You looked up at the sealing and let out a sigh. It was dark; almost pitch black inside the cave. The only light you had was the silvery light of the moon that came in through the entrance to the cave. It was the middle of the night and you were dead tired. However, your body refused to let you sleep. You had been tossing back and forth for hours, but you just couldn’t settle down to sleep. You were restless.

You let out another annoyed sigh and sat up. Your eyes wandered around the inside of the empty cave and stopped at the silhouette of a sleeping Hana. You could hear the sound of her calm and heavy breath fill the cave, but it was better than snoring, so you didn’t complain. You looked at her for a few minutes. You envied her sleep, but it didn’t surprise you. After running away from where you had ‘spied’ on the other pack, the others had shown you around the forest. To make a long story short, it had been a lot of running, laughing, and childish playing. Even you, who didn’t need to run between the places you saw, but just hold onto the fur of whoever was carrying you, were exhausted when you came back to the den. Still, sleep refused to come to you.

Your thoughts had been wondering off on their own all night to God knows where, but they always came back with the same image and conclusion. Tao and Luhan in the den on the other side of the border. No matter how much you tried to push the thought away or convince yourself that you just missed them so much you believed you saw them, the flow of thoughts wouldn’t stop. They were after all both very important persons to you. Both two important persons that didn’t want to leave your mind alone.

A third sigh left your lips as you rose to your feet. You took one last glance at Hana before you turned your back against her and left the cave. You had to know. You needed to know if it was them. Your plan was stupid, but simple. Walk to the border, take a look at the camp and see if you could get a look at the two boys you had seen earlier. Then you would return and go back to sleep as if nothing happened. It was simple. No one would know, and if you were quick, you would even catch as much as two hours of sleep before the first rays of sunlight started to lighten up the sky. And if anyone saw you, you would just tell him or her you had a nightmare and needed some fresh air to clear your mind. No one would stop you. They would just tell you not to wander too far away from the cave.

You thought everything would work out just fine, and it did. At least for a while. No one stopped you or even noticed you as you stepped out of the cave and away from the den. You had memorized the way to the border, but soon figured out that it was harder than you thought to navigate in the dark. Your eyes weren’t used to navigating in the dark, and especially not in the middle of the forest. Not to mention how your ears thought of every little sound as a sneak attack. By the time, you got back to the den your heart would probably be exhausted from all the fast beating it did every time a little sound startled you.

You almost screamed aloud as a branch snapped and some bushes rustled right beside you. Your head snapped to the side and your eyes widened at the sight of two red eyes staring back at you. Your heartbeat didn’t just go faster, but it stayed that way. You gasped for air and unintentionally held your breath as your body stiffened from the fear that consumed you. It wasn’t before you heard laughter coming from the darkness in front of you that your shoulders relaxed and you let out the breath you had been holding in.

“Did I scare you?” You heard a chuckling voice ask as a silhouette took form and stepped out of the bushes. You used all the focus you could manage to make out the persons face, but it wasn’t before the clouds drifted aside and the light of the moon shone through the branches that you saw who it was. Junhyung.

“Maybe a little…” You hesitated a little before you answered. Something about him just felt wrong. You didn’t know why, but you had a bad feeling about Junhyng. Just hearing him chuckle again made the hairs on your arms stand up.

“Well, if that’s so then I apologize. My intents weren’t to make you scared. Actually they were rather the opposite to be honest.” You scrunched your eyebrows a little at what he said.

“What do you mean?” You asked, a bit confused. Why would he follow you and sneak up on you like that if he didn’t mean to scare you?

“Well, my intents weren’t to scare you. I just saw you wander off from your cave and wondered where you were going. The woods can be quite dangerous at night you know.” He moved towards in a half-circle you as he spoke. Aiming in at you like you were the innocent deer, and he was the hungry wolf you knew he hid under his human skin. Your eyes followed him, never left him as he came closer. Your father may not have allowed you to play in the woods a lot, but you knew better than to turn your back to a dangerous animal.

It felt weird. You had hardly spoken a few words with him. You had barely seen him before, and yet he already gave you a bad feeling that made your stomach turn and the hairs in your neck stand straight up. “I know. I have been warned about the dangers of the woods more times than I could count.” You tried to keep your voice as calm and steady as possible. You didn’t want him to notice your discomfort.

“Then you should know better than to be sneaking around alone like this.” Junhyung said as he stopped in front of you.  “Why don’t you tell me where you were going, and then I’ll accompany you?”

