I'm not much more than a shell for days. My nights are plagued with thoughts of Chelsea and Enoch being tortured, beaten, killed, along with the searing pain in my ribs whenever I move, cry or breathe. I feel sick whenever I eat. I spend hours in burning hot showers. I haven't slept.

I miss Chelsea, her peals of laughter that grow with the more she drinks, her smile that lights up a room, the way she looks down at her baby as if she's paradise embodied in human form. I miss Enoch with his intelligent brain and his jokes that make the tough days move faster and the way he treats every single person with genuine kindness. I don't want it to be all stolen from them. I want them to be safe.

The bright spots are the distractions around me. My brothers are as hectic as ever, making premature jokes about their kidnapping and almost death-experience that has the whole room laughing. Dad has been constantly checking on me, comforting me and has basically been my rock since everyone else I love is yet to make an appearance. Then there's the Winter thieves, who have been nothing but loving and helpful. I've made fast friends with all of them, including Pandora who is the most reserved girl here and Alyx who spends most of their time painting in their art room. They let me sit and watch for two hours one day, and allowing me to sit in that kind of comfortable silence while watching the therapeutic brush-strokes on the canvas meant more to me than Alyx would ever know.

Elodie and Lilith are the girls who wake me up this morning. Lilith is the girl with the dreadlocks and honey eyes while Elodie is the only girl who's my age who has one striking blue eye while the other is deep brown. There's nothing basic about any of the Winter Thieves, each of them so individual and powerful and unique and all with names you'd find in a fairytale story. In fact, it is like living in a fairytale most of the time. Living in a huge cabin mansion, surrounded by miles of woodland with the people here, sometimes I find myself trying to find something that convinces me that I'm not dead and in heaven.

That something comes very quickly every time; heaven wouldn't allow two innocent people to be kidnapped and the subject of all kinds of abuse.

Elodie excitedly unlocking a door to the outside snaps me from my depressing thought. She opens it and runs out, her dress billowing against pale legs as she enters a section of the garden dedicated to the wolves.

Yeah, wolves. A whole field of trees and small, wooden houses for the fourteen wolves they own. I was apprehensive when I first met them a few days ago, but they have been trained by professionals to be as friendly and domesticated as golden labradors. They only attack when they see you as a threat, but will happily play and cuddle if they decide they like you.

Lilith and I walk out together, watching as Elodie starts to rile up the dogs and gets them chasing after sticks in no time. I chuckle fondly as one of them catches one and bounds towards me, dropping the stick at my feet and sniffing at my legs. Lilith and I plop ourselves onto the grass and I immediately have a dog getting comfortable on my lap.

"You got the Alpha female there," Lilith says, stroking the dog's head. "She likes you."

I smile, scratching through the thick, ash grey fur. "What's her name again?"

"Maiya. And her Alpha male is Echo. We're pretty sure she'll be having more puppies soon."

"What do you do with the puppies?"

Lilith shrugs, throwing a few dreadlocks over her shoulder and showing the buzz cut on the left side. "We'd like to keep all of them, but if we did we'd have at least fifty of them by now. We mostly sell them for good money, but not to gross people who will abuse them until they kill them for sport. You'd be surprised how many people all over the world want a pet wolf in their garden."

"I always did," I laugh, dodging Maiya's excitable kisses. "They're pretty badass." As if to prove my point, the wolves start to howl in unison. It's incredible to see until it's one in the morning and the sounds rip through the night.

"They're so badass," Lilith agrees. "And you should see them in action. They can bring a huge ass man down before he could even shoot at them."

Elodie rushes over to us, collapsing down onto the grass. She's followed by a slow, smaller dog who curls up into her lap and settles down.

"And this is Fido," Lilith tells me. "Runt of the litter and blind in one eye. He was one we couldn't get rid of and the only one we would never put in any sort of danger."

Elodie giggles, cuddling the pup to her. "He's secretly everyone's favourite."

"Doesn't look so secret to me," I chuckle.

We sit with the wolves for a while, the sun refreshing on my skin and distracting me from the lingering pain of my wounds, both mental and physical. Eventually, Lilith and I stand up and chase the wolves across the fields. I don't do it for long, giving up as soon as my the pounding ache rips through my ribcage, but it feels freeing. The breeze whips through my hair and Lilith and I start laughing hard when two wolves start play fighting, something I was sure I had forgotten to do.

I take a seat on a bench at the edge of the field, watching as more of the Winter thieves, along with Dad and my brothers, come out to sit in the sun. I allow myself to think briefly about my own thieves and what they might be up to. I'd like to think that they're making their way over to me right this second and that they stay safe while doing so. I don't think I could deal with anymore gut-wrenching news. Finding out that they didn't make it to me... I don't even know what I'd do.

