Chapter Summaries

Ghost woke up reincarnated as an injured white wolf in a snowy forest and was taken in by a wolf pack led by a giant wolf. After the wolf hunted a deer for her, Ghost refused to eat the raw meat, and a man's voice spoke from behind her.

• Ghost woke up in a wolf's body, discovered an abdominal wound, and realized she was stranded in a snowy forest.
• A pack of wolves found Ghost, and their giant leader licked her wound before leading her deeper into the woods.
• Ghost followed the leader through the mountains as her wound healed quickly and hunger overtook her.
• At a lake, the giant wolf killed a young deer and offered Ghost half, but Ghost refused to eat it raw.
• The giant wolf growled at Ghost, then strange cracking sounds came from behind her before a man said, "You really are a handful."

Ghost, now trapped in a wolf’s body, traveled with a wolf-man who explained that her injury kept her from transforming and urged her to return to Great Snow Mountain. After running through the night, they reached a snowy cliff, where the wolf-man ordered her to climb.

• A wolf-man appeared, scolded Ghost for associating with humans, and roasted a deer for them to eat.
• The wolf-man said the cubs had captured the humans who hurt Ghost and planned to offer them to Great Snow Mountain.
• Ghost pretended she could not transform because she was injured, and the wolf-man blamed her human dealings for making her stupid.
• The wolf-man led Ghost toward Great Snow Mountain, transforming into a wolf mid-leap as they raced through the night.
• At a steep cliff, the wolf-man threatened to bite Ghost’s tail off unless she climbed.

Ghost, now in the wolf pup Bai’s body, witnessed the pack’s leader order Bai to kill two captured humans, then watched the wolves kill them and leave her behind. Terrified by her growing wolf instincts, Ghost fled toward human territory, but hunger led her to a stream where she reluctantly accepted a fish from a brown bear.

• Ghost followed the giant wolf up the snowy mountain to a cave where two injured humans knelt beside a crimson spring.
• The black wolf ordered Bai to kill the humans, but Ghost protested in a little girl’s voice and refused.
• Bai’s mother killed the humans, and the wolves left after the black wolf told Bai goodbye.
• Ghost came to her senses alone, realized the pack had departed, and resolved to return to where she had been injured before seeking human territory.
• Ghost found fish in a stream but was too inexperienced and afraid of a brown bear to catch any herself.
• The brown bear struck a fish onto the bank, and Ghost ate it gratefully.

After learning to transform into a human girl, Ghost survived in the mountain woods with help from a bear but left as winter approached. She stole food from a remote ranch, and when she returned for more, the ranch owner found her in human form and asked why she was there.

• Ghost learned to switch between her wolf and human forms, though she could remain human for only a short time.
• She made a home near a stream and befriended a bear by sharing food and bringing it larvae, honey, and berries.
• As winter neared and food grew scarce, Ghost decided to seek supplies from a remote ranch she had been watching.
• Ghost stole two lambs and other food from the ranch, then took the lambs back to the bear.
• Ghost returned to steal more food, but the sheep alerted the ranch owner and his men; she stayed human and pretended to be a lost, cold child.
• The ranch owner found Ghost in the sheep pen and gently asked what she was doing there, and Ghost replied that she was cold.

Ghost stayed at Old Bill’s ranch after the hunters searched for a sheep thief, while Harley the Cunning Wolf became suspicious of her. Harley later examined strands of her platinum hair and kept them wrapped around a wolf fang, leaving Ghost unaware of the danger he might pose.

• The rancher’s wife gave Ghost a meal, while Harley and the hunters collected payment and took sheep instead of the rest of the money.
• Harley approached Ghost, touched her head, and left after giving her a smile that frightened her.
• Old Bill and his wife put Ghost to sleep in the sheep shed, where she returned to wolf form and suspected Harley would come back.
• Ghost overheard the couple praise the Stark lords and wondered when she had arrived in the world of Winterfell and the Starks.
• At the Dreadfort tavern, Harley sniffed Ghost’s platinum hair, assaulted a drunk who bumped him, and later wrapped the hair around a wolf fang.

Ghost used the name Arya while staying with Old Bill and Mesha, whose kindness moved her to accept their offer to remain with them. She worried about how she would help the impoverished couple afford to feed her.

