Lili didn't know how many days had gone by since she had been locked in her cage. The thick weaving of pine branches over her head cast such a heavy shadow over everything that she could never tell if it was day or night. She slept when she felt tired, and ate when she was given food, which was not often. The wolves of Ivan's pack hardly ate themselves. Whatever prey they did bring back was skinny and often bland. Toris or Katyusha always brought her a little something to eat, but it was never enough. Katyusha was by far the kindest to Lili. She had introduced herself not long after Lili's imprisonment started, and always tried to say something encouraging.

"Here, I tried to get you a little more today," she whispered as she slipped some cooked rabbit meat and a small, twisted wild carrot through the bars of the cage.

"Thank you," Lili said as she eyed the food. It wasn't much, but her empty stomach wasn't going to protest. Anything was better than nothing. "Has Ravis come back yet?"

"No," Katyusha answered. Her cheery expression was replaced with one of worry. "It's been a long time, but Ivan won't let us look for him. But I'm sure he's just as worried as we are."

She was always defending the alpha male. It probably had to do with the fact that they were related. Katyusha was actually the oldest, but she had no authority over her large younger brother. Natalya was their younger sister, which made them a very strange set of siblings. It was easy to see how Ivan and Natalya were related, but Katyusha stood out like a sore thumb. Her blue eyes were vivid and expressive, and she almost always had a smile on her face. Natalya's hair lacked more color than her sister's, but Katyusha kept hers even shorter than Lili's. That didn't detract from her obvious femininity, but that might have had more to do with her well endowed figure than her hair.

"I'm sure he is," Lili said reassuringly. She didn't believe it for a moment, but she couldn't bear to upset Katyusha. They had formed a fragile friendship, and she didn't want to lose it no matter what. It was the only thing keeping her sane in this prison.

"I have to go. He doesn't like it if I spend too much time with you." Katyusha gave her an apologetic smile before rejoining the rest of her pack around the large bonfire they had built.

Werewolves don't technically have to cook their food to eat it, but Ivan almost always had a fire built in the pit designed just for that. Maybe it was a show of strength, but Lili really didn't know. Everything was so strange here compared to life with Ludwig's pack. Perhaps a week ago she would have thought it laughable to think life with Ludwig seemed normal, but now she wished everything would go back to normal. The normal she had grown to love with her pack.

Thinking about it wouldn't get her anywhere, so she turned to her food and began to eat. She had been taught to eat politely, but she had never been taught what the rule was for eating if her stomach felt like it was eating itself. She tried not to stuff the small bits of greasy meat into her mouth and almost never succeeded. As tasteless as it was, she still couldn't help herself from finishing every last bite. She even gnawed as much off the carrot top as she could, but it wasn't enough to keep her stomach from rumbling in complaint.

Lili began to think of her first day with Ludwig's pack. Feli had taken her to that small meadow full of flowers and berry bushes. Her mouth watered at the thought, and she wondered if the flowers were still in bloom. She curled up on the floor of her small cage and closed her eyes. If she tried hard enough, she could picture the meadow with the small stream cutting it into two halves. She could almost feel the cool water gliding over her dirty skin and taste the sun ripened blackberries on her parched tongue.

How she wished she would just slip into a deep sleep and escape from everything. She did doze off, but her dreams were so broken by occasional moments of wakefulness that Lili couldn't distinguish the difference between what was real and what wasn't. The sound of the crackling fire permeated throughout both her unconscious and conscious. It grew louder and softer until she couldn't tell if she was imagining it or not. She peeked through cracked eyelids to see what was happening, but there didn't seem to be anyone there. The next time she opened her eyes, there was so much commotion that she wasn't sure what she was actually seeing.

Blurred shaped darted through the brush around her cage, and others were running straight through the shaded clearing. Some were definitely wolves. Lili caught a glimpse of Ivan's large form locked in fierce combat with what could only be described as a flash of white. She didn't know who was winning, but that didn't seem to be the most pressing issue at the moment. Loud bangs and rumbles filled the air, but Lili couldn't determine what the source was. The air vibrated with sound and thickened with humidity and smoke. A large object was thrown into the fire, and sparks flew everywhere. Lili watched through a haze as the makeshift shelters, tree branches, the bars of her wooden cage, and even the forest floor itself ignited in a red blaze. It was all too much, so she closed her eyes to make it go away.

When she opened them again, the chaos was gone. Everything was quiet around her as if the insanity and destruction she had witnessed had been a fleeting dream. Maybe it was. Or maybe this was the dream. Lili really didn't know. She sat up to find the door of her cage missing. It wasn't open, it was just gone. She had to shield her eyes from the sunlight streaming through the branches above her head. It seemed like an eternity since the last time she had felt the warmth of the sun on her skin. Lili held up a hand and watched in wonder as the patches of sunlight danced against its smooth surface.

"Lili."

Her heart skipped at the sound of the deep voice. She would have recognized it anywhere. "Ludwig!" she exclaimed joyfully. She turned to look, but there was no one there.

"Lili."

This time it came from behind her. She turned, but again there was no one there. "Ludwig? Ludwig, where are you?"

"Lili"

She gasped when she looked for the third time and saw the golden wolf standing in front of her open cage. "Ludwig!" She ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. "I was so scared. I was worried you wouldn't come."

"We have to leave."

"Okay." Lili wiped away the happy tears from her eyes and climbed onto the alpha's broad shoulders. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere safe."

She wanted to tell him that she was safe as long as he was there, but the words wouldn't come out. Her limbs grew tired and weak, and she slumped down over his neck, barely able to hang on. Fear gripped her heart as her eyelids grew heavy. What was happening? Where was Ludwig taking her? Something didn't feel right. She wanted to get off, but her arms and legs refused to move the way she wanted them to.

"Quit squirming, dang it!"

Everything was starting to grow dark, including Ludwig's fur. Something cold and wet was falling from the sky and stung Lili's face. She wanted to tell Ludwig to slow down, but she still couldn't find her voice. He seemed to stumble for a moment, but did not ease his fast pace. If anything, he ran even faster than he did before. A blinding flash illuminated the sky with light followed almost immediately with a deep, earth-shattering boom exploding high above their heads. Lili realized at once that they were running through the forest in the middle of a thunderstorm.

"Wha...Lud…...Lud...wig…" She still could not make her mouth work they way she wanted. Instead she tried to grab a handful of his damp fur.

"Ouch! What do you think you're doing?! I'm on your fricken side! Stop moving around like an idiot and just hold st-"

They were struck from behind so hard that Lili went flying. She landed on the wet ground with a thud and rolled several times before coming to a stop. Her body screamed out in pain, but her mind hardly registered it. Cold rain fell from the dark heavens and chilled her down to her very soul. She felt oddly empty inside as she waited for something to happen. She didn't have to wait too long because something prodded her in the back.

"Who gave you permission run away, little one?"

Lili didn't have the strength to move. Even breathing took a significant amount of effort. She allowed her eyes to slip shut and wished they would never open.