I was running along the edge of the territory when I noticed a foul scent lingering in the air. After analyzing it for only a moment, I knew the trail wasn't much more than a couple minutes old. The scent was still strong.

Eli, there's rogues on the territory, I mind-linked my elder brother, Eli. He's the alpha of our pack while I took on the role of Beta when my father was ready to step down and hand his title to us.

How many? Eli immediately responded. His voice was aggressive and angry, a natural response to a territory invasion.

Rogues aren't always bad, but more often than not, they enter a territory with the intent to cause some sort of damage to the pack. Most are fueled by rage and a desire for revenge, even if the pack they are attacking isn't the one that caused their anger. Many are fueled simply by the desire to wipe out packs in general, not wanting to take orders.

One, I responded as I headed in the direction the scent was stronger in. Smells male, age undetermined, he's not in sight. I'm going to track him and I'll get back to you with the details. I can handle him on my own. Tell the others to keep patrolling.

I could handle one rogue on my own and by the scent, he was definitely alone.

Keep me updated.

I didn't respond to Eli, cutting off the connection and focusing on the task at hand. I needed to find the rogue and figure out what they were doing on our territory and I needed to move fast. The scent was heading towards town and if he made it there before I found him, he'd be long gone. There were too many scents in town to pick out the rogue and track it.

If I couldn't catch up with him in time, the pack could be in danger. I needed to know what he was doing here if I wanted to protect my pack. I poured on the speed, racing after the scent and praying that he didn't have enough of a lead to leave the tree line before I was able to catch him.

I skidded to a halt at the edge of the trees, overlooking the main road into town, and cursed. He'd made it out of the woods and was most likely in town. I could clearly see the alley behind the eastern side of Main Street and the scent was heading in that direction.

I knew that I had clothes stashed somewhere near here, I just needed to find them. I hadn't been to this side of the territory in a while as I mostly patrolled the northern border where our pack lines were the closest to our enemy, Drabek's pack.

After wasting a precious few minutes, I picked up the faint scent of clothing and made my way to a tree a couple yards away, right up against the alleyway. Shoved in a knot hole was a wadded up pair of work out shorts. Before I could shift and grab them, I was jerked to a halt by a flexible, metal chain around my neck, causing me to growl.

I spun around to see who I was dealing with and cursed. Holding a sturdy metal rod was an animal control officer, the wire collar around my throat firmly attached to the rod that he was holding in both hands. I couldn't risk changing and getting out of this situation. The animal control officer was completely human.

I could practically feel my wolf, Rafe, laughing at me in my head. How did you not smell him? he asked me, practically panting in hilarity in my mind.

I growled at Rafe, not appreciating his unhelpful attitude, but that only caused the animal control officer to yank harshly on the pole. The painful pressure exerted on my trachea was enough to take Rafe from laughing to feral in moments.

Kill him, Rafe growled angrily. Rip his throat out and splatter the street with his blood!

While I may be a Beta in my pack, I was born to the alpha pair, meaning that I do have alpha blood. That makes Rafe incredibly angry with disrespect, human or wolf.

I cannot kill a human, Rafe and you know it, I retorted right as the animal control officer started trying to yank me back to his truck. I dug my feet into the ground and snapped at his legs, trying to scare him into dropping the pole so that I could get back in the woods and untangle myself from this horrible contraption.

It didn't work. The poles were designed for feral dogs, keeping me a safe distance away from him and by the victorious grin on his face, he knew it. With a resigned growl, I allowed the man to drag me to the truck and shove me unceremoniously in the back, slamming the door before I could even think about turning around and trying to escape.

I sat back on my haunches with a huff, really not wanting to tell Eli what had happened. It was unavoidable, though. I would need someone to come get me out of this. Although, I could probably wait until nighttime, shift and break out myself when the officers weren't in the building.

