Chapter Text
The house in the woods had belonged to Nora’s family for generations. It had been a tradition since before anyone could remember that when the couple living there became too old to be self-sufficient, they would move in with their eldest and the eldest grandchild would take their place, living out in the woods, either alone or with their partner. And Nora…
Nora was desperate to have a place on her own, truthfully. It was getting a little unbearable, living with her mother. So when Sunita announced that she was coming to live with Nora’s mother and father and giving the cottage to her granddaughter, it had taken Nora all of one night to be ready to leave and swap homes. She didn’t worry about bringing anything from her parents’ house; the furniture stayed, which meant all Nora had to do was dress for her short walk into the woods and pile her bags on the hand cart.
Sunita arrived early that morning, and knocked gently on the door. Nora flung it open, smiling at the sight of her grandmother.
“You’re here!” she cried, hugging her, trying not to cling too tightly. “Do you need anything? A drink? Some food? Mother’s made breakfast already.”
Sunita pinched Nora’s cheek. “No, no, I’m quite all right, beti,” she assured her. “But may I come in first?”
Flushing, Nora helped her grandmother inside, and noticed a cart of bags behind her. “You didn’t bring that here by yourself, did you?” she asked.
Sunita chuckled. “No, dear. Arthur brought it for me.”
Nora’s brow furrowed. “Arthur? Your wolf?”
“No, no. I hired someone to help around the house, as well as with the wolf,” Sunita said. “And don’t tell your mother there’s a nice young man there! She’s already planning who to marry you off to. If she asks, I paid a boy from the village to carry my things over, eh?”
Nora’s eyes widened. “There’s a- a man at your house?”
“A boy,” Sunita said, waving her hand. “Your age. A bit grumpy, but otherwise very useful. Orphan, sadly. He chops wood, makes fires, he can even cook and clean. He won’t be a servant, though. That’s very important to note. He’s got free will.” A pause. “Well, he’s got a lot of grumpiness. But he’s got his own will too. He’s likely not going to take orders from you.”
Nora frowned. “You didn’t tell me this before.”
Sunita glanced her over. “If you don’t want him there, I’ll call him here,” she assured her. “But I found him in the woods and he prefers it there, so please, let him stay.”
Chewing her lip, Nora sighed. “Well, let me get your bags anyway.” And with that, she headed over to the cart and started unloading it. “Where is he? He can’t have left long ago.”
Sunita was already making a move for the kitchen. “He walks very fast, that Arthur.”
Nora placed her bags down just in time for her mother to appear and cry out in surprise that her own mother was in the house, lecturing Nora for not telling her immediately. Rolling her eyes, Nora didn’t say a word.
She finally left at midday, pulling her own cart through the dirt track of the forest, enjoying the late summer warmth, already planning what she would make for dinner with all the supplies her grandmother had hoarded in the pantry.
Other than the faint birdsong from the trees around her, it was so quiet when she reached the house, situated in a small meadow about a mile into the woods, and she took a deep breath of woodland air before she headed over to the gate, pushing the latch open.
The sound of chopping wood echoed off the trees, its origin coming from beside the house. Arthur stood near a pile of cut logs, another pile uncut, while the stump in front of him held one he was about to chop. His tunic was missing, the weather too humid to keep it on, and a thin layer of sweat covered his body. Just as he raised the axe to cut the piece on the stump, he paused, taking a deep breath and then bringing it down to cut the wood in half.
“Sunita,” he called without turning around, instead picking up the chopped pieces. “Why are you back? I thought you were lea—“ He stopped mid-sentence just as he finally turned to face who was at the gate, realizing it was not the old woman, although the newcomer smelled like her. Briefly. “You are not Sunita,” Arthur commented, his tone changing.
Nora had probably stared for too long, but oh, this was not… not what she had expected at all. Biting her lip, her face flushed when his eyes fell on her. “I’m Nora,” she managed. “Sunita is my grandmother. You must be Arthur?”
He glanced her up and down before tossing the chopped logs into the cut pile. “Yes.”
Nora blinked. Her grandmother hadn’t been lying. “Well, I’m- going to go unpack,” she mumbled. “And then make lunch. Have you, uh, eaten?”
