After what felt like an eternity of silence, the stranger that saved me finally spoke again.
"For such a small lass, you seem to have quite the hunting party after you. What did you do, break the poor lads heart?" He chuckled as he stood. My eyes grew wide as I realized exactly how large the stranger next to me really was. When he stood in his fully upright position he towered over my short frame, barely reaching his chest with the top of my head. His emerald green stare pinned me in place, I could barely breathe, let alone move.
"Something like that," I reply in a low voice tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. My father told me not to trust anyone with who I was. "My grandfather set up a betrothal that my father did not agree to. Once my grandfather died, he thought the deal would deteriorate, but those on the other end have not forgotten what they were promised," a small tear escapes as the last words exit my mouth.
"If he means to not have you marry this man, sending you into the woods with a hunting party after ya makes not a lick of sense." The tears began to flow freely
"There wasn't a lot of time, he practically shoved me out the door." He would rather never see me again than hand me over to a madman, and if I'm being honest I don't even know what happened to him, but I doubt Lord Brickett left him alive. He wasn't known for being a kind or merciful man. "He told me to run, so I ran," I shrug my shoulders.
An echoed crack of a branch breaking alerts both of us someone or something is headed our way. The tall stranger swiftly makes his way to another larger bush bear by where he quickly emerged with a large black horse. He snaps the reigns setting the beast in motion, leaning over he extends his arm and sweeps me up of the ground and onto the horse in front of him. My skin begins to tingle under the touch of his warm palm.
He says something to the horse in a low voice I don't understand and gives a slight nudge with his heels an the animal is off in a lightning speed gallop.
"Alaric," he breathes in my ear. I look back at him swiftly, the same tingles now running down my neck where ever his breathe touched.
"I'm sorry," I reply, slightly dazed at the closeness.
"My name is Alaric, Alaric Balfour."
Balfour, that name, I had heard it before, but couldn't place where. What I did know is that name meant power.
"My father is the Alpha of the Northern Region, I can take you there with me. I can promise you'll be safe from whomever is hunting you." The look in his eyes let me know he was serious about what he offered. "It's a long ride," he said, reaching into his side bag pulling out a flask. "Take a long drink, it will help keep you warm, hell maybe even fall asleep so the ride doesn't seem so traitorous. Can I at least have your name miss?"
There was something about him that made me want to melt and tell him everything that had ever happened to me in my entire life. "Adee, well Adeena, Adeena Lockwood."
"But you prefer Adee?" He asked.
"I only ever got called Adeena when I was getting in trouble, Adee every other time."
"Fair enough."
I take the flask from him and take a long slow drink, just like Alaric had instructed. He hasn't lied one bit when he said it would help keep me warm, I could feel myself warming from the belly out.
"You can lean back into me if you need too, it might be more comfortable," he whispers, sending another round of shivers down my spine. "Rest and when you wake you will be safe."