"Good morning, my amateur herbalist," Dax said in a sing-song voice. He had gotten up early to greet Aura with breakfast at her tent. Since she was here, he planned to make the most of their time together. Aura had spent the last two days gathering herbs, fungi, and other ingredients for her remedy. One of the shops in the village has a greenhouse that she has set herself up in.

"Your herbalist?" Aura turned to him with a raised brow. "I don't remember being your anything, Dax." She walked toward his office with a bit of sass in her walk.

"Correction. You are MY responsibility, so you are my amateur herbalist." Dax smiled at the wild woman holding the door for him. He carried in the breakfast and set the rich smelling hog wraps down. Dax thought he saw a wildness or hunger in Aura's eyes as she stared at her breakfast. "Hungry?"

Aura's attention snapped back to Dax. "Don't change the subject. I volunteered to help the victims of the plague. I am not nor will I be owned by anyone. So, no, I am not yours, captain." She sat at the table without another word and feasted on her breakfast.

Dax chuckled at the wild woman devouring her breakfast. Aura was probably right about not being owned by anyone. Dax couldn't imagine anyone being able to tame Aura. He thought that made Aura seem much more attractive. Still, Aura didn't seem to want a simple kind of life that Dax had always wished for, so he wondered why she had truly come here. "Aura?"

Aura looked up from her honey lettuce-wrapped hog meat. She saw a perplexed Dax looking back at her. "Yes, Dax. I do love meat." She smiled at him.

"That's good to know, but you never told me why you came here. I thought you were in hiding." Dax said, watching her every move. He wanted to understand why she was here.

Aura sighed. She had hoped he wouldn't ask that, but he's entitled to answers since she is volunteering with his organization. "Well, yes, I am still in hiding. When you told me about the plague hitting this area, I knew I wanted to check on my mentor, I mentioned him before. That's one of the reasons why I am here." Aura explained.

"That makes sense, but what's the second reason? You said you had two and seeing me was a bonus." Dax wanted her to continue. He remembered her talking about her mentor before, but he wasn't thrilled she had come looking for a mentor that she had a crush on.

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"Secondly, I possess skills that can help these people. Being a herbalist is a hobby, but I am good at it. So, if I can help in some way, then I want to. Also, who wants to come looking for me in a plagued village? I figured it would be pretty safe here." Aura answered. She knew Dax would have more questions, but she hoped this would satisfy him for now. Her remedy was waiting for her at the greenhouse. "Walk me to the greenhouse, captain?"

Dax figured there was more to Aura's story, but he would let it go for now. He prayed that his gut was right about Aura being a good person and not posing any danger to anyone here. Dax nodded at Aura's request and finished his juicy hog wrap. The two of them cleaned up the office and headed out for the greenhouse.

As they walked, Aura began feeling tired from the continued use of magic to stay human. With each step, her body filled with a slight chill. Dax unknowingly brushed against her, causing her to squeak at the hot and cold sensation in her arm. Dax burst out laughing at Aura's sudden noise. He asked if she was sensitive to touch, but she nodded, accepting his excuse. Aura's body began to ache, but she continued to internalize her condition. When they reached the greenhouse, they introduced Aura to her babysitter for the day. Aura politely greeted him and continued her way into the greenhouse. She knew would have to let her human disguise go soon, but first, she would need to lose her babysitter.

Two hours later...

Aura ran toward the woods at the edge of the village. She could feel herself become faint as the magic that kept her human started to fade. Her body was slowing as she reached the woods. On her hands and knees, she was crawling into a bush, so she could keep from shredding up her clothes. The ring on her finger glowed red, indicating Aura was almost out of time. She barely escaped her clothes when her body returned to silver wolf form. Aura tumbled out of the bush, down the hill, and rolled right into the thorn bush, causing her to howl in pain. She was already weak from the continuous magic flowing through her to maintain her human shape. Her vision blurred as she struggled to walk.

Aura could see another form approaching her. The figure approaching her was in no hurry to her. She tried to stand up, but her legs couldn't support her weight any longer. Aura silently cursed herself for waiting too long to shift back into her natural form. She had spent the last three days working hard to brew a herbal tea or potion that would help the plague victims. Dax had watched her every move while she had been busy at a greenhouse in the village. Aura didn't blame him for being cautious since she had a few unexpected appearances, and they have only known each other for a week. Besides, Aura had welcomed the attention until about two hours ago. The magic in her body had caused her to feel chills and the burning of her insides at the same time. The power her ring grants comes with limits and a cost. The limits were that each user can only take the form of one different race and the form only lasts three days. The cost though is every day that Aura spends as a human is another day off of her life, so Aura has lost about two years of her life already.

Aura looked up at the figure grabbing her, but she couldn't make out what the figure looked like. The negative thoughts filled her mind as to what would happen next to her. All she could do was let herself fade in the figure's arms as she prayed that everything would be okay. If the figure was a hunter then he would have killed her already, or would he? Aura's eyes shut, and her mind went blank because her body needed rest.

The figure held Aura's silver form in his arms as he headed deeper into the woods. The figure was careful not to drop the silver wolf, climbing uphill and around trees. He tightened his grip on the wolf because the trees thickened along the path toward his cabin. He whispers to Aura, "I have you now, little wolf."