• Mesha woke Ghost and served her a meager breakfast, while Ghost pretended to enjoy the porridge to spare her feelings.
• Mesha left to graze the flock after warning Ghost to hide in the cellar if danger came.
• Old Bill and Mesha returned that evening and gave Ghost their small portion of salted meat.
• Ghost thought of her absent mother and agreed to stay with Mesha and Old Bill.
• Ghost considered the hardship of life under House Bolton and worried that her appetite would soon exhaust the couple's food.

Ghost helped Mesha tend the sheep and searched the countryside for food while Harley Snow approached the lord of House Bolton with news that he had found a Skinchanger. The lord dismissed Harley’s claim, and Harley left vowing to find proof.

• Ghost joined Mesha on the pastures, where the sheep obeyed her out of fear.
• After Ghost tended the flock on several occasions, Mesha trusted her to watch it alone.
• Ghost found molehills while looking for food, and Harley Snow questioned Old Bill about strange sounds and missing livestock.
• Harley Snow entered the lord’s meeting and asked to fight for House Bolton in the coming hundred-man melee.
• Harley Snow told the lord he had found a real Skinchanger, but the lord mocked his claim.
• Harley Snow threatened Roose Bolton and promised to bring proof of the Skinchanger.

Harley Snow clashed with Roose Bolton after the council meeting, while Ghost learned more about the upcoming Hundred-Person Hunt and her place in the timeline. That night, she confronted a hungry black wolf near the sheep pen and wondered if it wanted to be friends.

• Roose Bolton threatened Harley Snow with a sword, but Harley taunted him until attendants restrained Roose, who then ordered them to watch Harley and investigate him.
• Mesha told Ghost that the Hundred-Person Hunt would draw the northern lords and ladies, including Rickard, Brandon, Ned, Benjen, and Lyanna Stark.
• Ghost realized that Rickard and Brandon were still alive and that the major events of the rebellion had yet to occur, then considered selling snacks at the hunt.
• Ghost heard the lambs bleating and smelled blood, so she quietly went to investigate the pasture.
• Ghost found a black lone wolf near the sheep pen, faced it with a growl, and wondered whether it wanted to be friends.

Ghost fought a telepathic black wolf who proposed to her, then hid and treated him after nearly killing him. She returned home before dawn, where Old Bill’s recent dealings with Harley the Cunning Wolf made her suspect Harley was up to something.

• The black wolf telepathically asked Ghost to mate with him, and she attacked him after he insulted her.
• Ghost defeated the black wolf, discovered his old injuries had reopened, and carried him to an abandoned farm.
• Ghost cleaned and bandaged the black wolf’s wounds, then hurried home before Bill and Mesha woke.
• Mesha and Bill found small animals Ghost had caught, and their praise for her grew as the family sold the pelts.
• Old Bill told Ghost that Harley the Cunning Wolf had been buying his wild game to feed the dogs, making Ghost suspect Harley had a hidden motive.

Harley Snow prepared a Wolfswood hunting ground and planned to use the Hundred-Person Hunt to kill Roose Bolton after securing Old Bolton’s appointment. Meanwhile, Ghost tended the wounded black wolf, who woke and promptly became a noisy nuisance.

• Harley Snow took Little Roose from the Dreadfort and rode through Winterfell into the Wolfswood, where he entered a hidden hunter’s hut beneath an ironwood tree.
• Harley examined a powerful crossbow and thought of the wolves as prey in a burial ground he had prepared.
• Ghost found the black wolf awake, fed him a field mouse, and argued with him after discovering he was tied up and still badly wounded.
• When the black wolf panicked at seeing a human, Ghost knocked him unconscious, changed into human form, and replaced his bandages.
• Ghost gathered edible roots and insect nests, then considered earning money by grilling and selling field mice.
• Harley resolved to bring a young Skinchanger to Old Bolton, gain command of Bolton soldiers during the Hundred-Person Hunt, and avenge his foster father by killing Roose Bolton.

Ghost discovered that the black wolf had escaped and went to town when Bill and Mesha failed to return, only to follow a message from Harley Snow to Sharp Point Forest. Roose Bolton pursued him with his men, and the chapter ended with Ghost confronting Harley and asking where Bill and Mesha were.

