Cold, it was very damn cold as winters in Ohio usually got after summer finished lingering throughout what was meant to be fall. In the second month of imprisonment the temperature had steadily dropped until sleeping became near impossible. The alpha wolf had said the heating was awful, courtesy of an old vent they hadn't replaced. So in between resting his body and eating, he simply shivered under a blanket and tried to sleep. Mornings as frosty as this proved to be exceedingly difficult to ignore.

Simple curses toward the alpha came out between his chittering teeth, damn him and his silver resistance. Putting an injured human in a cabin like this one during a blizzard too, the bastard. Even his social life was tainted, the only company he was allowed either the werewolf he'd encountered before, or the alpha.

Speaking of whom….

The tough old wolf who he failed to subdue several weeks prior came in. He made a mental note to bring stronger silver doses next time. Whatever amount of abysmal heat that the crappy little machine managed to make zoomed through the door at said wolf's arrival. The beast carried a picnic basket which smelled of soup, and a bottle of water. Basic necessities but nothing too energy giving.

...Well, beast didn't feel like the right description. This one wasn't actually as horrifying or feral as the ones he'd been warned about, more like a walking, talking wolf if anything. Humanity, however little it was, remained within his captor enough to be kinder than expected. Would he trust this kindness towards himself, who'd be considered their worst enemy? Not in the slightest, no.

Every time he saw that smug face he thought of punching it off. Yes, even after being attacked by him, the alpha never ceased to be delighted at the sight of his injured captive. Probably just rubbing it in that a werewolf would be the one to feed him, a hunter, who needed to take the food and bide his time.

"I brought some chicken stew, even a little bit of cheese if you like," he said as he held the basket up.

Cheese? Shredded thinly?

Stop, he couldn't think like that, this kind of eagerness to be fed was what they wanted. Compliance, submissive, eagerness to follow each and every humiliating command. Forget it, he didn't need lunch, and it was too cold to leave the bed anyway. Nikolai heard a sigh and the creak of the iron door.

"I'll come in," the older wolf said as it slipped through the small opening.

Docile as this alpha was, he preferred not to have a giant wolf looming over him. Easier to fight a human, sadly he was still in no state to pick a fight. A prompt hmph would do to push him away and leave the food there, except…

"Christ, it's cold, not too cold though. You'll survive, right?", it nodded as it unpacked everything.

"Why would you help me?"

"Simple answer? No way that you die and they don't send a horde of your crowd out here. Other than those assholes to worry about, I think we got off on the wrong foot."

"I could've killed you," Nikolai spat out, though quietly so as not to flare up any bruises near his throat.

"Oh, no worries, I could've done the same and trust me if you try any funny shit with my pack again, I won't fucking hesitate," he sternly warned, "We're not gonna get anywhere by doing this thing you keep trying to do. So… have some soup."

Held outwards was a generous spoonful of soup from a larger bowl. Poisoned? No, they would've killed him already if it weren't for the other hunters as he mentioned. Creamy texture, a salty smell, bits of potato and shaved carrot with chunks of shredded chicken meat…

Fine, one taste….

....

Damn it, it was delicious.

And warm…. so much warmer than what he'd been getting from that piece of junk in the corner. Despite the injuries, he reached out his icy hands to the bowl and carefully sipped the broth.

Hot broth, hm...

No, even if he tried to burn him it was likely the alpha smelled an element of fear. Just drink the soup, give it back, and have the water too. By the look in the wolf's eyes, it read his mind and fixed a warning glare. Out of spite he drank it all in one sitting and handed it back. Who needed cheese for it anyway?

"Aw, looks like you're learning to enjoy my company! Keep that up and I might let you have a hot shower, I'll be here in a bit to give you dinner. Oh, and do try to keep warm, it's nearly less than zero out there."

Piece of shit mutt.

Water was left next to his bed if he got thirsty, but no other comforts were available. Under the blanket he went until it could go back to 50-ish degrees. Shivering like this wouldn't help him fall asleep but it'd have to do.

