It took a whole day for Lili to muster enough courage to make eye contact with Ludwig, and another two days after that for her to speak to him. The whole incident was quite accidental, but she might not have spoken to him otherwise. She had excused herself from the rest of the pack to relieve her full bladder and was on her way back when she saw Ludwig watching everyone from the entrance of the cave. The faint light of the early evening cast shadows on his face. She waited a moment instead of making herself known to admire his strong jaw, his watchful eyes, his well toned arms. A faint dusting of red appeared on her cheeks.

She took a step closer to get a better look of his face, but the movement caught his attention. "G-good evening, Ludwig," she said as he turned to look at her.

"Good evening, Lili. Why aren't you with the others?"

"I had to...um." She pointed into the woods, but didn't say any more.

He seemed to understand what she meant. "Do you still think they don't like you?" he asked.

"No, well...not all of them." Lili felt her confidence starting to wane. "I don't think Elizabeta likes me that much."

Ludwig glanced back at the pack for just a moment. "She has more reason to than anyone else. Her life hasn't been easy."

"Will you tell me about it?"

He looked surprised by her eagerness. "Maybe that's something you should ask her."

Lili pursed her lips. It had taken all the courage she had to approach Ludwig. She didn't know where she was going to find the strength to talk to Elizabeta, who obviously had a low tolerance for her.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

They both looked at each other in amazement. Somehow they had spoken in sync as if they had known all along what the other was thinking. Lili covered her mouth with wide eyes, and a corner of Ludwig's lips twitched up in amusement.

"Y-you go first," Lili said before he could ask her to speak.

"Perhaps somewhere a little more private."

Just then, boisterous laughter filled the air, and they looked back toward the pack. It was obvious they were having fun joking with each other by the large fire Gilbert and Antonio had built earlier that evening. It cast elongated shadows out on the clearing, which appeared both ominous and comical at the same time. Lili agreed that this was not the best place to discuss what she had spent the last few days trying to sort out in her heart.

"Where should we go?" she asked.

"I can think of a few secluded places," Ludwig replied. His voice was calm and collected, but his posture had become nervous throughout the course of the conversation. Lili didn't know if that was a good sign not.

Her heart skipped at the word 'secluded'. She didn't know if she could handle being alone with Ludwig anywhere that was too remote. What she wanted was privacy, not intimacy. "Can I pick the spot?"

He raised an eyebrow quizzically but didn't refuse. "Of course."

"Can you take us to the trail that goes south out of Schattenwald?"

Ludwig nodded. He gestured with his hand for her to follow him into the now dark forest. The sun had finished its descent long ago, and the trees were cloaked in a fine layer of darkness. By the time Lili caught up to the alpha male, he was already waiting for her in his wolf form. A patch of moonlight cut through the gloom and illuminated his fur like it was real gold. Lili wondered what it would be like to brush such thick fur, but pushed that thought away quickly. There were far more important things for her to be thinking about.

She climbed onto his shoulders without a word, and he started running at a relaxed pace. It was nowhere near as fast as their first ride together, but that didn't make it any less thrilling. Lili couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was that made running through the forest with Ludwig so exhilarating. Perhaps it was his size, or his commanding authority as an alpha. Whatever it was, it made her feel unstoppable. She reveled in the feeling as branches rushed by. Ludwig never got close enough to any of them for her to get scratched, which only increased the illusion of invincibility.

They arrived at the forest path sooner than Lili would have liked. She had been planning on using the time to plan out what she was going to say, but had been too lost in other thoughts to remember. A lump seemed to catch in her throat as she slid off the golden wolf's back. She really didn't have a reason to panic. There was still some distance they would have to walk until they arrived at the their destination. But the silence was starting to get to her. The occasional cricket chirped here and there, but it was not enough to fill the empty air between the two. Lili had to say something before she snapped under the pressure.

"Is this still part of your territory?" she asked as she walked.

"Yes. We're getting close to the border we share with the other pack, but it's still farther away. We're not going to go that far, are we?"

"No, it's not far." They grew silent as the conversation came to a dead end. "Why are there two packs?"

"Why?" Ludwig repeated. "That's not the easiest question to answer. I suppose the best answer is that we even though we're all werewolves, we don't all get along."

This surprised Lili. She knew there was conflict between the werewolves and the humans, but she didn't realize there was conflict amongst the werewolves too. "Why not?"

"We don't see eye to eye about certain...issues."

