Warmth caressed her face. Doris slowly opened her eyes and saw fire brighten up her blurry vision. It took a moment for her eyes to focus, but she saw William adding logs to the growing fire. His shadows flickered across the walls around them like art. Doris blinked a few times and realized they were inside... some sort of cave?
Doris tried to sit up, his coat fell off her shoulders and she went to grip it but her numb fingers couldn't get a proper hold on it. William lifted his head to look at her. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows and he looked as if he was actually sweating from the fire. She had never felt such envy for someone being warm. How was it possible?
"Stay still. You're not warm enough yet." William said as if it was a command. It only made Doris want to disobey him and sit up anyway. He let out a frustrated breath and dropped the rest of the logs and went to her. "Do you know how long it took to find you? You're frozen."
Doris definitely felt like a thawing turkey. Her teeth chattered when she parted her lips to talk. "W-where are we?"
"Some cave in the middle of nowhere." William said as he sat next to her. Doris shivered and tried to pull his coat higher on her shoulders. He pulled her closer to him and offered a bit of his own warmth but she could barely feel his body against her. "How did you get so far out here?"
"I don't know, I-I just kept walking and realized I was lost." Doris whimpered. Every slight move actually hurt. It felt like burns on the inside of her body and she realized she had never truly felt cold until now. Even with the fire blazing in front of her, she was frozen.
William wrapped his arms around her small frame and Doris laid her body back against him. He felt stiff, as if he didn't truly want to be the one to warm her but forced himself to so she wouldn't die. It was a nice enough thought, at least. Even if a part of him would always despise her.
"How did you find me?" Doris asked with a slight tremor to her voice.
William shifted a little beneath her. "I followed your scent. It took hours before it was strong enough."
"Hours?" Doris whispered. She had been out there for hours and he never gave up looking for her? A part of Doris softened and she tried not let herself feel that way. It was a doomed feeling that would lead to nothing, she had to remind herself that every time he showed her a side of him he kept hidden most of the time. She knew he had a bit of kindness beneath all the rough exterior, but she didn't want to get so attached to it when she knew it wasn't safe.
She heard the howls of wind grow harsh and try to enter through the pockets of air around the rocks he placed in front of the entrance. She was surprised it didn't knock them right out of place with how loud it sounded. She weakly held her froze hands out towards the fire and let them defrost slowly along with the rest of her body.
"Why did you come for me?" Doris asked suddenly. Why did he even bother? She had been in so much trouble since they first came here, she didn't understand why he even wanted her alive at this point. It would have been easier to let her go and move on. She slowed him down and made him do horrible things to defend her-was she worth that?
"Why wouldn't I." William grumbled. It sounded more like a statement rather than a question. "I saw you leave before the storm hit."
Doris curled and uncurled her fingers just trying to get feeling back in them. "I didn't think you would care to, is all."
It seemed like the wrong thing to say almost instantly after she said it. His body turned hard as a rock against her back. He shoved her off him and stood. She watched as he wiped his pants as if he wanted any trace of her off of him. His warmth was immediately missed, he looked down at her with a bit of distaste and she forced herself to live without it.
"It's so hard to believe that I would?" He spat. Doris pressed her lips together.
"It's-" Doris hesitated and he narrowed his eyes at her when he heard it. "I'm just not sure if you even like me most of the time."
"You can believe what you want. Nothing I do will change that." William went to sit on the other end of the cave. She could feel his anger as if she could slice through the air and grab it to crush against her fingers. It was as alive as he was.
"That's not true. Actions speak louder than words, which is why I'm confused." Doris admitted and pressed her face into his coat. It smelled strongly like him and part of her wanted to bottle the scent and take it with her wherever she went.
He didn't say anything to her words. Perhaps he was confused himself. Perhaps he fought a similar battle she did where they both wanted to dance around the truth until their feet bled raw. She was glad to stay stubborn. It was safer that way.
"I couldn't change out there into my wolf when I wanted to." Doris said after a few minutes of silence. He didn't look at her, he only kept his blue eyes on the flames.
"It doesn't come at will." He said. "It's not easy to command it when it's still new to
you."
Doris frowned and leaned back against the wall of the cave. She closed her eyes and brought her arms around her legs to hold them to her chest. "At this rate, I'll never learn."
"I told you I would teach you." William said. He sounded almost as if he was bored. "It won't be easy. I don't like when people complain."
Doris opened her eyes and watched him across the fire. He wouldn't look at her again and she didn't blame him. She wasn't much to look at to begin with, she must have looked like an ungrateful ghost.
"Thank you for coming for me, William. I would have died without you."
William's eyes flickered to her. She held her breath for a moment as they raked across her entire being. He didn't acknowledge her words, he simply lowered his head a little.
"Well?" He said.
"What?"
"Do you want me to train you or not?"
"Oh, yes. I would like that very much." Doris swallowed and glanced down at the flames. How long would it take before she would be able to change at will? Did she even want to do something like that? Perhaps it was a good thing she couldn't change. Then she might be able to ignore it until she died.
They sat in silence for hours until she dozed off. She didn't want to touch the topic of politics so soon after their last fight. What if he left her in the middle of the storm to fend for herself once he remembered she didn't want to join him?
When she opened her eyes, the fire was out and the rocks were moved out from the front of the entrance. William was no where to be found. Doris quickly got up and had to brace herself against the wall for a moment when the room spun around her. She felt as if she was about to collapse for a moment. How long had it been since she last had something to eat?
When the world was right once more, she carefully made her way out the small entrance and found William staring up at the clear skies. He didn't turn towards her when he spoke. "It's safe to get back now."
Doris bit her lip and looked around at the fresh day. The sky was clear and she could see every tree for miles. The ground looked thick with fresh snow, she knew it must have been inches thicker than it was the night before.
"Do you know how to find the trail back?" Doris asked with a bit of doubt. Not in him, but in herself. She couldn't tell where she was at all. They could have been miles and miles from the camp and she wouldn't know what direction to walk in.
He gave her a side glance. She handed him his thick jacket and he pulled it on. "You'll learn how to navigate better eventually." He said.
Doris followed him through this thick snow and felt exhausted after only twenty feet.
"Thank you, again." Doris said to his back. His shoulders tensed a little, but again he said nothing. "Thank you for all of it. For all that you have done."
She didn't care if he didn't want to hear it. She had to say it.
"I-"
"It's fine." He interrupted. "If we don't hurry, we'll catch another storm."