Mornings had always been Ellette's favourite part of the day. Freya, who was always an early riser more so because it had been expected of her, was more of an evening person. As for the twins, well, if they could sleep all day and night for all of eternity then they would probably consider themselves as lovers of mornings, afternoons and nights. But on this particular morning, Ellette and her sisters were up before dawn, and already on their way to their grandparents' cabin before the sun even had a chance to finish its ascension in the sky.

Despite the short cut her and her sisters had taken, their journey was taking too long for Ellette. Perhaps it was because she was far too anxious to return to the wolf's side to check upon its current state. Or maybe it was because Nissa and Raisie were chatting far too loud and much too quickly, and that required a specific mood that Ellette just could not find herself in. It could have also had something to do with knowing that during the entire walk, Freya's watchful gaze had remained fixed upon her, and Ellette was simply just waiting for Freya to say whatever it was that she undoubtedly wanted to say.

But the twins only continued to talk, Freya only continued to watch her, and Ellette only continued to stomp through the snow as fast as possible.

". . .and Mother said that we must be extra careful," Ellette heard Nissa say after daring to actually take a listen to the conversation. "Father does not want us to know, but Mother said that another girl went missing on the eve of Moonrise."

"There seems to be a lot of things that Father does not wish us to know, is there not?" Normally, Ellette would have been much more guarded about letting things like that slip past her lips, but, on that morning, she did not bother with such efforts.

"He only wishes to protect us, Ellie," Freya added.

In response, Ellette threw a brief glance over her shoulder at Freya, who was about ten feet or so behind her with the twins on either side of her. She could tell it was not an argument that Freya sought, just another attempt to convince Ellette that their Father—though sometimes harsh in personality and far too set in his own ways, which were often the old ways—loved his daughters and only wanted the best for all of them.

"I know, Freya."

Truly, she did. But sometimes Ellette just wished their Father would let her determine and decide what was best.

"Ellie," Raisie started, "do you think maybe we should have told Father about the wolf? And Mother, too?"

Ellette stopped immediately, and turned to face her sisters. "Absolutely not!"

"They would understand, would they not?" Nissa joined her twin's reasoning. "Because we only wished to do a good thing—"

"And that is what they have always taught us—"

"Because it is our way and—"

"I do not think they would be mad—"

"At least not too mad—"

"No," Ellette said firmly. "I mean it, you two. We cannot tell anybody. Not Mother, and certainly not Father. Not a soul. Promise me."

The twins looked at each other then back at Ellette. Their eyes lowered to the snow and both simultaneously released a much too dramatic sigh.

"Not a soul," Nissa said first.

"Not a soul," Raisie repeated.

"Not a soul," Freya unexpectedly joined the pact.

Ellette's eyes shifted from the twins and onto Freya. She had not needed her eldest sister's promise because she knew that Freya was the least likely to tell anybody about the wolf. It had been written all over her face since the previous night that she would have no qualms about carrying on as if the beast had not existed at all. But, just as it was Freya's way, she had kept her opinion of the situation to herself, and, for that, Ellette was content.

A quarter of an hour later, they finally arrived at the cabin. Ellette walked in first, and did not bother with unbuttoning her cloak along with the rest of her sisters. Instead, she headed straight for the living area. As soon as her eyes landed upon the very thing they were waiting to reunite with, the fear that she could not seem to shake since the previous night was finally silenced.

Of course, she knew what to expect upon her return. She had anticipated this very moment, and knew that shock was one of the very first feelings that would ignite inside of her. Ellette had known all of these things, and yet, it seemed that some things just could not be comprehended entirely until the eyes could see what the mind had imagined.

Carefully, as if entering too slow or too fast would have somehow made a difference, Ellette entered the living area. What had once been a room full of exquisite furniture and priceless trinkets was now bare of such things. The wood paneled walls that used to display drawings by four little girls now held dust and cobwebs. And right in front of the fireplace at the opposite end of the room, where a midnight blue carpet used to lay, now harboured the form of a sleeping boy atop a pile of linens and covered from the waist down with her red cloak.

After tending to the wolf's injuries as best they could the night before, Ellette and her sisters had moved it as close to the fireplace as possible, so that if the poison had not killed him, he would not end up meeting his end by freezing to death instead. Of course, when they had left to return home, it had, in fact, still been a wolf, and they knew it would remain as such as long as the full moon still hung in the sky. But the full moon was long gone, leaving the beast as no longer a beast with black fur, but a boy with white skin and hair the colour of chestnut.

