Gale refused to let go of my hand for hours. I couldn't complain. The terror of almost losing him made me cling to him like I never had before.

"Do you think he's a rogue?" I whispered to Gale in the late evening.

"I prefer the term lone wolf," Rhydian, who was walking about fifty metres ahead of us, called before turning around to wait for us to catch up. He had hardly spoken a word throughout the entire journey

"Have you ever had a pack?" I asked.

"Once upon a time, but I prefer not to get into it," he answered. 

Besides his name, we knew nothing about him. He was, by all means, the mysterious shadow in the woods.

"It's getting dark. We should set up camp here," he declared stopping at a slight clearing.

"I'll collect firewood," Gale replied. 

I squeezed his hand before uttering a "be careful," and watching him wander back into the forest.

I sat on the floor and began gathering kindle wood for the beginning of the fire whilst Rhydian removed his pocket knife and began making wood shavings from dead twigs to start it.

"Do you ever get lonely?" I asked him.

"On occasion," he answered briefly.

"How long have you been living like this?" I asked.

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

"Sorry," I apologised and he stifled a laugh.

"Thirteen years," he replied looking up at me. 

"I can't think of anything worse than being alone in these woods," I shivered.

"That doesn't surprise me. You are only young," Rhydian stated. 

I observed his wrinkleless skin and young features and wondered how old he could possibly be. I decided twenty-five at the very most.

"He's an Alpha, isn't he? Gale," he said looking around to see if Gale was still in earshot.

I nodded.

"He was, but only for a few months," I answered

"Once an Alpha always an Alpha," Rhydian stated shortly before Gale returned his arms piled with twigs and sticks. 

Less than half an hour later, the light had completely faded and there was a raging fire before us. I shuffled closer to Gale as the temperature plummeted more with every icy breath.

"You'll get used to these temperatures," Rhydian said from the other side of the fire. "I did."

He'd been whittling a stick with a pocket knife into something for a while now. With nothing better to do, I'd been watching him trying to work out what it was.

"Have you been to the waterfall?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Is it as good as they say?" 

"That depends on what they say."

"Is it safe?"

"That depends on what you are running from."

Gale put his arm around my waist and pulled my head into his chest, "Try not to worry, Robyn."

"She has every reason to be fearful. You are running from the Elder Pack," Rhydian said with a short laugh.

"You know about the Elder Pack?" I asked.

He looked down at the knife and stick in his hand as if he had let something slip he hadn't meant to.

"Yes," he stated. A few seconds later, he continued. "A fair amount actually."

There was another pause before Gale brought up an idea I hadn't even thought of, "You ran away from it too, didn't you?" 

Rhydian looked up at us, his eyes solemn and tired, and shook his head. Not in a denial fashion but more like he was trying to shake himself free from something.

"It was a long time ago now," he said.

"But you survived it. Just as we are desperately trying to," Gale said. "How?"

"You are forgetting that I was not their Alpha. I was just a boy, worthless, irrelevant, not worth the bother it would be to hunt me down."

I exchanged nervous looks with Gale.

"You, Gale, are far more valuable. The Elder will do everything in his power to stop you," he added. 

"If it's me they want and not you," Gale began taking my hands. "Then I should go back and Rhydian will take you to the waterfall alone."

"Gale-" I protested.

"You saw what Thawn almost did to you. I'd rather sacrifice myself a million times than have anything remotely like that happen," he continued.

"No-"

"Raven and Blaise are not far behind us. If I go now, they will take me and you can get to safety. They won't come after you," he said interrupting me again.

"Gale!" I shouted immediately catching his attention he looked down at me and took a deep breath in. "Stop it, please. I'd rather die than let you do that for me. It's not even up for debate, okay? I don't want to live without you and you promised we'd be happy together."

After that, it was quiet for a while. I seem to have got the message across but I could tell Gale was still thinking about it. Rhydian, who had silently watched the whole thing, sat brooding too.

"Robyn, try to get some sleep," Gale said eventually.

"You aren't going to go, are you?" I questioned.

"No. Of course not," he said as I laid down and rested my head on his leg.

"Promise?" 

"I promise."