing her. "That explains why you're so nice. I guess what I really want to ask is... Why me? What have I done to deserve it?"

That certainly turned her smile upside down. You'd always been good at killing the mood, though. Now was no different than ever. "It's not about deserving, Y/N," she said, scratching her cheek hard, hard enough for even her short, blunt nails to leave three little red lines behind.

You reached across the center console to brush her hand away from her face before she could do any more damage. She captured your errant hand in hers, casually entwined her fingers with yours.

You should have pulled away, but you didn't. You'd been doing that a lot lately... Staying still when you should have been moving away. Sometimes you just froze up, but more and more often now you consciously chose to do nothing. Nothing good could come of it, but you found yourself falling into the same trap again and again.

"Why me?" You repeated. Sure, Lanius was stubborn, but you were downright bull-headed.

She sighed. "Some people... I don't know how to explain it, but it's clear when life hasn't been kind to them. I try to make up for it in any way I can."