I tried to keep my panting quiet as I listened and used my Omega senses to figure out what was going on above. I usually didn’t come across many wolves in no man’s land, so I had lost the habit of using them constantly.

My Omega senses were rusty from disuse, like stiff muscles that needed to be limbered up, but I could sense that all four had gathered around and were inspecting the small bush. The bramble bush wasn't much larger than the average wolf, so I wasn't sure how much of a deterrent it might be for them. They knew I was here, and they were still focused on me.

I sensed one of the wolves shift into his human form. Not long afterward, I saw a rope pass over the burrow entrance. My heart started racing once again when I saw and heard the bramble bush shake. A man grunted as he and one of the wolves hauled on the rope looped around the base of the plant.

Another wolf joined in, and with a rustle of leaves and loose dirt, the bramble bush was uprooted from the thin rocky soil. Moments later, I could see blue sky through the entrance. The view was blocked as a black wolf peered into the tunnel. His sharp brown eyes locked onto my frightened ones as he gauged the distance between us.

He backed up and started digging at the tunnel entrance. The dark brown wolf joined him, and their powerful legs made short work of the loose dirt and pebbles as they widened the tunnel.

I squirmed against the wall behind me and looked around desperately, but I was definitely at the end of the tunnel and there were no half-hidden escape tunnels. As they got closer, I started shaking. Soon, there wasn't enough room for two to dig and the black wolf backed up to let the dark brown one take over the entire digging operation.

I whined in fear; at this point, he was close enough to reach me with his paws if he tried. Seconds later, he sat back on his haunches as he examined the remains of the tunnel. I blinked in surprise as he shifted. I pushed myself back against the dirt behind me as far as I could as he suddenly leaned forward.

He reached a large hand into the tunnel as he said, "Come on out..."

My wolf form didn’t stand a chance against the large man, but I snapped my teeth in a warning. It didn’t seem to even bother him as continued to reach for me. I swatted at his hand with my paws, trying to dig my nails in. Not that a scratch would stop a werewolf in either form, but there wasn’t much else I could do to discourage him. He reached further into the burrow, and I growled a terrified warning.

His fingers brushed my shoulder and I swung my head around to bite his hand. My teeth clamped down on warm skin and tasted the faint taste of metallic blood as my teeth had managed to break the skin.

His reaction was a grunt of surprise and he jerked his hand upwards in an automatic reflex. The movement ended up banging my head against the top of the tunnel. Somewhat stunned by the impact, I let go. He quickly took advantage of my dazed condition as he skillfully grabbed the scruff of my neck.

I yelped in fear as I tried to scratch him with my claws since I couldn't land a second bite due to the way he was holding me. My claws scrabbled against his wrist and forearm in panic as he dragged me out of the tunnel. I writhed in his grip as I tried to get loose.

There wasn't enough room to shift, and even if I could, it probably wouldn't help me any against a trained fighter. He quickly pinned me to his chest with both arms; it was a known tactic to prevent runts or young pups from shifting back to their larger human form. I struggled in his grip to no avail.

He backed out of the hole he had dug before turning around to face his three friends who were all standing behind him in human form. They looked like they were in their mid-twenties, and they were grinning at their accomplishment of digging me up. The guy holding me chuckled as he told them, "Sure has sharp claws, for a moment I was beginning to wonder if I had managed to grab a cat."

The previously tan-colored wolf stepped forward, and I redoubled my efforts to get loose. The man holding me had me firmly pinned in his arms though, and my struggles didn’t faze him. The approaching man blinked at my fearful attempts before speaking as if to a scared wild animal, "Easy. Calm down."

I practically froze in disbelief as he started to softly pet my fur, although not much of it was visible the way the man had me pinned. I stared at him in shock. They had waited in ambush for half an hour, chased me halfway through no man's land, dug me out of the ground, pinned me, and then one of them told me to calm down? What the hell was wrong with these guys?

He blinked in surprise. "Wow. This kid sure has soft fur."

The guy holding me snorted. "Yeah, well, those teeth and claws aren't so soft."

Another guy came in closer and tilted his head as he examined me in growing confusion. "Uh, guys. I don't think that’s a pup."

The other two looked at him like he was crazy before looking back at me. They thought that I was a pup? They obviously needed their heads checked. Pups resembled puppies with oversized paws and tails. My body proportions were normal for a grown wolf – I was just much smaller. To give them credit, I was close to the size of an eight-month-old child if they were in wolf form.

They all turned to face me with varying expressions of disbelief and confusion. The one guy sniffed. "Well, he doesn't have any scent."

Pups didn't have any real scent until they hit adolescence, but they were missing the obvious fact that I smelled like the forest instead of having no scent at all. That was a huge difference for those who paid attention to what was going on around them.

