Chapter Text
The snow gave in underneath the weight of his boots, crunching as he made his way through the thick layer of snow.
It was cold, the snow falling heavily, covering everything in a layer of white. A strong wind blew past him, making his cape flutter, screaming into his ears. It was a harsh winter night, one he hasn't experienced in a long time, and he slowly started to regret his decision to walk home instead of taking a room in the town's tavern. Sighing, he continued his way, trying to ignore how his clothes were soaking wet from the high snow he has been walking through.
He was close to his house, seeing its silhouette in the distance even through the heavy snow, when he heard a strange sound. It was weak, barely audible in the strong wind, but he knew that he didn't imagine it. Slowly coming to a halt he listened to his surroundings, taking in every sound, but couldn't hear anything except for the storm around him and the occasional sound of snow falling off trees. The pale man was just about to leave when he heard it again. A small, whining sound. It sounded far away, still very weak, and he wondered just what it could be.
Turning on his heels he made his way towards the sound, curiosity taking over him. It didn't take him long to reach his destination, the sounds becoming louder and clearer the closer he got. The whines soon turned into weak whimpers, no more mixing in with the howling of the wind, and the man's eyes widened.
The sounds came from a small boy, almost completely covered in snow, his form still except from a few tiny tremors. His clothes were torn, showing the pale skin, showing how thin he was. He had a mop of brown hair, dirt and chunks of ice frozen in it, but that wasn't what caught his attention. A tail was peeking out underneath his shirt, wolf ears pressed closely to his hair, twitching slightly whenever he took a small step closer. He could hear his faint heart beat, hear the occasional whimper, yet he boy didn't react.
“A werewolf, huh? Haven't seen one of you in a long time.”
As the boy didn't react to his movements he took a few steps, lifting him off the cold ground, ignoring the two other larger bumps in the snow.
It was very unlikely that he would make it but the raven didn't like unnecessary deaths, especially if he was the one who could have prevented them.
Pressing the shaking form closer to his chest, he took off his cape, wrapping it around the cold boy. Only time could tell what would happen to him.
He did, indeed, make it. If he was honest to himself, he was quite surprised. He had wrapped him up in a few blankets, put on the fireplace and watched him the whole time. After all, he was curious.
How had he survived in the cold? His parents obviously didn't make it. Maybe they got attacked? Or maybe they simply got surprised by the snow storm, though that wouldn't explain how the boy was still alive. He couldn't be older than five.
The man hummed to himself, deep in thoughts, as the slow werewolf started to wake up. Big, green eyes blinked tiredly, looking around the big room until they fell on Levi. He sniffed the air, his button nose scrunching up, taking in his scent. The boy immediately tensed up as he probably never has smelled a vampire before. His small frame started shaking all over again, little growls that sounded more like whines escaped his mouth.
“Oi, stop that, will you?”
But the boy didn't stop. His eyes had turned golden, he was still baring his teeth at Levi, trying to intimidate him but Levi could smell the fear on him.
With a sigh, the vampire got up and left the room. He knew he wouldn't be able to talk to him for a while now. The boy was probably dying of thirst and hunger, given by his weak form.
He quickly gathered a big pot full of fresh snow, putting it over the fire place, always aware of the curious yet vigilant eyes following his every move. Leaving the room again he made his way over to his food storage, looking at the choices of meat he had, which was not much. He himself didn't need food and he rarely got any visitors so he only had a little bit of dried meat at disposal.
Shoulders shrugging, he took the bowl of dried meat and made his way over to the young boy. He put the bowl in front of him, trying not to get too close to the frightened boy, and went over to check the pot.
Seeing that it has melted he went to pour the liquid into a bowl which he put next to the meat.
But the boy merely watched the bowls, obviously fighting the urge to devour the contents. Levi just watched him, watched him turn round, denying the food.
It wasn't long before the sun was up and the vampire decided to turn in.
“If you decide that you want to see the next morning you better eat,” he merely said before leaving the room.
Levi had no idea why he was doing this.
He hadn't even checked on the boy to see if he had eaten or if he was even alive. Yet here he was, in the middle of the woods, again, his clothes getting soaked in the snow, as he listened to every movement around him.
There was no wind to disturb him, it was absolutely quiet, which made this a lot easier. He closed his icy blue eyes, concentration on his surroundings until he heard the telltale sound of fresh snow crunching.
It took only a few seconds until he had caught the rabbit and snapped it's neck, it's lifeless body in his hands. That should be enough for now until he figured out just how much such a young werewolf had to eat.
Again the vampire asked himself just why he was doing this.
The boy was still asleep when he entered, his wolf ears twitching when the door clicked shut.
Eyeing the bowls Levi noticed that he had barely touched the food, merely the water was gone. Maybe the fresh meat would be better after all.
With a thump, the dead rabbit hit the ground, jolting the pup awake. His wide eyes landed on the dead animal, green eyes turning golden immediately. The boy fidgeted, eyes switching between the rabbit and Levi, not knowing whether he should trust him or not.
The vampire merely rolled his eyes, sitting down on an old armchair.
“You know, I'm not trying to poison you.”
But the boy continued to stare at him so he just sighed and grasped his favorite book. There was nothing else he could do except maybe force feed him but he wanted to give the child a little more time before he would need to take such steps. Opening the last page he had been on he started to read. He wanted to give the pup the feeling that he wasn't imprisoned here, that he wouldn't watch his every move. And it worked, he had only managed to read a few pages before he heard the sound of small feet and hands patting along the ground, breaking bones and dripping blood. He cringed when he smelled the rabbit's blood, remembering the stale taste of animal's blood.
Slowly shifting his eyes from the book to the boy he immediately regretted his decision. He did finally eat but oh boy.
His hands and arms were bloodied, mouth surrounded by sticky red and all that was left of the rabbit were torn pieces of its fur and broken bones. Not to mention the huge blood stain that was on his carpet now. Maybe he should have prepared the rabbit before serving it to the boy.
Taking a deep breath he forced himself to look back to the page, not to get up and scrub both the boy and the floor.
The raven went back to reading his book to ease his mind. The nameless boy had eaten and drunk and he didn't seem as scared as he was the night before. It didn't take him long to forget about the mess as he continued to read the book. But a tiny hand grasped his pant leg, redirecting his attention to the bloodied face of the werewolf.
He was pouting.
The pale man couldn't help but raise one eyebrow, where did that come from? Not only did the pup pout at him but he also grasped his pant leg with his dirty hands. And kept pulling on them.
“Are you done eating?” he asked, wondering when he could start cleaning the mess. The boy's green eyes looked up at him, big and curious, before he nodded slowly.
“Would you like to eat more?” Again, he nodded his head. He vampire sighed, closing his book.
And he had just changed his clothes.