Chapter 1

Feyre hunts in the frozen woods near her village, desperate to secure food for her starving family. While stalking a doe, she discovers a massive, unnaturally intelligent wolf—possibly a faerie creature—also hunting the same prey. She shoots the wolf with a rare ash arrow, kills it, and manages to carry both the doe and the wolf's pelt back toward home.

Feyre has been hunting in the snow-laden forest for hours from her perch in a tree, but the blizzard has made finding game nearly impossible. Hungry and desperate—her family has no food left—she descends and positions herself near a frozen brook where animals still drink. A small doe appears, offering the promise of a week's worth of food. However, before Feyre can fire, a massive wolf emerges from the brush, easily the size of a pony, with an unnatural stealth that suggests it may be a faerie creature rather than a mere animal. The wolf's intelligence and awareness are evident in its golden eyes. Feyre decides to act, drawing her prized ash arrow—a weapon specifically crafted to penetrate faerie magic, purchased years ago from a peddler. She shoots the wolf in the side; when it turns toward her with unmistakable awareness and intelligence, she fires her second arrow through its eye, killing it. The doe survives the initial attack but Feyre secures the animal. Weighing her options and the burden she can carry, Feyre skins the dead wolf, uses its pelt to wrap the doe's wound to prevent blood from trailing back to her home, and departs for her cottage several miles away, leaving the wolf's carcass behind.