Lila laughed and giggled ahead of me while we walked to the clearing in the woods to begin our run. She wore a simple dress that she could easily slip out of. I wore something similar. Bryce just wore some basketball shorts. I sniffed the air as we neared the clearing. The Alpha himself was going to be running with us. Lila ran into the clearing and started spinning around with her arms up. I smiled and shook my head lightly.

“Alpha it's always a pleasure to have you join us.” I said as I entered the clearing. I bowed deeply towards him and Lila froze and quickly did the same.

“I need to get out and stretch. I have been cooped up in my office for too long today. You must be Bryce.” Alpha said, looking past me. For all the anger and cruelty that Dominic did, his father was very different. I personally think it is why the Alpha hasn’t stepped down. He knows his son would ruin everything he has built. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his moments, but he has never acted with the anger his son has.

“Thank you for welcoming me to your pack for this week. I appreciate the kindness. Aria has been an amazing host so far.” Bryce said. I flushed a little. I very rarely get complimented so openly and never to the Alpha.

“I am very proud of Aria. She will be a wonderful Beta.” The Alpha said, offering me a smile. Dominic scoffed and started muttering to himself. I cleared my throat.

“Shall we get to running?” I suggested. I was a little more than uncomfortable with the turn-in conversation. Clearly, Dominic disagreed and I didn’t want him any more frustrated.

Lila sprinted to the edge of the woods and ducked behind a tree. I watched carefully until she emerged as her wolf. She bounded up to me and nudged me with her nose. I laughed. Her wolf was still small and slight, but a beautiful white color with black on the paws. She rolled around in the grass and played. Dominic stepped away after a couple of minutes of watching Lila. I could see he was annoyed.

“Lila honey. I need you to behave okay. We can come out again tomorrow and play.” I whispered to her. My anxiety was slowly climbing. Bryce cocked one eyebrow up. We both headed in the same direction.

“She is just being a pup. How else should she behave?” He whispered to me. I just gave him a look and shook my head. His eyebrows scrunched together, but he seemed to drop it.

I went behind a tree and shifted. It felt so good to be in my wolf form. I shook out all my fur and headed back into the clearing. I laid down next to Lila and nudged her with my nose. Alpha came out a second later with Dominic right on his heels. Both were beautiful deep chocolate brown wolves. Bryce came from behind me. His wolf was large. His wolf was a deep gray, almost black color.

I stood up as Bryce approached. I was slightly taller than him. His wolf blinked as he took in my size. I was the same size as Dominic who had Alpha blood. My wolf was utterly silver in color, which made my blue eyes stand out.

“Let’s wrap around the territory” Alpha's voice filtered into my own. I sniffed the air smelling for any other wolves. I nodded and trotted to the front of the line. I had to protect the Alpha and his son as the Beta. Lila stepped up with me just because she always ran beside me. I started off in a trot. I could hear the footfalls of the others behind me. My nose and ears were constantly looking for a threat. I could hear someone coming up on my right.

I glanced behind me and saw Dominic was catching up. He came up beside me. I blinked before turning forward. His wolf kept turning to look at me. Anxiety flooded my system and my ears flattened. Dominic peeled off the side. His wolf disappeared into the trees. I could still smell him nearby so I knew he wasn’t far. I focused on the run and tried to ignore the gnawing feeling he was going to try something. My eyes caught Dominic moving in front and to the other side of me. I glanced at Lila and my ears flattened again. I looked back at Bryce and the Alpha who were a little way behind and clearly communicating with one another.

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My mind raced at a million miles an hour. Suddenly Dominic jumped and landed on Lila. I reacted without thinking. I leaped on top of him and knocked him off. We tumbled a little. Lila was whimpering in pain and I saw red. Our teeth snapped at one another. He pushed me off. I twisted in the air and landed on my feet. I put myself between Lila and me and growled. Alpha and Bryce stopped when they caught up to us. Bryce went straight for Lila. I eyed him but his head was low. My eyes snapped back to Dominic as he growled at me and took a step forward.

“Get out of my way. She needs to be punished for not behaving.” Dominic's voice filtered into my head.

“Respectfully, over my dead body.” I replied.

“What the hell happened?” Alphas' voice yelled into my thoughts. I looked expectantly towards Dominic. After a couple of seconds of silence, I pushed the memory towards the Alpha. Dominic growled again and made a move towards Lila. I snapped at his feet and rose to my full height in front of him.

“Enough! Dominic, are you insane? Lila did nothing wrong. Even if she did, we do not punish her so openly. You will back off now. You will also not punish Aria for defending her sister. She had every right.” Alpha's voice came through. I could feel the heavy weight of the command. Dominic’s ear flattened as he whined against the command. He finally conceded. I turned to check on Lila. She and Bryce had both shifted into their human form. Panic flooded my system as I neared.

“She needs a doctor. I think her arm is broken and honestly maybe one of her legs.” Bryce said to me. I took a deep steadying breath.

“Can you carry her? You can ride on my back to the doctor.” I said through the mind-link. He looked down at her small frame.

“Yeah, I can.” Bryce said. I laid down beside him. He picked her up and she cried out in pain. I growled once again but did not move. Bryce cradled her and slowly climbed on my back. Once he stopped shifting I stood up as evenly as I could.

“Thank you, Alpha.” I said bowing my head. His wolf simply nodded once. I took off in a gentle trot towards the pack doctor. I tried with everything I could to ignore the crying from Lila as I ran.

“What the absolute hell is wrong with your future Alpha? I can’t believe he would attack a pup. If my Alpha was here Dominic would surely be fighting for his life. It is against the law for him to do that, you know.” Dominic unleashed as soon as we were out of earshot. I just ignored him. Dominic never cared for the laws the elders forced on us. For all his kindness, even his father didn’t care for them.

We made it to the doctor about 10 minutes later. I slowly lowered myself to the ground and Bryce stepped off still cradling Lila. I shifted and dressed quickly. I stepped into the doctor's office. The nurse was already looking over Lila and said she would need X-rays. They took her bed down the hall and asked me and Bryce to stay in the central area while we waited. I chewed on my bottom lip.

“This is the most insane day.” Bryce grumbled before flopping down in one of the chairs. I paced back and forth and chewed on my bottom lip. After about 45 minutes the nurse stepped out and waved over to me.

“Michelle please tell me good news?” I whispered.

“She does indeed have a broken leg and arm. You guys got here quickly though. With her healing, she should be good in about 3 weeks. Do not let her shift in the meantime. The doctor is casting her up now.” Michelle said. I released a breath and gave her a hug. She returned it. I stepped back to the chairs and sat in the one beside Bryce.

“Tell me about your pack.” I said while we waited. My eyes were distant. I would not let Dominic hurt my family again. Bryce looked surprised, but when he saw the look on my face his gaze softened.

“My Alpha is very fair. He believes his pack is only as good as he is, so he tries very hard to be the best version of himself. I have never seen him be unreasonably cruel.” Bryce said with a sense of pride. My eyes fell to the ground as I thought. I wonder if I could convince my father and sister to leave. Our pack was pretty isolated, so this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give them something better.

“He would take them in if you asked.” Bryce whispered. I took a deep shuddering breath. It is what I wanted to hear without having to ask the question. If anyone even heard it, it could be considered treasonous.