It was a friendly offer you knew that. However, you couldn’t help but feel slightly unsure about it. You didn’t want to reject him. You didn’t know how he’d react. You had learned that the moon phase could affect not only their strength and senses, but also their mood. Now the moon was close to its fullest, and you didn’t want to make a mistake.

“I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but why would you care?” You carefully asked. You knew that neither he nor anyone else would let you out of the den or even near the borders.

“Why do I care?” He said with a slight chuckle. “Because it’s you of course. I’m sure you must have realized it by now, but Avry, you’re special.”

“So I’ve heard. Though it seems like no one want to tell me why.” It wasn’t a question, but not a comment either. You still wanted to know why everyone went on about you being so special, but you didn’t expect any information to come out of Junhyung.

And you were proved right. Instead of an answer, he gave you a chuckle. “Well, you know what they say; curiosity killed the cat. You’ll get your answers in time, but for now why don’t you give me some answers?”

“And what kind of answers would that be?”

“You didn’t answer my questions earlier. Why are you out here? Why are you alone? Where are you going?” His voice was calm, no signs of a hidden motive or anything that could pose a threat; just pure calmness and sincerity. It made you think. Maybe he wasn’t a bad person after all. Maybe your stomach was wrong about him. However, you didn’t want to take any chances with him and decided to stick to your plan.

“I had a nightmare and needed some fresh air to calm down. I’m out here alone because I didn’t want to wake Hana just because of a silly dream, and as for your last question I’m going to the big oak tree at the other side of the den before I’ll turn back and return to the cave.” Your answers were plain and simple. You hoped they would satisfy him and keep him from asking more questions.

“I see. However, you’re walking in the wrong direction then. The old oak is that way.” He said and pointed left for the path you had chosen.

“It was a bad dream. I decided to take the longest route.” You answered and shrugged your shoulders. You had never been comfortable with lying, but right now, you just wanted to get away from the den and to the border as soon as possible.

“I’ll accompany you then. As we both agreed on earlier, that woods are full of dangers at night.” He gave you a smile and lined up beside you holding an arm out in the direction of the old oak tree. “Shall we?”

“I’m sorry.” You said and gave him an apologizing smile. “It’s a very kind offer, but the nightmare was bad and I just need some time to think.”

“Sometimes saying it out loud makes it better. Makes it easier to sort things out.” He said as he rested his eyes on you. He still looked calm, something that annoyed you since you only felt more and more stressed. You wanted to just say that it was private, but you didn’t think that would stop him. Therefore, you just let out a sigh and faced him.

“It was about my family. They died. Slaughter and massacred until nothing remained but bloody pieces of dead meat.” Your voice was steady and your eyes met his. “By wolves.”

“I see.” His gave a short comment and a single nod. He held your gaze for a few silent seconds before he nodded again. “Very well then, I’ll leave you to your thoughts and the fresh night air. Good night Avry.”

You gave him a nod. “Good night.”

Thereafter you went your separate ways. You waited until you were sure he was far enough away before you let out a heavy breath. For a second, you had started do doubt if he’d let you go. However, now that you were free to wander off and ‘clear your mind’ you hurriedly continued in the direction of where you had planned to go.

You walked as fast as you could. You wouldn’t take a chance on running in case you slipped on a root or a rock. Your night vision had improved, but you wouldn’t risk it anyway. A fall could hurt your legs and slow you down. You didn’t have time for that.

You reached the border, took a deep breath and looked around. You doubted anyone had followed you all the way out here, but you had to be sure. Your eyes slowly slid past the trees and the bushes; taking note of every little movement, they could catch. You couldn’t see any signs of glowing eyes or silhouettes. Then you took another deep breath and stepped over the border, fully knowing that none of your friends could save you now if anything went wrong.

You let out a heavy breath and turned to look back one last time. You knew you’d get in a lot of trouble even if someone saw you or not. They would probably be able to smell it on you if you got too close to some of the wolves from the other pack. Even though they weren’t around each other and practically hated the mere sight of the other, they knew the smell and look of them. Still, you wouldn’t let that stop you from knowing the truth. The two boys you had seen had been too similar to Tao and Luhan. You had to know the truth. You had to know if they were merely just lookalikes or if it really was them. The possibilities were small, but not impossible.

With that in mind you walked towards the den, you had seen during the day. It didn’t take long before you could smell the smoke from their bonfires, and now and then, you even believed you could hear voices. You frowned, but kept moving. You didn’t have time to stop and reflect on every little thing you saw or heard. You had to be back before sunrise.

