They bade me farewell, and then I closed the door, finding myself alone in this cold apartment. As with the rest of this place, old-fashioned lanterns cast a warm orange glow from the walls. I ambled deeper and located the bathroom. The toilet was quite unlike anything I’d seen before. It was just a hole in the ground that led to… I would rather not picture where. Otherwise, the place seemed fine. Basic, and resembling a cave with its bare stone walls and minimal furnishings, but hygienic.

I moved to the oval-shaped bedroom and climbed onto the teak bed, relieved that the mattress was soft and comfortable as I nestled into it. There was a fireplace in one corner but I didn’t think I had the energy to start messing with that. Instead I just gathered the blankets around me and curled up beneath them.

In spite of my eyes being heavy, I did not sleep. I stayed up, tossing and turning into the night, worrying and wondering about Grace, Heath, my parents and the rest of my family.

As I sensed the early morning hours approaching, I heard knocking against wood. Assuming that it was someone outside my door, I slipped out of bed when I heard a creaking. The door next to mine swung open—the door to Bastien’s apartment. Shivering from the cold, I crawled back into my bed and enveloped myself in blankets again.

Muffled voices came through the wall, but I could not make out what they were saying until they rose a little louder.

“But Bastien, how do you know she is not a hunter?” A deep, gravelly voice spoke. Sergius, in his wolf form.

I froze. Whom else could he be talking about but me?

Although I felt guilty for eavesdropping, I couldn’t help but hurry to the wall now and press my ear against it.

“I told you already,” Bastien said, exasperation in his tone. “She is just a girl!”

“But it could all be a lie,” Sergius pressed. “You have spoken about how cunning these hunters are. She could be a plant… a plant meant to gain your trust in order to spy and locate the packs of The Woodlands that remain standing strong.”

“She’s not,” Bastien said. “Too many things about our meeting just wouldn’t make sense in that scenario.”

There was another pause.

“Well,” Sergius said, clearing his throat, “Brucella is not comfortable with her here.”

“Ah, Brucella. It always comes down to her, doesn’t it? Uncle, I mean you no disrespect, but are you not your own man? Are you not the leader of this pack? Have you no control over your wife’s whims?”

“I’m sorry, Bastien,” Sergius replied, his tone subdued. “You know how your aunt is, and especially after everything you told her last night, she has been hysterical. I insisted that you trusted the human girl, and that should be enough for her, but she’s unable to think straight… She wants her gone by tomorrow.”

My breath hitched. Gone. Where to?

A deathly silence fell on the other side of the wall. Then Bastien replied, stoic and clipped, “By getting rid of her, you’ll be getting rid of me.”

Sergius exhaled in frustration. “Bastien, why must you be like this?”

“If it weren’t for her, I would not even be here,” Bastien growled. “No matter what you—or should I say Brucella—suspect of her intentions, I cannot simply cast her aside. Do you really think I could be so callous, after all we’ve survived together? If any of you knew of another gate to the human realm, I could send her back. But until we discover such a portal, she remains under my care. Just give the word, and we will leave.”

I felt a stab of guilt. Brucella seemed to have had it out for me the moment she laid eyes on me, but I hated feeling like such a burden. Bastien desperately needed the cooperation of other wolves if they ever had a chance of salvaging their land, and having me here was doing nothing but throwing a wrench in the works. Ugh, how I wish that portal had just been open and led to somewhere safe… I could’ve returned through it, rather than continuing to be a burden hanging around Bastien’s neck.

“Well,” Sergius said, after a painfully long pause, “I see you are firm in your stance. I will tell your aunt and see if she still insists.”

A few moments later, the front door to Bastien’s apartment opened and then closed again. Sergius had left.

Now what?

Victoria

As morning arrived, sunshine streamed through the small window in the corner of my room. I got out of bed and took a quick bucket bath—with cold water—before leaving my apartment and arriving outside Bastien’s door. To my surprise, it was open. I peeked inside and called out his name. No reply.

I wandered inside, finding myself searching very similar quarters to my own, but Bastien was nowhere to be seen. The apartment was empty.

I wasn’t sure what else to do but to return to my place and wait. Eventually, I heard footsteps in the corridor outside my door. Then three knocks. I hobbled to open it. Bastien stood before me in his human form, a black robe wrapped around him, his eyes alert and intense.

“I overheard your conversation with Sergius last night,” I confessed, before he could say anything.

“I suspected you might have,” he said, striding inside and closing the door. “Anyhow, I’ve just been to speak to my aunt. She has agreed to allow you to stay.”

“Oh,” I said. From his expression, I’d been expecting him to tell me quite the opposite. “Why?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“She was more reasonable when I went to see her this morning. Though don’t be under any illusions that she trusts you,” he added, concern in his eyes. “But you can stay among the Northstones until we find another portal.”