There was still the matter of the rogue, though. Eli would need to know to send someone else after it and he would want to know why I couldn't finish the job. There was no way around it; Eli was going to have to know about this. I groaned, sinking down on the hard metal floor to lie down and covering my muzzle with my paws. I was never going to live this down.

It took only minutes to reach the pound. It was located in an ugly gray building with a sign nailed to the door, proudly proclaiming "Andrus City Dog Pound". The concrete building was drab, making this horrible day even worse.

I was once again wrangled into the stupid metal collar and dragged into the pound. Angry, I lashed out, attempting in vain to snap at the officer's legs once more while he kicked at me and swore until he'd shoved me into a tiny crate that I could barely stand in.

I tried to maneuver myself into a more comfortable position, only managing to make a lot of noise slamming my body into the sides with the attempt. Have these places always been so inhumane? If people could see these things from my point of view, they'd be changing the design.

Jackson, what's going on? Eli asked. I haven't heard back from you.

I sighed, knowing that there was no way around this conversation, no matter how much I truly wished that there was. You're going to have to send someone else after that rogue, Eli, I told him. I got held up.

I could tell Eli was confused by the statement. There's not much that could deter me from hunting down a rogue and he knew it. What are you talking about? What happened? he asked.

I growled slightly before admitting, The rogue made it into town and I got caught by animal control before I could change and get into some clothes.

There was silence for maybe thirty seconds before I could practically hear Eli's laughter through the link. The asshole was probably face down on his desk with tears falling like a waterfall. I didn't think that this was funny in the slightest.

My attention was distracted when I saw a middle-aged couple walk through the doors and head straight for the desk. I half listened as they explained that they were looking for a dog for their daughter's birthday. I rolled my eyes, tuning out their conversation. They were probably looking for a puny lapdog that would fit in their daughter's purse.

Eli hadn't responded, but I could still feel his amusement. He'd get someone on the tail of the rogue and then he'd figure out something to get me out of here. Until he decided to stop laughing at me, I was going to ignore him. He wouldn't find it so funny if he were in my shoes right now.

"Oh, John! Look at this one! He's perfect!" I was startled as the woman's voice had come from directly in front of me. It was the woman I had just watched come in and she was staring at me with sparkling eyes full of satisfaction and determination.

Her husband joined her, looking me over carefully. I was sure that he was going to veto this idea. I certainly looked too rough to be a good dog for his daughter. He crouched down to get a closer look and I wanted to growl. I was in a bad mood and I wasn't happy with people looking at me like I was a zoo exhibit.

Logically, I knew they weren't doing anything wrong. I was in a dog pound and they were looking for a pet for their daughter. I was just angry with my situation.

"Excuse me, Sir," the man, John, said, standing up from his crouch and stopping the officer that had brought me into this god forsaken place. "What kind of dog is this?"

The officer walked back a little bit and peered into my kennel, grimacing a bit when he noticed which dog they were referring to. "My guess is a wolf hybrid," he replied to John. "I would guess wolf and husky, but I don't think you want him for your daughter. I just got back with him and he was quite aggressive when I dragged him in."

It wouldn't matter if they took me or not. I'd be gone the second we got out of the car and there would be nothing they could do about it. I did know one thing, though. If they tried to adopt me, there was no way that I was telling Eli about it.

"Can I pet him, please?" the woman asked, leaning down to grin into my kennel.

The officer seemed a little uncomfortable by this question. "I'm not sure that's wise, ma'am," he told her. "Like I said, he was very aggressive when I brought him in. He was snapping and growling like crazy."

The woman looked back at me while I sat calmly in the kennel, seeing a way out of this that didn't involve Eli coming to actually see the spectacle I had become. She looked back at the officer with a raised brow. "He looks perfectly fine to me," she told him dryly. "I want him."

The officer looked to John for confirmation and this seemed to make the man angry. "You heard the woman," John told him severely. Apparently he didn't like the officer questioning his wife. I wouldn't either. Women are just as capable at making decisions as men; they just tend to let their emotions cloud their judgment.