“No,” he answered simply, setting the axe down on the trunk. “I have not.”
She nodded. “Right. All right. I’ll- ok. Well, if you, um, need anything…” She immediately pulled her cart into the house and began unloading.
Despite having finished chopping wood, Arthur remained where he was and watched her retreat inside. She smelled better than her grandmother, that was for certain, similar to how she’d smelled when they were growing up when he had to hide who he really was, but the brief interaction wasn’t enough for him to make a determination about whether he really liked her or not yet. After all, it’d been some time since he’d last seen her.
Though, she had been fond of giving wolf Arthur scratches under his chin…
Once she disappeared, he gathered the cut wood to stack it and collected his tunic afterward, pulling it on, then went inside.
Oh, Nora hadn’t been ready for that. She hurried into the master bedroom. The sheets had been stripped and replaced, so Nora smelt nothing but clean laundry when she came in, and the windows had been opened, allowing the smell of fresh earth and flowers to fill the room.
The huge oak wardrobe and wall-mounted mirror sat where they always had, and Nora began unpacking, putting her clothes away in the wardrobe.
It felt a little strange to be moving her things into this house, but she was still looking forward to it, looking forward to the peace and quiet after the last few… years had seen her and her mother at each other’s throats. Sorting out each drawer and shelf as she went, Nora emptied her bags, her dresses and tunics and pants all folded and tucked away.
Nora hummed softly as she unpacked. She would need to check the water stores, but that shouldn’t take her too long, though she would need to change. Pulling her dress off, she changed into a tunic and pants, and left the room, looking around the house.
It was very funny that grandma had hired a man with the same name as her pet wolf, but coincidences were strange like that. Whistling, Nora peeked her head out of the front door. “Have you seen the wolf?” she called.
That noise had his nose crinkling. Whistling? What was he, a dog? “Probably in the woods,” Arthur murmured from where he was sat in a chair in the main room, a book in his hands.
Nora looked over at him. “Did you find it funny that you have the same name as her pet?” she asked, heading into the kitchen to begin searching around.
There was a fresh loaf already sitting out there, and she found cured meat in the pantry, along with some cheese. She brought it out with plates, grabbing a bottle of strawberry cordial and checking the tap. Water came out, clean and fresh. Nora grabbed a jug to fill it up, then carried that over too.
“Something like that,” Arthur mumbled, his eyes briefly lifting from the book to watch what she was doing. From where he sat, he was able to see her moving around outside, though made no move to follow her.
Pulling two glasses from the cupboard, she placed them down, and then headed into the garden. There were some tomatoes and a cucumber already ripe, and she plucked them, bringing them back in to wash and chop before placing them out with the rest. “That should be enough,” she said. “Food, if you want it.”
She was… strange. Maybe not very different from how he remembered her, but still strange. And a lot like her grandmother. “Thanks,” Arthur murmured, glancing her over without bothering to get up before returning to his book.
He’s not a servant, she reminded herself. “You aren’t going to come eat at the table?” she found herself asking anyway.
“I will eat when I am ready,” he told her. “I am not ready.”
“All right,” she mumbled, tearing into the bread and starting to pile the pieces together to make a sandwich. “Well, I’m going to check the water on the roof after this,” she added, “so… you know. Whatever you usually do, keep on doing it.”
“The water is fine,” Arthur said, still not looking at her. “There is no reason to check it.” He paused. “Did your grandmother not explain what I do around here?”
“She said you chop wood and make dinner and clean sometimes,” Nora replied. “But, I mean, you aren’t doing that all the time.” A few more slices of cheese were stacked onto the sandwich, and then she took a large bite, chewing.
“That is… simplistic,” he grumbled. Shutting his book, the text was dropped onto the table in front of him. “I helped your grandmother out for quite some time. I helped her survive. You, however, are very capable.” Standing, Arthur started toward where she’d left the food and began making his own sandwich. “I will not care for you the same way I did your grandmother, but my tasks here will mostly remain the same.”
Why did he have to be so big? His tunic clung to him, and he loomed over her as he came closer. Nora crossed her legs, her eyes dropping to her plate as the mouthful of bread bulged out her cheek like a greedy hamster.
