Almec was missing.

The first part of the storm had arrived, snow began to fall across the town during the early morning hours, and the wind became so strong that its blowing against my window tore me from my dreams.

No matter how much I tried to go back to sleep, the noise and the cold prevented me from doing so, so I decided to take the opportunity to prepare breakfast.

That was the first moment I realized Almec's absence.

Once breakfast was made I tried to find him so he could eat before Faustina woke up and devoured everything that was left. I checked the rooms he usually goes to, I also sent him a message, but nothing worked.

At the time it seemed strange to me although I didn't worry too much since there was a possibility that he was still sleeping.

The second alarm went off at lunchtime. It was a copy of what happened during breakfast with the difference that Faustina helped me look for him.

That's when I started to get worried.

It wouldn't have been a problem if he had told us that he was leaving the mansion or if he had responded to my message. The reality was that we didn't have a single sign of Almec's whereabouts and the weather situation didn't help calm my nerves at all.

I was barely able to take a couple of bites of my lunch, scenes from the previous night with Almec captured me, preventing me from doing anything other than repeating his words over and over again in my mind.

He had said that he would stay with us in the mansion, why couldn't I find him anywhere?

Even my attempts to contact Geldra and Feinid were futile. The storm had probably cut off the signal, which meant that Faustina and I had no chance of communicating with the outside.

Worry crawled through my body, every second a new horrible outcome appeared in my head. I was about to explode but I had to restrain myself for the sake of my sister.

Faustina followed me every step, she was like my shadow in my task of finding Almec. She remained silent for a long time, her adorable questions were absent, and she didn't make a single request all day.

I couldn't let her drown like I did, even if it meant pretending for a while.

We went into the art room, that place had the ability to make Faustina smile no matter what happened.

She went into a trance as soon as she held her brush, her attitude taking a complete turn while she painted.

"Is Almec coming back soon?" she asked, not taking his eyes off her canvas.

I left the book I was trying to read on my lap. "I'm sure he will, he's the strongest among us, a storm can't win against him."

"I miss him, I didn't see him yesterday either so I haven't seen him for two days." A pout was present on Faustina's face while she painted.

"I miss him too," I confessed, clutching the book until the pain grew in my hands. "Once he returns we will be able to spend a lot of time together, the storm won't let us leave the mansion anymore."

"You promise?" she asked, turning her head towards me.

I didn't want to make her a promise that I didn't know if I could keep, instead I asked her a question. "Do you want to see him that much?"

"Yeah. I really like Almec a lot, although sometimes he hides from us he is very good and funny when he doesn't disappear. Almec is my favorite in the whole pack."

A hint of warmth brought energy back to my body. It made me very happy to know that Almec was also important to Faustina. He was incredible, he insisted on how dangerous and unpleasant he could be to others, and yet, he had won my sister's and I's affection in just a month.

With a lot of effort I hid the smile that was about to grow on my face and faked a pout. "Your favorite person in the whole pack? You want him more than me?"

Faustina ran up to me and gave me a hug. "No, you are my favorite person in the entire universe."

"Well, then I can accept Almec," I said, returning the hug.

"Can he be part of our family?"

The question caught me off guard. My hands released my sister and I pulled away to look into her eyes. "Part of our family, how?"

She smiled at me. "Well, Almec can be like my cousin or my uncle, or much better, you can marry him and then he would be my older brother."

My brain stopped working for a second. I had no clue how that idea formed in my sister's mind, but what I did know was that it was very dangerous.

The worst part of it all was that I could imagine it.

An image of Almec and I getting married emerged in my mind, immediately my heart raced and my body filled with tingling.

No coherent answer came to my head, there was only one option left: escape.

"It's getting late, I'm going to prepare dinner before hunger makes you cranky."

I didn't give Faustina a chance to answer, just one more question could be the end of me. I had enough of her crazy proposal, the idea of marriage haunted me while I reheated the food, and with each passing minute, it seemed less crazy.

What was I doing? Almec was missing and I was having hallucinations about our marriage.

Fighting my mind and evading Faustina's questions during dinner was exhausting. By the time we got back to our room I could barely connect two ideas.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Faustina asked me after settling into bed, her eyes were already closing on their own from fatigue.

"I have to clean up some things in the kitchen and then I'll be back. Don't wait for me to sleep, It won't be long."

My mind fell apart as soon as I left the room. The insecurity that I couldn't show to Faustina came to the surface. Although I didn't want to accept it, I was desperate. So desperate that the rules lost their weight.

The details of the left wing went unnoticed by me, even Almec's bedroom was no more important than the decoration of the rest of the mansion at the time. The colors of the curtains and the size of the bed were trifles compared to my discovery: Almec was nowhere inside the mansion.