Before I can stress myself out any further, I spot Crystal making her way over to me. She reminds me so much of an angel in that moment, the rays of sunlight creating a halo above her head while her long, white dress billows in the breeze. She gives me a soft smile as she sits beside me, and up close I can see that she has white eye-liner on, the lines so neat I can't believe it was done by human hands.

"How are you doing?" she asks, squinting slightly in the sunlight.

I shrug, bracing my hands on the bench while watching the grass tickle at my feet. "I'm okay," I say. My voice still feels rough, as it has ever since I woke up.

"You're already looking better," she tells me. "Your bruises are healing nicely."

"It's not really the bruises bothering me," I admit.

Crystal nods in understanding, looking out into the field. "I'm sure they're the least of your problems right now."

"You could say that."

She reaches for my hand, takes it in hers. "They are coming for you, you know," she reassures. "You'll see your thieves again."

"Except for Chelsea and Enoch," I say, before wincing as I realise it came out harsher than I had intended. "I'm sorry. I know you and your thieves put your lives on the line to get us all out. I'm grateful that you saved us, and took me in."

Crystal lets out a small, warm laugh. "It's okay, Aurora," she says. "I'm pissed too. I was so sure that we could get you all out of there, but they had Chelsea and Enoch before we could do anything. I wish more than anything that we could've saved all of you, and I know you do too."

I nod, biting down hard on my bottom lip to prevent it quivering. I should steer the conversation away before it turns too raw for me to handle. "There's just... there's a lot that doesn't make sense to me, even though you've explained a lot, " I say.

"What doesn't make sense?" she asks.

"Well, for one, I guess I don't understand why you'd help us like that. Risk your lives to help Danielle and save us. I mean, I get that we're allies, but why go to such extremes to save us?"

Crystal chuckles. "I wasn't lying when I told you that Danielle and I have a lot of history."

I smirk slightly, looking over at her. "What kind of history?"

She tilts her head, a faraway smile on her face. "We must have been... sixteen? I mean, we've known each other our whole lives, our mothers having been friends when even they were kids, but it was around that time that we saw a lot more of each other. We'd go off together whenever our parents were in meetings or on raids and would spend hours in fields and running through woods. Honestly, there were times when I tried to convince Dani to stay in the woods. We'd live together in a small cottage and live the kind of life that involves the opposite of death and guns and violence. But, at the end of the day, we always went home.

"But then," she lets out a small chuckle. "Then... we got even closer. Now, I've always been sure of my sexuality. Ever since I was a kid, I knew that boys and men just weren't it for me. It's stayed that way ever since. But Danielle wasn't sure, and she started getting curious. So we tried out... stuff."

My eyebrows raise, a smile playing at my lips. "Stuff?"

Crystal nods. "Stuff," she confirms. "We spent a lot of time together in the woods... alone... and I've got to admit that it was probably the best few months of my life."

I can't help but 'awh' out loud. There's something about two, young girls finding love in the woods that warms my heart.

But Crystal's smile drops slightly. "But, of course, we didn't end up living in a cottage in the woods as lesbian lovers. Instead, I didn't see her for a while, and eventually I found out that she had fallen in love with Adam. At first I was a bit pissed, thinking she had played with my feelings for nothing more than a bit of fun, but after we met up again when we were around twenty, we talked for hours and we finally understood that our love was platonic, not romantic. I love her to pieces, but I know she's happy with Adam and one day I'll find a nice girl to be happy with, too."

She shakes her head. "Anyway, getting back on track, I've always known I'd do anything for her. We're both leaders now and we understand the love we have for our thieves- I have no idea where I'd be without my girls- so I knew that this was something we had to do. Danielle asked for our help, and she didn't have to ask again. I'd never give up on her and I know she'd never give up on me."

"It's good that you two stayed close," I say. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"Don't worry about it," she says. She leans back on the bench, feeling the sun on her face. "Everyone is in love with Danielle, she was never going to chose me."

I sigh. "Someone will one day. You're just as beautiful and amazing as she is."

"I so hope you're right," she laughs.

The girl I recognise as Pandora, with her bright orange curls of air, slowly makes her way over. She gives me a small smile and I return it, before she turns to Crystal. The main thing I've noticed about Pandora is that she's quiet and reserved, similarly to Alyx.

"We were thinking we could make a picnic, since it's so nice out," she says, her voice so small and soft. "Do you think you could help?"

"Of course," Crystal says, standing to her feet. She turns to look down at me. "Aurora? Care to join us?"

I nod my head and follow the two of them inside.