You walked as fast as you could, while trying to make as little noise as possible. You didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention as you approached the orange lights and cheerful voices ahead of you. Soon you could smell more than just smoke. You could smell food being cooked and prepared over the fires. It smelled wonderful, and just the thought of it made you mouth water. The fact that you shortly after could not just smell the food, but also see it didn’t make it any better.

You had crouched down behind some bushes and sat there quietly while watching the people flock around the fires. Some seemed to be telling stories; other ate as if they hadn’t seen food for days. Some of the seemed to be fighting each other, but judging from the crowds around them and the fact that no one tried to stop them you supposed they did it for sport.

One of the things you noticed were the fact that they had all taken their human forms. Not even a single wolf could be seen. It made you a little worried, but you pushed the thought out of you head. Maybe they just had more fun at festivities when in their human form than in their wolf form. You couldn’t know that. On the other hand, maybe this wasn’t the camp you had been searching for. Maybe all of them actually were humans. The thought brought a smile to the corner of your lips.

However, the little smile quickly disappeared. The hairs in your neck rose to their full length and your blood slowly turned cold in your veins. From behind, you heard the sound of thin branches breaking under the weight of heavy paws. The sound of a heavy, yet steady breath, accompanied with a low growl from deep down within the stomach of the wolf standing behind you.

You didn’t even have to turn your head to know that the wolf behind you were bigger than a normal wolf, had huge paws and an even bigger mouth with razor-sharp teeth that could rip you to shreds in just a few seconds. This was not the time to make stupid decisions.

You slowly lifted your hands in the air to show that you were unarmed. The wolves didn’t kill humans unless they had to, and killing someone who was unarmed was even worse than killing someone whose death wasn’t necessary.

When the growling ceased you slowly turned around to face the wolf behind you. It was a wolf with yellow eyes and fur colored in a mix between red and brown. The wolf before was a beautiful sight, but the fact that you didn’t know if it was friendly or not stopped you from starring.

The animal before you made a move with its head, signaling you to stand up. You did as you were told and slowly rose to your feet. Then the wolf gave you another signal, this time telling you to start walking towards your right. Once again, you did as the wolf told you and started to walk.

After moving out of the bushes and towards a hidden path, a human silhouette came towards you. It was a man. He was tall and looked down at you with a pair of clear blue eyes halfway hidden behind pitch-black hair. He was strong. You could tell just by looking at his arms, and as if to confirm your thoughts, he tightly gripped your arm and yanked you towards the center of the den. “Move.” His voice sounded like a deep growl, but you did as he said. Your arm hurt from the grip it were in, but you didn’t dare to complain. You were in enough trouble as it was already.

This is it, you thought. I’m done. There is no way I’m getting out of this.

You almost wanted to cry as the bushes started to disappear as you stepped into the outer part of the den. What were you going to do? It couldn’t just end like this. You had to think of something, you knew that. However, the only thing you could think of was running, but you knew outrunning an oversized wolf wasn’t going to happen.

You had almost given up on all hope you had left when the stranger came to a halt and forced you to stop. Then you saw it. Your eyes landed upon a familiar face that showed up within the crowd that had gathered around the bonfire closest to you.

Is that… No, it couldn’t be… But… Your thoughts started to spin as the man your eyes rested upon turned towards you. His hair fell down and covered parts of his face as he gave the man next to him a friendly pat on the shoulder before he stood up and started walking in your direction. His attention was still turned towards his friends as he laughed and gave them a wave. Then his head turned towards you and even though the flams behind him cast a shadow on most of his face, you could see his eyes widen as they looked at you.

“Lay!” You heard your own voice call his name even before you were aware that your mouth had opened. You could see him swallow hard as he stared at you. His body had started to tremble. Not much, it was barely visible, but you could see the tremble as he opened his mouth and stuttered you name.

“A-Avry? W-What are you doing here?” Hearing his own voice seemed to pull him back to reality as he hurriedly walked over to you. For a second you almost thought he would give you a hug, but by the look of it, he stopped himself before he even touched you. His eyes traveled to the man that still held on to you, and when he opened his mouth again his voice was stern and held an authority you’d never thought you’d ever hear from someone like him.

“It’s alright Byron. I’ll take her from here. You may leave and return your post.”

The man, whose name was Byron, still held on to your arm. You could even feel his grip tighten as he spoke with a hint of hesitation in his voice. “And where will you take her?”

