Lili saw the bright glow of the moonlilies before she stepped out of the forest. The flowers gave off a silvery blue light that filled her with wonder and peace. It was almost as if the flowers were reflecting the light of the moon that they had been collecting in the weeks before. Lili brushed her fingertip carefully over a velvety petal and smiled. Maybe she could take some home with her, if she was going home at all.

Her gaze landed on a lone figure sitting in the middle of the flowers. The person sat motionless as pixies darted around his head. Lili's smile grew, and she found it difficult to not leap at Ludwig like an excited child. She took carefully measured steps toward him and tried to keep her heart from beating straight out of her chest. It had been so long since she had last seen him that her whole body longed to be closer to him. Just the thought was enough to send a shiver down her spine and raise goosebumps on her arms.

"Ludwig," she said so softly that it might have been the breeze drifting lazily over the meadow.

But he heard. Ludwig turned his head and was on his feet in the same motion. The next thing Lili knew, she was being crushed in his large, warm embrace with a flock of pixies swirling around them happily.

"I didn't know if I'd ever see you again," Ludwig mumbled into her hair.

"I would find a way." A big smile stretched across Lili's face, and grew even larger as she wrapped her arms around the alpha's broad chest. "You have flowers in your hair."

"What?!"

Ludwig pulled away and ran a hand through his blonde hair. A shower of tiny flowers rained down from his head in a colorful flurry. Lili couldn't hold in a laugh as she watched his expression change from confusion to embarrassment.

"It must have been the pixies," she told him, and the all of the little creatures within earshot tinkled in agreement. "I think they like you."

"I would never hear the end of it if brother saw me like that," Ludwig muttered. "Although it's better than being attacked every time I came close to this place."

Lili's smile fell. "They've been attacking you?"

"No, no, that was before," he said quickly. "Before you came...and changed everything."

She didn't know if he was still talking about the pixies or not, but it didn't really matter. Being with Ludwig made the aches and pains of the last month melt away as if they had never existed. His blue eyes held her completely captive with the depth of emotion within them. She didn't realize they were moving closer until their lips touched. Lili almost sighed as she was engulfed in the sensation of having Ludwig so close to her. She could smell his distinct pine and musk scent as she took a quick breath of air, and wished she could drown herself in everything that made Ludwig Ludwig. Their lips danced together in unison, and they couldn't have been pressed any closer to each other. They were made for each other, she just knew it.

"I want to be like you," Lili said when they broke to catch their breaths.

"I think you need to grow a little more for that, little pixie," he replied with a soft smile.

"No, I mean I want to be a werewolf like you."

Ludwig's smile slowly faded. He looked unsure whether he had heard her right. "You want to be a werewolf?"

"Yes. That way, I can stay with you." She pleaded silently with her eyes. "Please, Ludwig. I don't want to be a helpless little girl anymore."

"But it's the helpless little girl that I fell in love with." He covered his mouth and looked away immediately after the words were out of his mouth.

Lili was stunned. She didn't know what to say. On one hand she felt overjoyed, on the other she felt hurt and pathetic. Tears welled in her eyes, but she tried to blink them away the best that she could. "So you're saying you only love me because I'm weak?"

"What?!" Now it was Ludwig's turn to look stunned. His hands were gentle as he cupped Lili's face, but his eyes were intense and penetrating. "I love you for you, Lili. I don't care if you're human, werewolf, or one of these things." He pointed a finger at a random pixie, who fluttered away in a panic at the sudden movement. "What I meant is...you don't have to change for me. You're wonderful the way you are." He leaned in close and placed a kiss on her forehead.

She didn't know what to say to such an emotional confession. This whole night was so full of unexpected things that she didn't even realize what she was saying until she had already said it. "Oh Ludwig...I...I love you too." She hugged the alpha tightly and never wanted to let go.

"But if that's what you really want, then I can't stop you."

Lili looked up in surprise and saw the sincerity in his face. He didn't seem happy about it, but he wasn't lying either. "I do want this, and...I want it to be by you."

"All right, but on one condition."

She didn't know what to expect, but it couldn't be awful coming from Ludwig. "Okay."

He looked her unflinchingly straight in the eyes. "You have to promise to keep living with your brother."

"What?" That didn't make sense at all. The whole point of Lili becoming a werewolf was so that she wouldn't have to be apart from Ludwig.

"You can't just disappear again," he explained. "With the treaty broken, there's no stopping anyone from starting a war. You have to watch and make sure that doesn't happen until we get things back in order." His expression softened and he ran his fingers through her hair. "But speaking as a brother, I'm sure your brother would want to know where his sister went. When the time comes, you can join the pack. Until then, you should enjoy the time you have left with your brother."

Lili thought of Vash. She hadn't been thinking at all when she had blurted out her selfish wish. He would be heartbroken if she vanished again, and things were already unstable enough as it was between the humans and werewolves.

"Okay, I promise," she said.

Ludwig nodded. "I should probably tell you about the process then."

"Lovino already told me. I...um, asked."

Surprisingly, he laughed a low, rumbling laugh. "You've thought about this a lot, haven't you?"

"Yes, I guess I did." Lili felt a little more confident about her decision now.

"There's one more thing I should tell you. Turning someone into a werewolf creates a bond between the parent wolf and the child."

"Parent? Child?" Lovino hadn't said anything about that.

"Yes. Werewolves are made in one of two ways. They can be born like my brother and I," Ludwig said, "or they are made like Elizabeta. I take it you've heard that story already." Lili nodded. "In both cases, there is the parent wolf, and the child. Born werewolves like me do not form any special connections outside of the normal relationship of a mother and child, but turned wolves are a different story."

"A bond is forged between the two due to the exchange of blood, and the child is often made subject to the parent. There are stories of the time before the treaty where many werewolves who were unhappy with their stations in life tried to rise in power by creating packs of their own. The child wolves were all minions under the parent wolf's will, and the rivers ran red with all the blood shed between packs."

"H-how did Elizabeta…?" Lili found herself unable to finish her question. The image of wolves fighting to the death filled her mind and sent a shiver through her body.

"She did the only thing that she could. She killed her parent." Ludwig's expression turned dark. "Her parent was part of a different pack that was passing through at the time. We tried to get them out of this area as fast as possible, but not fast enough. They were wolves fromf a different time."

"Oh…" Lili began to wonder if she really wanted to go through with this.

"You don't have to worry about anything like that," he reassured her. "I'll be your parent, and you trust me. Right?"

"Yes. More than anyone."

Her confidence was starting to return as she looked into Ludwig's eyes. This was her first step toward their life together. It may not have been the life she had imagined for herself, but it was a life she felt happy in. Ludwig was her world, her bright sun and silvery moon. She was ready to do whatever it took to stay by his side, and she knew he felt the same. A smile tugged at her lips as Ludwig transformed into his wolf form, his fur shining in the light of the moonlilies.

"Ready?" he asked.

"I'm ready." Her new life was waiting. Lili held her breath as Ludwig's teeth sunk into her wrist. "I love you."