I ran through the woods as quietly as I could using the shadows that the trees afforded me to cloak myself. My hand was tucked tightly against the wound at my side, "Damn hunters!" I swore under my breath trying to ignore the burning from the silver bullet lodged between two of my ribs. I hadn't been expecting news to travel so quickly that I had been freed but obviously I should have known. Werewolves are a bunch of loud mouth chatty cathy's. My uncle was making it extremely clear that there wasn't any level too low for him to stoop to. He wanted me dead and he had thought when he'd given me over to the Kellan that had been ensured. Yet, here we were two years later. Kellan was dead and I was still alive, wish I could have seen the look on his face when he'd heard that.

I caught the scent of the humans on the soft breeze and held back a groan as I pushed off the tree I had been resting on. I moved swiftly through the shadows keeping my senses alert to anything that might be out of the ordinary. My hearing told me that there was at least four hunters two hundred feet or so behind me, hot on my trail. I clenched my teeth together as I tentatively scanned the surrounding area for any place that I could use for coverage.

As I searched heard the sound of a bow string being drawn back. I turned my head quickly towards the sound catching sight of moonlight glinting off the silver of the arrowhead . I didn't have time to react even with my acute senses. The arrow was soaring through the air and piercing through the flesh of my forearm as I tried to avoid it. A howl of pain ripped from my chest as I realized that the arrow went in one side and out the other before lodging itself into the tree behind me. Essentially I had been nailed to the tree with the damn arrow. My chest was heaving up and down as I tried to breathe through the pain.

The hunter moved from the shadows and into the light. He was tall and willowy in frame. I wouldn't have considered him much of a threat in hand to hand combat but clearly he hadn't given me much of an opportunity to do that. He wore a smug expression as he brought his fingers to his lips, creating a high pitched whistle. Screw this! I pulled the hand that had been protecting my gunshot wound away and gripped the part of the arrow that was sticking out of my arm. I gritted my teeth and pulled at it, trying to free myself.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The hunter says, "That will do more damage coming back out." I turned my hateful glare towards him and with all the strength I could muster I snapped the end of the arrow off. His eyes widen as I wretched my arm free with a powerful cry. I cradled my wounded arm to my chest as I took a step forward. My legs gave out under the stress my body was under causing my knees to dig into the damp earth. I sensed the other hunters as they approached. I knew I needed to get up off the ground and fight but the silver seemed to be effecting my body more than I wanted to acknowledge.

"Good job son!" A deep voice congratulated. I looked up from the ground panting through the pain. A large man stood next to the willowy hunter, hand on his shoulder. His black hair billowed lightly in the evening breeze and his calculating gaze focused on me as a predator would its prey. There was another young man behind them leaning toward a female who had a blood thirsty look in her eyes. The man moved away from the small group, "You know why wolves gravitate toward each other?" He questions as his eyes seem to be assessing me.

"For protection Sir..." The tall hunter gave a text book answer. At least they were getting a proper education, I thought to myself darkly.

"Very good..." He said as his steps brought him closer to me. I let out a low warning growl hoping he'd back off but he only gave me an amused expression, "They form pack's for protection among other things. It's much harder to take down a whole pack of wolves—they're very clever creatures." He now stood towering over me and I was glaring up at him as I used all my strength to hold my body upright. If I was going to die, I wasn't going to die like a coward. I was an alpha after all, even if I didn't have a pack to lead at the moment.

He squatted down before me so that we were almost eye level. My wolf shifted beneath my skin her desire to rip into the man's flesh making itself known. I knew my eyes had grown dark as her bloodlust became my own, "I have no quarrel with you or your kin. So I would get out of my face hunter before you no longer have one." I growled.

"What do your people call pack less wolves?" He questions moving closer to me so that I can feel his hot breath fan across my skin. My lips twitch with the urge to snarl at him like a cornered beast. He waits patiently for me to react but he can wait for an eternity because I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of a response. The female hunter decides to take up the duty for me, "Omega—the Lone Wolf."

