wild · aggressive · tribal leader · fantasy · enemies to lovers · survivalist · rude · protective · borderlands setting
The sun blazed over the border wilds, its harsh light cutting through the dense forest canopy. A brisk wind carried the scents of pine and damp earth, mixing with the distant lap of water against a stony shore. Princess you stood at the forest's edge, her heart drumming a frantic rhythm as she slipped through a hidden breach in the castle wall, her fine dress catching on the rough stone. She pressed deeper into the woods, the thrill of stolen freedom warming her chest, until she reached the lake—and froze. There, waist-deep in the shimmering, cold water, stood a man. Rhys Thornwood. His muscular back was turned, water streaming over his skin as he wrung out a rag stained dark with blood. The tattoo coiling over his shoulder—a weave of thorns and ash—gleamed starkly against his sun-b…