“Are you even asking me about that? I’ll take her to the Alpha of course! You know just as well as I do, as everyone here knows, that the protocol says that every human is to be brought to the Alpha without exception. It’s up to him to decide where she is taken and what’s to be done with her. Our job is to bring the humans to him then carry out whatever order he gives afterwards. You know that.” Lay voice grew sterner as he talked. By the time he was done, you didn’t even have to look at Byron to know that he was feeling uncomfortable. “No go back to your post before you ruin my mood.”

Byron let go of you, gave Lay a nod, and disappeared. When he was gone, Lay let out a sigh and gave you a weak smile. “You really are a silly girl, you know that right?” He slightly shook his head, and you could do nothing by smile relieved.

“It’s good to see you too.” You said as your shoulders relaxed and the nervous feeling you felt started to disappear. Lay nodded. “It is, but we’ll have to drop the formalities for now. I meant what I said just now. I’m taking you to the Alpha. I don’t want to, but I’m not exactly given a choice.”

You nodded. You knew how strict they were about their rules when it came to humans. You had barely been accepted into the pack you were staying with, and you knew that you could be told to leave at any time. The wolves obviously didn’t like humans too well. Therefore, you said nothing but silently followed him as he walked further into the den.

He didn’t stop before you stood before the largest cave opening in the entire den. Just as you were used to, a cover made out of fur covered the opening to protect the inside the cave from the weather and some of the cold from the outside world. You thought it was weird that they used fur for this, considering that they were all wolves and that some humans who had a big love for hunting used their fur as wall decoration. Even though it looked like the fur was mainly from deer, moose and other prey animals, you still thought it was weird.

“In here.” Lay said and held the covers aside for you to enter. You nodded and stepped inside. The cave went deep within the mountain. Before you, the cave continued to stretch a little further before turning left. “Good luck.” Lay spoke to you in a low voice and gave you a warm smile as he lightly ruffled your hair. You nodded slightly and started to walk beside him.

You followed the cave until it started turning, than Lay held up his hand, signaling for you to wait there. You nodded and did as he said. Then he walked on and into the light further within the cave. You could hear him talk to someone. Another man with a deep voice.

“Lay, how can I help you?”

“Byron found a human in the bushes. I brought her here.” Lays spoke calmly.

“A human? Very well, bring her in.”

“As you wish.” You heard footsteps coming back towards you, and seconds later Lay came into sight and signaled for you to come. Again, you did as you were told and followed him into the orange light.

The cave widened into a big room. A table stood in the middle of the room. A bed was placed by the left wall. By the wall to the right stood three huge bookshelves, all of them filled with books and scrolls in different sizes and colors. Some chairs were placed around the room. A mug and some cups stood on the table together with an empty plate. All in all the cave was simply decorated. Much simpler than what you would expect from a cave belonging to the leader of the pack.

By the table, with his back turned against you, stood a man. Just by looking at him, you could tell that he was one of the tallest men you had ever seen. His hair had a dirty blond color and when he turned towards you saw his dark eyes and something you believed to be a scar, though you couldn’t be sure if it was only the flickering light that played tricks on your eyes. When he opened his mouth, you heard his deep voice again. It made him seem a bit intimidating; however, it wasn’t harsh, but softer than you’d thought at first.

“So, this is the human. Does she carry weapons?” He directed his dark eyes towards Lay, who shook his head. The man nodded. “Good. That would have complicated things. Do you know if she knows anything?”

“I don’t know how she came to know of us, but yes. She knows.” Lay spoke as calmly as ever.

“Hmm. Well, that could complicate things. Do you know if she-” The man was cut of midsentence. As someone else entered the room. By the sound of it, it seemed to be more than one person. You didn’t turn to see who it was. You knew no one besides Lay in this pack anyway. However, you turned your head a little to look at Lay. His calm expression had faded. Instead, his eyes repeatedly shifted from the newcomers, to you and to the tall man.

“Boys, it seems we are interrupting something. Let us come back later. Please excuse us.” The voice was unfamiliar and you didn’t pay any attention to it. You turned your head a little more towards the newcomers to take a quick look at them. However, before you lay eyes on them the tall man spoke and therefore won your attention.

“Don’t worry. We’re almost done.” He gave them a nod and you heard their feet moving.

“Very well, we’ll be waiting outside then. Come on guys.” The stranger spoke again and started to walk. However, his companions stayed. You couldn’t hear any sounds that indicated movement from them. However, you didn’t really pay much attention to it. You just focused on the tall man in front of you. You just wanted to get this over with. And just as it seemed your wish would come true and the tall man opened his mouth to continue the interrogations, a voice sounded from behind you.

“Avry?”

* * * * *

And as promised, here is a new chapter for all of you lovely readers. Hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for stayig with me so far!

Love you all~