By the time I got off work it was dark, but I wasn't alone. Luke volunteered to stay with me to help clean. Closing was always the worst time to work, because this is the time I usually go to bed, in the dirt, or shall I say mud.

I let out a sigh, sitting in the booth me and Olivia talked at earlier. I've been thinking about Ace all day, not our conversation since that was a bunch of bull.

Luke notices me and sits across from me, smiling. "What's on your mind, Charity? Ever since I saw you talkin' to that girl, you've been off edge," he asks, holding the broom in a funny way.

I shake my head, "It's nothing," I tell him, knowing I didn't sound very believable. It wasn't any of his business anyways and plus, I can't let him know who I am. Oh how that would ruin things.

Luke gives me a frown, "Nuh nuh, tell me," he urges, staring directly at me, making me feeling uncomfortable.

I look away at the cracked tile floor, "Seriously Luke." I look up at the clock to see it was way past my shift. I take off my apron and toss it onto the coat rack, getting up to leave.

As I tried to leave, Luke tugged me back by my wrist, "You can always talk to me, LChairity," he smiles awkwardly and quickly lets me go. "Anyways, have a good night," he says, staying in the booth.

I nod, quickly leaving. He had the keys so he could close up, instead of me of course.

The walk into the woods felt different today, the atmosphere was dense, but that's probably just me overthinking everything. I tend to do that more often than I would like. My feet hit the entrance of the forest and I shifted in my wolf. It felt good to be free every night, most people don't shift this often or this long.

My paws hit the dirt as I ran back to my sleeping spot. I wouldn't call it a home, because it's not. One day I'll get a one bedroom apartment, if Ace doesn't take me back by then. All I can do is hope, but like I said, if he changes, then I'll give him a change. As of right now, he has a sliver of a chance with me, even as mates.

The moon glowed above me, lighting the way for me to dodge trees and rocks. The air felt fresh as it hit my face, the things mother nature has gifted us is amazing.

I suddenly come to stop, smelling the scent of other wolves, that I didn't know. I growled lowly, keeping my stance, telling them that I'm here.

Nobody responded, making me think the scent was off, but my thought process changed when I let out an ear piercing shriek. I look down at my back left paw in a panic, a bear trap is encased around it. My breathing picks up as I start to feel myself panic. The teeth of the trap are digging into my back foot, if it doesn't come off soon I won't have a back left paw!

I let out a whimper, trying to pull my leg out of it, failing. I couldn't pry it open because I don't have hands and I can't shift because I could risk loosing my foot even more. Blood dropped out of my wound endlessly.

I back up and try to run, but I feel something else clamp around my front, right paw, another trap. I howl, dropping to the forest floor in pain. My pulse was skyrocketing as I struggle, lying down.

I hear a howl that's not mine and I freeze for a moment, sniffing the air as best as I could. Besides the strong scent of my blood, there's unfamiliar scents nearby.

I hear footsteps and I look up to see people I don't know. "Look what we caught boys," says one of the men. The other follow my chuckling.

I examine the guy as my head spins around. He is tall with broad shoulders and black hair, his eyes glow in the dark brightly. He kneels down to me and I growl, telling him to stay away. I wasn't a strong wolf, if anything I'm average, but I don't go down without a fight.

He comes closer, petting my fur lightly, "She's pretty one, don't y'all think?" he asks. The rest of them nod in agreement. I whine, closing my eyes for a moment in pain. He snickers, tugging my fur, "Whoops."

He stands up and backs away, crossing his arms, "Okay miss Lillian," my eyes shoot open, they knew my name. Now if I was in my human form, I'd understand, but I'm a wolf right now. "We are going to take a little revenge out on you." The people behind him cheer.

My eyes widen, I didn't do anything wrong to them, the only reason they would consider hurting me is because I'm mates with Ace... and it clicked in my head. Ace can feel my pain, especially now, I'm weak and vulnerable and this is what I get.

"Okay, Luke, go for it," the man says, somebody comes through the crowd and it's somebody who I wouldn't dare to think would do this to me, but looks can be deceiving, and I've been deceived. My heart pace picks us, everything was just piling onto me, nonstop.

Luke cracks his neck, "If only your mate wasn't Ace," he says quietly before kicking me hard. My body moves back and I let out a small growl. He smiles and leans down to punch me over and over again. "This is all because of your mate, just remember that," he laughs nervously, before shifting and clawing at my stomach. I try to move, only to be restricted by the bear traps digging into my paws.

Luke doesn't back away till the fur on my stomach was all scratched away. He stays in his wolf form and walks away, other people that I didn't know coming up after him. They weren't as bad as Luke, but the pain was adding up. It surprised I haven't passed out from shock yet.

The leader comes back up, making everybody get out of the way for him. He chuckles, beating me to a pulp. If I don't die, then I'm going to look horrific after this.

After I feel another one of my brined break I let out a sob, I couldn't take it no more. "Oh boys, it look like we broke her," he smiles, licking his lips. "I bet I can break her even more," he says, shifting into his wolf.

It didn't click till he was on top of me, nipping at my neck. I cry, knowing that howling was doing nothing. Nobody could hear me, I'm done for.

I shut my eyes, trying to push out all the pain, but failing. He kept nipping and then suddenly stopped. I open my eyes and see his wolf being pinned down by a darker wolf, Ace. My wolf wags her tail a bit, not wanting to make my mood worse, but I actually did feel a little happy. I'm not going to die, but I have a whole other thing coming for me.

I watch Ace rip all the bodies to shreds, even taking his special time with Luke and the leader. They stood no chance against him, but he still took a beating. I wasn't the only one who got weaker from the distance. Blood dripped heavily down Ace's body as he trotted over to me.

He shifts back, not caring much of being naked. I look away, embarrassed. He unclamps the bear traps and lifts me up like I was nothing. I let out a small whimper, sticking my snout on the crook of his neck where the mark lied.

After a few minutes of walking, Ace set me down and put some cloths on, the cold air was starting to get to him, and even me a little bit. He realizes this and manages to put his hoodie on my wolf to keep us warm.

Ace lightly pet my fur as he continued to carry me to hell knows where, "I'm sorry Lillian, this is all my fault."