"Blade!" I screamed loudly using my Alpha voice before he could land another punch. Immediately he stopped and looked over at me with wide eyes while the crowd of guards backed away several steps as I fumed. "What the HELL is going on here?!" I yelled angrily, going forward to inspect the beaten man. Pushing Blade from him roughly, I crouched down and wrapped his right arm around my shoulders and hoisted him up to lean on me.

"We were just training, Ellie. It's no big deal-"

"No big DEAL? How could you say that? Look at him!" I interrupted Blade and nodded towards his victim on my left, whom of which was breathing heavily and had his head hung in exhaustion. "I saw what you did to him, and that was NOT training! And the same goes for the rest of you!" I craned my head around to the crowd of men and looked each one in the eyes. "How could you let Blade beat this man to a pulp? I know you're all rouges, but you have a conscience too! I don't care if you're the strongest one here or the weakest, you shouldn't have let him do that!" I ended strongly and full of venom, of confidence.

For a few moments, no one spoke; no one made a sound but the leaves rattling in the tree branches. Every expression in the crowd was either ashamed, guilty, or hidden by their downturned faces. Even Blade was shocked, since his cheeks had a faint tint of pink and his mouth hung agape.

"Come on, lets get him inside," Elizabeth muttered quietly, slinging his left arm around her neck and wrapping her right arm around his waist like me. Turning ourselves around, the crowd formed a pathway for us to go through. Eying a few of them with disgust, Elizabeth and I hobbled up to the back door we had just came out of minutes before, lifting the groaning man up the steps as carefully as we could.

"Sarah!" Elizabeth yelled after we shut the door behind us. A girl that looked around 18 ran out from one of the halls in a T-shirt and jeans, her fiery red hair whipping behind her like a flag. Her soft, innocent features made it look easy to befriend her. Looking over us both with a smile, it soon turned confused as she finally spotted the man.

"What's wro-" she started but stopped as he shifted in our grip and almost fell to the floor. Rushing over to us, she got on Elizabeth's side and helped her pick him up. "Okay, let's go to the infirmary. This way," she started down the hall she had just ran out from.

Pushing the door open roughly, Sarah led the way into a medium sized room with 5 empty hospital beds in a row on the far wall and shiny equipment in the cabinets and on the counters all along the others. "Here," she said as she began laying him down on the first. Hissing in pain and growling slightly, he finally quieted down as Sarah injected a bluish tinted liquid into his arm through a needle.

"It's to make him sleep," Elizabeth whispered to me quietly as we both stood back and let Sarah do her thing. Concentrating deeply, Sarah began to sew up the gnarly gash in the man's cheek then wipe away the bloodies cuts with an alcohol pad.

"Can you hand me that kit behind you?" Sarah nodded towards me without taking her eyes off of her fingers. Turning around and picking up a small silver briefcase-shaped box, I handed it to her as she laid it on the bedside table and opened it. Uncapping several small tubes of creams and ointments, she began smearing them on his facial cuts gently while Elizabeth and I watched from the sidelines.

"Hey, you did really great back there by the way," Elizabeth whispered to me as we leaned back against the counter. Looking to my left at her, she smiled lightly. "With the Alpha voice and that speech. You were made to be a Luna, Ellie."

My chest fluttered at her compliment and I felt my lips tug upwards.

"Thank you," I whispered back gratefully. "That..that means a lot." She returned my smile while Sarah turned around and went to a small sink to wash her hands off. Drying them off with a rag, she sighed and smiled sightly.

"Well, he's going to be just fine. He has a broken nose, fractured cheekbone, and might have a concussion, but he'll heal soon. Do either of you know him?" Glancing between the two of us with her eyebrows raised, Elizabeth nodded and spoke up.

"Yea, he's one of the new fighters. His name's Reed, I think." Nodding, Sarah then went over to the 2nd bed over from Reed and sat on the padding Indian style.

"You're Luna Elenore, right?" Sarah asked me politely. Nodding my head and smiling at her, I motioned to Reed. "Are you a pack doctor?"

"Mhm! I just kinda had a knack for medicine ever since I was little," she sniffed.

