It was truly a rare sight to see Ellette depart with her precious wooden staff—one that could be seen only on the rarest of occasions—but as it slipped through her finger tips onto the bed of snow below, the realization of what she had done did not set in. Her attention was focused solely on the injured wolf laying inches from her feet.

It was beautiful. The most beautiful creature she had never seen before.

At least, not in the flesh.

Without a second thought or concern for her safety, Ellette dropped to her knees. Her heart began to beat a little faster, though the reason for its acceleration was not because of any fear she may have been feeling. Ellette's panic was entirely brought on by the wolf, who had been laying far too still for her liking.

While she quickly scanned her eyes over the beast to check for any sign of injury, her gaze was suddenly pulled towards the crimson stained snow surrounding it. She looked at the wolf again, had even inched herself a bit closer to locate the source of its obvious injury, but, still, she could not find it.

A single thought took root inside of her mind. That despite her efforts, it was probably too late to save the black furred beast. Its eyes were closed, and it did not appear to be breathing.

It was an odd thing for Ellette to feel as saddened and helpless as she did, especially for the very creature she had been taught her whole life to fear. But death was still death, and although every man and beast would inevitably one day meet its end, Ellette just could not accept it in her mind nor in her heart the unfairness of this creature being forced to die out in the cold alone.

With a heavy heart, she reached out and gently placed her hand on the wolf's soft fur. With closed eyes, she offered a prayer up to the moon, hoping the beast's spirit had made its way to the heavens above safely. But just as she was about to pull away, the wolf shifted beneath her fingertips. Opening her eyes, she was shocked to see the wolf's eyes were no longer closed but opened ever so slightly.

Ellette did not know what to do; it was as if she was frozen in place. But then the wolf mustered up what little strength it had to lift its head ever so slightly and looked at her with its amber eyes. With only a gaze, it begged her to not be afraid. Then, before she knew it, the wolf turned itself on its side, revealing the injury she had been so desperately trying to find minutes prior. Right along its belly was a deep slash that was releasing far too much blood.

She looked at the beast and could see it was using too much of its strength just trying to look at her. Gently, she reached out, placed a hand on its head and rested it on the snow. Before returning her gaze to its injury, she slowly lowered her head to the wolf's and gently rubbed it.

"I promise not to be afraid of you if you promise not to be afraid of me," Ellette whispered.

In response, the wolf released a sound, the same sound she had heard earlier, and was undoubtedly responsible for bringing them together. But it was only in that moment when Ellette realized the sound had been a whimper—a cry—not entirely of pain but for help. For hope.

How strange, she thought, because she had first heard that cry after making a wish for that very thing. Hope.

"Ellette, there you are!" Freya's worried voice filled her ears.

Turning her head, Ellette saw her three sisters running towards her. But instead of dwelling on them or the scolding she was surely going to get from Freya for running off, Ellette returned her attention to the injured wolf.

"Oh my, moon! Ellette, is that a—"

"Yes," Ellette replied, cutting off Raisie before she could finish her question. "It needs help."

"But it is a—" Nissa added.

"I know what it is!" Again, she threw a glance behind her at her sisters. "But it is hurt and we need to help it."

Nissa grabbed Raisie's hand and they both took a step forward, their approach forced by their curiosity and fascination rather than Ellette's request for help. But before they could take another step, Freya stopped them by literally placing herself in front of them.

"Ellette—"

"Not now, Freya. Please. . .please just help me save its life." Ellette looked up at her eldest sister and just hoped that, despite whatever thoughts were currently going through her head, she remembered who and what they were. "Please, Freya. . ."

Freya closed the space between them and knelt down beside her. "What happened?"

"I do not know. I found it like this. It is cut deeply right there," Ellette pointed towards the wolf's injury, "and it has lost a lot of blood."

Ellette watched Freya as she took a closer look at the wound. Then she looked into the wolf's eyes, hoping it was not alarmed at the arrival of her sisters, and that it knew they were going to do their best to help it.

"We need to move it and we need to do it quickly."

The alarm in Freya's voice pulled Ellette's attention away from the wolf's gaze and towards her sister.

