It took a long time. A very long time, in Marie's opinion. Since Willow's almost-escape, a lot had changed. Gail took Marie under her wing, but would stay clear of males now. When Beta Mitchell hit her down, it shattered a part of Gail - it took her months to stop flinching when Marie hugged her. Fortunately, it had died down to just male contact, but Gail was getting better.

She was still the tour guide, and Marie was a volunteer keeper. A lucky charm, what Gail still calls her, because her tours had boosted since Marie had been at her side.

Since Willow's escape from the cage, after Marie 'didn't check' the bolt on her door, Silver Creek Zoo was a tourist ground.

Willow's situation had changed since saving Marie's life. When she was put back into her enclosure, debate circled with the heads of the zoo whether or not to put her down. She had escaped the zoo and almost attacked a visitor, in their view.

It took months and months of debating and interviews of both Marie and Gail's part to convince them to keep her. The two tour guides were adamant that Willow had saved Marie's life - the security guards vouched for them, saying they heard Gail's cry for security and how the "big, scary bloke" had tried to walk out with Marie on his shoulders.

The higher officials tried to find the guy, to get his point of view, but he had mysteriously disappeared. No one could find him but Marie knew she could if she tried. Beta Mitchell would be back at the Silverwood Packhouse, and no doubt Alpha Silver stopped him from returning. Marie was protected by a rogue wolf with enough power to stand up to a Beta. An Alpha, Marie was thinking, and an Alpha could challenge Alpha Silver if they wanted to.

It was the only reason she could think of when no other werewolves tried to come for her. Willow could challenge Alpha Silver for the pack, so he left little Marie to her protection and carried on with his life. Despite the pang of rejection she felt from her Alpha forcing her rogue status, Gail was always there to support her, and that was enough for Marie.

While the trial for Willow's life was in progress, another fact tipped the scale into saving her life. In the months after her escape, popularity for the Zoo increased exponentially. It had been filmed by multiple people, when Willow leaped over the crowds to protect Marie from the "big, scary bloke", and it went viral. News bulletins all around the world featured the silver wolf, and tourists came from ends of the country, even the world, to see her.

Wolf saves girl from kidnapping.

The girl who cried wolf, and the wolf who answered.

Willow the Wolf: Monster or Messiah?

The whole media-focus on Willow was ridiculous, in Marie's opinion, but that might be because she received a bulk of the attention. Journalists begged for an interview but Marie wasn't going to involve werewolf matters with the human world. Willow the Wolf was under her protection, despite being hounded by the media.

The media coverage pleased Mayor Matthew Fallow, the owner of Silver Creek Zoo and of Silver Creek as a whole. The town was in his pocket, and now the media was as well. He was providing interviews left, right, and, centre about the 'miraculous hero that was young Willow' and how he was 'proud of his zoo'.

He had no involvement with Silver Creek Zoo besides funding it. Mayor Fallow hated animals as much as he hated being poor.

But when the higher Zoo Officials were thinking of putting his money-making wolf down for good, he sent the bribe through. Funds for the Zoo in return for Willow's survival. They accepted.

Marie and Gail, along with a majority of the security guards, were ecstatic. Even though Mayor Fallow only cared about Willow for profit, which she certainly was making, they were happy she could live. Some weren't, but that was inevitable. The Zoo Officials had doubts, and so did Keeper Delilah, and they came to a rapid conclusion.

"If Willow pulls another stunt like this...she's gone." Delilah had passed on from the officials, telling Marie only days after the verdict was heard. Marie only just held her wolf back in anger, but knew from now on she would have to work slowly to break out Willow.

By slowly, Marie meant years. In the six years since Willow's attack and media surface, and immense profit for the Zoo, not much else had changed. Marie volunteered when she could, desperate to get close to Willow again, in some way.

Delilah blamed her for her escape, which was only right (she did unlock the gate), and was making Marie work incredibly hard for her trust again. After six years, Marie was only just starting to gain night hours with the large wolf.

In the time that Marie was fighting for Willow's survival, and for Delilah's trust, she was also thinking of ways to break out the trapped werewolf. There wasn't much she could do, not alone, and not in a place so packed with humans. For a while, Marie contemplated blackmail, or even involving the police in a way to save Willow, but she lacked the evidence and also the man-power to do so.

So Marie thought about wolf-power. Then she thought of the Royal Wolves.

The Royal Wolves were one family, one immensely powerful family, that dictated the rules of their world. They had control over their wild-halves, could fight off an army if they wanted to, and they made sure that all the wolves of the world were in line with their rules.

The biggest one they had was, 'No reveal, intentional or otherwise, of werewolves at any degree to any human unless evidence is provided of mates'. It was ridiculous, in a way, but understood. There were rebels, though, so the Royal Wolves also decreed that there would be annual hosts, in different packs each time, where the Alpha couples of every pack would report to them about the good, bad, and the ugly wolves. They were to be told everything to be kept up-to-date.

There were creeds about other things too; mates, vampires, losing control, but Marie knew that none were as important as what many called the "Full-Of-Crap" law. No reveal of werewolves at all? What if you were attacked?

Even though it was rebelled against, the Royal Wolves stood by it. The Queen of the Wolves, Xara, had been kidnapped years before Marie's time, and her mate the King of the Wolves, Claude, was adamant that this rule was the only way to protect his mate and the mates of every werewolf.

While Marie thought it was indeed "Full-Of-Crap", it came in good fortune to her.

