Walking through the Northern Pack on my own two feet, feathers gone, I munched on a granola bar. I barely tasted it as I looked around. Shops were opening, people were walking around, smiling, laughing.

What a world.

And here I was, alone, as I walked around and past them.

If I’d been smaller, I would’ve gone by unnoticed, I was sure of it.

It wasn’t as though I minded attention anymore. It wasn’t that, just… these people led very different lives than me. It made me think of all the possibilities my future could’ve held, had just one thing been different.

If I hadn’t been a twin.

If my brother was born just nine months younger, then where would I be?

The sad thing was, it wasn’t something I could even imagine anymore. I couldn’t forget the time spent at that tiny secluded house by the lake. I couldn’t forget that I wasn’t raised in a pack. It was a hard mentality to change to, living around others, being constantly in contact with others.

Friends.

Family.

In the past, there were only two people that fit into either of those descriptions. And they were both my family. My biological family.

And then, I’d lost both of them for something I truly didn’t understand at the time. My brother and I weren’t dangerous. We weren’t criminals. We’d done absolutely nothing wrong and we were locked up, too weak to escape, too young to recognize what was happening.

After years passed, I’d lost everything.

I’d lost my best friend and brother, and we also lost our mother.

Eventually, I found a new family in Henry and James. But I wasn’t sure how to make friends. Sure, there were other people my age, we talked sometimes, we recognized each other, but we were never close.

Ever.

Maybe that was because I tried, without realizing, to keep everyone at a distance... so that I wouldn't be hurt like that again.

I sighed, looking up at the castle through the gates.

Would Elizabeth even be considered my friend?

Worry of some kind swooped through me. I didn’t get it. We weren’t that close… I shouldn’t be worried.

How do I really define the word friend anyway?

We were…

We were probably closer to acquaintances, anyway, I thought sadly. It wasn’t anything more than that really…

I spotted Bay, her mother, as I walked closer. She waved and gave me a smile. It looked like she was standing there alone, though. Adam wasn’t here?

“Hi, Fallyn.”

“Hello.”

I inclined my head to her as I glanced around curiously.

She waved a hand in the air a little, shaking her head in exasperation.

“Adam got caught up with work. He said to tell you that you can check out the space before he gets out here. He’ll meet you on the ground near there.”

“Ah, I see.”

She pointed me in the right direction after expressing her gratitude that I was here to help them. I accepted it and walked on the grass around to the back side of the castle. So Elizabeth lived in this area?

I reached the base of the tower at that end, surprised it was this tall. From a distance it didn’t look so big. Though, I supposed I shouldn’t have been all too surprised. The castle was bigger than the cabin the reunions were held at. Of course it’d be this big.

As I glanced up, I saw a window. I could barely see a head of light-colored hair just inside, some of the strands floating around on the breeze.

I fought the smile that tried to rise to my face as I tried to sneak a peek at the princess hiding up there. It really was like those fairytales, wasn’t it?

What was I supposed to shout? Let down your hair, or something? Was I supposed to climb it like a thief looking for treasure?

I silently scolded myself.

As if I’d be the prince.

Really…

It was ridiculous, wasn’t it?

And she wasn’t exactly some damsel in distress. She went and picked this tower of her own volition.

Though, she did like reading a lot… part of me wondered if she secretly wished to be some kind of hidden princess…

I was still kind of hungry from the long flight over here, but I unfurled my wings all the same, closing my eyes and rolling my tired shoulders a little before gazing back up at the tower.

Staying closer to the ground as I took a few hard steps, I used my legs to help push off.

I tried to focus, I really did, but the second I glanced at the window, and saw her, I felt my own breath leave me in a rush.

Are you serious, I whimpered quietly within my own mind, how could this be?

She was smiling down at a book in her hands, laughing lightly. She was really just sitting there by a window with no frame, no screen, nothing…

Nothing to keep us apart.

I silenced the voice that said that.

Stop it.

I rose higher in the sky.

Ignore that feeling, just for a minute. You have work to do, I scolded myself.

I took a deep breath and let it out as I felt the sun hit my face. I was above her room. Above the walls. There were a few materials and tools already up there on the flat top, and a set of stairs leading down to what I assumed would be her room. I nodded to myself a little.

A greenhouse.

Focus on the greenhou…

I dared a glance down at her, only to feel the thunderous roar of my heartbeat in my ears. One of my hands was clenched tightly at my side, in an attempt to keep my sanity.

Nope.

Can’t do it.

I can’t stay up here this close to her right now. My tired mind and body weren’t helping me out at all.

I started to fly back down, and caught sight of her again. She was staring at me, though I would’ve felt it even if I hadn’t actually glanced over. It was like she was looking straight into my soul.

Leaning dangerously out the window, I saw something fall from her hands. She scrambled a bit to catch it, but was just shy of reaching it. Without even a spare thought, I dove down to catch it, my hand clutching onto the binding, firmly closing it.

Her book?

Or rather, it seemed to be a journal.

Hers?

I stopped midair, as soon as it was within my grasp, and gazed up at her. I flew around the tower in a circle instead of heading straight up to her, just to give myself a moment to think this over.

This was dangerous.

She was…

Right now…

I stopped at her window, getting a clear view of her face for the first time in ages.

So close. We were so close right now.

Resting a hand on her windowsill to steady myself, I plopped the book into her waiting hands. Though, it didn’t even seem to register as she stared at me with those wide eyes, her fingers just gently curling around the edge of the cover.

I let out a weary breath.

Of course, it was her.

Wasn’t she always the one on my mind?

Hadn’t she been the one to turn my life back around, pulling me from the depths of my sorrow?

“Fallyn.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

How could it be anyone but her?