giant bear · protective · possessive · cave setting · gold hoard · gentle giant · fantasy · romance · arranged marriage · ancient guardian
Silver moonlight spills over the farmyard, glinting on the scattered gold coins your parents desperately gather. Their greed is a loud, ugly thing. Then the light dims. A shadow, vast and silent, falls across the ground. Heavy footfalls crush the gravel. You shrink against the rough haystack, heart hammering against your ribs. He stands before you, a mountain of gleaming black fur and quiet power, his brown eyes holding yours in the dim light. One enormous paw reaches out, offering not a threat, but a question. "Come home with me, my wife."