After crossing the creek, I turn back to see that Lupa hasn’t even attempted to cross it. I yell over to her. “Aren’t you coming?”

She yells back. “I can’t swim.” I sigh at that. I should have figured someone who lives in the freezing cold would never learn how to swim. I cross back over completely soaking the rest of my body. I climb out of the water.

“Alright, just hold onto my back and I will swim with you across.” She smiles as she gets onto my back. I barely keep her up on my two feet. For someone so small she weighs a ton. I mean she looks like she is barely pushing one hundred and thirty pounds, but she feels at least over two hundred. I slowly descend into the water where it is at least capable to hold her up. I slowly swim across as she tightens her grip on me. Which makes it somewhat difficult to swim but I am able to slowly get across the river. Once I hit the river bank, she claws her way onto the solid ground. I roll my eyes and climb up also. “You’re welcome.” She dries herself the best she can and looks at me.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.” She says this with such sincere, I am caught off guard. I usually don’t get thanked or get shown any appreciation. I shrug it off and act like it isn’t it a big deal. I start to head to the barn with Lupa in tow. I notice that Nicolas is still inside the house. So, it is easy to get Lupa within the barn without him noticing. I look at her and point to the loft.

“That is where you will be staying until night comes. Do not make any noise, come down, or do anything that reveals yourself. Understand?” Lupa is more interested some tools nearby then she is in listening to me. I frown and yell at her. “Did you hear me or not!?” She blinks and looks at me. She nods and then I can hear her stomach growl somewhat loudly. She frowns and holds her stomach. I turn to leave. “I will go get you some food. You climb up there and stay there.”She smiles and somewhat quickly climbs up there. I watch thinking that she is going to cause me a lot of problems. However, I know that she will be worth twice my weight in gold. Before entering the house, I look toward the forest. I scan the edge to see if I can see if there any signs of any wolves. Even though both Nicolas and Lupa say there isn’t any wolves out there doesn’t mean that it is true. I give up after a couple of minutes and head inside the house.

I see Nicolas sitting inside his office and I slip past the door without him noticing. I head into the kitchen. The kitchen is overflowing with food. Nicolas tends to eat his body weight in food a week it seems like. I grab a few items. A couple of apples, some dried meat, and a loaf of bread. Of course, I will need to come in tonight a take at least a couple of days’ worth of traveling. If I can get Lupa to the nearest town Wealdstone, it will be smooth sailing from here on out. No more working as a slave, no more worrying about rather or not I am going to make it through the winter, No more..

“What do you think you are doing?” Nicolas says snapping me from my thoughts. I frown and shrug.

“I am getting something to eat. I haven’t eaten today.” Nicolas gives me a look and slightly smirks.

“Find any of those wolves you were talking about?” I frown and walk past him. He grabs me by the arm. “Listen girl. Do I have to remind you where you came from? I could easily sell you back to them. So, I don’t want any more attitude. Understand?” He takes the loaf of bread from me putting it back on the wooden table. I glare at him but say nothing. He laughs letting go of me. I make my way out of the house. I feel angry at him for bossing me around. I am lucky though. He did take me out of an awful place. After I get out of the house, I walk to the barn and toss the food up to the loft. I climb up there and see Lupa sleeping in my makeshift bed. I frown and kick her foot.

“Wake up. I got food.” She sits up slowly and yawns. She instantly looks at the food and smiles. She reaches for the meat and starts to eat it. I frown and start to eat an apple. Before I can say anything, she finishes all the meat before I can get any. “Hey, I wanted some of that.” She pauses and looks at me.

“Oh… I am sorry. I didn’t know..” She looks like she means it. I roll my eyes at her response.

“It’s fine.” I finish my apple and lay down in some hay that is stored up here. By now it’s about late afternoon, so the sun is starting to set now. Usually by now, I would walk the river for anything valuable but now I am stuck babysitting Lupa. I close my eyes and rub my temples trying to get rid of my headache. Before I know it I slowly start to fall asleep.

I am woken with a jolt when I hear someone snore in my ear. My eyes fly open and I see Lupa laying next to me. Her snores are quite but out of pure surprise I push her off the little hay pile. She wakes up as she hits the wooden loft. I frown and sit up. “What are you doing?” I ask a little too angry. She frowns and sits up.

“You were whimpering in your sleep. So, I tried to help you.” I frown and check outside for the time. It’s at least midnight by now and I decide that it is time to go.

“No. I wasn’t whimpering in my sleep and now we are leaving. I just need to get a few things from the house then we can go.”

I hope to ground and head to the barn door. I open the doors and feel the rush of air of the night’s air. The usual breeze feels hotter like there is a lot of fire nearby. I step outside and notice regiment of soldiers. I stop and curse with everything underneath the stars. “Stay up there. I am going to try to get them to leave.”

I can barely hear Lupa snores from the loft. This is just perfect. I slowly make my way up to the house. I pause hearing a pounding on the main house’s door. I look to see a group of soldiers at the house. I see Nicolas opens the door. “What is the meaning of this?”

“We are looking for the White Wolf of the Northern Mountains. We believe that she is hiding out in your woods or she has fooled you into believing she is a human. She stands taller than any other women. She has pure white hair and light purple eyes.”

I pause and instantly freeze up. Oh god. I am not with a mage but a shapeshifter.