Little Red

Warming Up

The next morning Clari woke to find that she was alone in the little igloo they had created the night before. As Wulf had promised he hadn't touched her all night, except once by accident when he was having a nightmare. He had reached out and pulled Clari close for a huge hug, he was muttering nonsense about bears and lizards eating him and he was so glad he had found his pet again.

The hug was warm but a little too tight, Clari and squirmed out from his arms and gotten to her own side of the snow house.

Clari poked her head out of the entrance, scanning the area. It had snowed during the night, and Wulf had brought the sticks inside so they wouldn't get wet. She could see a set of large foot prints leading away from the area they had camped in and into the forest, unfortunately, Wulf had taken the flint and steel with him so Clari couldn't start a fire.

She crawled out and dug a pit in the snow for the fire to go in once he returned, when suddenly she was pushed to the ground, her face plunging into the freezing snow. She quickly surfaced looking around her alarmed and furious, then she saw her wolf friend, watching her and panting excitedly, tail wagging and tongue drooping from his mouth.

Clari smiled, launching herself at him and attempting to tackle him to the ground, which she failed at.

He rolled onto his back landing on Clari who grunted and pulled away jumping on top of the wolf and pinning him down mock growling. Her heart was pounding, expecting him to play dead or whine for mercy but he didn't.

His muzzle wrinkled,  bearing his huge white teeth. Clari released him, quickly jumping off of his belly and watching him get up with wide eyes. The wolf crouched down, creeping closer to Clari growling and staring angrily at her with those yellow eyes.

She tried scrambling away but it was too late, he lunged, scratching her face with his claws. He dove for her throat but Clari raised her arm just in time. He got his mouth around her left arm and bit down hard. Clari heard a crunch and felt a sharp cold pain shoot up her arm and into her fingers.

Clari cried out, raising her right hand and punching the wolf in the nose, he released her with a yelp and his fury disappeared. She sat up "Go away!" Clari squeaked, her voice wavering, she was on the verge of tears.

The wolf's ears drooped, and he whined, backing away. Looking sad, "Go away and don't come back!" Clari said, cradling her left arm and trying to ignore the fierce fire burning inside her skin. The wolf scampered away, tail tucked between his legs.

Clari bit her lip, watching him leave through tears. She blinked them away looking at her wound. Blood gushed from her arm, staining the white dress she was wearing with crimson droplets. She tried moving her fingers but couldn't because of the pain, she choked, tricking to think of an excuse as to how she sustained such a deep bite. She could think of nothing except the fact that the world was spinning around her and her hands and fingers went numb, and black crowded around the edges of her vision as she fell foreward.

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Wulf had caught another rabbit, it was all the two of them needed anyways. He could have brought down deer if he wanted to. As he trudged through the knee deep snow he heard growling and somebody shouting, he started running towards the sound, tripping over the snow but still holding onto the rabbit. He had forgotten all about it by now. He soon saw Clari's red cloak against the snow and his heart leaped into his throat, "Clari!" he called dropping the rabbit on the snow and stumbling to her, he turned her over so her face wasn't in the snow. "Clari..." he saw the red on her dress and started looking for a wound, without too much time he found it. "oh boy... lets get you inside." he said softly, gently placing her injured arm over her stomach and picking her up. He could feel her breath on his chin as he waded through the snow to the snow house.

Her hands were cold, even under her thick mittens. Wulf quickly cut away her ruined sleeve and gently cleaned the wound, his eyes widening as he wiped away the blood. He had seen nothing like it before. He bandaged the arm with a straight piece of bark, she had definitely broken it. When he was done he draped his heavy fur cloak over Clari like a blanket, then he held her hands till they were warm enough to put her mittens back on. And then, he waited. Watching her as his breath slowly warmed the igloo.

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Clari blinked, staring sightlessly and the ground trying to recollect what had happened, she moved regretting it instantly feeling the cold pain lance up her arm and up to her shoulder. She looked up at Wulf, "what are you doing here?" she asked, bewildered.

He looked relieved as she spoke, he smiled. "Saving you from frost bite. What does it look like?" Clari's lips tugged at a smile, "Thank you." She slowly sat up, letting his cloak slip off of her shoulders and into a pile around her knees.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked, noticing he was wearing his blue shirt. She had never noticed it before.

"nah. But I am curious."

"about?"

"What did that to you?" Wulf pointed at her arm, a serious tone in his voice.

Clari paled, even whiter that she was before. "It was a-a-a wolverine." she stammered, looking down.

"no. It wasn't. But, I won't ask anymore."

"Thank you." Clari said softly, pulling her own cloak around her and looking at Wulf again. But she dropped her gaze again, thinking about the wolf. He had been so kind, and so human and then he just turned on her. Clari covered her face with her hand to hide the tears forming, I trusted him. Why did he hurt me? she thought, feeling Wulf's arms around her, embracing her like the night before but not as tightly. And he began to stroke her hair gently, "it's okay little red. Nothing is gonna hurt you."

Clari felt comforted by his words and his warmth, he reminded her of her mother. And she liked that. She liked it a lot.