• Ghost found the black wolf's hiding place empty and later worried when Bill and Mesha did not return from town.
• A tax clerk admitted that Harley Snow had paid him to imprison Bill and Mesha, and Roose Bolton realized the scheme might be meant to draw someone out.
• Roose learned that Bill and Mesha had adopted a young noble and ordered his men to follow Ghost, bringing the couple along.
• Ghost followed a message from a dirty child to Sharp Point Forest, unaware that Roose and his men were tracking him.
• Ghost reached a clearing and found Harley Snow waiting in a tree, then asked where Auntie Mesha and Uncle Bill were.

Harley Snow captured Ghost and shot her shoulder while demanding to know what animal she could turn into. Ghost transformed into a direwolf and attacked him, but fled after Roose Bolton's men shot her, leaving Harley wounded and surrounded.

• Harley Snow questioned Ghost about her shapeshifting and shot her in the shoulder when she denied being a skinchanger.
• Ghost transformed into a white direwolf, pinned Harley down, and demanded to know where Bill and Mesha were.
• Roose Bolton watched Ghost transform and decided he had to have her.
• Ghost bit Harley, then fled into the forest after arrows struck her.
• Several arrows hit Harley, and Roose Bolton emerged with his men and dogs to surround him.

Harley killed Roose with a hidden crossbow trap while Ghost fled, wounded and pursued, until Lyanna Stark found her and took her in. As the pursuers tracked Ghost, a black wolf emerged from the forest and confronted them.

• Harley lured Roose close by offering to reveal the secret of Skinchangers, then triggered a concealed crossbow trap that struck him.
• Ghost, weakened by an arrow and pursued by Bolton men, found the resolve to pull the arrow from her shoulder and run toward a shooting star.
• Lyanna Stark complained about Robert Baratheon's marriage letter while camping with Layson Karstark, then heard a child's plea for help and rushed toward it.
• Lyanna found Ghost unconscious and injured, insisted on bringing the white wolf back to camp, and overcame Layson's objections.
• House Bolton's pursuers lost control of their dogs when a black wolf with glowing red eyes appeared from the forest.

After rescuing an injured white wolf in the Wolfswood, Lyanna had Maester Luwin treat it and persuaded her father to let her keep it. The wolf recovered overnight, and Lyanna hurried to see it the next morning.

• Lyanna returned to Winterfell with Laisen and the wounded wolf, then asked Maester Luwin to treat it.
• Maester Luwin removed the arrows and bandaged the wolf, while Lyanna questioned him about skinchangers and werewolves.
• At dinner, Lyanna told her family she wanted to keep the wolf, and Lord Rickard agreed to let her keep it with the steward's help.
• Lyanna and her brothers suggested names for the wolf, and she dreamed of riding with it before Robert Baratheon chased her as a boar.
• The next morning, Steward Olf waited outside Lyanna's room, and she rushed to get dressed so she could see the wolf.

Ghost woke in a Winterfell stable after being rescued and befriended Lyanna Stark, who wondered whether the strange white wolf was more than an animal. As Lyanna worried about marrying Robert Baratheon, Maester Luwin searched Winterfell’s ancient records and found clues about skinchangers and the Wolf Spirit King.

• Ghost woke in a cage with a treated arrow wound, cuddled a frightened rabbit, and pretended to be an ordinary dog.
• Lyanna visited Ghost, soothed her, and arranged food after Olf warned that moving the injured wolf would be unwise.
• Ghost ate the food Lyanna brought and fell asleep, while Lyanna wondered whether the wolf was actually a she or even an animal.
• Lyanna asked Rickard whether she truly had to marry Robert Baratheon, but he reassured her about Robert without explaining the political dangers he feared.
• Lyanna privately doubted Robert was the person from her dream and wondered whether she could ever choose someone else.
• Maester Luwin searched Winterfell’s underground records and uncovered references to skinchangers, nature magic, and the Wolf Spirit King.

Lyanna named the white wolf Ghost, and the two became close companions at Winterfell while Ghost secretly planned to keep Lyanna from meeting Rhaegar. As the Hundred-Person Hunt approached, Lyanna sent Ghost along with Ned, who began to wonder whether Ghost was really a wolf.

