My lungs burned as I ran through the trees. After I had read the file my wolf and I had decided it was best to get away from everyone to release the rage that was boiling in our veins. Maricella, my mate, as a ten year old girl was abused and tortured for some sick idea of revenge. I had known that. Alpha Lawrence had given me the concept of it but he never gave me details. The details in the file had been vague, very basic but had just been enough so that I could imagine what she had to go through and each image that was constructed made the rage boil worse and worse until I could feel my limbs bending and aching from the pressure of the shift that would have been forced onto me if I hadn't left.

I had been running for hours. Trying to run off the rage or at least run my wolf and I to the point of exhaustion. It seemed like that was the only option that was working. Our legs burned as we patrolled the small territory. The wild wolf pack that was living in the area with Victor had avoided me, feeling the waves of dangerous rage that rolled off me. I appreciated the avoidance, I hadn't wanted to hurt any of them. They were part of Maricella's family and she never would have forgiven me for hurting them. I didn't know her a lot but I knew that much.

I finished my sprint around the territory before turning back to the house. My tongue hung out and my wolf was silent, too exhausted to even whine. I had pushed myself harder than I should have but I needed to. I needed to drive myself to the point of exhaustion because if I didn't I would have taken off after Tacita. I would have taken off to kill those responsible for her abuse. I had a vague understanding about which pack warriors would have been cruel enough to beat a little girl and then there was Ingrid. There was very little I didn't want to do to her. I wanted her to feel every little thing she ever did to Maricella and the Omegas before and after her. I wanted to break her down until there was nothing left and only when she begged for death or mercy would I give her that only kindness she had deserved.

Despite my exhaustion rage flared up once more but I pushed it away. I couldn't allow myself to get out of control, not around Maricella, she deserved more than that. I ignored the rage that demanded I destroy everything in my path and focused on Maricella. I pushed everything away as I raced towards her. I needed her in my arms, to make sure she was okay. I wasn't paying attention and nearly slammed into Alpha Sterling. I felt my claws dig into the earth as I came to a stop. It was strange how he was in the middle of the forest, so far from the house.

"Shift." He held out a pair of what looked to be shorts and I did as he requested. I took the shorts with a small nod before looking at him. His face was pale and he looked haggard. "I need your help." There seemed to be something in his tone and I narrowed my eyes as I pulled the shorts on. Something wasn't right. Something was going on.

"Can't it wait?" I couldn't help the aggressive tone I had taken. I needed to be with Maricella, something wasn't right. The need to be with her was growing and I stiffened slightly at the thought of his sudden appearance and my apprehension. Something was going on and I didn't like it.

"No. I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't need the help. Maricella told me to ask you." He was lying and it didn't sit right with me. I narrowed my eyes more and tilted my head. I needed to figure out what was he lying about and why. "Stop looking at me like that. I'm a weak Alpha. I have people who wish to challenge me but hold back because of Ezekiel and Michael but this situation is bad." He ran a hand through his hair and looked frazzled for lack of a better word. "My pack is splintering, Bennett, and I can do nothing to stop it. I'm a shit Alpha. I know it, Jace knows it and my pack knows it." His words floored me. His brutal honesty struck a chord deep in my chest. This man had found some of my respect. An Alpha who was willing to admit his short comings was one I could respect. "I can't run a pack. I can barely use an Alpha Command. I'm fucked." He let out a sigh that seemed to make the air around us heavier.

"How does this involve me?" I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at him. I narrowed my eyes, despite the new found respect, he was hiding something from me and I didn't like being lied to.

"I need your help. There are some dissenters in my pack and I want them gone. I can't command Ezekiel or Michael to do it because they would kill anyone who even remotely insults me. I need someone who has a bit more control." He looked me up and down and then met my gaze. His grey eyes were similar to Maricella's but a bit darker, more slate grey than cloudy. "Just for a few days and then you can come back. I need you to help me insti;l fear into my pack." His words were almost sour in the air. Running a pack through fear wasn't always the right route to go.