My eyes shift over to her and narrow, "I'm no Omega—" I spit out.

"Than where is your pack she-bitch?" She spits back as she looks around mockingly. I grind my teeth together but don't respond realizing that it would do me no good. She awarded me with a cocky smirk, "Thats what I thought..."

My wolf took her words as a challenge growling wildly in my head. Thanks to two years of being held captive and tortured she had become much more feral and her urges much darker. My body began to tremble as I fought to keep from shifting, it would only damage us further with the silver bullet still lodged in my body. The man before me held up a hand, "Learn to hold your tongue Maudry or one day you might find yourself mouthing off to the wrong person." Maudry lost her smirk, and took on a more serious expression but her eyes still looked upon me in a challenging manner.

The hunter reached out for me and my control slipped a bit. Our eyes connected for a brief moment before I was slapping his hand away and wrapping a hand around his throat. An angry snarl passed my lips as I tightened my grip on him, "I told you I'm not an omega—" My voice was hoarse, "I'm an alpha..." His eyes widen in surprise and I threw him away from me with as much force as I could muster.

His body went stumbling about fifty feet, landing on his back. He scrambled to right himself, "Shoot her!" He commanded with a tense voice. There was a mad scramble as they all pulled there weapons free from there holsters. I used that time to my advantage pushing myself up off the ground with the rest of my strength reserves. I barely missed taking another arrow as I dashed toward what I deemed my escape route. If I hadn't been hanging on by a thread already I would have stayed and fought but a smart alpha knew when to fight and when to get the hell out of a bad situation.

"Don't let her get away!" I heard the deep voice yell behind me.

I heard the subtle rush of air before another arrow was burrowing itself into my body. I bit my lip hard enough to taste the metallic tang of blood on my tongue. My left thigh had an arrow lodged in it and every step I took sent fire racing through my veins. My pace was considerably slowed now as I staggered forward not willing to give up my fight to survive. My eyes frantically scanned for any place that I could hide myself because at this rate I would be like a sitting duck.

I spotted a fallen tree in the distance and decided that was my best chance. I pushed through the pain and moved as quickly as I could knowing the hunters weren't far behind and with my luck I was probably leaving a lovely blood trail for them to follow. My only hope was that it was too dark for them to properly make it out. When I was close enough I dropped to the ground and rolled as close to the log as possible using the overgrown shrubs as protection. I did my best to steady my breathing as I kept my senses highly alert for the hunters.

I heard the hunters crashing through the underbrush not caring to be stealthy which worked in my favor. I took in a deep steadying breath and frowned when I caught the hint of a werewolf through the smell of my own blood. I took in another breath and the scent became stronger, "What the hell..." I swore under my breath and peeked out from my hiding spot. My eyes landed on the young girl creeping through the trees, she couldn't have been more than twenty. She looked frail for a werewolf but the scent was unmistakable. I frowned deeper as I watched her she seemed completely unaware of the danger she was in. The sounds of the approaching hunters had my emotions becoming more conflicted. I didn't know this wolf. I had no reason to protect her. If she was dumb enough to get herself into this situation than what did I care?

She moved out of the shadows and closer toward me, her big doe eyes searching for the scent she had probably been following. It was only natural as an alpha that I would attract other wolves. Even lone wolves would still be attracted to the idea of having an alpha and a pack, it was simply instinctual. She took a step forward towards me but to my horror that was when the hunters came blazing through the trees. Everyone froze in surprise at the sight of one another.

The hunters looked surprise for a moment, "Shoot it." The lead hunter called and it was as if the world began to move in slow motion. I watched as the female hunter brought up her gun reading it to fire and the she wolf stood as still as a statue. I gritted my teeth as I reached down and wrapped my hand around the arrow in my leg. I ripped it free feeling as it tore back through my flesh making me want to cry out but I didn't have time to stew in the agony. I rolled out of my hiding spot and charged toward the stunned she wolf as the gun cocked.