“K,” she mumbled around her food, nodding her head. She didn’t need him to survive.
Finally, his eyes flicked up to her, one brow raising. “It is good we can come to an understanding,” he added as he finished making his sandwich, mostly just meat.
Nora shrugged. “Grandma moved in here alone when she was my age and she managed until she met Grandfather. I just have to take care of a wolf this time. And you? Sort of.”
There was a slight bubble of irritation in his gut. “The wolf takes care of himself, as do I. I do not need anything from you except a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in, as was provided by your grandmother.”
“Sorry,” she muttered. “I’m- getting used to this. Well, is there anything that needs doing?”
“The garden still needs to be tended,” he answered before taking a bite of his sandwich. “Bird feeders need refilling. Other than that, no.”
“Which one would you rather do?” she asked.
“Neither,” Arthur answered. “It will storm soon and I do not plan to be outside when it does.”
Nora glanced outside at the beautiful sunshine and frowned. “How can you tell?”
“Smells like rain.” With that, he stepped away from her, returning to his seat.
“No way,” she muttered. “The weather is beautiful. I’ll do the bird feeders, since you don’t want to. And if it’s going to storm, should I call the wolf in?”
“He’ll be fine,” Arthur said, waving his hand. “As I said, you do not need to worry about him.”
“Well, I’m going to,” she pointed out. She took a drink. “Fine, since there’s nothing to do, I’ll go for a walk after I feed the birds and see if I can find any berries.”
“Suit yourself,” he murmured. “But when you get caught in the rain, it will be your own fault.”
Nora scoffed. “I’m not going to get caught in a storm, because there’s not going to be one.”
Ok, so Arthur had been right.
Nora had been whistling at the edges of the wood for the wolf for several minutes, but nothing had happened. He hadn’t come, so she headed in instead, not afraid of the thick darkness of the trees. Clumps of wild fruit grew among the trees, and she was collecting handfuls, putting them in her pouch, when the first taps of rain hit the leaves above her.
A rumble could be heard in the distance.
“Shit.”
With that, she was tearing back out of the woods, the rain already pelting down as she sprinted out of them towards the house. Her tunic was soaked as she toppled through the door, tossing the wet pouch down and kicking off her sodden shoes.
“Ugh, fine. You can say I told you so,” Nora called.
He would have—he definitely would have—if it weren’t for the fact her clothes were clinging to her, showing the shape of her body and the fact her nipples were hard from the cold.
Still in the same spot he’d been earlier, Arthur was now halfway through the book he’d picked up that afternoon when she burst through the door covered in rainwater, soaking wet; he lifted his gaze to her only for it to settle on her chest.
Nora didn’t notice, too busy heading for the bathroom at the back of the house. She stripped off, wringing her clothes out in the bathtub and then hanging them up to dry, before she undid her braid.
“Hey, Arthur,” she called, “could you grab my dress from upstairs? I left it on my bed and I can’t just… get it like this.”
“Uh… okay.”
Clearing his throat, he set the book down on the table before heading upstairs to grab her dress from the bed, but the minute he had his hands on it, the smell of arousal hit him. Arthur took a deep breath, realizing the scent was coming from the dress. The same dress she’d been wearing earlier.
The same dress she had on when she’d first seen him.
The same dress she’d immediately changed out of after.
Quickly, he brought it back down to her, trying to hold his nose because, fuck, he was getting hard. “Here,” he said, holding it out as he stood just outside the door.
Nora opened the door just enough to snatch it from his hand, her cheeks burning slightly as she dried herself off and put it back on.
“Thanks,” she muttered, stepping out, one hand running through her loosened hair. “I’m going to make dinner.”
He was back in the living room, trying to erase the scent from his nose and brain, but it just made its way back in when she joined him. “Mhm,” he murmured, one hand running down his beard as he kept his eyes anywhere but her.
Heading down into the pantry, Nora found everything she could need to make a stew, and brought it into the kitchen, pulling out the old stew pot. A fond smile pulled at her lips as she began lighting the fireplace, and then pulling water to pour into it. So many memories of being sat round the table with her cousins and aunts and uncles eating dinner from this pot. Feeding the wolf scraps from the table even when it got her some rapped knuckles from her grandmother’s spoon. There was still bread left over, and she chewed a little as she began to wait for the water to boil.