"That isn't the best way to run a pack." I said the words coldly but he didn't even flinch against my tone, he simply nodded his head as if agreeing with me.

"I know but it's the only way I can. If they refuse to give me respect, I need to force them to fear me." He ran his hands through his hair. "It's my last chance. If I can get them to fear me then I can control them for at least a year, until I find something that can give me the power I need to gain their respect. I need to do this. I'm at the end of my rope, Bennett. I promise you this isn't going to be how I run my brother's pack." He spat the words out and I felt an eyebrow rise slightly.

"It's your pack. You are the Alpha." I watched as he let out a bitter laugh.

"Not by choice, Bennett. I'm playing at a job that my brothers trained for their entire lives. Sadly, they are buried six feet into the ground next to my father and my mother is too psychologically damaged to run a pack. So that leaves me." Bitterness hung off of him heavily and I looked at him carefully. He truly looked like he had no options left. He wasn't born to be an Alpha, it showed in his aura. He lacked the power a firstborn, and even a second born, would have had.

"Shitty but if you excuse me." I let my arms drop to my sides and I took a step forward.

"I was sent out here to distract you. To convince you or con you into leaving with me for a few days." He tilted his head and I froze. The burning rage instantly went icy at the thought of someone scheming against me or attempting to separate me from Maricella. I stared at Luka my gaze cold and he shrugged. "Honestly, I was against it. So it probably would have worked better to not send me out here but they did. Now what I am going to do is distract you and help you burn off some rage before you go back to the house." He shifted on his feet, putting his hands into his jean pockets as he looked at me expectantly. "Do you want to go for a walk with me while I tell you what is going on?" He tilted his head the other way and despite the rage that had filled me, I could see hand he was extending.

He was helping me. He was going against those he knew to help me and most likely Maricella. I had underestimated him as a person. He wasn't a strong Alpha, I knew that but he had conviction, a steel back bone, and a sense of justice and that wasn't something I had expected from the soft spoken man.

I forced the rage down until it was back to a simmer, the feeling of anxiety quickly filled the spaces it left. I had been right in thinking something was wrong with Maricella. If they didn't want me to see her then something had happened. I felt like I had failed her. "What happened?" My voice was tight with worry and Luka started walking through the trees. I fell into step beside him.

"Maricella has this issue. It's similar to PTSD but hits a bit harder and happens a lot quicker. It is set to traumatic triggers." He hunched his shoulders forward. "Amber calls it Acute Stress Disorder. Essentially it means Maricella goes into a sort of psychological coma. Her brain freezes and she is stuck somewhere inside of her head until she can dislodge herself." I knew what he was speaking of. I had read in the notes that the most serious trigger had been blood and I winced.

"This happened because of yesterday, didn't it? Because she saw Beta John?" I wanted to kick myself. I should have known. I should have made sure she was okay. Everyone should have but instead she had been forgotten, as if the incident had never happened.

"More than likely that and during those ten minutes she was forcibly removed from her mate, had a person she trusted more than anything tear that trust to pieces before he left her with bruises. It was a highly emotional and traumatic event." He scuffed ground with his foot and I felt the ever familiar feeling of self-loathing fill me. I hadn't been there for her. I was supposed to protect her and I had failed her. "Her mind is a strange thing but Amber should have known this would have happened. It was like a bomb and shortly after you left the house or it was sometime when she was alone. We don't actually know. It exploded." He let out a heavy sigh. "She's completely unresponsive. They have been trying for the past six hours to get her mind to release her but nothing is working. They wanted me to take you away so you wouldn't go ballistic on them but I have a feeling that the only way this is going to get better is with you." Luka looked at me and I felt my chest tightened painfully. I glanced through the trees in the direction of the house. I needed to be with her. "Don't go there just yet. Walk with me for a bit." He continued forward and I hesitated before following. I wanted to be with Maricella but I trusted that Luka wouldn't lie to me, not about Maricella's safety.

