James allowed me to sleep on the bed. He was proud that I stood up for a pack member, decided that I was falling in line with his ideals. If she wasn't pregnant however, he promised to cut deep into me for each word that I had spoken, and to watch my mouth in future decisions. It was a massive change, and even with how proud he was he left a trail of injury along my arm from his claws. Even when I do the ideal thing in his eyes, it's not enough. I lay wide awake next to him on the bed, his hands laying over my stomach while he snores. I never missed that. My thoughts travel to Jessica, her smiling face at the dinner table that gave me all the hope I needed.

Speak of the devil. The window slides open slowly, Jessica sticking her head through the window. I look over to James, his face un-changing from the subtle noise. She waves me over, a begging fear in her eyes. As quick, but graceful as possible I try to slide from his grasp. His fingers tighten, my eyes closing to hide the excitement that has formed from my savior. I feel them relax again, then feel him shift over on the bed letting me free. Jessica waves frantically now glancing over her shoulder for just a moment. I roll of the bed using the mat that lays next to the side table as a cushion for my footsteps. As fast as my human legs can carry me, I run over to her letting myself feel as light as a cloud. Thank anyone that men are heavy sleepers. Jessica grabs at my arm pulling me through the window. The shorts and tank that I was given doing nothing against the midnight chill. The lack of shoes forces me to bite my tongue, the twigs that litter the yard digging into the soles of my feet. I watch her slowly lower the window, look around once more, and then wrap her hand through mine. Jessica meets my eyes, her stare demanding, follow me.

We run towards the tree line, the black of night covering us from any curious eyes, however the problem of our scent is a growing concern. She dips left then right keeping it disorganized as we tunnel through the trees. As we get deeper into the forest, a reflective pool comes into view. Jessica runs at it faster pulling my arm tightly. The bottom of my feet are bloody messes by this point and attempting to get an infection is not on me to do list. I try to stop her, but she's much stronger than me. If you jump in the water, your scent will be masked for maybe a half hour. Enough to get past the guard line. My logic is wild, but enough to convince me that maybe Jessica does know what she's doing.

She tugs us both into the water quietly, a slow descent that pains every split part of my body. The collar weighs heavy on my shoulders as I soak it through, Jessica taking just as much time to meticulously cover every inch of herself. As soon as we soak our hair, she dips down grabbing lake mud running over her upper body and head, I follow suit pushing it between my collar and over my body. The cuts that cover my body have mud shoved into them, my blood being a potent indicator of my scent. This is going to turn out horrible, but at least I might be free. Now run as fast as you can.

And we do. We jump from the lake and force our bodies forward as fast as we can. Jessica is slightly faster than me, her hand staying on me to keep me in pace with her as we stay in a straight line to what I assume is an exit. My body screams to stop, the lack of energy resources starting to hit, my feel swelling, and the burn that covers every inch of me from that water. Don't stop running. So close.

The end of the tree line comes into view, the moon breaking so beautifully over the field. I watch the shadows of people form towards the middle, Jessica pushing us harder towards them. My body starts to light on fire, the bond cracking with joy as the beautiful face of Ares comes into sight. Mate. Mine.

"Come on, Vee, one last push." The first words she's spoken to me, and now I know why. Wolves.

Their growls fill the void behind us, feet beating against the woods floor. I take a glance at Jessica, her eyes welling with tears as we continue. Ares runs at me with a concentration I hadn't seen before. His eyes shift, a dark look taking over. Jessica looks to me, "When I say drop, drop."

"Drop?"

"DROP!"

She yanks my body forward, our small figures rolling over the grass as a large wolf jump above us to challenge the wolves that followed. The wolf is beautiful, a grey that shimmer like glitter in the night. Holy shit. This is really fucking real, "Vee, we have to keep running. Alpha can only hold them off for so long, we need to get to my mate so he can send the pack."

"What? Jessica?"

"Just trust me okay, our pack is here to kick some ass on your behalf." Their growls fill the dark void as we run towards the other side of the field, "We are off pack land, so Alpha has rights to attack without proper, notifications. Since his wolves attacked first, as expected, we have rights to fight back." Jessica rambles as we break the farthest tree line. Josh run through the night pulling her into his arms.

"Fantastic job." I missed so fucking much, "You two stay back, we have this now. Ares is going to be overjoyed to see you." Josh turns to the men that slowly crawl from the forest, drop from trees, and other wolves that step forward. Holy shit they are beautiful, "Get that collar off of her, and get her rations."

