Alessia lurched into a run as a reddish-brown wolf sprang from a bush to her left. Shit, she thought as the wolf snapped at her hind legs, I was being so careful.

Alessia made a rule of staying away from pack wolves and their territory. Rogues weren’t welcome in any shape or form and were, more often than not, killed on sight. Not to mention, staying away from other wolves meant that there was less chance of her father finding her, or worse, him.

A speeding blond figure at the left of her peripheral appeared.

Great, another one. 

The blond wolf joined its mate in attempting to make Alessia’s leg into a chew toy. They seemed to make a game of chasing her. Who could catch the rogue first?

 It wasn’t a game to her.

Alessia was terrified of what they’d do if they caught her. What if they weren’t even pack wolves? What if they were a part of his army? Had she lost her bearings and wondered back to his base? Would she be forced back?

Fear spurred Alessia’s limbs to run faster. The trees blurred into smudges of brown and green.

She was barely aware of where she was running, the only thought in her head was ‘Go’.

Alessia narrowly missed a sudden tree trunk that blocked her path. She managed to avoid hitting it head first, but her front-left leg meshed painfully with its hard surface and she was thrown off-balance.

She skidded on the forest ground, hurriedly attempting to get back on her paws. However, the leg that had befriended the tree refused to let her place weight on it.

She pulled it up close to her body and stood on her 3 good legs. She growled at her pursuers even as liquid terror beat directly from her heart. They would not take a submissive wolf back. Alessia resigned to fighting as best she could.

“Back off.”, she barked at her two offenders.

“Afraid, rogue?”, taunted the blond wolf.

So, they were from the nearby pack, not from her father or from him. He wouldn’t have called her a rouge had he been a rogue himself or knew who she was.

Upside, they weren’t there to capture her. Downside, they would most likely kill her.

“Not a chance.”, she retorted, hoping she sounded a lot braver than she felt.

The red-brown wolf growled with annoyance, “Then you’re a dumb rogue, at that.”

He launched himself at her.

Alessia tried to evade, but he latched onto her injured leg as she jumped away. He bit down hard, piercing through her fur and skin.

Alessia let out an involuntary whine of pain. She thrashed in an attempt to escape him, but that only caused him to clamp down on his new plaything. He was too strong for Alessia to shake off.

You’re too weak to fight and too weak to run, she thought, glumly, this is how you die. How pathetic.

A blur of black passed her vision. The reddish-brown wolf was ripped from her, leaving deep gouges in her leg. She whined in pain as she saw the red stain her white fur.

What had caused the red-brown wolf to be yanked off her so violently?

In front of her, barely a meter away, stood a bristling, black wolf.

The red wolf had been thrown back against a tree, but he’d limped next to the blond wolf, immediately bowing his head in submission. That was all the indication Alessia needed. He’s their Alpha.

It made sense, the black wolf dwarfed the other two and Alessia shivered to think how small she was in comparison.

Alessia wondered if his arrival meant a savior or a worse enemy.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying, so she assumed that they were communicating telepathically as packmates do. The Alpha seemed angry and Alessia distantly wondered why.

After a particularly loud growl, the two wolves hurriedly sprinted toward their territory. The black wolf turned to face her.

Alessia felt the urge to cower when she met his ferocious, emerald eyes.

The black wolf snarled, “Leave.” The single word held a promise of danger should she disobey.

Alessia would have readily taken her opportunity to leave, had the blood loss and exhaustion not rushed her body as fast as the adrenaline took its leave. Alessia collapsed on the ground.

Not completely in her right senses, Alessia replied, “I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but I’m not in your territory.”

She was playing a dangerous gamble, but the she-wolf was too tired and light-headed to move or care at that point in time.

As expected, the Alpha’s body tensed; his claws dug into the ground.

He glared, his eyes piercingly sharp, “What are you doing so close to our territory? A spy for Ethan?”

Alessia froze. She had not heard that name in a while and had hoped to never hear it again.

Shocked, she blurted, “What?”

“Don’t play dumb, rouge.” He snarled, savagely, “Perhaps you were looking for information to take back to your master.”

Rage flooded Alessia. She stomped her paw on the ground in an attempt to stand, but soon realized the movement was a mistake. Alessia collapsed to the ground in frustration.

The Alpha made a strange motion.  He seemed to have moved forward slightly as though he thought she was trying to escape.

“Listen to me, Alpha,” she said, emphasizing the word ‘Alpha’, mockingly,” I have no master. I don’t report to anyone or take orders or submit to self-absorbed Alphas just because you’ve got a hand me down makeshift throne, which makes you think you’re entitled to treat everyone else as inferior.”

Alessia struggled to her paws, painfully, being sure not to put pressure on her front-left leg, she glared at the Alpha, “You pack wolves and your corrupted systems. You look down on rogues like you’re so good. Check out your packmates,” she tilted her head towards their territory and said, sarcastically, “they seem very good, don’t they?”

The Alpha defended, indignantly, “You’re a rogue close to our territory. For all we know, you could be intending to steal or attack or- "

Alessia morphed back into her human form. Blood quickly started to soak in her black T-shirt as she cradled her left arm against it. Despite that, she stared fiercely at the Alpha, “I’m part human, not some wild animal, just because I’m not in a pack.”

Alessia took a deep breath to calm down, “In any case, I didn’t expect you to understand. I’ll leave you to your misguided beliefs.”

She turned her back to the Alpha, eager to get back to her cave and far from this pack.

Only, black spots clouded her vision with the few steps she took.

She’d lost more blood than she had thought. Alessia felt her body tip sideways and waited to hit the hard ground.

Instead, her body fell to skin. The black spots spread, but she focused her eyes enough to see the source of arms that had caught her.

A glimpse of black hair, striking green eyes and a conflicted expression was all she saw before the black swallowed her whole.