Hadley's POV:

Devin grabbed my arm so quick I barely had time to react to the scream. Before I knew it she was pulling me deeper into the snow covered woods and shoving me behind a group of pine trees.

"Stay here. Don't move. I will be right back," She said before taking off in the direction of the scream.

My blood was pounding in my ears so loud I could barely think straight. My mind flashed with images of Cam. Of the wolves. Of the blood dripping from their canines. I heard footsteps approaching and I ducked lower. Pushing myself as close to the trees as possible. Their pine needles were my only shield against whatever was out there. Three men came onto the pathway. They were pretty banged up. I put my hand over my mouth hiding any possible breathing noise, as they searched around. More rouges.

"We have to get out of here fast," the smaller of the three said. He was pretty young. Easily still just a high schooler.

"Not without the girl. He expects us to bring her back today," The tallest one said. He had dark long black hair, and a scar that ran down his cheek to the corner of his lip.

"Hale we won't be alive if we stick around much longer. Our cover is blown. I say we head back and come up with a better plan," the one said.

"Out here in the woods is the girl. I can smell her scent. The alpha is still distracted. So stop wasting my time with your cowardice and get tracking," Hale said.

The young one, who must have been the tracker, began looking more closely at the foot prints on the ground and following their path. Damn snow was going to lead them right to me. I weighed the options in my head. I could wait for them to inevitably find me cowering under this tree. The tracks were clear as day. Or I could try to run to where Devin had gone. I was fast and if they didn't see me leave my spot there was a small chance.

I decided to not waste anymore time and slowly made my way out from under the trees. There was a good distance between me and the rogues. Their backs were turned. I begged whatever god was out there that my steps would be silent. I moved from one group of trees to the next. That was when I spotted my way out. The trail split into two up ahead. I prayed it would go in the direction I needed. The trail was surrounded by pines. If I ran off of them between the pines I would have more coverage.

I counted down in my head. My body was pumping with adrenaline when I bolted to the thick brush of the pine trees. I ran as fast as I could. Not caring about the scratches from the pine. I could see smoke rising in the distance and I ran as fast as I could towards it. I had no idea if they had heard me or were following me. I pushed myself harder than I ever had before. My lungs were burning from the cold. My legs begged me to stop but I ignored them.

I only had about a quarter mile to the smoke when I was pulled into the grasp of my captors. Their hand had covered my mouth to silence my scream. I hadn't been fast enough.

"Quiet it's me. I got you, Are you hurt?" Tate was whispering into my ear. His breath sent warm tingles down my neck. I felt a wave of relief wash over me as Tate held me tightly to his chest. His head was pressed to my neck as though he was breathing me in. I could feel how tense he was. He had pulled us into the branches of the tree obscuring us.

"How many are there?"

"Three" I mouthed to him.

He nodded looking out towards the trail listening. His eyes had fully gone black. They were hard with rage. "They're headed this way. Hadley I need you to stay here. Do not move from this spot. I'm going to go take care of them. Then I will come back for you," He whispered.

I nodded my head slowly in understanding. As he let go of me and pushed me deeper into the tree so that my back was against the trunk.

I stayed there trying to settle myself. Tate was going up against three of them but after the night he had rescued me I knew they were outmatched. Tate had taken down many more on his own before.

I heard as the large roars broke through the wind. They were pretty close by. I listened as I heard breaking branches. It felt like it went on for a lifetime. I had no idea how long I had been standing there when Tate came back.

Without thinking I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him close to me. He winced with pain and I quickly pulled away looking him over. He was holding his side.

"What happened? Are you okay?," I asked worriedly.

"I'm fine just a little scratch," he tried laughing it off but every movement caused him pain. I watched as the blood started to seep onto his hands from his shirt.

"Tate. We need to get you to the doctor now," I said pulling him towards what I hoped was the way to the house.

"It'll heal by the time we get there. I just need a second," He said.

I didn't care how quick it would supposedly heal. I did not feel any better about it.

"The one got away but I got the other two. They weren't as strong. I would have gone after the last one but I needed to get back to you. To make sure you were ok," his eyes said going back to their normal warm brown color.

"They were here for me. They wanted to take me. They said he wanted me. Who wants me?," I said numbly. I was ashamed of how quiet my voice had gotten. "What do they even want with me?" I asked.

"I don't know Had. But I promise you I will find out," his body had gone tense again. He was in full on protective mode. "We've been finding rouges together more frequently. Usually it's only a few of them who stick together. Most are loners. I don't know why they want you but it's not common for someone like you to survive this long. Usually you activate the curse or you'll be hunted down by a rogue or pack. The fact that they are answering to someone at all is concerning," he had gone quiet but his face was lost in thought.

"What were you doing alone in the woods. Where's Devin?" He asked as his voice became stern.

"When we heard the scream she ran to get help and hid me in the trees,"

His fists clenched at his sides as he started cursing under his breath. "One job. She had one job,".

"Tate it's fine. I'm fine. Despite everything I'm still all in one piece," I said grabbing onto his hands. I smiled at him trying to get him to relax. It looked as though he was fighting with his inner wolf trying to keep the shift in.

"Tate.... I want to activate the curse. I don't want to keep running every time someone comes after me. I need to be able to take care of myself. I'm not some weak little girl who needs to be pushed into trees all the time. Will you help me kill?"

Tate's eyebrow rose as he looked me over. "You sure about that? I quite like pushing you into trees" He gave me a small wink trying to lighten the mood. But I was dead set. There was nothing that could change my mind.

"Yes."