I tried twisting a bit, but this guy was obviously much stronger than me. Another guy came closer, and I pinned my ears back even further with nerves. He spoke quietly, "Some rogues are able to camouflage their scent. Look at his ears, they aren't oversized like a pup's would be. Come to think of it, a pup would not have been able to evade us like that. He had far too much coordination and pulled way too many evasion tricks for a pup."

The guy holding me looked down in surprise and growing doubt. "But a runt wouldn't be able to survive as a rogue..."

The fourth guy came closer and the two others backed up to let him through. I stilled in fear as my Omega senses picked up his Beta blood. He wasn't an actual Beta, but was likely the brother to one and definitely had Beta parents, as well as the added strength and speed that the bloodline gave him.

He suddenly leaned his face close to mine, and I bared my teeth in a silent terrified warning. He glanced up at the guy holding me as he commented, "And you thought those were baby teeth?" Someone off to the side started chuckling. The one with Beta blood looked back at me. "If we put you down, can you shift so we can properly apologize for our actions without you inflicting damage on us?"

I blinked slowly, although it wasn't as if I had much choice in the matter when I was surrounded by four fighters... It was somewhat surprising that they wanted me to shift so that the apology could be given face to face. It was a more respectful gesture than if they had just apologized to me while I was in my small wolf form.

Had they meant me harm, they wouldn’t have asked me to shift since I was almost certainly carrying weapons in my human form. I nodded warily at the guy who had been speaking. The one who pinned me had already loosened his grip as he started to look embarrassed. He knelt down to put me gently on my feet before standing up and taking a few steps back to give me some room.

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Had they seriously thought that I was a pup or was this a trick? They obviously had the advantage over my wolf form. They had also recognized me as a rogue at this point, and rogues often had tricks hidden up their sleeves in case they got cornered in human form. Rogues could sometimes be quite unpredictable, so he was being understandably cautious, even if I was a runt. I glanced around at the four surrounding me before shifting.

A mere second later, I blinked as I was standing on two feet. I warily eyed up the four around me as I shifted my weight and weighed my possible escape options. The guy who had pinned me was turning bright red and all of them looked shocked. I glanced at myself, but I was wearing my usual clothing.

I had a heavy belt knife on my belt as well as my bow and arrows on my backpack. I knew I had a handful of slim blades balanced for throwing hidden in various sections of my clothing, but they were well hidden from sight.

I glanced back at them. One on one, I had half a chance of escaping into a tree. With all four surrounding me, I wasn't going anywhere unless they let me or I had an impossibly lucky break. Where was a feral when you needed one?

The one guy gaped at me, clearly surprised. "You're a girl."

I blinked slowly at his shocked greeting, although the way the previous man had pinned me, they probably had just assumed that I was male like most rogues.

He turned bright red in embarrassment at his slip of the tongue and my silent wary stare. He looked to be in his early twenties and was a bit slimmer than the other three guys. He shuffled his feet as he mumbled, "Uh, sorry about that. It just took me by surprise..."

I nodded slowly in acceptance of his apology, my senses told me that it had been sincere. The fourth guy stepped forward, and I turned to face him. He was the one with the Beta bloodline.

I shifted my weight uneasily, and he cleared his throat before he spoke, "Please accept my apologies for what happened. We thought that you were an orphaned pup. None of us has seen a runt before and the possibility didn't cross our minds. We truly did not intend to harm you."

All of my senses told me that he was telling me the truth. I relaxed a bit and nodded again. I was curious though, and asked, "Why would you think a young pup in the middle of no man's land would have to be an orphan?"

He gestured to the east. "Last night, we heard a bunch of howling and arrived just in time to help a pack fight off a dozen ferals. We caught a whiff of smoke from the west and came out to ensure that no one else had been injured. We came across a camp, although we didn't see anyone around. We checked the area, but came up empty. On the way back, we caught a glimpse of you and thought that you were a pup. We waited to see if you were calling your parents or group in. When no one showed up after so long, we thought that they may have been caught by the ferals which would have left you as an orphan. We decided to catch you and make sure that you got adopted into a pack."

The guy who had pinned me shrugged as he added his own explanation. "It didn't seem right in our minds to leave a pup all alone in no man's land. We just didn't realize that you weren't a pup. Sorry about pinning you like that, but I have to say in my defense that you have extremely sharp claws..."

He looked amused, and I grinned slightly in response as I regarded the dozens of minor lacerations on his wrist and forearm. They weren’t serious and would heal by this evening, but it did look like he had grabbed a wild barn cat by the tail. I sharpened my claws a bit so I could climb tree branches easier, but I wasn’t about to tell them that.

I commented idly, "You could have tried talking while you waited or before you started digging. It would have saved you a lot of trouble."

It would have been much easier for me as well. They obviously were not used to dealing with rogues. He made a wry face. "I will keep that in mind for next time."

His friends had walked over to stand by him so they were no longer surrounding me. I appreciated it. As a runt and rogue, I was more cautious than most. Being surrounded made me uneasy, even if they claimed to mean me no harm.

