Running from her husband in a remote village, she stumbled into a bear trap and thought it was the end, slipping into unconsciousness…
When she woke in an unfamiliar room, Emily let out a soft groan. Her head spun as if shed been struck, and her memory was a blankshe couldnt recall how shed gotten there. Every muscle ached like shed been lying still for days, and her body refused to obey. When she tried to move, horror washed over herher wrists and ankles were tightly bound. Panic set in, and she writhed against the creaking bed.
“Finally awake,” came a cold voice. “Dont worry. Youll stay a little longer. Once you understand your mistake, Ill let you go. Then well go home.”
At that moment, Emily remembered everything. Shed asked her husband, William, for a divorce. Hed agreed at first, but thenthe blow. Hed never intended to let her leave. *Youre mine*, hed told her. *And if you dont realise that, Ill make you.* But Emily couldnt take his cheating anymore. After the first time, she forgave him. After the secondno. Love had long since died, leaving only fear and disgust for their toxic marriage, where one was obsessed, and the other was trapped.
“Let me go,” she whispered, trembling. “This wont change anything. You cant force me to love you. Will, please…”
“Youll come around. Right now, youre in denial, but youll see were meant to be. Give me another chance. And dont think of runningremember that abandoned village I told you about? No one comes here. No one will help. And dont test me. You know what Im capable of.”
Emily shuddered. The madness in Williams eyes terrified her most.
A week and a halfmaybe longer?she spent in that house. William only untied her for a few hours a day, watching her like a predator stalking prey. She realised he wasnt just cruelhe was ill, in desperate need of help. But she played along, pretending submission, feigning hope for reconciliation, just to survive. No one at work would miss herher boss had wanted her gone ever since shed caught him with his secretary. Her parents were dead, and her friends were used to her vanishing for days*”jealous husband,”* theyd sigh, never asking questions.
One day, when William was distracted, she struck him with a heavy figurine. He collapsed, unconscious but breathing. She didnt wait to see if hed wake. If he did, she was dead. Hed said theyd stay here forever, and she couldnt live with a man whose rage was like a ticking bomb.
Grabbing whatever clothes she found, she bolted into the freezing night. The cold cut her lungs, but she ran. Cars, roadsall were miles away. She feared William would track her footprints, but she had to try. The forest, the distant howl of wolvesit all terrified her, but shed rather face the wild than a madman.
Her strength faded. She didnt know how long shed run or where she was going. The thought of freezing or getting lost gnawed at her. Thensharp pain, a scream. Her leg snapped shut in a bear trap. Blood stained the snow. She collapsed, clawing at the metal jaws, but they wouldnt budge. The pain was unbearable. Darkness crept in.
Thena voice:
“Dont give up now, love…”
She woke again somewhere strange. The air smelled of herbal teasomeone had been forcing sips past her lips as she drifted in and out.
“Where am I?” she whispered, struggling to sit up.
“Awake at last?” A man stood in the doorwaycalm, kind-eyed, wearing a wool jumper and thick trousers.
“Did you save me?”
“You saved yourself. Fought like hell. I just helped.”
He introduced himselfThomas. Hed found her in the trap, carried her home, treated her wounds with antibiotics. Shed been delirious for nearly a week. The trap hadnt broken bone, but the gashes were deep. *”Youre alive. Thats what matters,”* he said.
He lived in his grandfathers old foresters cottage, hiding from the city, clearing poachers traps.
“Guess I did right turning that bloke away,” he added. “A day after I brought you in. He was wildsearching for someone. Dont worry. If he comes back, Ill handle it.”
Emily trembled. William had been close. But here, with Thomas, she felt safe.
Days passed. She told him everythingthe marriage, the affairs, the escape. He listened silently. Shed expected to fear all men after William, but Thomas was different. He didnt push, didnt demand. He was just there.
Ten days later, she could walkwith a slight limp. Thomas went out to check the forest, and she decided to cook dinnera small thanks for his kindness.
When he returned, he frowned. “I told you to rest,” he said, brushing snow off his coat.
“Sorry… I wanted to help. I hate feeling useless.”
He softened. “Alright. If you insist. Whats the plan?”
Over the meal, he shared something personaltwo years ago, hed lost his fiancée in a car crash. He came here every year to grieve alone.
“Im so sorry,” Emily murmured. “But life goes on. Im sure shed want you to be happy. After William, I thought Id fear all men. But youyoure not him. You cant live in fear forever. You have to move forward.”
Thomas nodded, and they finished their simple supperbangers and mash, a bottle of red wine. After, Emily asked the question burning in her mind: how did he get supplies out here? The roads were treacherous, the village deserted.
“My mate delivers every fortnight,” Thomas said. “Stocks ran low this time, and the snows bad. Hell come tomorrow. Youll go back with himreturn to the city.”
Her heart clenched. *Home.* Where her pastand Williamwaited. The thought of facing him chilled her. But with Thomas, she felt safe, as if his presence alone shielded her. Still, she knewrunning wasnt the answer. She had to end things properly.
“Dont be scared,” Thomas said quietly, squeezing her hand. “Youll be alright. That bastard wont touch you again.”
She smiled despite the fear. His confidence warmed her, but doubts lingered. And it hurttheir brief, precious time together was ending. She knew it was right. But the thought of leaving ached.
The next day, Daniel arrivedThomass “mate.” Young, calm, with an easy smile. Emily fought back tears. Staying here, with Thomas, was so tempting… But she couldnt start anew without closing the old chapter. At the door, she hugged Thomas tightly, memorising his warmth, the scent of his jumper, his heartbeat. He froze, then slowly hugged back, his hands trembling.
“Thank you… Ill miss you,” she whispered.
“Youll be fine,” he said firmly, but sadness flickered in his eyes.
In the car, she watched him in the rearview mirror, standing on the porch until they vanished. She clenched her fists, fighting the urge to beg Daniel to turn back. She wanted to confess Thomas meant something… But no. First, she had to face William. Only then could she move forward.
Daniel drove her straight to the police, as Thomas had asked. Emily filed a report, told them everything. Then he took her home. Thomas had arranged for Daniel to bring supplies*”until things settle.”* She didnt ask who Thomas really was, just accepted the help.
At her flat, Williams presence haunted herhis things, his smell. She bagged it all, dumped it on the balcony. She wanted him erased. That night, staring out the window, she thought of Thomas. Regretted not taking his number. But hed saidno signal in the woods.
The next day, a call came. William had been shot resisting arrest. He was dead. Emily didnt cry. Didnt feel guilt. Just relief. Hed never hurt anyone again.
When Daniel returned, she told him.
“Good riddance,” he said. “He showed up yesterday. But the lads Thomas sent kept him away.”
“Lads?”
“He had you guarded till it was over. Dont mourn him. The worlds better off.”
She nodded, throat tight. Then asked: “Take me to Thomas. Next time you gobring me with you.”
“Fortnight, just before Christmas,” Daniel grinned. “Was wondering when youd ask.”
Her heart pulled her there, logic be damned. She didnt attend Williams funeral. His mother had enabled him. Emily owed her nothing.
For two weeks, she prepared. Sold Williams gifts to
