2. Ghost

Caleb's POV

Caleb did not know what he was expecting her to say but this certainly was not it. He dropped his hand away from his face and said the first thing that came his mind.

"But you're dead"

A look of profound sadness crossed her face as she looked at the ground "Perhaps I am" . She spoke it so quietly he was not sure he was supposed to hear it.

He studied her more closely, she was about 5'7" , her hair was dark chestnut brown, not at all like the Artic Moon clans royal line famous silver manes.

"It's dye" Caspian his wolf enlightened him "I can smell the chemical on her, and magic, so much magic"

He sensed it too. She reeked of it, it's what drew him here in the first place.

He had just finished another stuffy condensending dinner with his fat nosed entitled brat of a cousin, Alpha Mortimer. He visited yearly to try and shapen up Morty's pack, but they, like Morty, viewed peace time as an excuse to gamble, drink and fornicate whenever the urge took hold. Caleb was the unwilling babysitter of his families greatest disappointment. It was beyond taxing on his nerves.

Tonight's dinner devolved into a infuriating battle of stubbornness and stupidity. One of Morty's warriors had wandered into a neighboring pack territory, got so drunk he couldn't remember his own name, trashed the bar and when finally forced to leave, patted the packs third on the ass and told her "That's what he keeps you around for". Quite frankly, Caleb was surprised that the man was still alive.

Alive, but in the Moon Guard prison, where Mortimer seemed to think was a gross insult to his pack and his leadership. Caleb spent the whole evening talking the fool down from initiating a war he couldn't win over a mediocre (but apparently good to have around for a good time *insert sarcasm*) warrior.

He was so frustrated by the end of that circus that the only thing he could do was shift and run. It was either that or permanently remove the pain in his ass cousin from existence.

He had been running for nearly an hour when he arrived at a small clearing with a cottage and smelled the magic. He was not like other wolves. He had gifts he kept hidden to protect him and Caspian. If the counsel known the true extent of his lineage he would've joined the dead long ago. But alone, in the seemingly abandoned wood, he released some of his own magic, and lifted the glamours around the decrepit cottage. Not enough to remove in case of trigger traps, but enough to see through the veil.

And then there she was before him. She was on her hands and knees humming a solem tune removing weeds from the small vegetable garden. He and Caspian watched her in silence captivated by her self assured graceful movements. Caleb hadn't wanted to break the spell she had cast over them and watched silently on.

Eventually Caspian grew inpatient 'I need to know who she is' and urged Caleb forward.

'Settle down buddy, let me change first. She doesn't strike me as the type to be happy with a naked stranger in her midst"

Caleb silently closed the veil and shifted effortlessly into his human form. He put on the spare clothes he usually kept in his shifter back pack, the turner to face the cottage again.

'Alright, let's see what we got here' . And walked purposefully through the glamour.

Seeing her again was apparently all Caspian wanted to do, and he pushed Caleb forwarded with such force it took him by surprise. Feeling annoyed with his wolf, compounding with the nonsense earlier with Mortimer, the mystery woman seemed to be the last straw on his tight wound patience.

"Who are you" he demanded. She yelped and swung around, holding a pathetically small garden shovel in her left hand. Caleb felt a twinge of guilt startling her, but kept his expression firm. He was going to solve one problem tonight.

She was stubborn though and his already stretched patience was nearing its breaking point by the third time he asked her for her name, so he put a nice implied threat at the end. He'd about had enough.

He could see her weighing her options after this latest escalation and saw the decision cross her face. She lowered her eyes, and spouted the most ridiculous thing he had heard today. Which was a pretty impressive achievement considering the day he had.

"I am no one. I aid the witches with their meals and chores. Just a lowly maid"

Caspian snorted in his head "Yeah and Mortimer is a wise and just ruler..."

Good Goddess did she actually think I would fall for that. The woman was a wolf, in that fact I had no doubts even although Caspian still hadn't sensed her wolf . She had a confidence and comfort about her here in the middle of the mountian not found in humans. Her eyes were watchful, consistent with hunter instincts and he could see her nose flare as if she were assessing him as well. She was a predator despite what she tried to hide.

And when she lifted her chin to defy me.... I was certain she was a high ranked wolf. Royalty had never crossed my mind though.

Destiny Starfrost. Daughter of Alpha Riker, the most respected wolf of his generation. Loved by his people and respected by the Full Moon council. Who was betrayed by his witch and slaughtered in the night leaving no survivors.

Except one apparently. Who seemed to have taken residence with the creatures responsible for her family and packs death. No wolf and dripping in magic. Alone in the woods. Was she trapped or protected? He couldn't tell.

All this took only a moment to digest, and he tried to process the millions of questions swirling in his brain.

Then he opened his mouth and asked the only one that actually mattered.

"How did you escape?"