“So,” she made her way back to the man, and took a seat by him, “other than having the same name as grandma’s wolf, I don’t know anything about you.”
The faint scent of her arousal grew again as she entered the room and sat near him, and Arthur thought he might need to run just to escape it. “Probably better that way,” he answered, clearing his throat. “Besides, not much to tell.”
“No?” Nora asked. “You’re not from my village, so you must be from somewhere else.”
“And how do you know I’m not from your village?” he questioned, glancing over at her.
Nora snorted. “Because I would definitely recognise you.”
There was a shrug. “I’m not that memorable. Besides, I’ve been here with Sunita for a while, so you could have easily forgotten me.”
“No, I would’ve seen you,” she reminded him. “I’ve spent weeks here. In fact I was here three months ago.” And if Arthur didn’t think he was memorable… he’d clearly never looked in a mirror before.
Fuck. He was running out of excuses. She had been here not long ago, but he hadn’t exactly prepared himself on what to say when she asked why he wasn’t. Which, he was, but she didn’t know that. “I went on a trip around that time. Sunita told me you’d be here, so I wasn’t needed.”
“Fair,” Nora agreed. “So, I guess… are you an orphan? Like the wolf?”
“Is there a reason you’re asking all these questions?” he growled. “They’re invasive.”
Nora’s face fell. “Sorry, I just- we’re living together now. So…” She sprang up from the chair and rushed over to check the pot. The water was starting to bubble, and she began to prepare the rest of dinner, her face burning.
Sighing heavily, Arthur rubbed his eyelids with his thumb and forefinger. “Yes, I was an orphan,” he called. “Sunita took me in.”
“Sorry,” Nora mumbled, her eyes still on the food. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He grunted in irritation but left it at that, instead settling back in his chair to read while he waited.
When the water was finally boiling, Nora scraped the meat and vegetables into the pot with some herbs and let the fire cool just a little, then left it to cook. This would take some time, and she tapped her foot against the floor.
“What are you reading?” she finally asked him.
As if the mere smell of her taunting him wasn’t bad enough, she also just wouldn’t leave him alone. “A book,” he answered without looking up.
Ok, she got the message. “All right,” she muttered. “Is it… good?”
“Would I be reading it if it were not good?” Truthfully, yes, because he read whatever he could get his hands on, but still.
Well, Nora was going to- not be here.
For a bit.
Nodding, she rushed past him upstairs, and went to her grandmother’s room to look around and light the lamps. The darkness in the house was thick thanks to the storm, and she found her own books, picking up one she had gotten halfway through before heading back downstairs to wait for dinner to cook, book in hand, sat at the table.
At first, he paid her no mind, even trying to hold his breath when she whisked by so that faint scent of arousal didn’t fill his nose again. But once she was sitting at the table, book in hand, his eyes soon flicked up to her, looking at the text curiously. It wasn’t one he recognized, and Sunita had given him a lot of books as he’d grown up.
Fuck. Don’t ask. Do not ask.
“What is that?” Damnit, Arthur.
“A book,” Nora shot back.
That was… fair.
Not uncalled for. He’d been an asshole to her since she’d arrived, and she was returning the gesture, it seemed. With a sigh, he held up the book a little. “‘A Tale of Two Lovers’ by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini.”
Nora blinked, looking up. Then her cheeks burned. That was the one with the-
“Well then,” she muttered. “…I guess I know why you think it’s a good book?”
“I read whatever I can find, whether it’s good or not,” he told her, “Because I enjoy it. Now, what are you reading?”
“History of the Kingdom of Dumnonia,” Nora replied.
“Decent text,” he mumbled. “Haven’t read it in a while.”
“You read a lot?” she asked.
Do you often read porn?
“I do,” Arthur confirmed. “Keeps me busy when I have nothing else to do.” Another glance to her was made. “… And you?”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “But I prefer to be outside, so… reading is for when there’s storms.” Thunder clattered outside. “Like so.” There was a pause. “Do you think my grandmother called her wolf Arthur because she was reading this when she found him? After the king from the history?”
