Thread by @itsmzladybird

It’s Saturday and we are stranded in the snow for #ReyloSpiritWeek 🖤

CW // NSFW, spooky 👻

“It had been a bitter winter.” (Read below!)

1. Rey crouched by the fire, her cloak pulled tight across her shoulders. She was desperate to warm her hands, but uncurling them from the folds was torture.

She needed to leave this cabin.

2. She’d found it a day ago, trudging through the midnight snow. It was ancient, abandoned and dilapidated. The harsh winter winds howled through the cracks in the caving ceiling.

I’m going to die here, she thought.

3. Rey had been lost for three days. When the bandits hit her caravan, Rey fled into the woods. She was just a nameless traveler, stowed away amongst the hay bales. She had nothing but a dagger and reckless hope to cling to.

4. The first night, Rey slept in a cave. She willed herself to ignore the wolves crying at the moon. Battled to keep the shadows of a moonless sky from driving her mad. But after another day of wandering the forest, Rey realized it was the cold she truly feared.

5. Beyond the rattling walls, a howl pierced the night. Rey shuddered, dragging herself closer to the fire. It was small, and dwindling.

Another howl. Something thudded in the distance.

“Hello?” She croaked.

6. He didn’t come through the door, but the wall. An entire section of the cabin had crumbled beneath the snow. His cloak dragged over the rubble as he stepped out of the shadows.

7. He was enormous. Bigger than any man she’d laid eyes on. And Rey knew, even before his face emerged from the dark, that he was no man.

He was /more/.

“Hello, little one.”

8. She’d heard of the Wolf of Chandrila. They said he was a cursed prince, banished to these mountains to guard the Black Castle. Rey pressed her frozen hands to her chin, teeth chattering.

“Are you – have you come to eat me?”

9. The Wolf chuckled, a serrated sound closer to a growl than a laugh. His flinty eyes ran all over her.

“Would you like me to?”

10. He took her away under the cover of night. Rey didn’t even put up a fight when he gathered her in his arms, swaddling her like a babe in her tattered cloak. Her body was numb, but his was shockingly warm. Rey burrowed her face in that broad chest and surrendered to death.

11. But it never came. When Rey opened her eyes again, she found herself nestled beneath heavy blankets. The bed in which she lay was soft and utterly massive. She sat up, looking around the room. Her gaze lingered on the crackling fire in the stone hearth.

12. “How do you feel?”

Rey startled, turning to the door.

The Wolf stood in the threshold. He’d divested himself of the cloak, and Rey blushed at the open collar of his shirt. She could see smooth skin stretched over impressive pectorals.

13. “Well, thank you…” She cleared her parched throat. “Where am I?”

The Wolf regarded her sagely. “I think you know where.”

Rey swallowed on a stiff nod. She pulled the blankets to her chin, and it was then she realized—

“M-my clothes!” Rey scrambled to cover herself.

14. The Wolf held up a large hand. Rey watched with wide eyes as he crossed the room and opened a large trunk. He pulled out a set of folded garments.

“I fear they may be a bit large, but you will find them clean enough. I…cannot say the same for you. Shall I draw you a bath?”

15. How curious, Rey mused as she settled into the warm water. All the myths, those tavern tales told by flickering candlelight. The Wolf was a scourge on these lands. Travelers steered clear. Mothers invoked his name to scare wayward babes. He was a beast, an abomination, a—

16. “Has it gone cold?”

Rey jerked, splashing water over the side of the tub. Her shock robbed her of modesty, and the Wolf’s eyes dipped briefly to her breasts before quickly flitting away.

“It…no. It’s perfect, thank you.”

A curt nod, and he was gone.

17. Night bled into morning, and back into night. Rey spent hours in bed, body achy from days of aimless wandering through the biting snow. The Wolf brought her meals—hearty soups and honeyed bread—but rarely lingered. She found herself wishing he’d stay every time he left.

18. When she was strong enough, Rey slipped from the bed and donned one of the tunics the Wolf had laid out. It was impossibly large, skimming well past her knees. Pulling a borrowed cloak over her shoulders, Rey set out in search of her enigmatic host.

19. She found him in a study, of all places. It was sparsely furnished, with a great fire and a simple oak desk at which he sat. The Wolf looked up when Rey entered, gaze lingering for a beat on her bare legs beneath the folds of the cloak.

“What are you reading?”

20. “Not reading,” He murmured, lifting a pen. “Writing.”

