Blaine Anderson is not a coward.

Or thats what he thought.

Dark looming trees spelt incoming danger as the forest grew darker, denser. The night was approaching and Blaine wondered if there was even a slight chance that he would make it out alive. The routes were dizzy, and he was utterly lost.

A crack to the right made him jump up in shock. Hesitatingly turning towards the sound, he exhaled a little sigh of relief when a few rabbits scurried past him.

Trudging alone the once more deserted pathway, the dark hair boy shivered in the cold, hugging his arms around his body. The forest looked menacing with its sharp naked oak trees that were stripped bare, snow dripping off the edges and the long winding path that seemed to lead to absolutely no where.

There wasnt time to feel livid. Fear had gripped him moments before when he woke up, completely clueless and lost in the forests of the beasts at the edge of town. With a pounding headache and tied up wrists, Blaine had finally managed to pull off the ropes that disabled him with the help of a shattered glass shard.

He had been wandering around for about an hour or so, trying desperately to find an exit but to no avail. The hazel eyed boy had even tried calling out for help, but had only managed to startle a few bone pups that yipped at him, annoyed.

It was no use.

Blaine Anderson was thoroughly lost.

Nightfall was approaching and if Blaine knew anything about the forest, it was never to step during the winter nights. He knew about the beasts that lurked the woods, but he was defenceless and he doubted that werewolves would listen to reason.

A lone howl pierced the veil of silence.

Blaine needed to hide. If anything, he would be much better off walking around aimlessly in the morning – swiftly, quietly trekking along the snowy path, the dark haired boys heart sang in glee when he spotted a large looming cave just a few metres away.

Bone pup caves! He grinned to himself, a place to shelter for the night – after all bone pups werent known for attacking humans. Mentally making a note to apologise to the bone pups that startled whilst he was trying to call for help, Blaine made his way towards the cave, the winter night settling in gradually, covering the forest with inky darkness.

Without a torch or any sort of light, all the dark hair boy could see was the shallow rocks that decorated the front of the cave, not a bone pup in sight. Perhaps he was wrong; maybe the cave was merely just an ordinary cave.

Inaudibly, he let out a sigh.

What happened? He murmured a curse under his breath, all he could remember was talking to Cooper about their familys future and the next moment he was waking up to the sounds of the forest, completely lost and confused.

Was it Cooper? Did his older brother leave him out in the winter night forest? Blaine bit back an angry hiss; they couldve talked things out rationally but then again Cooper wasnt going to listen anyway – taking over the family name and deed: was it worth all this?

That was the fifth fight this week, Blaine grunted, visibly unimpressed, patting his dusty soiled hands against his jeans. Cooper had been mildly disgruntled at first at how their father decided to leave the familys business under Blaine instead of him – but nonetheless congratulated his younger brother.

Cooper, however, got progressively and strangely angry when Blaine didnt want to own up how he did not want the role.

Not that he declined the offer, Cooper had lamented time and time again how he shouldve just said that he didnt want it – but the hazel eyed teenager Blaine just shrugged over the matter, muttering something about "not that I can do what I want anyway."

Blaine wanted to be something else – something else everyone forbade him to do.

Of course being in the police force, the dangers were as uncertain as being a hunter; but Blaine wouldve rather take his compassionate nature to help the creatures of the forest instead of managing the family business. There was no point really. The hunters in the town were rapidly getting overshadowed by the mighty Smythe family – whose entire goal was to torch the forest.

"New grounds to make business out of," He heard the Smythes declare during a meeting at the town council, where Cooper agreed heartily to "Torch it all up."

Blaine wasnt having any of that. Neither was his father.

So that began the quarrels and fights that grew rampant during the nights. Cooper, insisting he could do a better job as the chief of the police and their father shaking his head, telling him that he wasnt responsible enough. It sparked a heated battle between them that caused a rift in the family – Cooper moved out and Blaine was left, feeling as if he caused everything to happen.