One of the others inquired, "What are you doing all the way out here anyway?"

I was pretty sure the speaker was the black wolf. I shrugged as I said, "Most packs will not adopt a runt because it makes them look weak."

He looked surprised. "I never thought of that. How do you manage to survive out here?"

I replied, "Mostly hunting and gathering for my own needs, and occasionally trading for things I can't make on my own."

The one with Beta blood looked intrigued as he inquired, "What do you trade?"

"Usually, whatever I can find that they want. Berries, mushrooms, occasionally precious stones, and some other things."

"Hmmm..." He got a faraway look in his eyes that meant he was having an intense discussion with someone via his pack's mindlink. Considering the other three didn't have that look, he was probably speaking with someone else in his pack.

His eyes refocused on me. "I just spoke with the Luna. She is quite surprised that you have done so well out here and wishes to invite you to join the pack. She also has a soft spot for mushrooms."

I was stunned and suspicious. People usually did not just approach rogues with offers to join their packs, especially runts. It just didn't happen. I had been turned away by dozens of packs that I had approached. I was suspicious, to say the least. I carefully gauged his expression and said, "There is something that you are not telling me."

He blinked in surprise before sighing in defeat. "Our Luna... She is unable to have kids. When we originally thought we had spotted an orphan pup, she had asked us to double check if it was an orphan and to bring it back if it was. Even though she knows that you are not a pup, your small wolf form is still kicking her Luna instincts into action. The Alpha has no problems with it either. If you are good at foraging, you could be an asset to the pack."

I listened carefully, relying on my Omega abilities that would allow me to detect a lie. It was the complete truth though. Their invitation also made sense now; Lunas had a tendency to protect any in their pack, as well as any child. Even though I was an adult, my tiny wolf form made that fact a moot point to her instincts.

It wasn't unusual for most wolves to treat runts somewhat like pups if the runt was part of the pack. I often used a few puppy-like behaviors when in wolf form around other wolves since it made them more laid back and tolerant. Even when I had visited other packs, it was just a small number of prejudiced or biased individuals who caused difficulties. The average individual was tolerant enough.

There was another wolf rank that had the small size of a pup, called a Comforter, but they never lost their puppy features. They were only found in about a third of the wolf packs, so they were almost as uncommon as runts. They were usually kept away from outsiders, although I had spoken with one once.

He had told me that he considered his most important task in his pack to be that of comforting others. His tiny size and puppy features made the pack members want to cuddle with him. My small size gave me some leeway, but I looked like an adult, just in miniature. I also lacked the calming abilities that the Comforters had, so I needed a different approach.

For a runt, life as a rogue was always dangerous and often short. I had been trying to get into a pack for years with no success. I did kind of miss being part of a pack, although I wasn't sure how well I could fit into a pack after so many years as an independent rogue. I glanced at the others as they waited for me to decide.

I asked, "I think I would like to try. Which pack is this?"

"Nightwind pack."

That was not one I had heard of or had encountered before. I tilted my head as I said, "I have never heard of it, so there is a good chance that it is not anywhere nearby. I am not exactly able to keep up easily with other wolves..." I trailed off, waiting to see how they would respond.

The Beta looked deep in thought. "It is about a week's journey to the west. Hmmm... If we can get a picnic basket, would you allow yourself to be carried in it?"

At least he didn’t suggest that one of them carry me by the scruff of my neck like a pup for that kind of distance. It was equally obvious that I would be unable to keep up on foot. I didn’t see any problem with the solution he was offering.

I nodded in acceptance. "I have no problem with that, although I would like to let the pack to the east know that I am leaving."

He grinned at me. "Well, that is easily accomplished. Another member of our pack will be stopping by there in a few days." His eyes got a faraway look for a few moments before he refocused on me and said, “Done. He will relay the message. Now, all we have to do is find a basket."

Considering we were in the middle of no man's land, that task was easier said than done. I glanced around; my wild run hadn't covered too much distance, so I knew exactly where I was. I did a quick inventory of where I had hidden various baskets and bags.

"If someone is willing to run back to where you found me,” I said, “there was a big basket in the raspberry patch beside the smoker."

One guy said, "I'm on it." He promptly turned around and started to run back. He jumped over a log and shifted into his tan wolf mid-leap. I blinked as he disappeared from sight and glanced at the one with Beta blood.

He shrugged. "Andy will be Andy." He held out his hand to me, saying, "In case you didn't catch it, I'm Bruce."

I shook his hand. "I'm Jade."

He nodded and gestured to the others. "The one to the left is Phil, and the other one is Terry."

I shook their hands, still a bit uneasy in the presence of these strangers, but hiding it. My senses finally allowed me to tag a name onto the wolves that had previously chased me. Phil would be the black wolf, and Terry was the dark brown one.

We waited for Andy to return with the basket. I was a bit nervous about accompanying these strangers, but the chance of getting accepted into a pack was too tempting to pass up.