Rey settled into the wooden chair by the fire. “Is it a letter?”

“Of sorts.”

“And…” She picked at a loose thread on the cloak, “Who does the Wolf write to?”

“His mother.”

21. The notion was so absurd, so utterly unexpected, that all Rey could do was laugh. She clapped a hand across her mouth, and the Wolf wrestled back a rogue smirk.

“I’m sorry,” Rey giggled. “I just...”

“Yes?”

“You’re – well, you’re /you./“

22. “And who, exactly, am I?” He hummed, scribbling across the parchment. Rey pulled her legs up, knees tucked beneath her chin.

“The big, bad Wolf.”

23. “Not bad,” He gave a flourish, signing the page, and set down the pen. “My mother is quite fearsome, however. I do not wish to provoke her with delay.”

“May I ask what requires such urgent notice?”

“You.”

24. Rey recoiled. “Me? Why?”

The Wolf looked up, and Rey thought his eyes were rather…lovely.

“The snow falls steady. Already, it buries the castle. I would see you well provided for while we ride the storm, and my mother is the only one who can make such arrangements.”

25. “How, if we are trapped here?” Rey followed the Wolf with narrowed eyes as he pushed up from his desk. He carried the letter to the fireplace.

The Wolf tossed the letter into the flames.

26. Rey stared, eyes wide and mouth agape, as the fire flared bright blue. The parchment evaporated on a cloud of glittering dust, consumed by the magical flames. She turned back to the Wolf.

“What is this place?”

27. But the Wolf didn’t answer. Instead, he held out a hand. After a beat, Rey took it.

“Come. I’d like to show you something.”

28. The Black Castle was resplendent, carved from dark stone that glowed gold beneath the candlelight. The Wolf led Rey through great halls, narrow passages, and down winding staircases. They finally stepped out into a courtyard, and Rey’s breath stuck in her throat.

A garden.

29. The snow fell in gentle flurries, snowflakes catching on the delicate petals of a thousand white blooms. The fruit trees were bare, pale bark gleaming. And yet the flowers blossomed fully, untouched by the cold.

“It’s beautiful.”

Rey turned back to the Wolf. “Who are you?”

30. His name was Sir Benjamin Solo, son of Leia Organa, the lost Princess of Alderaan. Though lost was the wrong word. When the King of Naboo invaded the Valley, Princess Leia and her court fled to exile in the outer rim. But the King would not be so easily thwarted.

31. In his rage, the King sent forth a sorcerer by the name of Snoke to kill the princess.

“But I found him first.”

Rey stared at Ben across the great dining table. His eyes were far away.

32. “We dueled, and I slayed him on the steps of this very castle. But as he lay dying, Snoke summoned a terrible curse upon the mountain. It has trapped me here, bound me to the castle—”

“And the Wolf?”

Ben rolled his neck, gaze finally sliding to Rey’s.

33. “A myth born from a kernel of truth. No fanged monster haunts these halls. But – ”

Ben dropped his eyes to the table, and Rey leaned forward.

“You can tell me. I’m…I’m not afraid.”

A moment of silence. “…Perhaps you should be.”

34. Rey pushed up from her seat and stalked around the table. Ben looked up when she came to stand beside him.

“I was dying when you found me. I would have if you hadn’t brought me here. And…I would have been alone. But you’ve saved me. So no, I’m not afraid. Tell me.”

35. When he didn’t immediately reply, Rey bent to one knee and placed a hand on Ben’s arm.

“Please?”

36. And so he did. He told her about the full moon, and how it brought out a darkness in him, a hunger. How he roamed the forest, following a siren call. A taste on the air, something sweet and undefined.

37. It drove him mad, made him ache and howl and haunt the mountain. But just when Ben thought he’d found the source of his need, the magic binding him to the castle snapped taut, staying his pursuit. His heart’s desire remained forever out of reach.

38. When Ben was finished, Rey swiped at her cheeks and pressed a tender kiss to his knuckles. He regarded her with something like wonder, throat working on a heavy swallow.

“I am so sorry.”

39. They spoke little after that, and Ben eventually walked Rey back to her room. They parted with a nod, but Ben caught her hand at the last second. Rey shivered at the faint brush of his thumb across her knuckles.

Ben disappeared into the shadows of the dark hall.

40. They carried on like that for another week. Catching each other in the halls, sharing few words and lingering glances. Ben spent most of his time in his study, and Rey found the winter garden a spectacular place for reading.