"Everything was fine until you came along!" Cooper had hissed, his own bright brown eyes lit with fury. "You useless doormat, pretending to be humble – you are nothing but trouble."

A sudden loud humming noise broke his train of thought.

Glancing around hastily, Blaine shot ramrod straight, swiftly getting up from his little nest of rocks and eyeing the gloomy cave with wide eyes. In the murky dark, he couldnt see anything: what is making that rhythmic rumbling?

Icy fingers trailed down his spine as he froze in place, realising the humming sounded exactly like his mothers voice. He took a step back, ready to leap and rush out of the cave entrance at any second. He waited for a minute. Then another. Willing his trembling legs to be still, Blaine rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out the mysterious humming.

"Who is there?" He cupped his hands around his mouth, "Im just a weary traveller, looking for shelter."

There was no reply.

Instinct told him to run.

Curiosity made him stay.

With calculated steps, Blaine stalked in, deeper into the dark cave, the spilled light that once shone into the cave entrance now slowly disappearing as he crept inside. The gentle hums faded away, causing the dark haired boy to once again freeze in place, vulnerable and completely defenceless in the inky dark cavern.

Blaine gulped.

An alarming sense of dread crept up his neck – something felt oddly familiar, but he couldnt point a finger on what it was. A warm breeze buffeted past his face and Blaine let out a choked out gasp – that wasnt the night winds.

It was exhale of a beast.

Red eyes met his hazel ones.

"Wendigo." He whispered under his breath, surprised at his own composure.

And he grinned.

Blaine couldnt help but watch the hunter with bright fascinated hazel pools. Even as unhinged as the brunette looked at the moment, he could tell that Kurt was no where pleased about Blaines sudden realization and was struggling with his answer.

Ice blue eyes narrowed back at him in a questioning challenging gaze as if to urge Blaine to explicate himself.

"I thought it was because of the elf and human hybrid genes, but even so you are still half human." The boy explained hastily, "And the Wendigo, he never smelt that human scent on you," He shut his eyes, deep in thought, "Or elf."

He recalled the captivating scent of the hunter when he first saw him in the forest, doubled with Cooper (he frowned slightly at that) the scent that he found utterly extravagant belonged to neither human nor beast. The voice that sounded like bells belonged to Kurt Hummel, the hunter that once killed the Wendigo.

"It is none of your business, Anderson." Kurt huffed back coldly, adjusting the beautiful ivory bow that slung over his small frame.

The first impression of Kurt Hummel, Blaine noted fuzzily, smiling at the hunter who was whispering something over to his Cerberus, was that even in his small thin build, the boy had looked toweringly impressive.

With his pale fragile looking skin that had old wound marks, his chestnut brown hair messed up from all the running and fighting he did; Blaine had to admit, even as detached Kurt Hummel acted, there was something charming about him.

"If we end up running into a death trap, I will not hesitate to dump you in the forest." Came the jeer from the corner of the dining room.

Even with his constant aggravated barks, Blaine smirked to himself, shrugging in response to Kurts irate declaration and was replied with an infuriated glower as the hunter continued to check his gear for one last time. He couldnt tell what the hunter was exactly, not that he minded, he was mildly curious of how the boy was neither human nor elf.

Not that he read a lot of books about hybrids of elves and humans, Blaines brow furrowed slightly, in fact, most elves tend to stick with their own kind.

He mentally took note of how Kurts bow was covered in intricate vines and leaf carvings, how thin and steady the ivory weapon was; it was definitely not made by humans, he figured, examining the bone thin bow hung across the hunters shoulder.

The quiver suspended beside the bow was covered; the fabric zipped up so Blaine couldnt tell what arrows the boy used, he tried recollecting the arrows that were shot at the Wendigo but all he could remember was a bright blue flame, hotter and uncannily colder than anything he ever felt.

It was certain that whatever Kurt was, he didnt seem too upset about being it.

"Done?" Blaine questioned the hunter, who was buckling up his ebony military boots, subconsciously looking at his dark blue loafers, half torn and muddy. It was surprising that it even lasted all the three years he had, stalking out the forest.