Wolves that were born with particular talent normally went into that field or part of the pack once they grew up. It was rare and uncommon for a Wolf, for example Sarah, to be recruited into something like the nursery or fighting if she had a natural born gift of Medicine. Wolves in each pack were set to work in whatever area that would better benefit the pack as a whole.

"So," she began, looking at us expectantly. "I'm guessing Blade did this?"

Elizabeth scoffed bitterly. "Who else? You know how his temper is. And his sense of moral? It's completely screwed up!" she replied directly to Sarah, who was nodding her head knowingly.

"Oh, remember Tristan a few years back?" Sarah started, and Elizabeth gasped.

"Oh my goddess, yes! That was horrible! I still sometimes have nightmares about that!"

Scrunching my brows in confusion, I butted in. "Um..I'm sorry to interrupt, but who's Tristan, and what happened to him?"

Giving each other apprehensive expressions, Sarah cleared her throat as the metal bed creaked.

"Tristan..Tristan was a young man and our distant friend that used to belong to this makeshift pack 3 years ago. One day when we were having dinner, Tristan decided he wanted to challenge Blade's rule, to challenge his Alpha position. He and Blade fought long and hard that night and in the end Blade won, but only because there was several weapons nearby, including knives and spears. Tristan didn't make it, and let's just say none of us could hold our meals down for a few days," Sarah ended with placing her hand on he stomach.

"It was brutal," Elizabeth added. "I've never seen him just snap like that, and I've been here for most of my life! He completely lost control-"

"And ever since then he's had his..episodes," Sarah continued. "Random fits of anger, furniture thrown out the window, even life sized holes in the walls where he threw people!"

Eying her skeptically, she just nodded. "And I heard about Blade wanting you to be his mate?" she commented questioningly. Being reminded of his intentions, I groaned loudly.

"Yeaaa.." I dragged out the vowel regretfully. Sighing deeply, she hopped off of the bed gracefully and walked over to Elizabeth and I. Taking both of my hands in hers, she locked eyes with me.

"Listen, and listen good," she started by lowering her voice to a smooth whisper. "All three of us and most of the house knows you don't want to be here. We all know how Blade can be, though, and no one here wants you to be in his path if one of his moods flare. I don't know why he wants you to be his mate even after you've already been marked by another," she brushed the 2 faded dots on the crook of my neck with her fingers, "but we'll keep you safe and help you in any way we can, okay? Just find either of us if you need something. Oh, and one more thing; keep doing what you've been doing. Stay on his good side and gain his trust. It'll make it easier to do whatever you're thinking of." Gripping me by the shoulders, she gave me a reassuring smile.

"I will," I whispered back before a vibrating voice shook the floor.

"Ellie!" Blade shouted from somewhere in the house, followed by the sound of a door slamming shut.

'Stay calm. Remain in control. The girl you showed outside was the real Ellie; don't let him think otherwise,' Nikita advised me suddenly. Despite my natural instinct to chew on my cheek and pick at my fingernails, I restrained. Casting the jittery, but strong, girls an unfazed glance, I opened the infirmary door and strode down the hallway with regality. Seeing Blade coming towards me from the other end of the hallway and looking in every open doorway, I slowed my pace. Raising his head and spotting me, he sighed with relief as he brought me in for a hug. Remaining stiff under his burly arms, he finally pulled back.

"El, I'm so sorry about what happened with Reed in the yard today. I don't know what happened! I just kinda lost my temper-" Waving my hands infront of my face dismissively, I interrupted him.

"It's okay, really. It's just..I wish you hadn't have beat him the way you did. Training? Don't lie to me, Blade. I'm not blind to what goes on around me."

Letting his head fall in defeat, he whispered, "I know."

I nodded once. "Good. Now I'm going to get into some real clothes instead of these bloody sweats," I told him, holding out the front of the hoodie Reed had dirtied with his cuts. Agreeing and pointing his finger in the direction of my room behind me, he began to lean in towards my face before I acted like I didn't see and quickly turned around, walking away without another word.

On my way to my room, an idea suddenly started brewing in my head, a way to escape. Reviewing everything I had seen today, I pieced together the different puzzle pieces. As my hand touched the cold crystal doorknob, it became clear.

I had a plan.