The shot rang out as I was tackling the other wolf to the ground leaving the bullet to graze my ear. I propped myself up over the girl in a protective manner before I turned my attention to the hunters letting out a fierce roar. My wolf jumped to the surface again and propelled us forward toward the hunters no longer able to turn away from the fight. I was glad that thanks to the push of my wolf I was still able to move faster than the humans as they scrambled to reload there weapons.

I knocked the hunter who had shot me with crossbow to the ground with a harsh elbow the chest. I moved quickly catching an arrow in my hand that the other young male hunter had fired at me. I snapped it in my hand as I snarled at him causing him to back away as he shakily tried to reload it. I grabbed him by the throat and tossed him to the side as if he was nothing to me. I was caught off guard when the female, Maudry stepped towards me and blew a powder of what looked like purple glitter into my face. The moment it touched my skin I growled I knew it was some type of wolfsbanes. I started to choke as the particles seemed to nestle themselves into my lungs, weakening me.

She nailed me with a spinning kick to the side of my face and I hit the ground like a ton of bricks. I clawed at the ground as I continue to wheeze and cough. My vision seemed to be blinking in and out now that the adrenaline was gone and my wolf had been weakened thanks to the wolfsbane. Maudry squatted down in front of me and pet my hair back away from my face mockingly, "You're not so big and bad are you wolf?" she whispers down at me.

"I'll..." I coughed harshly as I glared at her from the corner of my eyes, "kill you."

She smiled, "I doubt that...Alpha..." She giggled with merriment, "What fun we will have together." I started to growl at her but was taken over by another fit of coughing. She reminded me of Kellan, the gleam of excitement in her eyes as she looked over me. The beast inside me was thrashing around at the thought of being imprisoned again. I would rather die than ever let myself go through something like that again.

The sound of wolves howling close by break through the darkness and my slowly slipping consciousness. My eyes close but I hear the panic in the hunters voices as they scramble about, "Fall back!" I hear a lot of growling and snarling but it can't be more than three or four wolves.

"What about the Alpha?" Maudry proclaims in frustration.

"Leave her." The leader shouts at her.

"Leave her? But what about the mission?"

"Here's a lesson for you—A pack of wolves follow their Alpha. They are bound to each other through loyalty. If you take the Alpha they will follow her. We are not equipped to take on an entire pack! Now fall back! That's an order!"

Maudry let out a frustrated hiss, "This isn't over Alpha..." she whispers her deadly promise to me before pushing away from the ground. The hunters evacuate leaving me behind much to my surprise and relief. At least if I'm going to die, I can do it free. I feel small hands start moving over me but I can't do much other than growl a little but that doesn't seem to do much to stop the inspection of my body.

"Bunny! What the hell are you doing?" A masculine voice growls.

"She's hurt..." The scent pouring over me relaxes me a bit when I realize it the young wolf that I had saved.

"I can see that..." The male sounds frustrated, "Don't just go running off like that you could have been hurt. Those hunters could have—" He stops himself letting out another frustrated sound.

"You have to help her Marshall. She got hurt protecting me..." She sounds like she is on the verge of crying. The male lets out an exasperated sigh, "Bunny we can't just go around collecting random wolves. We don't know her, she could be dangerous..."

"Please Marshall..." Her tiny voice cracked and a little sob fell out of her lips.

"Oh baby girl..." He whines, "Don't cry. Okay, okay. We'll help her." If I could have laughed I would have. Clearly she had this guy wrapped around her tiny finger.

"What?" Another male voice choked. Marshall growls, "You heard me."

"But—"

"Leo! Just grab her and let's get the fuck out of here! The last thing we need is for those damn hunter to come back." Marshall doesn't give him a chance to voice his opinion on the matter.

"Val isn't going to like this..." A different but soft female voice mutters under her breath.

"Silver is going to like it even less..." I hear Leo reply to her comment before I completely fade into unconsciousness as someone lifts my body up off of the ground.

------------------------

Song: 'Ultraviolence'-Lana Del Ray