A beautiful man

Celeste knelt stunned by the revelation before her; the wolf evolved into a naked, brown-haired boy. A soft groan left his lips as he snuggled closer to Celeste, almost laying on her lap.

She gripped her bleeding wrist, but the blood wouldn't stop flowing. A small green plant sprouted each time a droplet of her blood hit the soil. They bloomed quickly into beautiful flowers that surrounded her.

The white-haired man stared at the phenomenon before him with wonder and curiosity. He concluded that Celeste was maybe either a high-ranking elf or a fairy, but he knew neither of those creatures had silver eyes.

'Could she be another lab experiment?' he wondered.

Her blood was like nothing he had ever smelled before. It smelled so sweet, so pure and so innocent. He was desperate for a taste, but he silenced his hunger.

He wasn't a monster.

Celeste didn't know what to do about her wrist; it was her first time healing someone with her blood.

"Forgive me," she heard the white-haired man mutter as he knelt beside her with a small box. He did his best to avert his eyes from her nakedness as he gestured for her arm.

Celeste removed her hand from her bleeding wrist and allowed him to touch her arm. A shiver ran up her spine when she felt the coldness of his fingertips against her skin; his hand was icy cold.

Celeste winced when he slowly poured a clear liquid from a small bottle that read alcohol onto her wound. She watched as he wiped away the blood before wrapping a bandage around her wrist.

"What is your name?" he asked her, his eyes focused on what he was doing.

Celeste was seeing him up close for the first time. His skin was particularly pale; his purple eyes stood out like a dot of paint on a blank canvas under his long, white lashes.

Upon not getting a response, he met her silver eyes. For a moment they only stared at each other, silently admiring each other's eyes.

Celeste's face warmed as she thought out loud, muttering under her breath, "You're a very beautiful man."

"What?" he questioned.

Celeste's face reddened further and she shook her head before quickly averting her gaze. "C-Celeste," she started. "My name is Celeste Gerald."

He wasn't familiar with her last name so he knew she couldn't be a high-ranking elf. Seeing her up close he knew she couldn't be any older than thirteen. She was very pretty and awfully confident; she didn't seem to care about her nakedness.

'What a strange girl,' he thought as he pinned the bandage. "I am Kaide Malanov," he introduced himself. He pulled the sleeping boy off Celeste by his hair. "This idiot is my younger brother, Lucas."

Celeste only smiled in response, not trusting herself to not stutter.

"You're not going to get dressed?" Kaide questioned after a bit of silence. "The night's only going to get colder."

"Y-Yes," Celeste stuttered, taking the oversized shirt from the ground.

Kaide turned away to offer her some privacy. He stood by the mouth of the cave, his eyes narrowed as he stared into the darkness.

Breathless gasps resounded through the air, shrubs shaking from a disturbance that was not caused by the wind. The night went silent, revealing the sound of footsteps.

Kaide deeply inhaled the air, a smirk forming on his lips. "I guess I wasn't the only one who smelled her blood and got a little excited," he muttered as he left the cave without saying anything.

Celeste furrowed her brows as she watched him disappear into the darkness. 'Where has he gone?' she wondered but didn't dwell on the thought.

A sigh left her lips as she tugged on her shirt; she couldn't figure out how to get it over her head. "Why must clothes be so difficult to put on and take off?" Celeste irritatedly questioned. "We get on just fine in the celestial kingdom without them."

Celeste gave up on putting on the shirt and threw it aside, folding her arms across her chest as she pouted in annoyance.

Her silver eyes fell on the sleeping boy. "I wonder what he is," she thought out loud. She's never read any books on boys who are able to become wolves.

Celeste carefully ran her hand through his fluffy, brown hair before caressing his face with her slender fingers. Her brows shot up in wonder as she muttered, "He's so warm."

Celeste sat by the fire in silence with her knees pressed to her naked chest. She stared at the flickering flames and the wood beneath it, slowly burning and darkening until it turns to ash.

Tears streamed from her eyes one drop at a time as her mind reminded her of her pains and traumas.

Her glossy eyes left the flames in search of Vinnie, but the blue-skinned doll was nowhere to be seen. Celeste frantically looked about the small cave, her eyes wide with panic. "Where is she?" she muttered as she scurried about.

"She's still at the tree," Celeste finally remembered. She took off into the woods without a second thought in the direction of where Kaide slayed the black wolf.

The cold nipped at her fair skin as she ran on the coarse ground. Sharp twigs and shrubs sliced at her skin, but she was already too numb to feel anything.

Celeste slowed to a stop at the large oak tree. Her naked chest violently heaved, frost leaving her parted lips with each heavy breath. "Vinnie," she breathlessly muttered as she fell to her knees. She pressed the doll to her chest as she apologized, "I'm so sorry."

Celeste swore to never leave the doll behind again as she got to her feet. When she turned around to leave, however, she was met with a monster more terrifying than the black wolf.