Kurts eyes followed Blaines own and raised his beryl eyes at the poignant sight.

"Do you want a pair?" the hunter inquired slowly, as if he was reluctant to even ask.

Grinning from ear to ear, the hazel eyed male nodded enthusiastically. He followed Kurt as the other boy dug out a pair of brown boots from a shoe rack near the door and handed it curtly over to Blaine. There was a snort of contempt as the curly haired boy thanked the hunter graciously.

Beaming, the boy grabbed the pair with gratitude radiating from his smile. It had been a while since he had any sort of interaction with humans – excluding the thieves and bandits that he chased away from the forest; they werent even polite or nice as Kurt – and he felt nothing but utmost indebted to the hunter who indeed saved his skin.

Swiftly stuffing his feet into the leather brown shoes, Blaine found it surprisingly cosy even though it looked old and slightly worn out, albeit it was just a tad bit bigger but it fit snugly nonetheless. Glancing up at the brunette who hastily turned away as if he had been peeping without sanction, Blaine managed a pleased thank you, berating himself lightly for feeling so over-jubilant at receiving a pair of boots.

"Are you actually crying?" Kurt sounded flabbergasted, peering back at the hazel pools.

"Its been a while since someone treated me like a human being." Blaine murmured, eyes watering over in appreciation, "Thank you, Kurt."

The hunter mumbled something incoherent under his breath before rolling his eyes and stalking away; Blaine took that as a welcome.

There was loud padding sounds and suddenly a curious sniffing reverberation to his right and Blaine glanced over to his arm, where Cerberuss centre head had laid affectionately on and was cheerfully nudging him, breathing warmly onto Blaines skin. Smiling gently, he tickled the Cerberuss chin; it felt good to finally feel something temperate and fuzzy on his skin.

"Ill watch out for him," he told the white creature, whose right head was still evidently displeased with Blaine and was letting out irritated grunts. The centre head, on the other hand, let out a happy weff and licked Blaines face with its long sticky tongue.

"We dont have all day, Anderson." Kurt announced dryly, hand on the doorknob.

Blaines heart skipped a beat.

"Wait," he rose up to his feet, at eye level with the hunter. "You do have a back gate right?"

At that he was replied with a raised brow – that was his cue to elaborate.

"Cooper is after me," Blaine sighed with a heavy heart, "I escaped just a bit after the entire incident and rushed here."

Kurt looked disinterested.

"I want to avoid him." The hazel eyed boy clarified.

Once more, the hunter was evidently not impressed and a little frown had appeared on his face.

"If you want to hurry and find Burt, you might want to consider steering clear of Cooper." Blaine added after a moments hesitation.

At that, the brunette turned on his heel and hurried off, not even waiting for Blaine to follow. Fleetingly waving bye to the white Cerberus watching them with big sad pools, it broke Blaines heart a little to leave the house through the back garage gate without Sam.

In the shadowy night, the cottages of Kurts street looked gloomy and dowdy with only a few streetlamps that lit up the roads. They had to head down to northern side of the town, dwindling cottage houses further along the long road toward the woods; but without a motorbike (Kurt had snappily blamed Blaine when he was asked if there was any means of transport other than walking) they were going to take a little longer than expected.

Kurt was not one for small talk it seemed.

Every time Blaine tried to start up a conversation it only sparked more infuriation from the hunter, who brusquely warned the boy; if he wanted his head to remain on his shoulders, he should, and Blaine quoted, "zip it", so dark haired boy tried to courteously explain how grateful he was to the hunter.

With just a thank you, he was replied with a dispassionate glance and raised eyebrows.

"You do know," the hunter grunted lackadaisically, a bored expression painted across his pale sharp features, "Im merely doing this out so you can hurry up and leave me alone?"

"But you offered me your shoe and gave me your trust," Blaines eyes widened slightly, feeling hurt from the indifferent reply, "Ive never had anyone done that for me before."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Im simply being polite." He pointed out dryly, eyes locked on ahead of the road, ignoring Blaines little sigh.

