Reverie's POV

I woke the following night, as the sun fell below the horizon blanketing the sky outside my tower window with twinkling starlight. Listening carefully, holding my breath, I couldn't hear anyone outside my cell door. Sighing with relief, I opened my eyes and glanced around the room. It was completely empty, as always. There was a tray of food sitting atop a small ornate table within my glittering cage.

I picked at a few pieces of fruit before wrapping the rest in cloth. Quickly, I changed my clothes, combed out and re-braided my long frosty pink locks and wrapped a hand knitted shawl around my shoulders before grabbing the small cloth of food and escaping my glamourous cage. Scrambling to the window, I checked to make sure the coast was clear before agilely climbing down the tower.

When I reached the bottom, I scanned the ground to make sure the coast was clear before darting into the forest surrounding the hidden fortress. Running, as if the devil himself were at my heels, I leapt over fallen limbs, ducked under low hanging branches and agilely avoided various thorns along the way that reached out to me trying to drag me back to my prison.

As I broke through a clearing where I often met the woodland creatures of the forest, I felt my heart skip a beat as my eyes fell on the beautifully broken boy from the night before. He was sitting beneath a great oak tree, his back leaning against the trunk with one knee pulled to his chest, his head resting atop it. His pale lavender hued hair hung in his face, he appeared to be sleeping. I smiled softly to myself as I quietly moved toward him.

"You'll catch a cold, that way." I chided him softly as I draped my warm shawl over his sleeping form.

His hand lashed out lightning quick as I draped the knitted fabric over him catching my arm in his grasp. He opened his breathtaking eyes and stared at the bruising on my wrist from Ambrose's giant paw. I felt a twinge of pain as his grip on my arm tightened but he released me as I inhaled a sharp breath.

"I told you to stay away from me." He grumbled his eyes narrowing into a glare as he wrenched the shawl off of him.

I flinched expecting him to throw it back at me as he had before but jumped instead when I felt the warm material envelope me. He'd draped it over top of me surprisingly gently for someone who'd threatened to destroy me the day before. I opened my eyes and met his breathtaking gaze, "Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were being honest...you seemed lonely."

His glare intensified and I drew in a shaky breath as he took a step toward me. "Scared?"

"A little." I admitted softly.

"Good." He reached out and caught me by the chin, "You should be more scared."

A shiver rolled down my spine at his words and his icy touch but I met his gaze and saw the heartbreak in his eyes. He was lonely. I no longer felt fear and reached up to place my hand to his cheek, "Why do you try and push me away with that heartbroken expression on your face?"

His eyes widened for the briefest of moments but he recovered quickly, "Why do you return to that cage, when you could run away and be free?"

A gasp escaped me, "It was you! I thought I saw you through the window..."

He held my gaze waiting for my response.

I bit my lip and lowered my gaze, "I can't...they always find me, and kill anyone or anything that aided in my escape." My voice wavered.

"What are you?" He asked me after a long moment as I struggled to keep my composure.

"What do you mean?" I asked him curiously not understanding his question.

"You're being held prisoner by werewolves-."

"WHAT?!" I didn't know whether to laugh or worry for his sanity.

A small smirk twitched at the corners of his lips, "You didn't know? They reek of dog, how could you not."

"Werewolves aren't real..." I felt the color drain from my face as I thought back on all their strange customs and stories, "Right?" Wildly I stared into his hypnotic eyes praying he'd tell me it was a joke.

"They are..." Subaru replied calmly watching me as I struggled to keep my breathing under control. Then the wolves, from the night before, were they really just wolves?

"No...you have to leave, it's not safe." I panicked and tried to push him away from me, "They'll kill you."

His hands caught my arms and pinned them at my sides to keep me from pushing him again, "They can try." He smirked.

I shook my head frantically and tried to shake from his hold, "No, I've seen it before." Tears streaked down my chilled cheeks, "Please, I don't want you to get hurt."

Subaru looked to the tears falling down my face, his smirk fell.

Tallim, the large tawny owl hooted over head and swooped low, signaling me to return to the tower. "I have to go." I tried to break from Subaru's hold, but his grip tightened. "Ow. Let go, you're hurting me."

He looked conflicted before finding his resolve, "If the wolves want you so badly, they can just try and take you from me."

"What?! You can't be serious, they're monsters." I squeaked.

He smirked, "They aren't the only ones."

My heart stuttered in my chest. "What do you mean?"

His eyes appeared to glow in the moonlight. My heart pounded in my chest as fear gripped my heart. Subaru smiled softly, "Good...you should be afraid of me. I might destroy you."

I attempted once more to break from his hold, "Subaru, I have to go..."

He released me and I stumbled away from him, rubbing my arms where he'd gripped me. They were sure to be bruised later. Before I could make it more than a step, I felt a sharp pain as Subaru struck me at the base of my neck, hitting a pressure point that instantly made me collapse. Everything went dark as I felt him lift me into his arms.