Lili thought of the moon that hung in the night sky and lit the moment that burned itself into her memory. She thought of Ludwig's hand curled in her hair as his lips pressed firmly against hers. They had been soft and filled her with warmth. Her mind had gone momentarily blank, but it didn't stop her body from reacting. She wanted it. She wanted it very badly. He pulled her closer, and she didn't resist. In fact, she had pressed herself into his solid body as forcefully as she could. She didn't want him to let go. She didn't want the moment to end.

"You doing all right up there? You've been quiet for a while now."

"H-huh?" Antonio's voice startled her out of her daydream and back into reality. She had been reliving the night when she and Ludwig had kind of confessed their feelings for each other. It had been a few days, but they had been next to inseperable ever since. "S-sorry. I was just...thinking."

"Don't forget to keep your eyes alert," he reminded her. The one green eye she could see flashed playfully before he turned his face back around. "We're on patrol."

Lili had volunteered to go on patrol with Antonio and Elizabeta that morning, so she was now riding on Antonio's shoulders as he and Elizabeta padded through the forest in their wolf forms. They had been quiet and unsociable at first, but Antonio eventually warmed up to her. He was easygoing and fun to talk to. Lili found herself laughing at the things he said as she absentmindedly tugged on his curly fur. Even the shortest strands of fur curled, and she found it kind of funny to try to pull them straight. They never stayed that way though. The only one of them that didn't seem to be having fun was Elizabeta. She didn't say a word until they reached the eastern border.

"Stay alert for trespassers," she growled. "They've been acting suspicious over here."

"They?" Lili asked nervously.

"Yeah, the other pack," Antonio explained. His usually carefree tone was streaked with caution. "We've smelled them really close to the border, and sometimes in our territory too."

She swallowed nervously, Ludwig's warning about them echoing in their head. What if they were around right now? She felt somewhat safe riding on top of Antonio, but he wouldn't be able to carry her and fight, and she got the impression that Elizabeta wouldn't be too keen on defending her if Lili became the target. How she wished Ludwig was here. He had encouraged her to go on patrol so she could get a feel for their territory, but he hadn't mentioned anything about the other pack. She didn't know whether to take confidence in that or not.

"Wait." Elizabeta stopped and sniffed the air. Her green eyes darted around in search of an unseen danger. "I smell something," she said in a low voice. "It's close."

"Is is recent?" Antonio asked as he smelled the air for himself.

"Maybe. It's hard to tell with her around," she said with a pointed look at Lili.

Before Lili could say anything, a branch snapped behind them. She gasped in surprise and tightened her hold on Antonio's fur. The sound had come from their territory, so it probably wasn't anything they needed to be worried about. Probably.

"I'm going to go check it out," Elizabeta murmured.

"No, I'll do it." Antonio stepped forward. "You run faster than I do. If anything happens, you take Lili and run."

The light brown wolf didn't look too happy with his plan, but she didn't contradict him. Lili slid off Antonio's shoulders onto her shaking feet. She felt even less confident now that she was on the ground again. Maybe it would have been different if she was bigger, but she wasn't.

"Please be careful," she said before Antonio left.

"Don't worry about me. Just don't let Elizabeta do anything stupid." He gave her a grin and disappeared into the brush.

Lili wished he hadn't said anything about Elizabeta. Now the silence between them had grown even more tense, and she was sure something bad was going to happen. Slowly, she turned to look at the female wolf, who glared back at her with contempt. Each second felt like eternity as they waited for Antonio to return. Lili tried to occupy herself with naming all the flowers she knew, or counting backwards from one hundred, but she found it difficult to concentrate. All she could think about was the negative energy that charged the air.

"U-um...we've never been formally introduced," Lili said with all the courage she could muster.

"I know who you are," Elizabeta replied coldly.

"But…" Lili could tell this wasn't going to be easy. "I-I just thought that it would be nice to get to know each other a little better…"

"You don't need to know anything about me."

Silence fell between them, but it didn't last for long. "Why don't you like me?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Elizabeta sneered. "It's not just you. It's the whole human race I have a problem with."

That reminded Lili of something Ludwig had said the night they snuck away to the field of moonlilies. "What has your life been like?"

Elizabeta's expression changed from contempt to genuine surprise. "W-why would you care?" she asked with less venom in her voice than usual.

"I think we could be friends...if we tried."

The wolf looked skeptical, but didn't make any snide remarks. "What do you want to know?"

Lili took a moment to think it over. "Whatever you want to tell me," she said.