"Well," came the defeated murmur, "Im still thankful for everything you have done."

There was a soft sound of gravel crashing and the next thing Blaine knew, he was being stared down by a pair of cold ice blue pools, glaring fiercely back at him.

"Why wont you just leave it be?" Kurt hissed, a bright dangerous glint in those azure pools, "Why do you need to keep thanking me?"

Blaine stepped back, startled at the sudden vicious retort. Kurt looked peeved beyond reason and the hazel eyed boy was completely baffled as to how the hunter managed to hold so much anger towards a person he had never met before.

"I just wanted t-"

"Im not doing this because I trust you – I have no choice, you are my last resort, if I had any other options, I wouldnt be here."

Kurt cut him off crudely.

Blaine pursed his lips, choking back a stream of questions as to why Kurt was acting so distressed – all the dark haired boy wanted to do was to help. There was a crunch of gravel once more as Kurt hastily hurried back on his path and Blaine trailed closely behind, embarrassed and mystified, but choosing to remain silent.

Hes lost his father after all, Blaine mentally retorted, hes in no mood for making small talk.

The journey continued in complete silence except for the owls hooting in the distance and the occasional crunch of gravel as they walked.

As they travelled further down the long road, cottage houses diminished slowly in the distance, a stony carved pathway down to the northern entrance to the forest. In the far reserve, Blaine could see the start of the barring metal gates could be seen – but that wasnt the only thing that seemed to be awaiting them.

There was a small gasp at the back of his throat when he noticed the usually isolated forest entrance blocked with a patrol of the police force.

Kurt had seemed to seen them, for he too halted in his tracks, a look of bemusement creeping on his expressionless face.

"It seems like they are expecting you." The hunter snorted, shaking his head.

Blaine noiselessly agreed. The entire area was swarming with the police patrol – Cooper had probably alerted them and they were just waiting for him to appear. Tilting over to face the hunter, the dark haired boy threw a questioning glance over.

The road was a straight pathway to the forest but it was completely obstructed by the police. There was almost a zero percent chance that they could even walk into the woods without getting caught – the undergrowth of the forest was miles away from the gates, even if they managed to sneak past the barred gates, the patrol police within the forest were bound to find them.

"For a clumsy and witless man, your brother seems to be rather efficient." Kurt muttered, looking both displeased and slightly confounded.

"I have a plan but I dont know if you are able to pull it off." He continued, eyeing Blaine, reluctantly seemingly to size the dark haired male up.

Blaine puffed up his chest.

"I can get away with the police, but you cant. I can do the distracting and you can run – run as fast as you can into the woods." Kurt turned away and examined his nails, bored, "But I cant give any signal, youll have to be observant. One wrong move and we are both screwed."

Wordlessly, Blaine nodded once.

Kurt raised a brow.

"I can do it," The hazel eyed boy asserted, taking the raised brow as a signal to speak. "Well both have to be observant."

At that, the hunter let out a small grunt of approval.

"If you manage to pull this off," Kurt rumbled wryly, "Ill think about giving you speaking rights."

Without waiting for a reply, the hunter stalked off, his eyes locked onto his target – much like how a predator would watch its prey. Blaine remained hidden in the distance, ready to bolt off. Adrenaline pumping in his veins, he realised it wasnt as easy as he thought it was. After all, if anything, Kurt needed to get all the polices attention – how was the hunter even going to do that?

Blaine shook away his pessimistic thoughts. He had to avoid over thinking and commence observing.

In the outlying distance, Kurts small frame came into view – it wasnt that hard to spot the hunter out after all, with his large ivory bow sticking out from the back. The minority of the patrol seemed to have gathered around the boy and were having some sort of conversation.

Curiously, Blaine wondered what the hunter was even planning.

As if frozen in time, the dark haired boy congealed when he saw Kurt pointing a finger right at his direction, the sudden patrols eyes all following the pale finger arrow and landing their gazes smack directly at Blaine Anderson.

Blaines heart dropped to his feet.