Lili didn't need to be told that those issues were probably humans. There had been a lot she had learned about the werewolves in the time she spent living with them that she hadn't been told before, but there were some things that she had been told that were true after all. Some werewolves really did hate humans. She was glad she had ended up with the group that seemed to be okay with her. While she was thinking these thoughts, Ludwig had turned back into a human and walked silently beside her. It was a little strange how quiet he was. Lili's feet crunched as she walked over the layer of dead leaves and pine needles on the ground.

"We're here," she said softly as they walked into a clearing. The ground dipped down like a shallow bowl, and hundreds of flowers the grew in the depression. They came up around Lili's knees and had long white petals that were shut tight.

"Are these…?"

"Moonlilies," Lili answered wistfully. She remembered back to the night they had all been in bloom. It had been a breathtaking sight, and she wished she could show Ludwig what she had seen.

"I didn't realize they grew in our territory," he said with a hint of curiosity in his voice. He knelt down to get a better look at the sleeping flowers. "We don't come to this area often because of the pixies."

"Pixies?"

"They don't like us very much." He swatted something away from his face. "We try to keep our distance but...sometimes it's...unavoidable." He quickly rose to his feet and stepped back with a look of annoyance.

"What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, you can't see them," he said.

Lili had no idea what he was talking about. "Who?"

"The pixies."

"Here?"

"Close your eyes," he instructed with a faint smile.

She did what she was told with a mixture of excitement and worry. What if he was just leading her on? Maybe pixies don't really exist, and when she opened her eyes he would be gone. Something warm took Lili by the hand and lead her into the flowers. She realized it was Ludwig after hearing him grunt unhappily about something. Presumably the pixies. He turned her hand over palm side up and let go.

"When you're ready, open your eyes," he whispered against her ear. She tried not to shudder at his nearness.

Lili wanted to open her eyes. She really did, but she was afraid she wouldn't see anything when she did. What if Ludwig was lying? What if she just couldn't see them because she was a human? She couldn't bear it if her humanity kept her from seeing the pixies. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to see what Ludwig saw. As she thought that, something soft brushed her cheek. Then something pulled on her hair. Her hand seemed to grow heavy as if something was on it.

She opened her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to focus, but she gasped as soon as they did. A small creature of some sort was sitting on her hand as if it were a normal thing to do. The pixie smiled as soon as she saw Lili watching her and waved. She looked just like a tiny little human, but had a pair of glossy wings that looked as if they would turn to dust if Lili touched them. The only other differences she noticed were their eyes and teeth. All of the pixies she could see had eyes that were either completely black, or completely white, and their teeth appeared as if they had been sharpened into points. What they used them for, she couldn't imagine.

"Hello," Lili whispered. She didn't want to scare the little creature away. Two more came into view and vied with the first one for her attention. They had the same general appearance, but there were subtle differences between them. One had pointed ears and short black hair, another had skin that was slightly olive in color, and the third had the reddest hair that Lili had ever seen. "You're all so pretty," she told them, and they fluttered happily.

One of them looked over Lili's shoulder and began twittering angrily. The other two soon joined in, and before Lili knew what was happening, a whole mob of pixies were swarmed around her. At first she thought she had done something wrong, but then she looked behind her. Ludwig stood not far from her trying to fend off attacks from dive bombing pixies. They seemed to get more upset the closer to Lili he got.

"Oh no! Please don't hurt him," she pleaded. "He's not bad, I promise."

Her words had no effect at first, but the attacks were starting to grow less frequent. In an attempt to keep Ludwig from any more harm, Lili closed the space between them and reached for his hand. As soon as her hand touched his, all of the pixies were still. They watched in silence as she assessed the damage.

"Are you hurt?" she asked him anxiously.

"No, I've gotten worse from them before. They're usually much nastier." A hiss came from the pixies.

"Why don't they like you?"

"It's not me personally," Ludwig replied with a small shrug. "They don't like any of us."

A shallow cut on his cheek was dripping blood, but it looked like it was already starting to heal itself. Lili raised a hand tentatively, but she stopped when she realized what she was doing. She really shouldn't be acting so familiar with him, but before she could put her hand back down, Ludwig caught it with his other hand. His usual serious expression was replaced by one of uncertainty.

"Why don't they attack me?" she asked eventually.

At that Ludwig smiled. "They must like you," he said, "and I don't blame them."

"Oh…"

Lili wanted to say more, but nothing came. Instead, she stared up into his blue eyes, and the whole world seemed to be holding its breath. Not even the previously outraged pixies dared to make a sound. Everything was focused on this moment, just like Ludwig was focused on her. He leaned down to lessen the gap between them, and she willed herself to be taller. She waited with anxious anticipation as her heart beat faster and faster, but she had no idea what she was waiting for. It wasn't long before she found out, and the whole world let out a collective sigh.