"I'm a shitty mate." The words burned but they were honest and Luka let out a sharp bark of laughter.

"And I'm a shitty Alpha. We make quite the pair." He chuckled for a brief moment before shaking his head. "You aren't a shitty mate. You protect her, even from those close to her. You didn't think I would notice how you were ready to rip Jace's throat out for frightening her? Not many mates would go as far as to challenge an Alpha for their mates." He stepped over a fallen log and I followed suit.

"I should have been there. Instead I was running around like a child." I was kicking myself for it. I should have been with her and the fact I wasn't burned me deep inside as the bond tore at my nerves and skin, raking it with a faint and throbbing pain.

"Been there to what? See her mind crumple and hide her deep in the recesses of her memories? It would have happened, Bennett. Only if you had been there you would now be saying how shitty of a mate you were for not doing more to stop it." He sighed. "You ran off to hide your rage. You did it to wear yourself out, to make sure you were in completely control. That speaks of a great maturity. I've seen Alphas that don't have that level of forethought. You are a surprise, Bennett." Luka stopped walking and I stared at him. Ignoring the way my body itched at me to take off to the house. I needed to be calm before I went back. It was difficult with the guilt and anxiety eating me from the inside out.

"You obviously don't know me." I ran my hand through my hair, shaking out the long strands. It was getting almost too long and I would need to take a pair of scissors to it.

"I know enough." He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I was serious about you coming to help me out with my pack. Not now, after all of this shit is over. I need help." I felt a pang of irritation at his words. I wasn't some sort of guard dog and I was definitely unwilling to leave Maricella.

"What do I get in return?" I did not do anything in the realm of guard dog without serious compensation.

"My heartfelt appreciation and thanks?" At his words I leveled him with a cold glare that he seemed completely unfazed by. "I'm kidding. You get to bring Maricella, meet some new people, and have a holiday for about a week. Oblitus can be a bit much for the first few months." He gestured around lazily and I couldn't find it in me to disagree with him on that paint. Oblitus was a... different sort of pack.

However my frown deepened. "And you honestly think Maricella would like-"

"She would love to come for a visit. She doesn't get out enough." Luka's tone turned a bit bitter. "She is stuck in that house in this territory. She never goes anywhere and I honestly hate it. I can't convince Jace to let me take her but if you are coming he wouldn't have a choice." He shrugged again before walking once more. "Besides I think it is best if she gets away from this whole Jace thing. With her here, Amber is going to be constantly at Jace's throat. They will need a week or so to sort everything out." I had to admit it would be easier for everyone, Maricella included, if we went somewhere else for at least a week. Let her settle her emotions and mind and relax for a few days.

"So? What do you say?" Luka looked over at me and I frowned. I didn't want to promise anything to him until I was sure Maricella was okay.

"I would like to but currently my entire focus is on Maricella." I glanced at him and he nodded in understanding.

"No worries. I don't blame you. I'm staying for a few days to train anyway so it can wait until I need to leave." He shrugged and I silently agreed with him. It could wait a few days. I glanced in the direction of the house. "No looking over there." His voice was sharp and the Alpha Command was still weak but it was stronger. I leveled him with a stare that he ignored. "Don't look at me like that. We need to keep you distracted for a bit longer. Five more minutes, Bennett." He said it as if I were a child and I glowered at him coldly. He simply smirked. "So how is a mate bond?" His face went serious as he looked at me.

"Strange." It was the only way I could explain the feelings I had.

He rolled his eyes at me. "I need details." I didn't understand why he needed to even ask.

I found a deep scowl on my face as I walked forward. "Why?" I snapped it out and he let out an all-suffering sigh.

"I got rejected by a female and refuse to find another one to take her place. I'm trying to live vicariously through you. So just answer my question." He sounded irritated and I winced. I hadn't realized that he had been rejected.

"I'm sor-"

"I don't need that. She was a power hungry bitch but she made some valid points about my lack of power and inability to control my pack. So, how is a mate bond?" He waved me off before throwing me a lazy smile. I wanted to frown but resisted the urge, this male could switch emotions like it was nothing.

