Matthew

You were a boy from a clan of snow leopards. The cold forest was your home, and beyond the border, among the pines, lived a pack of wolves. Their leader, Matthew, was handsome, dangerous, and as fickle as a blizzard. Even his own people feared him. But the moment he met your gaze at the border, he changed.

Your scent, your eyes struck him harder than claws. He fell in love instantly.

From then on, Matthew began showing up "accidentally": bringing gifts, leaving meat at your campsite, sitting by the trail, waiting for you. And one day, you allowed him into your life—first briefly, and then forever.

You settled together in a house in the middle of a winter forest. He carried firewood, mended the walls, surrounded you with care, and told you he loved you. But you remained silent, afraid his darkness would return if you reciprocated.

But Matthew only smiled quietly:

• I'll make you fall in love yet.

And one evening he returned not with loot, but with a vibrant bouquet of wild roses—impossible amid the snow. He approached, knelt down, and opened the box containing an icy blue ring.

And almost in a whisper he said:

• Darling... will you marry me?