CHAPTER FIVE: THE HUNTSMAN

Once upon a time – for that is how all fairy tales should begin – there was a boy who lost his mother.
-John Connolly

Once upon a time there was a huntsman who was chopping logs nearby his small cabin in the woods.

Everyday, he would get up and use his axe to chop down firewood for himself or any of the families around him that needed it.

Jaekobe Dwyer was used to being generous.

As a half-vampire, he could survive a very long time without food or blood, he didn't need warmth but he needed to move.

But as a vampire, he hates werewolves.

That being said, Little Red and the Wolf are looking around his cabin because they're bored while Archer and Locks go to confront the half-vampire and get him to join the team before he realizes that the people he's helping also include one cocky Russian werewolf.

Things go smoothly at first, Locks is able to send his axe through the window straight to Little Red's careful hands and they're able to talk him down from attacking them.

Sadly, right as he was about to agree, the huntsman hears Wolf's growl as the warrior gets scolded for wanting to shift in the middle of a vampire's home.

"I'm sorry!" Locks calls out, chasing after Jaekobe hoping he doesn't lose his cool. "They're with us."

"Explain yourself!" He hisses.

Stepping between the leader and the half-vampire, Archer pushes his calming aura out to Kobe which makes him calm down. "We know you're not a fan of wolves but this is very important. You know about our mission, what we're doing and how important it is. You're going to let one werewolf change that?"

"Yes!" Kobe exclaims, throwing his fist up. "I am. They're unreliable, blood-thirsty, stupid-"

"Sexy. Tall. Loyal. Funny." Wolf deadpans, leaning out of the doorframe in what Locks probably deems the worst possible timing. "Should I go on? Hmm. Moy dorogoy, do you have any more compliments?"

The look Red shoots him then is deadly, now that she knows what he's calling her- -my dear- -compliments aren't the thing on her mind.

"Shut up, Wolf. You, Huntsman," She points to him. "What do you need to ask in order to join our mission, for good?"

"Let's talk about you taking my ax first." Huntsman says to Little Red.

"Talk?"

"My dear," The wolf says, sneaking behind Blythe to hold her shoulders. "That's Vampire-Huntsmen speak for stand still while I yell at you."

Looking at the warrior with daggers in his eyes, the huntsman starts to grumble. "You're probably familiar with getting yelled at, aren't you Wolf."

Without shame and fully away of his black eyes now stuck to Little Red, he says, "Maybe in bed."

"Go outside." Locks instructs, making Wolf scowl but comply nonetheless.

"Did he recently turn into an asshole or has he been one all along?" Is the first thing the half-vampire asks, making Archer grin.

"He's been on all along."

Giving the normal speech again, telling him the end  goal again but finally getting that yes, yet again the Ghosts grow in rank -much to both Wolf and Huntsman's dismay.

Just for tonight, before they head off to their own personal Wonderland, they decide to stay in their new teammate's house.

Of course, Huntsman got his own room. Archer and Locks, now used to it, decided to share the extra bed in the corner of the main room while Wolf and Little Red stay outside next to the fire, not about to let the other three pop the comfortable nighttime bubble the two can make all on their own.

Looking him over, half-entranced by how the light catches his strong features and intrigued by the stretch marks over his body, the mercenary tugs her red hood further over her head before asking, "Do you like being able to shift."

"Da." He answers simply in Russian before elaborating. "It's...freeing. If I feel trapped, my wolf fixes it. All I need to do is run. And I can protect myself and other people -I can protect you. Being human...it makes people think that they can protect themselves and their family but for the most part, they can't. That's why I'm the warrior, right?"

"I already told you that it's because you're smart and think well under pressure, not because you have claws and a snout." Little Red scoffs, turning towards him. "I picked you for a reason."

Pausing for a moment, knowing that he's asked her before and she said he didn't need to know, Dimitri growls to himself.

"Why did you pick me, moy malenkiy?"

Little Red doesn't quite know what this pet name means, but she knows that moy means my and him calling her 'his' anything is infuriating and attractive enough to make her want to smack her head into a tree the same time she stabs him with her golden dagger.

"You don't-"

"Need to know, I know." He huffs, Russian accent rolling through his exasperation. "But I would like to know, and none of the others are around."

"I don't want to give you special treatment, Dim."

"Then you should stop looking at me the way you do, stop giving me nicknames and stop being my partner. Because even if you can handle that, I can't." Wolf knows what he his, half-monster half-man, and he knew the monster part of his was very territorial over who it claims as theirs. And it already decided that Little Red, she was theirs. "You know my name, My Dear, and I don't think that's quite fair."

"Fair or not," Little Red snaps, hands clenching into fists. "We're partners."

The warrior nods, black eyes stuck on her frame. "Then it's settled."

Taking her time, the mercenary uses her magic to carve out the ground beneath them to pull out the metal until she can bend it into a simple chain with a wolf and a dagger hanging off like a lucky charm.

She always knew that the wolf was a twisted man.

But twisted was exactly what she looked for.

"If we're going to be partners, we need to be able to talk." Blythe tells him, handing him the necklace. "This is made out a crystal I infused with blood magic, only when you wear it will the link to me be opened. This is just in case you're ever given wolfsbane. Mark my wrist, it won't be a claim. You'll just have to redo it every once and a while."

Accepting the necklace and her wrist, Dimitri raises a eyebrow. "You sure, my dear? This is serious."

"I'm sure."

So he drops his canines down, making her wince as they brush against her delicate wrist. She winces, stopping her magic from attacking him and stopping herself from flinching.

Holding her tighter, so she doesn't squirm, he bites down on her wrist -grimacing as her blood blooms across his tongue.

The link is formed instantly.

Testing it out for a few minutes, the two send words, images and feelings to each other until he accidentally thinks about her wince again -making her ask him why.

Don't you get scared that I'll hurt you when I get angry? The wolf, who was staring down to his blood stained hand, looks up and locks his black eyes with her red ones. Because of what I am? Sometimes...I'm terrified to shift. I turn into a monster, moy malenkiy. A monster.

This time, the translation comes with the words.

My little one.

You're not a monster, Dim, just because you have canines and claws. Blythe climbs onto his lap, knocking his hands away from his eyes. Without pausing, she hugs him tightly around the neck. You won't hurt me. I know that. So shut up about it. We're partners. Call me Byte.

Little Byte. He chuckles, holding her just as close. My Dear, what am I going to do with you. Sometimes you're so cute, I could eat you alive, other times you're deadly.

Nobody realizes that with fairy tales people get happy over the 'happily ever after' ending without thinking about how the story begins with 'once upon a time'. That means it happened once. 

Once. 

Only once, and then never again. 

That means the only time you'll witness it, feel it, is when you read down what got managed to write. 

That's before anyway, the real stories were destroyed because some learned the concepts were too difficult for adults but when put into smaller words children understood it just fine.

Blyad, you're stubborn. Wolf smirks. What would the others think about you on my lap like this?

Probably that you've kidnapped me and forced me to hug you.

The warrior scoffs but doesn't reply, neither of them needed to say another word to understand what is actually happening between them.