Wheeling Gull Isle Don't tell me what you think that I can be

Even if she'd understood him, Doe would not have been able to heed his words. Her body was thin and wasted, and her muscles begining to atrophy from lack of use and lack of sustenance. Lifting her head had taken a mighty effort, and now that it had been set down, she did not know if she would ever lift it again.

The world faded - grew strange and muzzy. Doe let out another unhappy whimper, almost aware that she did not want to die. But a moment later, the terrible, aching cold she hadn't even known was plaguing her began to fade away. Everything that was Doe became ensconced in a warm cocoon, far from where the dark wolf - or anyone else - could eaver reach her.

And, although her heart might continue to beat for a few hours more, and her ribs continue to rise and fall, the wolf that had been Doe was already gone.