---- He looked back at me, his golden eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't read. "Your handmaiden is dead. You're injured, with no food and no warm clothes." "So what?" "You'll die." "Maybe death would be better." He was silent for a long time. "Follow me," he repeated. "I won't let you die." For some reason, I chose to trust him. Time jumped forward. I was at the Winterfang Pack's encampment. Ihad been living there for two months. My wounds had healed, and I'd grown stronger. But I kept my distance from everyone, including Kael. Whenever the feeling of the bond grew too strong, I would run. ---- "There's that outsider again," a sharp female voice said. I was by the lake, fetching water, when a few of the Winterfang female warriors approached. Their leader was Kael's second-in-comman4d, Vera, a beautiful but ruthless woman. "T heard you used to be a princess of some great pack, " she said with a mocking smile. 'How did you end up in such a pathetic state?" lignored her and continued to draw water. "T'm talking to you." She kicked over my bucket. Icy water splashed all over me. "Are you going to answer me now?" The other female warriors surrounded me, their eyes filled with malice. "Vera's right. A useless wolf abandoned by her pack, what right do you have to live here?" "And you dare to get close to our Alpha. You have no shame." ---- "A woman like you would have been torn apart by beasts long ago if you were out on your own." The same familiar malice. The same familiar taunts. It was no different from the Blood Moon Pack. Iclenched my fists, forcing myself to stay calm. "Say something!" Vera grabbed my hair. ''Why are you pretending to be mute?" "Let her go." A deep, male voice came from behind. Kael had arrived, his golden eyes burning with anger. "Alpha!" Vera immediately let go of me, her expression turning innocent. "We were just joking with her..." "Joking?" Kael's voice was ice-cold. "I saw what you did." "Alpha, you misunderstand," another warrior said. "