The officer nodded quickly, noticing easily that he'd offended the man. "There's a fee of twenty dollars and some paperwork that you'll have to fill out. It won't take long at all."

John followed the officer back to the desk while the woman crouched down in front of my kennel again. "Such a beautiful creature," she murmured as she looked me over. Rafe puffed up with pride and I wanted to roll my eyes. "You look darn smart and I'm going to be trusting you to take care of my daughter," she told me.

I didn't react to her words, pretending I couldn't understand her. I wouldn't be protecting her daughter because I would be getting back to my pack the second we arrived at their house. I would leave some money on their porch for the adoption fee and they'd have to come back tomorrow and find another dog to take care of their daughter.

John came back only a few moments later with the officer behind him, carrying a leash. I growled at the sight of it. I was not being put on a leash. I'd been treated like a pet enough today and I wasn't dealing with any more of it.

John seemed to understand what I was growling at, though he looked wary about how to continue. After a moment, he held up a hand to the officer. "I don't think I'll be needing the leash," he told him, eyeing me carefully.

"Sir, I really don't think that that's a good idea," the officer cautioned.

John shook his head. "The leash is what has him worked up. I'll guide him by his scruff if I have to, but the leash is only going to make him angry."

The animal control officer stepped back, watching John and I with wary eyes as John reached forward to unhook the door. I stepped out easily, deciding to play good doggy until we were at their house and away from the officer. Then I'd make a run for it when there was no one that could snag me with a metal collar and rod.

John and his wife smiled as I walked calmly out of the kennel and John rested a cautionary hand on my back in case I got any ideas about running. "Thank you," John told the officer as we exited the building, waving the hand that wasn't on my back over his shoulder in goodbye.

The woman walked ahead of us to open the back door of their red Impala LT. She waved her hands gently towards the opening and said, "In, doggy!"

Grumbling to myself about the degrading command, I easily climbed into the backseat, laying down across the bench and resigning myself to wait until we got to their house to escape. Only a little bit longer, I comforted myself.

I wasn't wrong. The drive was only about five, maybe ten minutes. They were just a little way outside of town in a nice, white house. I smiled as I realized that the house sat right along the edge of the woods, right along the edge of my territory. Getting back to the pack was going to be easier than I thought.

The woman got out of the car and walked back to the rear door, opening it up to allow me out. I leaped down and shook out my fur, preparing to make a beeline straight for the woods when I was stopped in my tracks by the most adorable squeal I'd ever heard in my nineteen years.

I looked up to see a girl, sixteen or seventeen, running out the door of the quaint, white house. She was pretty tall for a girl, maybe five foot eight or so, with long, curly golden brown hair. Her green eyes stood out against her tan skin and a wide, bright smile lit up her entire face. She was absolutely stunning and my wolf and I were frozen in awe of her.

Rafe started up a happy dance in my mind to a chant that I couldn't make out. I was too distracted by the beauty in front of me to pay attention to the ramblings of the wolf in my subconscious.

"Momma, Daddy!" she squealed. "He's absolutely perfect!" Her voice was high and musical. It broke me out of the trance I was in, staring at her, and suddenly I was able to make out the chant that Rafe wouldn't stop.

Mate! Mate! Mate! Get our mate!

She kneeled down in front of me as joy suffused my body. This was the girl I'd been waiting my entire life to find. I couldn't even be mad about being caught by animal control anymore because it had brought me to her.

She looked into my eyes and smiled. "I'm going to call you Rafe. You look like a Rafe to me."

Inside, I smiled and Rafe howled because we knew that on some level, she could feel the mating bond, too. It was what had told her the name to call us. She would probably know my name as well, the first time she sees me in human form, but she would only recognize Rafe in wolf form.

I decided right then that I would have to wait until the perfect time to show myself. I didn't want to scare her and I wanted some time to get to know her without her being shy or anything. I would never dream of rejecting her, but don't girls tell their dogs everything? What better way to get to know my mate?