Despite his eyes remaining closed for a good few hours the cabin remained an icebox. At this rate he began to wonder if the alpha had finally decided to kill him to get it over with. Teeth chattered against each other as he tried to curl more of the blanket around his body. Like hell he would die here in such an unfitting way. The door creaked open, but he was too cold to turn and face whoever it was. Without warning it tore away his blanket and put itself over him.

"H-hey!", he tried to bark out to the wolf.

Oh great, not the alpha but him, that man he'd been thinking about. Trying to forget about him hadn't worked whatsoever. In fairness he was warned about the wellness check but it didn't make it any better.

"You're shivering in here! What am I supposed to do, let you freeze to death?", the wolf asked as he pulled the angry human against his body.

"Get a better heater than!", Nikolai said as he struggled to break free, pain stopping his futile attempt.

"It's too late for that! You could get hypothermia!"

..Damn it.

It was only for survival. 'Swallow your pride', he thought.

"Fine..."

"Good! Settle in, it's negative two out there," he said as he wrapped around Nikolai in an uncomfortably personal sense.

The alpha called him Adam, and how appropriate that his captive felt like the Steve in this scenario. No, don't let your sworn enemy do this, his mind practically screamed at him to say. But if pretending to like being held close to a werewolf helped him stay alive, so be it.

….

Strange, this one must have showered frequently. Lessons back at his local HQ always taught werewolves were filthy creatures with a bloodthirsty resolve. Perhaps this one was an exception to that. No, it must've been he didn't like his fur getting matted from dried blood.

No matter, at the very least it was clean fur that had surrounded him. Warm and... unusually comfy which was likely due to the need for rest. Once again his accursed "healing" licks brought a feeling a disgust, but he was in no position to stop it.

"Why are you helping me?", he mumbled.

"Oh, um… I thought it'd be nice. And to show you we're good guys, or uh.. wolves I guess. I can stop if you're not ok with this."

Hmmm. Adam didn't seem like the smartest wolf of the bunch. So naturally if he lied it would be much more obvious than this. Maybe he really was trying to mend a broken body. Nikolai sighed and relaxed himself to try and brace for more of the embarrassing ordeal.

"Continue, o-only until I'm not injured anymore."

Downward of his ears he heard a repeated thump against the wall. Wagging its tail for the sake of helping him, really? It was a heretical thought that perhaps this one werewolf among them wasn't a cruel beast. The alpha himself seemed surprised Adam wasn't treating him the way they usually treated hunters.

Hitting his head with a rifle hadn't done anything to scare him away, or put a grudge in its mind. It was as if they'd met in nicer terms to have a drink or two, and now here they were. Odd, still imagining them meeting in a casual way.

Gay? No, any rational person would say his predicament was intimate in look and feel. Adam hadn't really given him much choice between living or leaving the earth as a popsicle. Desperate times after all, and how could he just die here when there was the alpha to take care of?

The rest of the wolves were wild cards too, and really only Adam here seemed to have hope. Feeling his eagerness to help someone in a time of need had a different effect. It was undeniably a human aspect leftover after being converted into a monster. If possible the wolf demon could be driven out of him before it was too late.

"Adam," he said.

"Yes?", the wolf stopped grooming him.

"Th-thank you. For keeping me alive."

"No problem."

Waves of tiredness washed over him as the wolf got him toasty. Shivering had stopped at long last, the freezing weather outside hardly doing a number on him anymore. Somehow the licks brought a refreshed feeling. Everything was going black too..


Dominic had a weird feeling ever since Adam went to check on their dear, imprisoned werewolf killer. Three hours ago. Frankly, three hours was far too long for anything good and if that damn hunter had so much as scratched his pack, there'd be more than hell to pay. The door creaked open, and what else could he have expected but something as bad as his expectations.

No, worse than that.

The hunter fast asleep with Adam acting as the big fluffy comforter. Fine, he'd fix the damn heat, so long as one of his wolves wouldn't snuggle up to a monster. Until then, Adam could be a damn fool to do this if he wanted to. He himself was optimistic once upon a time, but his young pack member would learn when the hunter would inevitably attempt to escape.

Edit
Pub: 08 Jul 2021 23:19 UTC
Edit: 08 Jul 2021 23:25 UTC
Views: 958