41. The magic there was a wonder. The snows that beat at the outer walls of the castle did not touch this place. Nor did the piercing winds. Rey sat beside a fountain, reading fables pulled from the library beneath a canopy of winter flowers.

42. It was a peaceful captivity, and Rey quickly forgot herself in a winter dream. That is, until the full moon.

43. She should have known it was approaching. Try as he might, Ben could not hide the impending change. He grew restless, pacing the halls at night just beyond her door. His skin flushed hot and he fussed with his clothes as if they were too tight.

44. The eve of the full moon, Rey found Ben standing before the magical fireplace in his study, chest bare and pants hanging loose on his hips. It set something hot and sticky rolling in her belly. The feeling worsened when he looked up at her with blown eyes.

45. “Lock your door. Do not leave your room until…until it has passed.”

“Where will you go?”

“To the forest. Always.”

46. But he didn’t go to the forest. The night of the full moon, Rey awoke to a crash and a snarl. She rushed to her door, but Ben’s bitter curse stayed her hand on the knob.

47. “Ben?”

“Don’t – hng – don’t open it.”

“But—“

“Please…”

Rey pressed to the wood. She could hear Ben panting on the other side.

“Why not?”

48. Silence fell between them, broken only by Ben’s heavy breaths. Rey was moments from turning the knob when he croaked—

“It’s you.”

49. It was strange. How quickly she understood. A distant part of her mind whispered that she’d always known. Perhaps before Ben, even.

50. Rey tried to pinpoint the moment she realized the truth. Maybe when he lifted her from the snow and pressed her to his chest. She’d breathed him in, that scent of pine and earth, and it felt—

It felt…

“I’m going to open the door.”

51. Ben rushed inside as soon as Rey turned the knob. But just as quickly as his hands found her shoulders, he reeled back, slamming the door shut as he fell against it.

“Rey…”

52. She reached for Ben, heart splintering at the way he recoiled from her touch. He wore nothing but those loose pants and a film of sweat. His chest heaved on strangled breaths, cheeks flushed and eyes glassy.

53. “No, don’t. I can’t – I won’t stop…”

“You don’t have to.”

Ben moaned on a grimace. “You don’t…understand. The things I want to do to you…”

54. Rey searched Ben’s face. His eyes narrowed, pupils dilating rapidly. She gritted her teeth with a resolute nod.

“Show me, then.”

55. Tugging the ties of her collar, Rey shucked her oversized tunic. Ben’s head rolled on his shoulders as the fabric fell to Rey’s feet.

“Oh, heavens…”

56. Ben’s knees hit the floor. Rey stepped forward until she was right before him, dressed in nothing but skin and certainty. Ben shuddered when Rey ran her fingers through his hair.

“Come,” She soothed, trailing a finger down his cheek. “Let me make it better.”

57. Ben groaned and buried his face in Rey’s stomach. She sighed at the feel of his tongue dragging hot and wet across her flesh.

58. Ben tried to be gentle. He really did. Rey could tell by the way his hands flexed into her waist. The way he breathed against the valley of her hip—shallow and stunted. But the moon was high, and the hour was late. The Wolf would not be denied.

59. Rey bent to press a kiss to his crown. Then she led Ben to bed.

60. The fire painted them in flickering strokes of light. Ben was impossibly tall, and terribly broad, but Rey loved the weight of him pressing her into the mattress. That hard body, hot and trembling under her touch, was made for her fingers. Her teeth and tongue.

61. Ben took her like…well, like a man possessed. Hard grip and slapping skin, Rey just knew there would be bruises. But his kisses were reverent, and his words—purred in her ear—were sincere.

62. “You taste like honey.”

“Your skin is purest silk.”

“So soft…so small and warm. I could stay inside of you forever.”

This was no curse, she thought as he picked up pace.

63. They came apart together, wet moans and heavy breaths echoing off the stone walls. Rey fell into a light slumber, awoken by Ben’s hands on her hips, his lips at her nape. He took her again in the light of a dying fire, with the howl of a snowstorm shaking the castle.

64. But no chill could touch them here. No loneliness, or pain.

65. Rey held Ben’s gaze, fingers twined in his hair, and watched as he went over.

No, this wasn’t a curse…

This was a gift.

✨The End✨

Thank you @bb_kate_ and @feralsandgremln for hosting!