Evangeline had been up crying for most of the night, he had heard her from his room even though she was quiet which made him feel worse than her distancing herself from him now. She was at the back, walking slower than him and Lydia but keeping up with them and he could see her shiver every once in a while. Lynch didn't want to keep a distance from her, she was hurting and his wolf was whining and howling on the inside. The wind had picked up and was blowing snow fiercely at the group, Lynch couldn't smell anything at all which made him slightly paranoid of any noise he could hear. The path to Ivarstead had always been the worst but going all the way around the base of the Throat of the World was not an option. The pass was faster than going all the way around but it was dangerous, more so than going all the way around. Lydia did not speak much which helped because when they had set off that morning Evangeline almost attacked the house carl in rage for even speaking near her. Suddenly a roar ripped him from his thoughts, a frost troll jumped down from a ledge and pounded on its chest twice before it headed towards Evangeline. She had her hands up and fire was blazing in her hands, she fired several fire bolts at the frost troll only to be knocked away by its large arm. Another frost troll jumped down near where the first had as soon as Lynch had drawn his battle axe and headed towards the first.

"Lydia! If you know how to use a bow, do so!" Lynch yelled as he swung at the first troll to get it away from Evangeline.

Lydia readied her bow and began to let her arrows fly at the pair of frost trolls but her arrows didn't seem to do anything to them. Evangeline stood up on her own but wobbled a few times, she watched as an arrow struck one of the trolls in the neck. That frost troll took no time in running to Lydia and knocking her against the cliff with a sickening crack of her skull, she slumped down to the ground. Evangeline may not have liked her but she needed healing or Lydia would bleed out, before she even had a chance to move to Lydia, the frost troll grabbed Lydia and threw her against the other side of the passage…into more cliff. The woman would not survive that, she had lost so much blood and Lynch was trying to fight off the frost troll in front of him. Evangeline readied her fire bolt once more and fired it at the frost troll who had killed Lydia, but she heard a roar before the troll started to run towards her. It had come from right behind her and when she turned around a minute later, Lynch was gone and a large black werewolf was in his place….tearing into the frost troll with such ferocity that it took her breath away. Her vision was already blurred from the hits to the rock face; she lifted her hands but could not maintain a healing ball in her hands and she knew standing up would be even worse for her.

"Evangeline! Go to the cave nearby! Go now!" Evangeline knew it was Lynch who said that but his voice sounded different.

Evangeline tried her best to stand but didn't seem to do a good job of doing so, her hands clung to the icy rock face to steady herself but she was losing too much blood from the wound she could feel on the back of her head. She did not notice when she stopped hearing the frost trolls roars but she did notice when a pair of strong black furred arms wrapped around her midsection.

"Come on, you need health potions." His warm breath was on the back of her neck and it made her hot all over.

Lynch hadn't been afraid for anyone's safety as much as he was now, Evangeline lay on her bedroll with a linen cloth soaked in health potions on the wound that adorned the back of her head. He had already cleaned up her wound and the blood that had dripped down her neck and onto her back. Pelts were laid over her so she would stay warm despite her blood loss and he kept himself close to her as she slept. Evangeline woke with a start, piercing pain from her head down her neck made her cry out and Lynch woke up as soon as she cried out. He was in his human form so it didn't scare her when she did wake up; she immediately turned into his chest and wept. Lynch put one arm around her while his other hand felt for a health potion near himself, he finally found one and brought it in front of him.

"Evangeline, you need to drink more of this." He handed her the potion as she sniffled and wiped her teary eyes.

She drank it slowly then put the flask back onto the ground,

"Where are we?"

"Haemar's Cavern." Evangeline seemed to realize that Lynch was completely naked at that time because her cheeks became darker and he could smell her arousal.

"You are a…werewolf." Her voice was careful, she was treading on thin ice and she knew it.

"Yes." His eyes bore into hers, seeking even a semblance of acceptance from her.

"I…I don't know what to say." She avoided looking at him and detached herself from him, hugging a pelt to her body.

Lynch couldn't find the words to make her see that he wasn't a bad man just because he was a werewolf. What would he say? That his hands were clean of innocent blood? Or that he hadn't killed just because he could? None of his words would comfort her in the way he wished they would.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Her voice was small now; he didn't smell fear coming from Evangeline which gave him hope.

"Would you have followed me when we first met if you knew I was? I have lived for this long because no one has known. Lydia is dead and that leaves you."

"Will you kill me to keep your secret?" There was the fear, only a small trace which meant Evangeline didn't doubt him as much as she could have.

"No. I could never do that." Lynch sighed but was surprised when she closed the gap between them, laying her head on his shoulder.

Evangeline was shivering again and his body heat was comforting to her.

