“Reid.” It was Yuri, his hands covered in Jack’s blood and a worried look on his face.

“I can’t, I can’t…” I shook my head almost hyperventilating. I was hungry, oh so hungry.

“Reid!” he growled at me, his voice full of power, making me look at him. My wolf didn’t like that tone. I bared my teeth, sharp, made for killing. “Stop it! You have to control it Reid!” he yelled at me and without warning grabbed my arm and the back of my neck. I shook as electricity ran down my spine from the touch. Still, I growled at him, trying to get away but he only bared his neck, dragging me close to it. My next breath was filled with the scent of wolf, mint, and masculine sweat. I grabbed him by the throat and never wanted anything more than to sink my fangs into his flesh. But I couldn’t… It was Yuri, wolf, friend, pack.

“It’s alright Reid, the fight is over, just breathe,” he said quietly, I felt his throat work as I held it in my hand. And he offered no resistance, actually, he easily gave in to me. Because he was mine, always mine. “Don’t tell that to your brother…” he whispered with a hint of a laugh, that made me stop, made me raise my eyebrow. “What? I could hardly be a warrior if I wasn’t loyal to my Alpha.” I had no idea he considered me more dominant than Trystan. I never knew… “You good now?” he asked, letting go of my arm, but leaving his other hand on the back of my neck. It was warm and calming. I let go of his neck and winced slightly when I saw the hint of bruises there. I was grateful to him for this. The smell of pack and submission calmed down dominant wolves.

“Yeah… Yeah thanks,” I answered, my eyes green again and my teeth human.

“No problem, come on, let’s get you home.” He grabbed my arm, briefly looking at the wound.

“I’m fine, I can walk on my own,” I assured him, I was only slowly beginning to get dizzy, there was a very small amount of venom in me, I would survive.

“Diego sent me back to help the others. I’m just following my orders.” He smiled, walking back with me.

“You know, I don’t think that by ‘others’ Diego meant me,” I said bitterly.

“Then he should’ve specified,” Yuri smirked, still keeping his hand on the back of my neck. My wolf howled happily for that touch. It was making me feel calm and safe and cared for. Too bad it was a lie… I wasn’t pack; I couldn’t have what that touch promised.

Everyone was on high alert when we got back to the pack house. Almost all of the pack had gathered here once again. All of them were confused, angry, and howling for blood… Very loud murmurs and whispers started as they saw me, being led by Yuri, the scent of blood all over me. “What did he do? Did he attack someone? Of course, who else would be making trouble? Let’s chase him away! We’re not safe while he’s here…”

I tensed ready for yet another attack, but before I could do anything Yuri growled loudly and threw them a disapproving look before he led me down to the basement. Well, that shut them up…

There were three rooms in the basement. One storage room, the Infirmary, and the Cages for prisoners or out-of-control wolves. Yuri took me to the infirmary. It was all chrome and smelled of septic and weird herbs and blood. Father was here, calmly petting Jack’s fur and whispering quiet words of reassurance. Holly was moving quickly through the room, cleaning the wounds and covering them in a nasty smelling grey paste to counter the venom. Neither of them looked at us as we walked in.

“Will he live?” I asked. Poor Jack. Why would someone attack him?

“Yes, he will,” Father answered, still not looking up at me. “Thanks to you,” he added, not sounding happier or thankful… or proud. Yeah well, I didn’t need his approval anyway. I never got it. Why did I even think I’d get it now?

Yuri dragged me to a free bed. I sat down on the edge, the room spinning with me. First, he grabbed my chin and turned my head from left to right to look at the little cuts on my face.

“It’s fine, I ran into some branches,” I assured him and had to swallow a laugh at how doctor-like he looked. At the moment he looked exactly like his mother Holly, busy with healing Jack.

When he decided the tiny cuts weren’t deadly he borrowed a bit of paste and a bandage from Holly. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of the paste and Yuri smiled, enjoying my suffering as he covered the little nick with it. I sighed with relief as the burning gave away to amazing coolness. Yuri bandaged me with swift fingers, then asked: “Fever?” I shook my head, the world spinning even faster.

“Good,” Holly said. “You should drink some water, get some sleep and then stock up on nutrition when you wake up,” she said. I didn’t even notice when she stopped running around Jack and walked behind Yuri to look at my bandaged wound. “That’s nice, any chance of thinking about becoming a Healer like your mother?” she asked Yuri. “Oh, well…” She sighed as she saw his face clearly not interested.

“Jack?” I asked before she could leave.

“Like Alpha said, he’ll live, but it was close,” she said sadly. “Maybe a minute longer and he would’ve died…”

Alistair and Holly stayed with Jack while Yuri and I left. Trystan stood in the living room, addressing the pack. Authority and calmness poured off of him, easily taking control of the confused and frightened pack. For a second all I could see was Father. And at that second, I hated him for it… The perfect son… The perfect Prince.

“Water, sleep, food.” Yuri shook me a little, to distract me. I sighed feeling stupid for being so bitter towards Trystan. But I couldn’t help it. I took a water bottle from the kitchen, quickly running upstairs so I wouldn’t have to listen to him. Yuri followed me all the way to my room, where I sat on the edge of the bed and emptied the bottle in one gulp. The room spun some more, making me sick and tired.

“I hate cadracs...” I muttered under my breath as I lay down on the bed, trying to find a comfortable spot with my jeans and shoes still on. “Why the hell would they be here? Attacking Jack?” I asked, both confused and angry.

“I don’t know,” he answered with a sigh. “I’m sure that’s exactly what Alpha and the warriors will talk about at the meeting scheduled an hour from now in Alpha's office.”

I turned around to look at him. He winked at me as he quickly set an alarm on my phone. I smiled at him gratefully, feeling a nice warmth deep inside me. I wasn’t pack, of course they would never invite me for a pack meeting, but Yuri just gave me a chance to show up anyway. At that moment I could kiss him. I was too tired to do so though. I heard the door close as he left but after that everything was black…