A THREAT. AN ADVICE

Dawn couldn't believe that she would be stuck in this kind of situation. She thought, once she was away from her pack, she wouldn't have to face these dirty tricks anymore.

Seriously, they thought she would give in to them after she survived someone like Emily?

"Helping me wash my hair? With cold water?" Dawn stood up from the bathtub and got out of there in quick succession. She stared at the two buckets of cold water near Kynes legs.

Kynes smiled at her. "Lady, you must not know about this, but it is our tradition to wash our hair with cold water."

"If you don't like it, I can get warm water for you," Pyllo chimed in. "Usually, we bathe in cold water as well."

Dawn narrowed her eyes. "Really?" She wondered how thick their skins were if they managed to take a bath in cold water. "You fill your tubs with cold water too?"

Kynes and Pyllo looked at each other and then nodded.

"Yes, my lady." Pyllo looked her in the eyes.

"We prepared warm water because we assumed it would be too much for you to immediately follow our tradition," Kynes added.

Dawn walked away to grab a towel to cover her nakedness and then crossed her arms in front of her chest. She didn't say anything, which made them nervous.

"So, the tradition here is to bathe in cold water? How long did you usually dip in?"

"Ten… fifteen minutes…" Pyllo said hesitantly. She didn't know what Dawn was up to, especially when she was smiling harmlessly at her.

=============================== 

Pyllo rushed across the hallway as she hastily looked for Fern in the kitchen. She was breathing raggedly, a trail of white vapor from her mouth. The moment she saw the old woman, she immediately tugged her to come.

"What is it?" Fern frowned because she had to oversee the preparation for dinner tonight. She didn't have time to go with her.

"You need to help Kynes." Pyllo looked like she wanted to cry.

"Why? What's wrong?"

Pyllo told her about what Dawn did to Kynes on their way to the bedroom and this shocked Fern, because she didn't expect that woman to be so daring. The first impression she gave her was one of a timid and well mannered young woman.

After all, she heard Dawn was an alpha's daughter. She was a highborn, of course, she would have some restraint and not act like a wild girl.

Didn't she get any training back in her pack? But then, Fern remembered a very important piece of information; the Luna of the Moonlight pack died during an attack so many years ago and only recently her father got a chosen luna, which meant she grew up without a mother. No wonder, there was no surprise there…

"She made Kynes dip in a bathtub filled with cold water!" Pyllo cried out. "What should we do now? What if the alpha finds out?"

Fern clenched her jaw. "Stop crying."

Once they arrived, Fern quickly barged into the bathroom and found the sight that Pyllo had described to her.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Fern asked sternly, she immediately ordered Pyllo to help Kynes get out off the bathtub. The poor girl was shaking, her body drenched and her teeth were chattering.

"I am the one who should ask what the meaning of this is…" Dawn's voice startled them all. Their hearts skipped a beat, because no matter what, she was an alpha's daughter, in this case, she was the next in the line for the title. Of course, her voice carried a lot of intimidation if she wanted to.

Kynes started to beg for forgiveness, as she fell to the floor and sobbed so hard, but Dawn ignored her because right now, her attention was solely on Fern.

"Answer me, what is the meaning of this?!" Dawn narrowed her eyes viciously, which left Fern flustered, as she lowered her voice, making it sound as polite as possible. "This is how you treat someone outside of your pack?"

Fern balled her fists. She tried to calm her nerves after the intimidation that Dawn displayed, putting her in her place.

"You misunderstood the situation."

"How can I misunderstand the situation?" Dawn was still wearing her towel to cover herself, thankfully, this room was warm enough for her to wear this little. "Did they do this on their own? Or was there someone behind it, who gave them the nerve to do it to me? Either way, someone should be punished for this incident. I want the alpha to be notified about this immediately."

Pyllo and Kynes went pale when Dawn brought up the alpha's name. Both of them immediately knelt down, pressing their heads on the floor. They were too terrified to incur the alpha's wrath.

"The alpha is busy," Fern said.

"I want to see the alpha."

"My apologies for this mishap. I will make sure to train them well. I will give them the punishment they deserve, but please don't blow this small matter out of proportion." Fern had a way with her words. "We don't usually have an outsider in our pack. If you make this matter big, people will talk about you and I am afraid it will put you at a disadvantage."

Dawn pressed her lips.

Fern was not exactly like Julia, but she still found herself in a situation similar to back when she was still in her pack. Life really sucked. She hated it. She felt a lot of hatred, but what she did was; suppress her anger.

She was alone here, one wrong move, her life would be miserable. If she wanted to have a peaceful life, she needed to tread her path carefully.

"Is that a threat?"

"It's advice, my lady." Fern toned down her attitude a little bit. "This is not your pack, people will naturally be wary of you."

It sounded like a threat in Dawn's ears, but this was not something new to her.

"Fine. But, I will be the one to decide their punishment."