“Oh no! My satchel!” Lori exclaimed.
Sudden realisation hit her and she slumped with defeat. In all the terror of being chased by a wolf, she had forgotten about the poor abandoned satchel in the snow.
“You had belongings?” Lephas asked curiously.
“Yes, of course I did! What kind of idiot leaves home forever without any of their belongings?!” she snapped, fighting hot tears.
In truth, there hadn't been anything of any real value in there – although who knew what constituted value here – just some of her favourite clothes, jewellery and a small canvas sheet she had hoped to make a temporary lean-to out of should it have been required.
“Where did you last have them?” he asked, ignoring her ire.
“Right before that wolf–” Lori paused. “What happened to the wolf?” she asked, turning to face her captor.
“He's outside,” Lephas answered casually.
“What?! You didn't kill him?!” the faerie exclaimed.
“Of course not – he's a trained mountain wolf and cost me a fortune. I've had him since he was a pup. His name is Karn.”
“So, you meanyousent that beast after me?!” she screeched.
“He'd never have hurt you. Well, not unless I told him to. He was retrieving you for me.”
“Retrieving me like I'm some sort of fucking dog chew?!” Lori glared. “I was terrified! I thought I was going to be ripped apart!”
“Kind of the point. He wouldn't have gotten you to run to me if he'd rolled over for a belly rub, now would he?” Lephas sighed and tossed a small linen bundle into her lap.
She continued to glare, but turned her attention to the package. Inside was a pile of unidentifiable items – some large, dark and smooth round fruits, some longer, thinner strips that looked like shoe leather, and hard, bread-like squares.
“What is this stuff?” She picked up one of the round fruits and sniffed it before dropping it back into the bundle.
Lephas pointed towards the parcel. “Those are dried blood berries. The strips are dried and cured boar meat, and there's a few biscuits in there too.”
Lori picked up one of the larger berries and tried to take a bite of it. Her teeth jarred against a rock-hard outer skin.
“Ow!” She held her mouth. “Where I come from berries are actually edible!”
Lephas grinned and opened a second bundle. He picked out a blood berry and, using his fangs, bit into the skin. The fruit cracked clean in half, like a piece of hard candy.
He handed the two halves to her. “Here. The inside is soft – you don't eat the outside.”
Lori greedily took the fruit and stared at it. It was very aptly named; the flesh of the fruit was a disturbingly crimson colour – like fresh blood.
“It's a bit off-putting at first, I guess,” Lephas continued, clearly seeing her apprehension. “But they are edible, and actually quite tasty. I swear it.”
Lori tentatively licked the fruit, pleased with the surprisingly sweet taste. She clumsily started to eat it.
There was a knock at the door. Another strikingly handsome demon stood in the doorway with asmirk on his face.
“Sorry to interrupt. I need to speak with you a moment, commander.” His voice sounded familiar. Lori recognised him as the demon that had initially grabbed her out of the snow.
What was his name? Horus? Harris?
“No problem, Haros.” Lephas got to his feet.
Haros! That was it!
The demon shot Lori a sexy smile and a wink over Lephas's shoulder. She was stunned for a moment, but smiled back, despite her face flushing.