I also didn't like how friendly he was being with me. I didn't do friendly with others. Thinly veiled hostility was more my style but I thought on the bond I had with Maricella to appease his curiosity. "I need to protect her. Its bone deep and it all-consuming. She is constantly on my mind. I worry about her excessively and the need to claim our bond runs through me fiercely. Its like being in a box and the sides are pushing in on you until you do what it requires." I frowned as Luka made a noise of surprise.

"Is it enjoyable?" His entire presence was calming and I couldn't help but relax slightly. I could see why Maricella liked spending time with him. For an Omega, it would have been incredibly easy to be around him.

"Maricella calls it frustrating." I had to smile a fraction as he laughed at the words.

"Kiddo has always been a strange one. Only she would claim it was frustrating." His chuckles faded off and a silence fell between us as we moved through the dark forest.

The moon hung high in the sky, looking down at us as she bathed the world in her light and I let out a sigh. "A bond is different for everyone. Just remember that." I looked at Luka from the corner of my eye and he shrugged.

"I don't care. Last thing I need is to get rejected again." He gave a strained laugh. "I'm a free male. No parents, no girlfriend, no mate. I can do whatever I want unless its what I actually want." He shoved his hand through his hair with a jerky and agitated motion. "Sometimes I just want to fucking run and never stop. I never signed up for any of this shit. I'm a fucking third born son." He snapped his mouth shut, his jaw tensing. It was obvious he didn't mean to say that much.

"Third born or not. You are an Alpha. Act like it." I stopped and stared towards the house. The urge to go to Maricella was nearly overpowering. My wolf was whining and scratching in the back of my mind and Luka looked in the same direction.

"How does one act like an Alpha when their entire life they have been told to they will never be one? I was never meant to be an Alpha." He said it slowly and evenly as if it would help me understand his positioning.

I shrugged before gesturing at him. "Yet here you stand." He was an Alpha and he should have gotten used to that.

"Here I stand." He said it bitterly, making a slight face as if able to taste the words he spat out. "I think you should be okay to go back. I'm going to stay out here a bit longer." He looked at me and I moved past him. His hand grabbed my arm quickly, the movement making me freeze. He looked me over and I glanced down at his hand and then back up at him. The urge to break his arm was growing rather quickly. "I think you might need this." He said it softly before handing me a long thin case. It looked strange but he simply handed it over to me before he let me go and whistled. The two wilds seemed to melt from the shadows to walk beside him. "Come on, boys. Let's go for a run." He said it calmly as he shifted almost violently before taking off, his black fur glinting slightly in the patches of moonlight. I was surprised at the force and speed of his shift. One second he had been standing there and the next second he was standing on four legs. I had never seen anyone shift that quickly before.

I looked after him before I turned my gaze to the box he had given me. I opened it and my eyes went wide at the silver dirk that rested in the soft interior. The handle was wrapped intricately with cloth to prevent the wielder from getting burns. It wasn't a fancy blade but seemed to have an ethereal feeling to it. I closed the box quickly, my heart thudding in my chest. It was a blade used to claim a bond. I held it tightly in my hand before running towards the house. I needed to make sure Maricella was okay.

It didn't take me long to reach the front lawn and I didn't hesitate before I bounded across it and up the stairs. I shoved open the front door and sniffed the air. Maricella's scent was faint but I followed it. I found myself in front of the infirmary where her scent was thicker. I opened the door slowly, trying to ignore the harsh pounding of my heart.

"What the fuck can we do, Amber? It's been over six hours!" Jace's voice was booming and there was a loud snarl.

"Do not speak to me like that and take that tone elsewhere. For all we know it could be you causing her to stay in her own mind." The accusation as heavy in the doctor's voice and I stepped inside of the door and looked between the two. It seemed everyone but Bailey and Davin were in the infirmary. I could see Maricella sitting on one of the cots. I ignored everyone and moved towards her.