"Jessica, I need some explanation." Two men step towards me, everyone else breaking for the field shifting as they go. My jaw drops watching them. While I knew it was real, seeing it... it stops any thoughts from forming.

"Let's get you some food and comfortable, and then we can talk." One of the men hand her a couple changes of clothes with wipes. The other holds multiple gallon water jugs with travel shampoo.

"Luna, Beta. The leaders requested you step to the side and clean off. It will allow them to track your scent incase things go wrong. Gerald here has some bolt cutters that will take care of the collar." Gerald steps forward with the massive metal clamps. He gives a sheepish smile to which I nod. He gently grabs the collar snapping the bracket, so it drops to the ground. The mud that was tucked between falls over my shirt, some landing on my feet.

"And Luna, we brought you sandals." The other one says, "You can call me Tusk."

"Your name is actually Tusk?" I mutter grabbing a gallon water jug with a shampoo.

"Got it for my birthday, my mom was always original to say the least. My sister's name is Fern."

"Surprisingly, that's more common than your name. Thank you for your help... Tusk. And you Gerald. Both are very appreciated." The men nod stepping away. Jessica and I step over to a nearby tree. She washes my hair and face while I tackle hers. Taking care of the other was easier than attempting to clean ourselves off with the limited water. We both strip of our clothes, the men focusing on guarding the perimeter while we change. Using the last gallon, we get the crevices that now hold mud as well. Pulling on the fresh clothes was like heaven, both of us sighing in relief.

Jessica calls over Tusk for a medical kit, her taking care of my soles for me before I slip on the sandals, "I feel like a new woman." I pat at my neck, the weight removed from me. My shoulders feel freer, as well as my dignity now intact.

Jessica turns her chin over her shoulder calling out to the boys, "Gerald are we okay to light a fire so we don't get sick?"

"The pack is about five miles west, and well distracted. We are currently dominating. I suppose if we keep it small, it should be fine."

I look around at the people. Jessica seems so calm compared to a few days ago, her whole demeanor has changed since the last time we saw each other, "If they get to close, we kill the fire. Keep us updated."

"Yes Beta." And that was that.

She turns to me, Tusk working on the fire. Her friendly arms wrap around me pulling me into a big hug. I barely breathe as we hold each other, tears brimming our eyes, "So glad to see you."

"I missed you too bitch." We break away our cry fest letting our hands warm at the fire. The light gives us the chance to see each other clearly, "Wow, Vee. In just a week you look like a fucking skeleton."

"He starved me until last night." I give Gerald an appreciative smile when he hands me a sandwich, well two the size of my head.

"He deserves to rot in hell. He didn't..." She trails off into a whisper, the men pause their movements to listen in.

"No, he didn't rape me. Just roughed me up a bit. He had intention to take over Ares's mark, but he wanted to wait until I was broken. I mostly just slept on the floor, got suffocated by that god forsaken collar, and starved. Sometimes a shower if I smelled to much like my own sweat."

"Ares started hunting the moment he was alerted of your disappearance. The women that let you leave with James were collard and shunned by the pack until death a couple days ago. We traveled throughout the night as a pack to find you, your scent was hard to catch, and James kept his pack house a secret."

"As a pack? You included?"

"Yeah..." She scratches the back of her neck before continuing, "When you mark Ares is return, you'll have traits of a wolf. The smell, hearing, human speed, life span and strength. However, you won't shift. I rode on Josh's back."

"So, you two?"

She sighs, "Yeah. I accepted him, and we marked each other. I don't know when it happened, but at one point I just accepted that the sex is good, he can cook, and fuck I can't leave him."

"I'm happy for you." I lay my hand on her shoulder. Tears of appreciation slip from her eyes.

Tusk flashes us a smile, me taking a bite of the sandwich, "The Alpha found him."

"They are listening into the fight. The pack will be tuned into the event and ready to offer aid if the other cheats."

"You seem to know a ton about the wolves." I laugh starting on the second sandwich.

"He made me study the pack dynamics all week to have a better understanding on how to slip under James's radar. I had to learn the basic of practically everything to seem less suspicious."

"And he didn't notice your mark?"

"I wore a high collared shirt and blamed the scent on a couple nights I enjoyed in my last pack. He wasn't the wiser." I go in for another hug, wrapping my arms around her so violently that she screams a little. Her laugh is contagious when she hugs back once more. We hold against one another watching the males circle us, a couple growls leaving at random moments.

