Malia's POV

I guess I must have fallen asleep because I was startled awake when Emma yelled "Bubba!" Blaire was no longer on the couch but was now cuddling on the chair with Casper, both fast asleep. I looked over the back of the couch to see Emma's arms wrapped around a man man with the same red hair as her. His arms were wrapped around Emma and both he and Alpha Orion were smiling at her. The mysterious man then looked up and his hazel eyes locked with mine. Emma noticed that her brother wasn't giving her his attention and turned to look at me.

"That Lia!" She told her brother in excitement. She then pointed to her brother. "This is Ryland!"

Ryland nodded his head to me in hello and then turned to Alpha. Alpha nodded his head up and down and Ryland wiggled his eyebrows up and down. They both started laughing when Emma grabbed her brother's face to have his attention back. The moment was really cute and brought a closed mouth smile to my face. My face muscles hurt from not using them in such a long time.

I felt like I was intruding in the moment and swiftly left the room and headed outside. Just being in the presence of the Alpha still made me uncomfortable and brought forth strange feelings. My wolf was craving to run under the bright, full moon. It was a beautiful night and the the snow glistened under the moonlight.

The forest was very peaceful and I could hear the night bound creatures running and scuttling along with me. I passed a family of raccoons and ran underneath a few hanging possums. I loved the feeling of the wind in my fur and the icy ground beneath my paws. I along side a snowy owl for a while until I picked up the scent of blood. I swiftly changed directions but approached with caution. It was a blood bath. It looked like a murder scene. There was no dead carcass but I knew it wasn't from a regular animal. It was my kind, a fellow werewolf.

I walked around the vast pool of blood, looking but I couldn't find anything. The blood held the strong smell of rotting flesh and smelled of no pack, a rouge. I thought nothing of it. A rouge must have passed into the territory and a warrior must have fought him off. I was about to leave but I inhaled a familiar and startling scent. Underneath the strong metallic scent was lingering sweet one, one of a flower.

Lying in the snow was a beautiful white gardenia. It was almost hidden, perfectly blending into the white scenery. I would have completely overlooked it if it wasn't for the strong odor it gave off.

It reminded me of home and not in the good way. They were my mothers favorite flower. I read about it in her diary when I had first found it. The backyard of Alpha's house was lined with overgrown gardenia bushes. From early spring and the beginning of fall, their strong aroma swept over the house. I found it pleasant at first, it made me feel close to my mom. I felt close to them and the smell gave me comfort. I used to walk around them and smell them after Alpha beat me or yelled at me. Alpha didn't enjoy them as much as I did.

As I got older the bushes grew. Each spring more flowers bloomed and the scent became stronger. With those passing years Alpha became more angry. Every time the wind blew from the back of the house to the from, the strong aroma came with it. Any time he had a whiff of it or even saw them, he would snap and take it out on me. They reminded him to much of my mom as well. They held a special place in my heart because they made me feel connected to my mother.

After a few years, he started bringing women he bought for the night into the house. I remembered the day clearly. It was the first time a witness had ever seen Alpha raise a hand and strike me. I was 9 at the time. It was the middle of the summer and the house became unbearably hot. Alpha was meeting up with his 'buddies' as he called them. They were his drug dealers and he was picking up a shipment. Since he didn't pay the electric bill, we had no air conditioning. The house had become hotter than the outdoors so I opened all the windows to let the breeze cool off the inside.

This time, he arrived home with a women. She was practically naked. I was to young to realize that she was a prostitute or a 'lady of the night'. She was fairly ugly if I may say and had a horrible attitude. She had long, dirty platinum blonde hair and was wearing to high of a heel for it to be remotely comfortable. She didn't like the fact that I was there and I knew it. He told me to stay quiet and clean. As he said it, I could smell the strong scent of bourbon,whiskey and drug. I silently agreed and he drug the mystery lady upstairs. They didn't stay up there long. The summer breeze flew through the house again and I immediately knew what was coming when I heard his bedroom door slam open.

I cowered in the corner where the cabinets met in the kitchen when I heard him stomping down the stairs. He came in shirtless with bright, Barbie pink lipstick smeared all over his chest and neck and white powder under his nose. He glared at me from across the room, eyes hazy from the drug and alcohol he had consumed earlier that night.

All I remember after that was him grabbing my hair and slamming my head against the counter and fading in and out of conciseness. I remember hearing her stupid looking heels clicking on the kitchen tiles over top the ringing in my ears and the crunching of my ribs as Alpha hit me again. She was only in a pair of dark red panties that matched her heels. She too had the same white substance under her nose and had a 'blunt', as Alpha called them, hanging from the side of her mouth.

She pranced her way over to where Alpha was towering over me and wrapped her arms around his chest. Her maintained, claw-like nailed scrapped over his chest. She removed a hand to take the 'blunt' out of her mouth and she blew a long puff of smoke into my face. She then whispered something in his ear and he nodded. As they left the kitchen he turned to me and growled,

"They better be gone before I come back to finish you."

That night he made me remove my mother's bushes. Each and every single one and it pained me. It felt as if my mother was leaving me as I watched each flower break apart and watch each individual pedal fall the the ground.

I knew that it was impossible to have a gardenia in the peak of winter and I know exactly to put it here. He did it. He knows where I am.

My Alpha has found me again.