Ellette and her sisters had known what the beast was from the moment they laid their eyes upon it. A werewolf. A beast of the night, whose form could only surface on the night of Moonrise; a creature that took the form of a male or female on all of the other days and nights. Such creatures were feared by Ellette and her people, for they had a long and dark history full of blood and death.

Many deaths.

But Ellette did not think about the history, nor did she dwell on blood and death as she approached the sleeping figure. Intrigued, she most certainly was, but it was not entirely born form curiosity but from interest. She was interested in the way his chest rose and fell with each breath; in the creamy colour of his flesh, which was the colour of many of her own kind but seemed to shine differently upon this stranger. Most of all, Ellette was interested in checking upon his injuries to see if they had begun to heal or if her and her sister's intervention had all been for naught.

Just as she was half way to reaching the boy, Nissa and Raisie rushed past her and threw themselves down onto their knees in front of him. How he did not wake from the noise the two of them made, Ellette did not know. He had not even stirred, but it was too soon, even for Ellette, to send up a thank you to the heavens because when it came to the twins, any sort of slumber was damned near impossible to enjoy for very long if they were present.

Ellette quickly took up a spot in between the twins, her intention to get to them before they could get to him. "Do not wake him," Ellette warned as she stared down at the stranger.

"He is very pale," Nissa said.

"And dirty—" Raisie added.

"And his hair falls past his shoulders—"

"Do you think that is normal for his kind, Nissa?"

"Must be."

"Must be."

"Your cloak is probably ruined, Ellie."

"It does not matter," Ellette replied.

"It was your favourite," said Raisie.

"Your favourite of all your favourites," Nissa added.

"Then I suppose I shall find another."

"How about you two come and help me in the kitchen?" Freya, once again, bailed out Ellette by garnering the twins' attention away from the boy.

Ellette turned her head and mouthed a simple 'thank you', to which Freya responded with a soft smile. She then noticed the two bowls and cloth in her eldest sister's hands.

Freya walked over to Ellette and handed over the cloth and bowls, both of which were full of fresh water. "I can probably give you about ten minutes," she whispered as the twins headed out of the living area and in the direction of the kitchen.

"Thank you, Freya," Ellette said as she sat the bowls down next to her. "Truly, sister, thank you."

"It is our duty as children of the light," Freya responded with a smile before turning to leave the room.

When Ellette returned her sights to the sleeping body in front of her, she could not help but wonder if the word 'duty' could be replaced instead with 'fate', but quickly extinguished the thought. To think such a thing, even if only for a split second, would only pave the way for ideas that were better left locked up inside of her head.

She pulled down her red cloak just far enough to reveal the boy's wound. It was covered by olive leaves, which had been dipped into Freya's concoction of herbs and plants that had been mashed into a paste and used as a salve to place on the gash. In order for them to be kept in place, a thin strip off of one of the sheets had been ripped and tied around the wolf's body.

Slowly, Ellette reached out and began to untie the strip, which had fallen slack due to the wolf's shift back into its human form. Her eyes flickered back and forth between her hands and the boy's face in hopes that she did not wake him. When she successfully untied the knot, she gently pulled back some of the now blackened leaves that had done their job by absorbing the poison from the boy's wound and impregnating themselves with it. The skin around the gash had greatly reduced in size and length, and was absent of any blackened areas.

Upon seeing that the wound had begun to heal a great deal, Ellette let out a sigh of relief. Although a large part of the reason had to do with Freya's healing salve, she suspected the boy's own healing capabilities had, too, played a part.

After a quick wash of her hands in one bowl, Ellette picked up the cloth and dipped it into the warm water inside of the other bowl. With both hands, she squeezed out the excess water and began cleaning the wound. She dabbed at the cut as carefully as she could, trying not to apply too much pressure but wanting to make sure she cleaned it as best as she could.

Just as she was about finished wiping off the salve in preparation for the new batch Freya and the twins were making in the kitchen, Ellette felt the very distinct feeling one would attribute with the feeling of being watched. And when her brown eyes flickered to the side, they were met by eyes of a lighter brown.