Several weeks passed, and with them, winter arrived. The colder it got, the less time we spent outside the mansion, and the worst was yet to come.

According to the forecast, a strong snowstorm was approaching which, considering the location of the pack, could isolate us for a long time. Preparing to endure being locked in their homes became everyone's priority, anyone who passed through the town was met with chaos and despair.

I would have thought that the pack members were already accustomed to that type of weather, but Geldra explained to me that storms of that magnitude were not common.

Every little bit of help mattered so I offered to organize the pantry to store the new merchandise. To tell the truth, it was a boring and repetitive job, and by the time I arranged the second shelf I already wanted to abandon the task.

A distraction at that moment would be a gift from heaven to me. It seemed like it was my lucky day because Geldra and Demian's voices approached the pantry. I peeked into the kitchen in search of them. They were sitting at the table with a cup in their hands. Unfortunately I couldn't join them, but it didn't stop me from hearing their conversation.

"I must be going deaf as well as being old because I thought I heard you say that Almec is going to join the hunting trip," Demian said.

"I was as surprised as you," Geldra commented.

"Are you sure he didn't mean something else? Almec hasn't participated in any pack activity since his father died."

"You can go ask him yourself if you don't believe me." Geldra let out a sigh. "The elders are going to have a heart attack when they see him."

"Maybe that's what he's trying to do," Demian said. "Joke aside, I'm proud of the kid, he's finally facing his fears."

Despite not having known Almec for long, I agreed with Demian. The alpha who had insisted so much on isolating himself from others was beginning to open up. I hoped that these new steps would soon lead him to change the way he talked about himself.

It hurt me when he called himself a dangerous beast. If I knew how to prove him wrong, I wouldn't hesitate to do it. He did so much for me that I would love to help him in exchange.

"You should see him now, he's more nervous than he is when he fights the hunters," Geldra said. "I'd say a little change could make him explode."

"We should send Valentina to talk to him then, I bet she can calm him down."

Demian's words ignited a new determination in me, it made me feel that I could be useful to Almec. As soon as I was done with my task I would be sure to look for him.

The only thing missing was knowing what to say to him.

I found Almec on the terrace. He was looking at the sky with his eyes half-closed, at times they were covered by his hair that was flying at the rhythm of the wind.

"Rough day?" I asked him, standing next to him.

Almec let out a sigh as his shoulders hunched. "Have you heard the news yet?"

"If you're talking about the hunting party, yeah, I heard that." I leaned my arms against the railing. "When are you leaving?"

"In half an hour. If all goes well we should be back before nightfall."

"It's going to turn out well," I said confidently, looking Almec in the eyes. "With you in charge, they can't fail."

"I'm not that infallible, besides, I'm not used to hunting with a team."

"Well, I don't know much about hunting parties, but my father used to be a hunter and he always said that hunters work better when their leader is at the head. Regardless of what happened, you are still their leader, I'm sure they're going to work twice as hard with you there."

"I don't think they still see me as their leader."

"Then show them who you are." I grabbed his hand. "It's an innate part of you, others can try to replace you but they can never be the alpha."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that." Almec leaned towards me and placed a quick kiss on my head. "I have to go now. Feinid is going to be in charge of leading the townspeople to prepare their houses for the storm. You can go with him if you want, once the storm starts you won't be able to leave the mansion."

"I think that's a great idea," I said, letting go of his hand. "Good luck with the hunting."

***

The town was more alive than ever. People ran from place to place carrying supplies, boarding up windows, securing roofs, and chopping firewood. They worked non-stop with surprising speed. Even the children collaborated with the task.

Their concern about the storm was such that no one objected to my presence as they normally would, looks of disdain replaced by one of relief when I offered to help with the windows. In the blink of an eye I already had a board, nails, and a hammer in my hands.

The work was hard but I couldn't stop smiling. Surrounded by the members of the pack, collaborating for the good of the town, I felt like one of them. Maybe once the storm passed I would become the outsider once again, however at that moment I was accepted.

A young woman a little shorter than me and with dark purple hair approached me. She offered me a bottle of water with a smile that made her slanted black eyes disappear.

"Thank you for helping with my store," she told me and waited for me to accept the drink before grabbing one of the boards. "I'm Myra."

"Valentina," I introduced myself after taking a sip of water. "No need to thank me, I'm just doing the same thing that everyone else does."

"You're the new one who lives with the alpha, right? I don't see you around much," she said. A white owl flew towards her and landed on her shoulder. "Oh, this is Winter, she's my pet."

"She is beautiful." I nailed another board. "I'm not the pack's favorite guest so I prefer not to intrude too much."