"The flesh around the wound is beginning to darken. See there," Freya motioned with her finger.

It was hard to see because of all the blood, but, with a closer look, Ellette could see the perimeter around the slash was turning black.

"Poison," Ellette whispered.

"Or something equally as dark," Freya replied under her breath.

The meaning behind her sister's words had not been lost on Ellette.

"Come on. We need to get to the cabin."

"The cabin!" The twins said in unison.

"Oh, yes, please! It has been ages since we have been to the cabin!" Nissa said.

"Ages and ages!" Raisie agreed.

Experience had, of course, taught Ellette and Freya when to recognize the appropriate time in which to ignore the sometimes-irrelevant blabbering or commentary of the twins. So, it was completely second nature for them both, in that moment, to do so.

"But the cabin is too far, Freya," Ellette questioned.

"Only about a half a mile or so."

"What do you mean half a mile? It is on the opposite side of the forest, sister."

"Have you taken a look at where we are, Ellette? Take a look at that tree over there. That one with the big trunk and the carvings. Surely you remember that tree, for you were the one that carved all of our names into it four summers ago."

Ellette was in complete disbelief when her eyes landed upon the tree in question. If that tree had been where it was currently rooted, then Freya was right, and the cabin—their deceased grandparents' cabin—was indeed only half a mile away.

How had she not recognized the familiar area of the forest?

"Ellette!"

The sound of her name pulled Ellette from her thoughts.

"If this wolf's life is as important to you as it appears to be, then we need to move. Now."

The trek to the cabin took a bit longer than Ellette would have liked, but she and her sisters managed to carry the wolf there safely and without interruption—a possibility that plagued them all with fear, and for good reason. The cabin itself sat within a clearing in the forest, and if it had not been winter, one would have thoroughly enjoyed the field of green that surrounded it throughout the other three seasons.

Once inside, they carried the wolf, who had lost consciousness along the journey, into the living area, and gently placed it onto the wooden floor boards in front of the fire place. As she began to take off her cloak, Ellette heard Freya instruct one twin to start a fire and the other to find candles. As the cabin was rarely visited let alone used during the winter months, apart from the moonlight, the fire and candles would be their only source of warmth and light.

Without waiting for her own instruction, Ellette took charge by seeking out a supply of clean sheets from a closet. Once she returned, she spread them out on the floor, then helped Freya lift the wolf onto them. Another whimper of pain came from the wolf, but its eyes remained closed. The only way she knew how to comfort it was to offer some sort of reassurance. So, ever so gently, she placed a hand just below its head and rubbed the scruff of its neck.

"Raisie, Nissa, can you please bring some candles over here," Freya asked the twins.

The all too silent pair did as they were asked and placed some of the lit candles on the floor where Ellette and Freya knelt.

"Thank you. Now, I need you two to help me gather some supplies from the kitchen. Ellette, we will be right back."

Ellette watched as Freya stood up, gathered the twins and headed for the kitchen before returning her sights to the wolf.

"But, Freya," Nissa started, "could we not just—"

"No," Ellette answered firmly before Freya could. She did not take her eyes off of the wolf, nor did she remove her hand as it continued to console and comfort it as best as she could. Ellette knew what Nissa was about to suggest, and she wanted to make it clear that that was never going to be an option. "Not without its consent."

"Well, it does not exactly look like it is up for giving its consent," Raisie tried to aid in her twin's reasoning.

"Hush, Raisie. Ellette is right. You both know that."

Once Freya and the twins left the room, Ellette draped her red cloak over the wolf without a care of its blood ruining it forever. As minutes ticked by, she thought about the very real possibility that the wolf might not ever open its eyes again. So when they did indeed open, and her eyes met the familiar amber glow, she was thoroughly surprised.

It took a couple of seconds for the wolf's eyes to look around and find a spot to settle on, but once they did, Ellette could not help herself from following its gaze.

Against the wall to the left of where they were was a window. The drapes had not been closed entirely, which left a very clear view of the night sky. Just past the trees and over the horizon, both Ellette and the wolf stared at the full moon.