The corners of his lips twitched. “Perhaps. I suppose that makes sense—she did enjoy that book quite a bit.”
“Ahhhh, I took my copy!” Nora groaned, rubbing her eyes as she sat back. “My mother doesn’t have one. She could buy her one but I don’t think she will. Maybe I’ll walk her copy over tomorrow.”
“I’ll take it,” he told her.
“Noooooo,” Nora hurriedly said. “My mother doesn’t know there’s a- a boy here.” Not really a boy, but… “She’ll never let me hear the end of it. I’ll do it.”
One brow raised. “Your mother controls what you do?”
Nora snorted. “Why do you think I was so desperate to come here? I was an adult and she was still telling me how I was cooking things wrong and washing them wrong and why can’t I be like Rashmi?”
“That sounds… unpleasant,” Arthur murmured. “Perhaps it was good I didn’t have parents.”
“No, no, my father is wonderful,” Nora assured him. “And I know plenty of lovely mothers. Just… not mine.”
“From the way your grandmother raised—“ he paused, clearing his throat; wrong word, “From the way she treated me when she took me in, they seem to have very different parenting techniques.” And now that he thought about it, the times he had seen Nora’s mother, she was very different from Sunita.
“Mother always thought my grandma was too soft,” Nora sighed. “Never strict enough. Especially with my aunts and uncle. Funny, given how much she apparently loves my cousin Rashmi. What was it she said? ‘Beti, your cousin is such a sweet girl, she isn’t wild like you. How are you going to find a husband that isn’t practically a wolf in the woods himself if you keep on behaving like that?’ Really wonderful words, you know?”
With raised brows, his eyes zeroed in on the book in his hands again. It wasn’t that she was unloading on him—he could easily block her out if necessary—but the husband part? A ‘wolf in the woods’? It might as well have been about him. “That is… unkind, yes,” Arthur murmured.
“That’s why I’m glad I got to be out here alone,” Nora sighed, and got up to look at the stew. It would still be a while before it was done. “Well. Not alone. I wasn’t expecting you. But that’s ok.”
She thought that now, but what about later? How long could he keep his secret? How long before she suspected?
“Are you not planning to marry?” he blurred out before thinking.
Her cheeks flushed. “Definitely not anyone she chooses,” Nora mumbled. “Um, that’s… quite a question. Why did you ask?”
“I just,” he cleared his throat again, a red flush running up his neck and into his face, “Was curious, is all. If you plan to marry soon, I need to find somewhere to go once you do.”
“Oh god.” Nora’s face wrinkled at the thought. “Not soon. I’m twenty. I’m not dying. I’ll have my fun first.”
Fun. Part of him wanted to know what sort of ‘fun’ she meant. “I see. Well, when you do choose to start, ah, looking, then I’ll find somewhere.”
“Oh god, what am I going to do about the wolf?!” Nora burst out. “Shit, all right, I need someone who’s ok with having a pet wolf…”
“He will be fine with me,” Arthur assured her.
She sighed. “Are you sure? This is his home, grandma raised him from a puppy. It would be a shame to have to make him go.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” he replied. “The wolf is adaptable. He will go with me when the time comes.”
Thunder rattled the house again. Nora shivered, a spike of heat pooling in her belly. Storms… they’d always done things to her. And now here she was, stuck in the house with a handsome man her own age, with thunder and lightning raging outside. She bit her lip and then ran a hand through her damp hair, looking over at the stew. It wouldn’t be a good idea for her to stay in this room too long.
“Well, that will take a bit of time,” she said breezily, getting up. “Would you watch it for me? I’m going to go look at the pantry again and see what we’ve got and what I can fit in.”
The smell of that heat coming from her had his pupils growing, and he tried to keep himself from taking a deep breath. “Sure,” Arthur murmured, swallowing hard while keeping his eyes on the book in his hands despite not even having read a single word for the past several minutes.
Nora quickly hurried into the pantry. Arthur was weird. Not bad weird, just… how many people had he spoken to in his life? Asking her about whether or not she was going to get married, how soon…
Closing the door a little, Nora quickly busied herself trying to read labels and sort an already very neat-looking pantry to distract herself from the way that Arthur had been curious. He had been reading porn and asking her about marriage?!