The unfamiliar scene that greeted me when I opened my eyes confused me at first. I was expecting to wake up in my room that I had already become accustomed to, but instead, I found a much larger and darker room.

Little by little I woke up and that's when I remembered the night before. Different emotions arose in me at the same time, I could feel the fear that surrounded me in the storm, the anger that blinded me during my argument with Almec, and the happiness that was brought by his gift.

It had been a very busy night, the fatigue I felt in my muscles was proof of it.

I carefully got out of bed. I had intended to look for Almec to thank him for taking care of me, I just hoped that his absence in the room didn't mean that he had disappeared once again.

I took a first step and my foot got stuck in the bottom hem of my pants. That was strange, none of my pants were big on me.

Confused, I looked down and discovered that I wasn't wearing my clothes.

How long had I been like this?

Thinking about it, when I woke up on Almec's couch the night before, the clothes I was wearing weren't wet like I would expect after being caught in a snowstorm. So Almec had probably changed me after rescuing me so I wouldn't get sick.

Would it be weird to go looking for him wearing these clothes?

There was something that made it feel extra comfortable against my skin, plus it kept me perfectly warm. The truth is that I never wanted to take it off.

"Keep it, I like them," said my wolf. "They're his clothes."

"How can you be sure?" I asked.

"I just know, it feels like he does when he's around us."

Sometimes my wolf said things that seemed incomprehensible to me, strange even, and that was one of those times. If she had meant his scent it would make more sense, but we weren't able to smell other people's scents.

"Alright, we will do it your way," I gave up after my stomach growled.

The search for Almec could wait a bit, first I should look for something to eat.

Knowing Faustina, I was sure she would still be sleeping, so it wasn't a bad idea to prepare breakfast and take it to my room to eat with her.

I clung to the idea that my sister was sleeping like a rock because otherwise it meant that she had noticed my absence and I didn't want to imagine how worried she would be.

The entire walk to the kitchen I prayed to the Moon Goodness asking her to keep Faustina asleep until I went to see her.

Apparently she didn't hear my prayer or perhaps I was already late, because I heard my sister's voice coming from the kitchen.

The strangest thing was that she seemed to be laughing, quite the contrary of what I was expecting.

I opened the door, careful not to make any noise, and peeked my head in.

On the table were two empty plates and one that still had pancakes on it. It looked like they had already eaten their breakfast.

But that wasn't the important thing.

The important thing was that Faustina was standing in her chair, behind Almec, and she was braiding his hair.

My sister was braiding the alpha's hair, adding beads in it to decorate.

In a second my heart ran two marathons, I could feel like my chest was about to explode from so much warmth. That had to be the cutest image I'd seen in a long time, I would never have expected to see the alpha in such a vulnerable situation and with my sister.

"Oh, you're awake." Almec's voice surprised me. "How do you feel?"

"Right now, hungry," I replied, approaching them.

"Valen, look, I'm making Almec's hair prettier," Faustina said, pointing to her work. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful, you're always good at this kind of thing." I stood next to her and kissed her on the head.

"We saved you pancakes," said Faustina. "Almec told me that you don't feel very well so we made you pancakes to make you feel better. He also told me that he has a surprise for us. Oops, I shouldn't have said that."

She covered her mouth with her hands and looked at Almec who had turned his body to see us.

"It's okay, I was going to tell her now anyway," he reassured her. "There's something for you in the middle cupboard."

"Don't move too much or you'll ruin what I'm doing," Faustina scolded him.

I turned towards the cupboard to hide my smile, no one would believe me if I told them how the alpha acted with my sister.

My hands were shaking with excitement when I opened the doors. I loved surprises, every time someone surprised me I felt like a child again.

"Is this real?" I screamed when I saw what was inside.

Two packages of yerba and a mate kit were waiting on the shelf. I was about to cry, it had been months since the last time I drank mate.

"Demian told me that you mentioned that you wanted to drink mate, I was a little confused at first until he explained to me that it is an infusion."

Faustina forgot about Almec's hair and ran towards me. "Yo también quiero." She started jumping around.

If I had any doubts about how wonderful Almec was, it had already disappeared with his gift.

"How did you get it? It's very difficult to get it in an area as remote as this. I know because I tried."

"I contacted someone I know from outside and they brought it to me. It took a little time to prepare the order and when they arrived the storm had already started."

"Is this what you went looking for yesterday?" I asked him as I transferred the hot water to the thermos.

"Yeah."

I left the mate on the counter and walked towards Almec.

Once again, he had paid attention to my needs and did not hesitate to make them come true, even when I hadn't said anything to him about it, it was as if the Moon Goddess had sent him to me.

I took his hands in mine and gave them a squeeze.

"Thank you," I said, "I don't know how to thank you anymore."