Every year the location for the Royal Wolves' check-in changed. It ventured from pack to pack, but all the Alpha pairs were there, and more importantly the Royals were there - and they could change the law. There was an order, of course, to where they went but the location of the packs meeting was never revealed until the week before.

Marie waited six whole years for the location to be dropped upon the Silverwood Pack.

It was her chance to bring up Willow's case - they would have heard about her from the news no doubt, but they generally paid no attention to human media, like with many other wolves. It was Marie's chance to redeem the debt that she had owed since Willow had saved her life from Beta Mitchell.

As she walked towards her latest shift, a night shift of patrolling the zoo corridors to make sure of no intruders, Marie stopped outside Willow's enclosure. It had grown since she had last been here when she was twelve - the famous wolf practically had a corner of the zoo to herself. Screens surrounded the entrance, playing over and over again the videos of Willow saving Marie's life, media reports on the wolf, and the press conference that Mayor Fallow had held, praising the silver wolf.

All the Zoo Keepers practically had it memorised after hearing it for six years.

But Willow now had a long strip of enclosure where she could run at a faster pace, but not full speed. More shrubbery, more trees, more boulders to hide behind. Willow's life, from appearance, was better than it was.

Marie still felt Willow's pain though. Even as she walked up and under the protective bars, Marie could feel Willow's longing seeping through her dazzling fur. She almost pressed a hand up against the bars in comfort when Marie remembered her first encounter with them. Silver burned werewolves, and these bars were made of them. Marie lowered her scarred hand. Looking over her shoulder at the security camera in the corner, she smiled when she saw its green light turn off.

The security guards were always on Marie and Gail's side, always had been. Delilah didn't trust her, but they did. When she'd been getting night shifts, they turned off the cameras so Marie could spend some time with her. They called it a bond, a bond one gets when an animal saves their life. A devotion to a creature, and the creature becomes loyal to you. Marie let them believe - it got her close to Willow, that's all she wanted.

"Are you there?" She whispered when she turned away from the dead camera. "It's Marie."

Marie heard the bushes rustle. Steeling herself for a moment, Marie was still swept away by the magnificent wolf when she emerged from the shrubbery. The gardeners deliberately left a large clearing in the centre of the enclosure so tourists could see the large wolf, a clear shot for cameras, and wasn't Willow a sight.

Her fur shimmered in the dim lights as she trotted to the front, her claws clipped on the leaf-covered floor, with long lean legs holding up her cannon torso. Willow was strong, unnaturally strong for a normal wolf, but all werewolves were. Her wispy tail swung back and forth gently, faint hairs at the tip shining as they caught the light. As her body stopped in front of Marie, in front of the silver bars, Willow hung her head so she could get a better look in her eyes.

The enclosure was on a raised platform, only slightly, but she was level with Marie. Willow was tall, strong, and powerful for a werewolf. Marie knew it deep in her soul as Willow's iridescent blue eyes locked with hers.

"Hello Willow." Marie whispered, smiling. She itched to reach between the bars and run a hand down Willow's snout, but the threat of silver pulled her back. "How are you?"

The large wolf spun its large head and walked towards the back of the enclosure for a moment. Marie watched her movements, especially as the silver wolf waltzed back over holding her dinner between her large white canines.

Well, if you could call that dinner. The raw steak was about the size of Marie's fist, and clearly wasn't enough to sustain the large wolf. Willow looked at her with disgust as she dropped the steak at her paws. She wanted more.

"There's not much I can do about that, I'm afraid." Marie admitted, looking down at the minimal steak. "Eat what you can."

Willow huffed, throwing her head about, and pulled her lips back. Marie could almost imagine what she was saying. I know that Marie, I won't deny it, but I need more food if I'm not going to eat a keeper.

"Again, I'll see what I can do." Marie repeated, before fiddling with her thumbs. "There might be something else that can help you though..."

Willow paused, hearing her tone of voice. Marie could hear it too. She could barely keep the excitement out and soon enough started to smile a little. Willow's ears tilted and flattened. What is it?

"I don't know how much you know about the Royal Wolves," Marie explained. "But their annual check up is at the Silverwood Pack this year. I'm going to present them your situation - they will be able to help you."

Willow hunched over slightly, peering at her with one eye while she tilted her head. The one big, glowing eye of the wolf looked over Marie's face in what she could only decipher as worry. Your old pack? Are you sure?

Marie bit her lip, getting the message. "I'll face them again if it means finally getting you out. I owe you Willow."

The large wolf pulled back, walking backwards just a bit, and looked at Marie as though she was insane. Marie rolled her eyes. "You have no say in the matter. I owe you - you saved me from Mitchell and it almost got you killed. I'm getting you out of here, and the Royal Wolves will be able to do that. They have the power."

Willow the Wolf shuffled her feet. Marie watched - she looked almost indecisive.

"I promised I would get you out of here." Marie's voice hardened. "They arrive there in five days, according to an old friend within the pack. Five days Willow, and the plan to get you out will be underway faster than you can howl. You get to be free - that's what you want, right?"

The large wolf prowled around the clearing within her enclosure for a few moments before finally looking back up at Marie. The young keeper held her breath as she waited for Willow's judgement. It meant everything, it was the biggest chance they could get of saving the werewolf, and Marie needed to take it, but she wouldn't take it without Willow's consent.

The wolf raised and lowered her head in acceptance. I trust you.