The claw marks soon healed as I spent the rest of the day in the clinic, Alpha Rush had commanded the doc to keep me overnight. I'd be lying if I said the action didn't make my heart flutter. Being a warrior didn't cause me to be exempt from the affects of the mate bond, the bond would continue to grow and play its wicked tricks on me, causing my heart and body to act in mysterious ways; ways I cannot fully control. Luckily, I was able to keep the silly smile from making its appearance.

Today, both Alpha's ordered Steven and I to train the new fighters of Black Mountain Ash Pack. I knew Rush wanted to see my capabilities, as Samuel wanted to see Steven's .

We stood at the front of the fighters in the pack, "Everyone pair up" Steven commanded

Once they were all paired, we told them to spar. We walked around looking at everyone's techniques and skills. That's when I noticed the problem.

"Everyone, Stop!"

They all turned towards me, as well as the Alpha's and Steven.

"I don't know how they taught you to fight in Mountain Ash Pack," I said glancing at a certain Alpha, "but your techniques will get you killed. You all repeat the same sequence and same techniques. It will not take an enemy long to figure out your next moves." Seeing their way of fighting confused me, how could this be the number one pack in the country? Perhaps they relied more on strength than skill. Of course, I had relied on stealth and skill, never much on strength. Who was I to judge?

"You two, come foward" the two fighters moved in front of me, "fight"

They began to fight, using the same techniques and sequences, taking a glance at me every once in a while.

"Do you all see that?" I asked the group of fighters, "When fighting an enemy, you need to use every point of you body; Your teeth, your elbows, your head. Throw in a curveball to catch your enemy off guard." The wolves all nodded in agreement, knowing my words were true, "Again."

Four hours later and the wolves learned a few new things. I taught some about pressure points and a move called "the roundhouse whip". We were about to begin running more laps when Mark sent me a mindlink.

"The rogues are at the borderline!" I announced, then ran off

I arrived to the border line seeing some overly excited wolves, along with some tense fighters. Alpha Samuel sat on the grass patiently waiting for the upcoming show, while Rush had a look of confusion seeing all previous BlackRain members excited. It wasn't long before we heard the tearing of clothing and seeing the hulking brown wolf appear in front of us, the half bitten ear, and scar along the back of the wolf's body was one of our favorite sights. Butch's wolf form ran straight into the trees, howling our warrior cry, a sound so guttural and filled with strength.

A crack echoed through the air. Showtime.

Six rogues. That's how many we heard cry and scream in agony. We saw and heard their bones crack. The brown wolf zig-zagged through the trees, blood falling from his snout; a wonderful sight to see.

The excited wolves all chuckled seeing the rogues' limp bodies.. The others, however, looked shocked and a bit scared at our reaction.

"That was amazing" Brian applauded as Peter patted Butch on the head.

"Haven't seen that in a while" Kane added

Butch then shifted back to his human form in all his glory giving a mock bow, "No photos please" he joked. That man could be the quietest, and angriest person I've ever met, but after a killing, he was always as happy as can be.

We were enveloped in our conversation, until we heard someone sob. We all turned to see the girl with red hair, Butch's mate, Ariana.

"H...how could you-you do that to someone" she cried out to her mate, while the tears streamed from her emerald eyes

Was she serious?

"They are here to hurt us, Ariana. They are not allies, they are our enemies, grow up." I sneered out, passing by her

She ran away, holding her crying face into her hands. I could see the look of sadness on Butch's face. I gave him a nod to follow his mate. Soon, he too was running.

The awkward silence that was left over the field caused everyone to leave. I decided against leaving and stood to face out of the border, watching as a couple wolves went to drag the dead bodies away. Someone needs to investigate how those rogues got so close to our border. Was this the oncoming threat Alpha Samuel was scared of?

As I moved closer to the line, I could feel Alpha Rush near me. The heat he radiated tickled my skin, causing goosebumps to form.

"You're dark" he said as his hands went through my hair.

I agreed with a nod, unable to form words at the close contact. The bond was working its wicked magic.

"How can someone so beautiful, be so dark?" It came out as a whisper, as if he were talking to himself

I let out a humorless laugh, "dark, I may be, but not beautiful" My eyes immediately going to the scars that cover my skin.

We stood there in silence for a moment, his hands leaving my hair with an inhale of breath, as if he had just realized what he was doing. The bond is forcing him to act this way, her voice whispered through my head.

"I still don't like you" he said before disappearing

"Nobody does" I muttered to myself.

Something warm had fallen onto my skin, my hand reaches to wipe away the wetness. I command my legs to move forward, now was not the time to remember her. Never! I never want to think of her

Soon, I'm in between the trees following the tracks left behind by the rogues. My legs keep moving further and further into the woods as the warm wetness continues to hit my face, Stop! I scream to my eyes. She's enjoying this. She's enjoying seeing you cry, Stop. My legs don't stop moving until all I can see is her face.