Birds chirped, wind blew through the leaves in the trees, and I could just make out the faint sound of the young Wolfblood children playing outside. But my focus was elsewhere. Sitting on my bed inside my hut, I smiled down at the small crib before me. The inside was lined with sheep fur and a few pieces of wood carved into toys. Nestled in the fur was my beautiful baby... Reaching my fingers down into the crib, she latched onto one of my fingers and gurgled. There was a few tufts of hair fanning her tiny head, springing up into dark curls all over her scalp, so like her daddy's.

Deep honey-brown eyes looked up into mine and I bit my lip, grinning.

"Hey, Fallyn, how's my baby girl?" I cooed, gently lifting her from the crib as she released my finger.

Resting her against my chest, I bounced her gently, pacing the small hut. Her little body burrowed into me and I smiled but it melted as thoughts began to swirl in my mind. It had been a year and half since I last saw Matei. I wondered where he was, what he was doing at this very minute. Was he thinking of me too? He said he'd find me but we were still waiting - his child and me.

And...after the Wolfblood secret had come out, the Wild Pack had been forced to move. The pack broke up into two sides - one led by Jana's father, those who wanted to hide and one led by Emilia, those who wanted to fight. I'd chose to go with Emilia. She was Matei's sister after all and I loved her like she was my own little sister. Bits of information had been passed onto the pack and through it, we found out they were trying to chip Wolfbloods - to take their wolves away and turn them into humans. Holding my child tighter in my arms, I swore to myself I wouldn't let that happen to her...

And I prayed that that hadn't happened to Matei already... A sigh emitted from my lips, the ache of missing him clenching my heart like a vice. Suddenly, I heard shouts outside and I glanced up just as one of the Wolfbloods I'd become close to in my time here, Deirdre, tore into my hut. She was panting like she'd been running and all her senses were on alert. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"Deirdre, what's going on?!" I demanded but not in an unfriendly tone as I looked over at my friend.

She smiled slightly, making me even more confused, "Come outside. There's something you need to see..."

As she moved to sit down in the chair across from the crib, I bit my lip in thought. It must be important. Deirdre never just barged in like that before. Gently placing Fallyn back into her crib, I gave a slight nod to Deirdre before exiting the hut. A light breeze and warm sunlight hit me in the face as I stepped into the light of day. All eyes turned to me and I felt my pulse skitter in nervous anxiety at what that might mean. But I didn't have long to ponder it before the crowd parted and my eyes landed on a face that in my dreams, I feared I'd never see again. Matei.