Tusk yells towards the fire pit, Jessica and I dropping to the ground. Gerald knocks the fire out as a wolf barrel through the clearing. His eyes set on me, mist from its snot flying out in pure rage. Jessica grabs my arms tossing me on her back like one would a child dodging us from the blonde wolf, "HOLY FUCK!" I can't help the pure fear that fills my veins at the sight of his teeth snapping at our necks. Jessica turns to the friendlies running at them. Her commands don't reach my ears, but Tusk and Gerald shift taking on the wolf as he charges for us once more.

"I am going to run, and you better fucking hold on. Their Alpha's been beaten, and some refuse to submit."

"You just know this?" I call out when the trees whip by us. Her speed is incredible compared to earlier, "And why didn't we do this sooner?"

"Mind-link dumbass. And we needed to be undetected. Human speeds are harder for wolves to spot compared to a wolf. Also, I need you to listen and not freak the fuck out." I am so freaking out. She huffs taking a sharp left. I scream as a branch comes over my head. The wolves are tight behind us, their yelps and growls getting closer by the minute, "We need to get into a tree."

"A tree?"

"Wolves can't climb. It's the safest place for us. And if they want us, they'll have to shift for it. Tusk and Gerald will be ready for it."

We stop at the closest tree. She throws me off her back, both of us taking a side to start scaling. I watch in awe as Jessica scales it easily, me being drug up from the top when she holds down a hand, "You need some weight, I barely felt you!"

"Now you're just showing off."

"And what if I am?" She laughs taking us out of this hell for just a moment, "They've scented us. However, Alpha has handled most of the difficulties, he's heading this way." Ares. My heart aches at the thought of seeing him. When did I start missing him? When did I start giving a fuck about him beyond myself?

"Hey, it's okay to be afraid." Jessica whispers to me.

"Am I that easy to read?"

"Your face is telling me enough. I know it's hard to imagine, but he loves you and just wants to take care of you." While you say that, it isn't. I know he loves me, and maybe just maybe I might in return. The wolves slam into the bottom of the tree, Jessica grabbing me to keep me in place. Tusk and Gerald's wolves drag him back, their teeth clamping into his hind legs. I cover my mouth in disgust, Jessica grabbing my face to look towards her, "Focus on me. Tell me what's on your mind about Ares."

"I love him, I do. But fuck, this side of him? This side of the wolves, it's hard to swallow all at once."

"Did he show you his wolf before he marked you?" She's surprised, her eyes going wide at the information. I know it could come off surprising, but I'd expect her situation to be almost similar. Ares is an Alpha. His wolf is more... I remind myself of that fact while I look at my surprised friend.

"No, it was more of a 'you can never leave me' mark instead of a loving one. I hadn't seen a wolf till now, and this is some first impression. In some ways, I thought it was total bullshit."

"I am sorry to hear that, look. I know this isn't the best time, but Ares can't hurt you. His wolf is going to be a little more dominant that his human counterpart, and when he sees you, he will need to make contact. Don't be alarmed by the approach, and just scratch his ear or something." I smile at her trying to make this feel normal. Ares is always working, or at pack events, and sometimes dealing with the random fights at his borders. I haven't been introduced, or really accustomed to the life that Jessica seems so sure in. Beautifully radiates would be the better way of putting it. Wolf looks good on her. Her skin glows, eyes strong. The strength she's received holds her well.

We look down to see Tusk and Gerald planting their wolf asses at the base of the tree, both pointing an opposite direction, "They are taking point. The other wolf is dead." She fills in for me, letting me take a moment to process, "Josh told me that Ares is very busy, always has been. He hoped finding his mate would change that. You could change that. After all of this, demand his time, demand his focus, and ask to be taught. He can't expect you to react correctly when he is keeping you holed up. No matter how territorial and wolfy he is compared to others."

"Do you like the pack? The wolves? Even after everything we've been through?"

"Sadly, call it Stockholm if you must. I love Josh with my entire being. Nothing could take me away from him. Just the thought of him fighting on the front lines is tearing me apart. While I wasn't always about this, or even wanted this, I couldn't imagine anything else. The pack loves me, and I love them. They are kind, supportive, and so damn fun. I think you'll love it too." I peak down another wolf reaching the base with shimmery grey fur. Bright honey eyes look up towards me, a howl that send my heart into overdrive, "Go on, he's here for you."