Kusal rapped on Inessa's door. No response. That's right. What made me think she'd respond if she had to guts to ignore the Alpha all this time? It had been four days since the group returned, and no one had seen Inessa since she went upstairs and locked her door. He retreated his steps, exited the hall, then the mansion. What was wrong with that girl? She had been on fire, wanting to help Arek during his visit to the West clan no matter the cost. Kusal had pulled out some of the details of the meeting from Arek, but he was being unusually tight-lipped. Ahlu had filled him in on the rest. Kusal shook his head. Inessa's actions didn't fit in with what he knew about her, not even a little. He grunted and turned back around.

He trailed the side of the mansion until he found the tree and the small window. It was Inessa's room. And she's left the window open. He grabbed the first branch and swung his legs up. After he climbed to the top, he saw his suspicions were correct – there was no way he would fit through that window. He shifted in his wolf and glanced down. He was a good forty feet above the ground. Here goes nothing. He leapt across, keeping his body tight as his forelegs caught the window sill. His arms screamed, not made to hold the weight of his body. He shifted, using his arms to pull his head and one arm through. He was stuck. He shifted again. His wolf easily slid through, heavily plopping down on the floor inside.

After he returned to his human form, he stood up, clutching his stomach for a second. He could already feel a giant, foot-long bruise forming. Never doing that again.

He saw her on huddled in the corner next to the door, face buried in her legs and her arms wrapped around them. She was wearing a pitiful tunic with a large rip at the bottom. He paused. Wait, isn't that what she was wearing when we first brought her into the clan? What was she doing wearing that piece of trash? She had plenty of nicer things to wear from the clan. "What's going on here?" He bent down and pulled her arm away from her face. It was like a twig. "Wha-" He was speechless. She was as thin as a child. "Inessa, what are you doing?"

She raised her head sleepily, but her voice was wicked sharp. "Get out. You're not supposed to be here."

Really? In this state and she has the audacity to order me out. "Yeah? Well neither should you." He tried to pick her up but she shoved him away.

"Don't touch me!"

The venom in her voice, not her strength, stunned him.

"I hate you." Tears rolled down her cheekbones and down onto her neck and chest. "And nothing you can do will change it. I hate the Arm."

"Where on earth is this coming from?" Kusal shouted. Wait, this might not even have to do with me. "We aren't even the same Arm that...that took your mom."

"She's nothing to me!" Inessa screamed. "I don't want her to. She left me, and I wanted to forget. I did." She sunk to the ground, her body shaking. "I never should've been born."

"Inessa, hey!" He shook her shoulders, feeling bone under his hands. "Alright, I'm getting you out of here."

"Get away from me," she growled between her feeble attempts to push him away.

"What is this all about? Why is your mother coming up like this out of nowhere?"

She didn't answer.

Kusal decided to take his chances. If this didn't work, she'd never speak to him again. But he had already tried everything else. "Ok, fine, I'll leave. But tell me what happened back there."

"What?"

"What happened while you were on guard at the West clan?"

She coughed. Or was it a laugh? "You really want to know? I caught her scent."

Kusal was stunned. "Your mom. It wasn't her scent. You said yourself she was a part of the East clan. It's impossible."

"I don't care what's possible or impossible anymore," Inessa said bitterly. "It was hers. And now, I remember everything. I can hear her voice, over and over. Her eyes, they were cold..." She grabbed onto her elbows, covering her chest.

"What did she say? Inessa, what did she say?" He tapped her cheek. No way he was going to let her fall asleep in this state. He had decided to take her out as soon as he had slammed onto the sill of her stupidly small window.

"She called me a worthless runt. No 'get help' or 'remember my last words.' She told me to get lost." She grabbed onto his arm. "Why, Kusal? Did she think I was weak? That I would never learn to fend for myself? Was I really that useless? A danger even? I didn't know what was going on!" She was hysterical, not realizing that her nails were digging into his skin. "I didn't know why we were running away, why the Arm was chasing after us." She faced him with boiling gold eyes. "Tell me why!"

He was quiet for a long time. "I don't know."

Inessa looked down at her hands, realizing the blood dripping from her nails. Her jaw dropped open. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, just-"

"Not happening." He picked her up, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. "That woman, your mother, was a-" he bit back the first word that came to mind, realizing it wasn't what Inessa needed to hear. "Was a confused person. People have faults, and that woman was far from right. She didn't see what was right in front of her."

Her voice was like a whispering drone. "I don't, don't understand why. I need to get out of here. Rogues don't need anyone else. No one. Then there's no one..." She trailed off, staring at the ceiling.

"To get hurt?" Kusal noticed she didn't move her eyes, even while he moved. Why is she staring like that? "Inessa, snap out of it!"

She didn't respond.

Kusal kicked the door at the handle, making a hole. He stepped out, hurrying down the hall and out to the stairs. Pit bull better be nearby. "Arek!"

Arek burst into the double doors of the mansion. "What are you doing? What happened to her?"

Idiot. "She's going into shock. She hasn't eaten or drunk anything since she locked herself in."

"Give her to me."

"Here, watch her shoulder. I'm getting Mullin."

"No." Arek gritted his teeth. Inessa's face was pale, her eyes now closed. "Get my mother."

Kusal hesitated, realizing he didn't even know Arek's mother's name.

"Honovi. She's the best healer in this clan. Go!"

Kusal furrowed his eyebrows. Didn't even know she was back from the mountains. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. I just know she's here. Use your wolf, Beta, and get her!"

Like the shadow of a diving hawk, Kusal left the mansion as a wolf.

Arek took in the sight of whom he carried. Inessa's cheeks were slightly sunken in, her olive-toned skin unusually greyish and pale. You stupid, stupid girl. "Why?" He whispered furiously. "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you just talk to me? I..." his voice cracked. "I would've done something!"

His voice echoed through the mansion. Once it made its round, Arek could hear a wheezing sound coming from Inessa. Her breathing turned rough and shallow. "No, no, no. Stop!" He started towards the door, not knowing what to do. "Honovi!" He knew Kusal would be the fastest person to find his mother, but Inessa was having a panic attack, and he, the Alpha of the East, the strongest and most brutal werewolf in the East clan, had no idea what to do. "Inessa, calm down. You need to calm down!"

Quit yelling at me! He could imagine her feisty voice yelling back at him. Who was he kidding? Why would she listen to him? Her free spirit could not be tamed or bridled. He stepped through the double doors of the mansion. The wind brushed against his face. "I don't know what you want Inessa, or why you've locked yourself up in that mind of yours, but you've got to break out. You weren't meant to die behind a wall." He stopped, realizing that he was lowering his own walls by saying this. He stepped out from underneath the roof's shadow into the sun. It caressed their bodies, sending small tingles of warmth across Arek's skin. Inessa's breathing slowed, sounding more normal than before. Arek sighed, relief flooding through him. "You were meant to be free, more than I will ever be."

A breeze rustled through Inessa's frizzy hair. Arek stared. Even though she was unconscious, her face was fixed in a determined expression, her brows drawn close and her lips together in a straight line. Don't ever lose it. Arek bent down and kissed her brow. "You're the Daughter of the Wind. Don't you ever forget to fight for yourself."