"There is no need to thank me, I do it for more selfish reasons than you think."

"Is it ready?" Faustina interrupted us.

I separated my hands from Almec when I heard her. "Yes, sit at the table, I'll be there in a second."

Drinking mate again after so long was one of the best things that happened to me since I joined the pack. For a few long and pleasant minutes Faustina and I forgot what was happening around us, we simply enjoyed talking nonsense while reconnecting with a part of our life that we thought we had lost.

We offered for Almec to join us but he preferred to continue drinking his coffee, but that didn't stop him from adding some comments to our talk once in a while.

It was so wonderful how much our relationship had changed. When Faustina and I first arrived at the mansion we barely crossed paths with Almec, and months later we shared such a domestic moment.

It felt like our family of two had gotten bigger. Maybe Faustina's idea wasn't so bad.

"I'm going to play with my dolls," my sister announced, getting up from her seat. She walked to Almec and gave him a hug. "Thanks for the gifts, I love them."

My gaze drifted to Almec. He set his cup down on the side of the table and smiled at me. I had not paid attention to his appearance before, I was so surprised to see him with Faustina that I did not notice how casual he looked.

I usually couldn't find a single wrinkle in his black clothes, he always wore his watch and his hair always looked perfect. No matter the occasion he always took his place as alpha but that morning was different.

For the first time Almec had on a shirt of a color other than black, I wished he wore red more often because it looked beautiful on him. He still had crumbs from the pancakes on his clothes and it was very easy to see how wrinkled it was. His wrist was naked and his hair was a completely different story. The braids that Faustina did looked ridiculous on him but I found them adorable.

"You look good today," I told him.

"Really? It must be my new hairstyle, it gives me a special touch."

"Definitely. Gives me dangerous alpha vibes."

He laughed and my heart skipped a beat.

"Talking seriously," Almec said. "You're the one that looks beautiful today, as always."

Blood rose to my cheeks, betraying me. I tried to pretend that nothing was happening by looking down at the last piece of pancake. Eating slowly was my technique to let that topic of conversation die, I still wasn't ready to accept that my feelings toward the alpha were changing.

"Can I ask you something about your wolf?"

I was interested in his relationship with his wolf. It wasn't just my way of escaping the situation.

Almec stood up from his seat and walked around the table until he reached me. He dragged a chair next to mine and sat down on it.

"What do you want to know about him?" he asked, looking at me.

"Actually I want to know more about your connection with your wolf than about him. I think I'm recovering my connection with mine, how do you do it when you want to communicate with him?"

A sincere smile appeared on his face, Almec seemed as happy as I was upon hearing the news.

"That's wonderful news. I usually don't have to try too hard, I just call his name in my mind and he responds, but I imagine it will take longer until you two can communicate so easily."

"Yes, I tried to call her but it's like something was between us breaking the signal. At times I can hear her voice, I also recover part of my wolf senses for moments but I can't go any further."

My voice cracked at the end. Almec held my hands and began to caress them with his thumbs.

"How long has it been since you lost connection?"

That was a difficult question, I knew the answer but it took me back to a time in my life that I preferred not to remember. Since it happened I had never spoken to anyone about it but my heart told me that I could trust Almec.

"It's been three years now. I lost my connection before my pack was attacked, at that time it was difficult to survive if the hunters discovered that you were a werewolf so my mother did a ritual to seal our wolves."

Without me being able to control it, tears began to fall down my face. The pain I felt when my connection was severed came back to haunt me.

My vision blurred and I fell into a pit of darkness where I could barely breathe. I could barely feel anything but suffering but when I thought I couldn't get out I was surrounded by warmth.

"I'm sorry for everything you had to go through," Almec said as he hugged me. "I already told you once that I am going to do everything possible so that you do not have to suffer again and that means that every time you need help I will be there, do not hesitate to come to me in any circumstance. I will help you find a way to strengthen your connection with your wolf until it is as strong as before."

"Do you think I can make it?" I asked him, hugging him with all my strength.

"Of course you can, if you can already hear her it is because she is already trying to connect with you. It may take some time but I assure you that you will achieve it."

Neither of us said anything else, his promise was enough for me. I knew that Almec would keep his word, even if it was impossible for others he would find a way to help me.

After so much time crying and under the calming presence of Almec, I started to feel that my body was fading.

"I'm tired," I murmured against his chest.

"Your body still needs to recover after what happened last night. I think it's best for you to go to your room," he said softly.

"I'm too tired to climb stairs."

Almec let out a laugh.

"Luckily you have a strong alpha at your service." He lifted me up bridal style and placed a kiss on my forehead. "Let's go to your room so you can sleep some more."

I wasn't sure how much longer I could lie to myself. There in his arms, I was beginning to feel like the perfect place for me was next to him.