"I wouldn't say it's that way now. I hear a lot of things, you know, it's the good side of having a tea shop, and I assure you that the hate is starting to diminish."

"Don't give me false hope, I don't think I can handle it when I find out they're lies."

"I'm telling the truth. Although most of the gossip is about our alpha I also heard good things about you. The alpha is changing, that's obvious, and people think it's thanks to you."

"They're giving me more credit than I deserve."

"I just repeat what I hear." Myra wrinkled her nose. "But I think you're nice. You should stop by the store once the storm passes."

"Do they really say good things about me?" I insisted, the desire to be accepted grew more than ever.

Myra confirmed her words, telling me that if I didn't believe her I could ask Wina about it. The situation prevented me from going in search of the woman but I left a mental note to ask her another day.

Work became more enjoyable with Myra's company, we both had several things in common and it didn't take much for us to start long conversations. Before the sun set we had already secured the tea shop and helped bring supplies to the houses.

The smiles with which the families greeted me gave me the energy to continue forward. Not everything was as I imagined, Faustina and I had hope of being accepted into the pack.

I was about to ask if they needed help with anything else when a loud murmur took over the streets. My curiosity led me to follow the crowd that was beginning to gather in the park to find the origin of the commotion.

The hunting party had returned. The group of hunters placed the dead animals on a long table that they had prepared beforehand for the occasion.

"Did you see our alpha?" a woman asked next to me. "He brought three deer by himself."

"Only he can do something like that," a man replied.

My gaze traveled through the park in search of Almec. He was talking to Geldra, pointing at the loot as if he were giving orders.

The alpha stood out among the rest of the hunters due to his great size, he kept his expression serious and his posture exuded power. Except for the beta, the rest of the hunters stayed away from Almec, and they all looked at him before acting.

"I think he's coming this way," said the woman next to me. "Let's go before he gets here. He's so scary."

I turned my head to stare at her. The woman looked down, ignoring me and she ran away.

Everyone around me fled in different directions, I couldn't understand why they were so afraid of their alpha.

"Let's go," Almec told me, the kindness I had become accustomed to was not present.

We walked back to the mansion in silence. I stayed behind Almec while he carried a deer hanging from his shoulders as if it weighed nothing.

His strange attitude reminded me of my first days in the mansion. I thought I had already overcome the wall that surrounded Almec and seeing that I still had more to climb made me want to let myself fall.

But something inside me insisted that I should keep fighting.

"It's a beautiful night," I said as we entered the mansion grounds. "It's a shame that I won't be able to see the stars soon."

Almec stopped walking. "Do you want to stay here a little longer? I can keep you company if you want."

I smiled at him. "I'd love to."

He pointed towards a bench near us. "Is that place okay?"

After I nodded, we diverted our walk towards the new destination. Almec put the deer on the ground and sat next to me.

Once again we were wrapped in silence, however, it was not the same as before. The lack of words allowed us to appreciate each other's presence while we looked at the sky.

"You never told me anything about your life in your old pack," Almec said after several minutes, leaning back into his hands.

"What do you want to know?"

I wasn't sure how much I could say without bursting into tears.

"Anything you want to tell me. I know it's a difficult topic for you so I understand if you want to talk about something else."

I took a deep breath.

"My old pack was small, there weren't many werewolves left since the creation of the Hunters Order. We lived in a village far from the rest of society, everyone was afraid of crossing paths with humans, so for as long as I can remember I lived in hiding." I closed my eyes for a moment before continuing. "I lived with my parents, Faustina, and my grandmother. My father was a hunter, my mother was a teacher and I wanted to be like her. I used to think that my life was boring but now I realize that I was actually happy like that."

The rest of the words got stuck in my throat. Memories of the hunters' attack resurfaced in my mind and I could already feel trapped in the darkness.

"They can't reach you here, you and Faustina are safe now." Almec wiped the blood off his hands on his pants and he held my wrist, caressing it with his thumb. "I can't change your past but I will do everything possible to make sure that you don't have to suffer again."

"Thanks, but you don't have to."

"I know, I still want to do it."

He squeezed my hand and I rested my head on his shoulder. Almec didn't need to make any promises for me to feel safe, with just his presence I already felt that everything would be alright.

The sound of his cell phone interrupted the moment. I was beginning to get tired of the fact that every time I had the opportunity to be with Almec something got in the middle.

"It's Demian," he said. "We have to enter the mansion, he is waiting for us to arrive so he can go to his house. He already left us food for the days of the storm."

"Why did he leave food?"

Almec looked at me, surprised. "Didn't you know? When the storm comes, no one will be able to come to the mansion. Faustina, you and I are going to be alone."