• Maester Luwin studied a damaged historical text and wrote to the Citadel after recovering a reference to Skinchangers.
• Lyanna chose the name Ghost, and Ghost became her constant companion as she hunted and explored Winterfell.
• Ghost resolved to protect Lyanna from the events that would lead to her meeting Rhaegar and dying in childbirth.
• Lyanna learned about the Hundred-Person Hunt and decided Ned would take Ghost with him while she stayed out of the contest.
• Ned agreed to take Ghost hunting, promised to make her honey-roasted meat, and wondered why Lyanna had called Ghost “she.”

Ghost accompanied young Ned through the Hundred-Person Hunt camp, where Brandon reprimanded Ned for not practicing enough. After Ghost dreamed of the Three-eyed raven beneath Winterfell’s heart tree, Ned brought her to bed and cuddled her, leaving her flustered but warm.

• Ned chatted with Ghost about the northern houses and the Hundred-Person Hunt as they toured the crowded camp outside Winterfell.
• Brandon scolded Ned for not practicing his swordsmanship and archery, so Ned took Ghost back to the garden in a gloomy mood.
• Ned and Ghost napped beneath the heart tree, where Ghost dreamed of a ruined Winterfell and the Three-eyed raven watching her from the vines.
• Ghost woke unsettled from the dream, and Ned stroked her before she led him back for dinner.
• That night, Ned undressed and pulled Ghost into bed with him, and she lay stiffly in his arms before settling into the warmth.

Brandon Stark led his hunting party toward Hoarfrost Hill despite the guide’s warnings, and a blizzard forced them to shelter overnight. Ghost sensed danger as they crossed the mountains, and the chapter ended with a wolf pack surrounding the party during another storm.

• Brandon rejected the guide’s safer routes and drove the hunting party toward Hoarfrost Hill in search of rare large game.
• A sudden blizzard forced the party to shelter beneath a cliff, where the hunters shared rumors that a Bolton heir had been attacked by Harley Snow and kept muttering “werwolf.”
• Ned asked Ghost whether she was a Skinchanger, but Ghost did not know what she was and suspected the Three-eyed raven might visit her dreams again.
• Brandon ignored the guide’s advice to take an easier route and led the party over steep snowy cliffs despite Ghost’s sense that something was following them.
• Ghost heard wolf calls and warned the pack away, then led the party onward, but worsening weather forced them to split up and hide in snow caves.
• Wolf howls echoed through the mountains, and the hunters realized the pack had found them.

Ghost helped Brandon and Ned’s party survive a deadly wolf attack, then returned to Winterfell to recover while Brandon turned the hunting competition into a brawl. As Ghost became ill from going into heat, Ned took her to a hot spring, where the full moon transformed her into a blond human girl.

• Ghost defended Brandon, Ned, and the others from a pack of wolves, and the surviving wolves retreated at dawn after many casualties.
• Brandon followed Dustin’s suggestion to ambush rival hunting parties, while Ned returned to Winterfell with Ghost; Brandon later won the Hundred-Person Hunt amid a large melee.
• Rickard prepared to take Brandon and Lyanna to the Riverlands for Brandon’s betrothal to Catelyn Tully and Lyanna’s meeting with Robert Baratheon.
• When Ghost became feverish and restless, Olf diagnosed that she was going into heat, and Lyanna refused to let her go find a mate.
• Ned secretly carried Ghost to Winterfell’s hot spring, where moonlight transformed her into a blond human girl; he froze when he found her there.

Lyanna and Ned discovered that Ghost had transformed into a human girl, whom she named Arya, and brought her to Lord Rickard for help. Rickard agreed to shelter her but asked her to work toward becoming Crown Prince Rhaegar’s betrothed.

• Lyanna and Brandon learned that Robert Baratheon would be coming to Riverrun, and Rickard told Brandon to look after his siblings on the journey.
• Ned hurried Lyanna to the underground hot springs, where they found Ghost unable to change back from her human form.
• Lyanna lent Ghost clothes, and Ghost told Lyanna and Ned that she was the wolf they knew and asked them to call her Arya.
• Lyanna and Ned brought Arya to Rickard, who agreed that House Stark would shelter her and asked to speak with her alone.
• Rickard offered House Stark’s support in exchange for Arya working to become Crown Prince Rhaegar’s betrothed.