"I would have been terrified. Now that I know you, it doesn't seem as scary as what the parents would have you believe." She seemed more confident in her choice to trust him and he was glad for it.

"I am humbled by your acceptance." He whispered into her ear and she nodded slightly.

"From what I saw, you were trying to save me. I could have lost all of my blood if not for you." Evangeline smiled because even though the thought of him being a werewolf still frightened her, she could rest easy knowing that it was him and not someone else who looked after her health.

Evangeline felt a new trust in him and hoped that he would not break it.

D-D

Ivarstead turned out to be a nice little town; the people were friendly enough and willing to give work for people who needed coin. Lynch bought them a room in Vilemyr Inn then took to the blacksmiths to repair his armor and weapon while Evangeline went to the river on the side of the town to fish. When Lynch heard her say fishing he thought she meant with a fishing pole and bait but, when he came upon her not even an hour later he saw that she was standing in the river with her hands barely touching the water. He saw a small pile of salmon on the bank already and was surprised when her hands gently dipped into the water then lifted them back out with a fish floating near her hands.

"I use telekinesis to lift the fish out of the water. It's one of my simple spells." Evangeline put the fish on the bank with the others and saw Lynch with a surprised expression on his face.

"Amazing is what that is! It takes the long hours of waiting for a fish to bite out of it all." Lynch leaned over and inspected the fish.

"They are good fish as well. We can sell a few and keep one or two to eat." Lynch pulled a bag out of his knapsack and put the fish in the bag.

He then helped Evangeline out of the water and looked at her soaked robes,

"Woman, you are going to be the death of me." He rolled his eyes and she just smiled.

"Let's go sell these fish. I can always get more." Evangeline added and they began to walk towards the inn.

The barkeep was more than happy to take the fish off of their hands and when they went into their room, Evangeline took the fish out of the bag and put them on the table.

"I have a way of preserving the fish so they can be used later on, without being put underground." Lynch watched as she let her hands cover the fish and frost enveloped them in an instant.

"That is indeed a good way to preserve fish. It can be thawed and cooked in mere minutes." Evangeline gave him a shy smile while she blushed from his compliment.

Lynch placed the fish back into the bag and Evangeline started to look through her knapsack for her spare robe. She found the extra blue enchanted robes she had and began to look for an extra pair of under things.

"I'm going to go talk to the Inn keeper about you staying here while I'm gone." Lynch left the room and Evangeline quickly changed out of her wet clothes and into new dry ones.

She put the wet clothes on the back of the chair in the room then sat down on the bed. Lynch was going to leave Ivarstead and walk 7,000 steps to High Hrothgar in the mountains so he could be trained further as a Dragonborn. Evangeline would be alone for a while but she could work up some money so she could buy extra supplies. Evangeline was adjusting her robe as Lynch came back in,

"I talked with Wilhelm and he said that you can work at the lumber mill for one or two days a week. They need someone to help cut the blocks of wood. Or Wilhelm told me he can use some help with the cooking for a few days a week. " His eyes fell on where her hands had been when they had finished adjusting her robe.

"I'll pick one of them or possibly both. I don't know how long you will be up at High Hrothgar so I have to keep myself busy until you come back." Lynch nodded at her and sat next to her on the bed.

"It should not take long. I was always a good student to the right teachers." He smiled but saw that Evangeline was frowning.

"I admit this is terrifying for me, this will be my first time having a job. I was taught how to survive in a working world but…" She sighed and put her head in her hands.

"It will become easy. Do not fret over it, I believe in you." Lynch assured, she lifted her head from her hands and gave him a worried smile.

"Now, would you help me with my armor?" She nodded happily as he stood.

He handed her his boots and greaves then with some verbal help she put both of them on correctly. Lynch handed her his chest and back plate and helped her once more verbally on how to put them on correctly.

"Do you think that maybe after you come back that you can teach me how to fight with a sword better?" He eyed her curiously,

"You know how to use a sword?"

"A shortsword is what I was beginning to be taught with. I never finished my lessons and magic doesn't always win a battle." She nodded and lifted his battle axe from in front of the bed.

It was heavy but she did her best to hand it to him, he hefted it onto his shoulder and made his way outside with Evangeline following in tow. She followed him to the beginning of the 7,000 steps and looked at them then at Lynch.

"I'll try to save up some money while you're gone." Evangeline stood on her tip toes, directed his face towards hers and her lips connected with his.

Lynch's hands went to her waist and pulled her closer then, emitted a deep rumble from his chest. Evangeline slowly pulled away from him and gave him a happy smile, one of the smiles he loved to see from her.

"Come back soon." She pleaded and he caught her lips with his,

"I will."

Thank you to everyone who reads this story. Hopefully chapter 8 won't take so long to come out. For the people who read Howling at the Moon, expect a sequel within a month or two depending on my schedule. Again, thanks for reading!