Jacob was surprisingly quick on his feet and had a lot of stamina, despite the extra weight he had to carry. He took the route through the woods, up a small hill and out of the forest, walked through a landscape of green grass and flowers.

He didn't speak a single word, but the way his body moved told many stories. His left leg was weaker than the right one, sometimes he slipped or it gave away. But he was good in hiding it with his straight posture and the way he successfully walked on by ignore it, made it almost impossible to notice.

Must have been a war injury or something similar from the past that wouldn't let go of him.

Sometimes, you dared to throw a quick glance at him from the corner of your eyes.

His facial expression was calm yet hard. Maybe it was the rashes and scars that covered his face, but he looked a lot harder from the outside than he actually was.

Or maybe that was just your imagination.

Sometimes, when he tilted his head and noticed you staring, the urge to touch him awoke in you. You wanted to reach out, stroke his scared cheek and wanted to know how he felt below your fingers. His beard looked so soft, yet you feared it might be dusty due to his preference to look like a cave man.

"Stop staring.", he said after a while and let you gently down into the high grass. "It's rude."

Blushing because he had noticed, you lowered your gaze and nodded. With one of your fingers, you began to scratch over the nails if the other hand, trying to overplay the fast beating heart of yours.

You still didn't know if it was fear or simple nervousness that made it beat like crazy.

Again, he noticed your strange behaviour. With one of his hands, he grabbed both of yours and covered them.

Squeezing gently, he forced you to look him in the eyes.

"Why are you nervous?", Jacob asked.

His voice seemed so different now, almost soft.

Your breath hitched, you had to close your eyes for a second before looking at him again.

"It's nothing.", you mumbled.

"Pup.", he squeezed your hand a bit tighter to signalise that he wasn't willing to hear another excuse.

You turned to him, your eyes locked with his.

"I am weak, Jacob.", you said with a straight face. "I am weak and vulnerable. I should be culled to protect the strength of the herd, isn't it? You are obsessed with strength. So why am I still here? Why do you take care of me again? You already did it after kidnapping me. And now you carry me back."

For a moment, he sat there, next to you in the soft grass. A cool breeze stroked through his hair, making the long strands of red dance like fire. His eyes moved over your face, searching for an explanation.

Then, an amused huff escaped him and a smile appeared on his lips.

"I'm impressed, pup. Where did that courage suddenly come from?", he asked and petted your head. "A moment ago, you were running away from me."

With a sour expression on your face, you grabbed his hand and squeezed it so hard that he pulled a face.

"I'm serious. Tell me why I'm still alive."

A sigh left his lips.

"You're not appreciating my mercy?"

"You don't do mercy, Jacob."

"How do you want to know?"

"People talk. They fear you. Even your own people, the soldiers. None of them have ever felt your mercy."

"I'm hard but fair."

"You're insane. You kill the weak, the ones that do not fit into your little army. I am weak, hurt even. But here you are, carrying me back as if we are friends. As if I hold more value to your herd than the others."

His eyes flinched. A growl escaped him.

"Do not overestimate my mercy for you.", he said in a low voice. "I will kill you, if you keep on bitching around."

With a grin on your lips, you leaned towards him. The tip of your nose touched his, causing a shiver to run down your spine. But you did not dare to show him how much power he had over your body.

"I'd ask you to do so.", you said in the strongest voice you've ever heard out of your own mouth. "I'm as dead as a person can be. If I don't die I'm one of those cages, I'll starve do death. Or you'll loose your patience. Do us both a favour and loos it now instead of later. It will safe us a lot of time and trouble."

His jaw tensed. With a grim expression on his face, he began to grit his teeth.

A scream was stuck in his throat. He wanted to use it. But not against you. He felt like screaming, but not into your face.

Somehow, he felt that if he did let his emotions get loose, you would use that against him. He didn't know why, but his temper around you was a lot calmer and his patience a lot bigger. You seemed to have an effect on him, call it surprise or interest that he had in you, but it was clearly there.

He feared that if he face you a bit more to work with, he would become your victim.

"Fucking nurses.", he cursed under his breath. "I've never liked you. You're always so stubborn and unpredictable. Always want to do the best, but willing to take the worst to come."

A sour smirk appeared on your lips.

"Go cry about it, mountain man.", you laughed in his face, completely loosing your mind at this point.

Nothing mattered anymore. If he killed you, so be it. If not, worse for you. Your mind was turning against yourself. It wasn't a quick change, but a steady one.

"Fine.", Jacob got back on his feet, grabbed you by the hair and pulled you up with one mighty pull. "If this is what you want."

He reached out and with one mighty blow hit you straight into the face.

A heavy gasp escaped you. Your eyes snapped back and your head began to spin. Nausea jumped into your throat.
Again, he hit you. This time, it was a lot harsher, directly onto the nose.

The feeling of flowing blood tickled over your skin. A heavy breath escaped you.

Then, darkness swallowed the blurry world before your twisted eyes.