The Hound sprinted down the aisle, springing himself forward on his back two legs. Foam oozing from his mouth, teeth dripping with blood, he was coming for me. They always came for me.

I stepped in front of Charolette and Ruffles, determined to protect them just like I protected the Hounds that came looking for me in my pack. The silver knife burned my palm, but the pain was never as bad as the pain of death. The pain of watching someone you love being torn apart by ruthless animals.

He leapt into the air, eyes a terrifying black, and all I could see was Jeremy. Being torn to pieces. His limbs being ripped off. The Hounds devouring his flesh. And I froze.

The images were forever sewn into my memory. Never to leave.

"Aurora!" Charolette screamed.

The Hound's claws dug into my arm, and I yelped out in pain. Moon Goddess, I wanted to shift. I wanted to kill him with my teeth. I wanted him to pay for everything that his kind had done to me. But I couldn't, and I hated myself for it.

I clutched the knife harder, pretended that the gash in my arm wasn't bleeding profusely, and leapt out of the way before he could hurt me again. I sprinted down the aisle to get him away from the others and stood between the chips and my cart of cat litter, hoping he'd follow me.

He turned on his paw, shook his head wildly, and stalked toward me again. Stay calm, Aurora. Stay calm.

In the distance, I could hear Ares growling, hear claws tearing into fur, hear the whimpers of the Hounds. My wolf called out to him, and I forced her to shut up. I could handle this Hound myself.

Faster this time, he sprinted down the aisle. I crouched down like I had a hundred times before, watched him leap into the air, stepped out of the way just as he was about to land on me, and stabbed the damn thing right in his neck. The wolf howled and fell to the ground, the silver weakening him.

I crawled on top of the animal, straddling his waist to keep him in place, and stabbed him again and again. Right through the jugular. This was for everything that had happened to me. This was for my inability to shift. This was for Jeremy.

Blood sprayed onto my face, blood gushed out of the open wound in my arm. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I hated them so much. They tortured me every single fucking day.

"Aurora," Charolette called.

The Hound laid limply under me, but I didn't stop. Instead, I took the blade, cut right through the few threads of skin left holding the Hounds head in place, and let it fall open in front of me.

I saw red.

Figuratively and literally.

"Aurora!" she shouted again. Suddenly, I was scooped into two strong arms, the silver dagger slipping out of my hand, and picked right off of the Hound. Hazelnut swarmed around me, and my body relaxed in Ares's arms.

His eyes were pure wrath, dark and terrifying. Blood dripped from his canines. His chest was stained red, but he didn't let me down. Even when I squirmed in his grip and demanded that he put me down that instant.

The Hound was lying dead in the middle of the store, and I could only imagine that there were a hundred others lying dead in the forest around us. Ares pulled me closer to him, letting me feel his heartbeat. I took a deep breath, breathing with the rhythm.

He walked to Charolette, placed me onto the ground, and looked at Marcell who was drenched in blood from head to toe standing next to her. "Double security around the borders. Nobody comes onto the property and nobody leaves the property without me knowing. Kill anyone who disobeys."

Marcell nodded his head, glanced quickly at me, his lips curling into a smirk, and handed me my silver knife. I growled and snatched it from him, wanting to cut all of his locks of stupid silver hair and keep it as a trophy.

When Marcell left, Ares examined Charolette to make sure she was okay, then he snatched my wrist and dragged me toward the exit of the store. I pulled myself away and glared back.

"We're leaving, Aurora."

My mind was buzzing. Anger. Violence. Pure adrenaline. But I wasn't about to leave Ruffles without the proper necessities. I didn't care what anyone said. She came first. She always came first. She found me when Jeremy died and had stayed with me ever since.

"I came here for things, and I don't plan on leaving without them."

He growled under his breath, jaw twitching violently. "You just got attacked by a fucking Hound, these things can wait."

I flared my nostrils. "No, they can't. Now, you're going to wait while I get them."

"Get what you need to get, but you're not leaving my sight, Aurora," he said through clenched teeth.

"Fine," I said, grumbling to myself. I gazed at my backpack that Charolette was clutching to her chest and frowned. Ruffles didn't deserve to have no place to poop or pee, and if I didn't buy some litter soon for her she'd start peeing all over Mars's clothes and then he'd have an allergy attack. "Just... give me a second." I started to walk to Charolette, holding my arm to stop the blood, but he followed. "And stay here or you won't be getting any breakfast tomorrow."

That'll teach him.

He grumbled to himself, and I jogged to Charolette. She handed me my backpack, brows furrowed. "Are you okay? I can take care of my brother for you if you need me too. All he needs is a good kick in the ass when he gets too protective."

"No," I said, looking back at him. He raised a brow at me, a scowl on his face, and I drew Charolette even closer. "I know I'm asking for a huge favor, but Mars doesn't know about Ruffles. I thought he was just being an asshole when he told me not to bring her, now I have to hide her and was going to hide her in one of his spare rooms and buy her litter but he now won't let me out of his sight."

She smiled widely at me. "Ooh, I like you already." She grabbed my hand, her pink manicured fingers lightly digging into my palm. "He doesn't usually go into the spare room, three doors down from his bedroom, the one with the yellow curtains. I'll bring some litter and a litter box over and leave it in there tonight." She grabbed my bag. "I'll bring Ruffles too. Spare room. Yellow curtains. She'll be in there."

I pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tight. "Thank you so much. I owe you my life."

"Now go." She pointed to Mars and a male standing beside him with some gauze and medical supplies. "Before he becomes angrier than he already is."