Should I go out and look for him? Anyone with any common sense would have backed away as soon as the first gust of the storm hit their face.

But I had already surpassed the limit of common sense.

The coat that I found in an old closet did nothing to cover the cold that penetrated my bones. The snow and the strong gusts of wind prevented me from seeing the path. I could be at the beginning of the garden or near the entrance gate, everything looked equally white.

I don't know how long I spent walking in the storm before my legs lost their strength. One second I was struggling to take another step and the next I was on the ground unable to move.

I couldn't feel my body anymore, everything was numb. My vision became blurry. I was about to fall asleep when I saw him.

A black wolf was running towards me.

The animal let out a cry when it reached my side. His red eyes locked onto my face as he lay down next to me, then, he nuzzled my cheek.

At first I didn't understand what he wanted to tell me until I noticed that he continued to press his body against mine.

With the little strength I had left, I crawled up onto the wolf's back and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stood up without wasting any time and started running.

That's when I let myself fall into exhaustion and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again the storm had disappeared, in its place I was met with the welcoming warmth of a fireplace. The tongues of fire that danced around the trunks attracted me as if it were an act of magic. I could have spent hours in the same position if it weren't for the voice that broke the spell.

"I see you're already awake." Almec approached the sofa where I was lying. "Can you explain to me how it seemed like a good idea to go for a walk in the middle of the storm?"

I used my arms to lift my body into a sitting position, I didn't want to look weak before starting the discussion that I already imagined was coming.

"I'm still waiting for your answer," Almec said. He crossed his arms and looked down at me.

"I was looking for you," I explained. I didn't want to use more words than necessary.

"In the middle of the storm?"

His look of disappointment lit my anger. He was the least indicated to criticize me after disappearing all day.

"If you had told us where you went I wouldn't have had to go looking for you." I began to raise my tone of voice. "Is it so difficult to let us know the day before or leave a note?"

"I don't need to tell you where I'm going to be all the time, so far as I know it's not part of our deal."

I stood up, my legs still trembling from the cold that refused to leave me.

"We don't need to write a list of every detail, it is common sense. I was worried!"

Almec was surprised at my shout, for a second he was frozen.

"You were worried?" he shouted at me after reacting. "I found you about to freeze in the middle of the storm. If I had arrived a few minutes later you would be dead."

"I wasn't thinking straight," I answered. "You disappeared the whole day and I could not communicate with anyone outside of the mansion, what did you expect me to do? Stay here doing nothing?"

"What I expect is for you not to put yourself in danger!" Almec's eyes turned red and he took a few steps back, getting away from me. "I went to check how you two were as soon as I arrived and when I didn't find you I thought the worst had happened. Then I felt that you were in danger, I never ran so fast in my life."

"You felt that I was in danger?"

"Of course I do, I am..." Almec interrupted himself. "It's nothing, just forget it."

The anger disappeared from his voice, I could only see concern on his face.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left the mansion, especially in my human form."

Almec sighed. "And I'm sorry for disappearing without telling you, to be honest I'm not used to anyone caring where I am. Next time I'll let you know." He approached me and offered me his hand. "It's not good for you to be standing, you need to rest."

Almec helped me sit on the sofa and then sat down next to me without letting go of my hand.

"Why did you go outside? I imagine it must have been something important to leave the mansion on a day like today," I asked him.

"I had to receive an order that arrived late to the pack and I was also waiting for someone to do this." He stretched his body to reach a package from the table behind the couch. "It's for you."

I didn't know what to say when Almec put the package in my hand. I looked at it in amazement until he motioned for me to open it.

It was a fur coat.

"I sent it to be made with what I hunted. There is another one for Faustina. I realized that you didn't have anything warm enough for stormy days."

"It's beautiful, thank you." With a big smile I tried it on. It felt warm and soft.

Almec stood up while I continued admiring his gift. "You can stay here, rest as much as you need. I'm going to use another room."

"No, it's your room, if anyone has to leave it's me."

"I don't think it's good for you to move now."

"Then stay here," I insisted. "It's not like we're going to sleep in the same bed, I can use the sofa. And I will feel better having some company."

I whispered the last sentence.

"Okay, but I'm sleeping on the sofa. It's that or I'm leaving."

That was the best deal I could get. It was already too much for Almec to stay in the same room as me at night. So I decided to settle for small steps.

Almec's bed was more comfortable than mine, without a doubt it must have been the best bed in the entire mansion. It didn't matter that I tried to stay awake until he fell asleep, in the end the sleep got the better of me.

I fell asleep almost immediately after closing my eyes, but before that happened I felt someone caress my cheek.

"Please don't scare me like that again."

I heard someone say as I crossed into the dream world.