There was silence that seemed to stretch on and on. "I came from the same village as you," Elizabeta finally began. She sat down on her haunches and gently curled her tail in front of her paws like a cat. "You wouldn't know since you probably weren't born then," she explained when she saw Lili's shocked expression. "One night, when I was very little, Roderich and I decided to sneak out and see for ourselves what really happened on the night of the full moon. That was back when I was Elizabeta Héderváry."

Lili was even more shocked to hear that Elizabeta knew her neighbor. Roderich had never said anything about her before, but she didn't want to interrupt to ask about it.

"That was our first mistake. Our second was to use a rope to climb over the gate. They found us before we could get too far. We ran as fast as we could, but it wasn't enough. I dragged Roderich the best I could but I knew he wasn't going to make it." She paused for a moment as if replaying the moment in her head. "I made Roderich climb the rope first and tried to fend them off the best that I could. It was all a blur. When I woke up the next morning, I was surrounded by the village people. No one wanted to come near me because I was covered with blood. It was hard to say who it belonged to. That was when I discovered I had no injuries, but I could remember teeth biting into my arms and legs, and that's when I knew."

She looked Lili in the eyes sadly. "I was one of them. The village people knew it too. My accelerated healing was proof that I was no longer one of them. They threw me out, treated me like a disease. Even Roderich looked at me like I was some sort of monster. My best friend…" Her voice trailed off.

Lili couldn't stand it. She hated the people on her village for treating Elizabeta so badly. It just wasn't fair. What had she done wrong? Before Lili knew what she was doing, she crossed the gap between them and put her arms around the brown wolf's neck. Elizabeta tensed at the sudden embrace, but didn't pull away. After a moment she leaned into Lili and flicked her tail appreciatively.

"I'm so sorry," Lili whispered. She knew there wasn't anything she could do to remedy the years of pain Elizabeta had to endure, but she could at least try.

Suddenly, something moved in the bushes to their right. A small, silvery wolf stepped out of the shadows and stared at them with a blank expression. "Oh, how sweet," it said with an emotionless voice.

"Natalya!" Elizabeta shouted as she jumped to her feet. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the girl, so hand her over. Brother has need of her."

"As if I would let you do whatever you want." Elizabeta dropped into a crouch and growled threateningly.

Lili looked back and forth between the wolves with fear. Elizabeta's reaction filled her with the worst kind of dread. That other wolf must be from the other pack, and she was here for her. Lili didn't know what to do. She couldn't fight a werewolf and expect to win. Her only hope rested with Elizabeta.

"Run," the light brown wolf told her.

"B-but I can't leave you-"

"Run!" Elizabeta shouted more forcefully. "I'll take care of Miss Dead Eyes."

"If you want your friends to stay alive, you'll come with me," Natalya told her.

"Don't listen to her! Just run!"

Elizabeta leaped for the other wolf with her teeth bared. The silvery wolf's lips twitched upward in amusement, but her eyes remained lifeless and blank. She turned in time to send Elizabeta flying with a kick from both her back legs. The brown wolf landed with a grunt, but was soon on her feet. It wasn't a moment too soon because Natalya was already on top of her and poised to bite. Elizabeta dodged the attack and retaliated with a bite of her own. Her teeth locked onto the other wolf's shoulder with deadly accuracy.

The fight looked like it was going to her advantage. Natalya couldn't land a single blow in the position they were currently in, and Elizabeta just sank her fangs in deeper. Lili watched in amazement and horror at these two forced going back and forth. They fought as if it was their last fight, each with the shrewdness of a seasoned warrior. That was when Natalya somehow broke free and lashed out again with her hind legs. They connected with Elizabeta's chest leaving her staggered and winded. The silver wolf took the opportunity to wrestle the other to the ground. It was obvious now that she had the advantage and planned to use it. Her teeth had a deadly gleam as she opened her mouth to bite into Elizabeta's throat.

"W-wait," Lili called, but her voice was too weak to be heard.

Natalya lowered her head to claim her victory.

"Wait!"

But there was no stopping her. She placed a forepaw on Elizabeta's head to better expose the brown wolf's throat.

"WAIT!"

The silver wolf turned her head toward Lili with a look of annoyance.

"I-I'll go with you," Lili said as confidently as she could.

"No, Lili, wait-" Elizabeta's voice was cut off by Natalya placing a paw on her windpipe.

"You will come willingly?" she asked.

"Yes, if you promise to leave my friends alone."

No one said a word as the offer hovered in the air. Lili tried to hold the wolf's gaze, but her icy blue stare sent shivers of terror down Lili's spine.

"We will not kill your friends," Natalya agreed. She lifted her paw from Elizabeta's throat. With one quick motion, she tore a large piece out of the brown wolf's neck with her teeth. "But I didn't say anything about not hurting them."