"Stop! Don't come closer!" Estan yelled at the four as they cornered the gamma and zeta.

"Inso!" Syri cried out as one of the men threw his fist at the gamma. Estan managed to dodge the first swing but was not so lucky on the second. The zeta's eyes flashed aqua as Aska awoke. A bucket that was stationed in one of the corners flew through the air and made its mark on the head of the man who hit Estan.

"Wha' was that? Where did it come from?" The first man shouted at the remaining two as the target fell over unconscious.

"I don't know!" "It wasn't me!" "I didn' see any'ing!"

The man growled in annoyance at the two's responses. "Never mind that! Ge' 'em!" The man snarled as the motioned at the gamma and zeta.

The sound of a dagger being thrown preluded the gasping of one of the two subordinates as the blade made its mark in his back. The remaining two whipped around to see a hazel-eyed man rushing them. The rho extracted the knife from the man's back on his way to the remaining attackers.

"Ge' him!" The leading attacker growled at his subordinate as the two charged the rho. The leading delta bared his claws as he met the rho head-on.

Syri noticed the man he had knocked out stirring, so he ran over to the bucket and lifted it in his hands while Brenton fought the leader. The zeta brought the bucket over to the man and crashed it over his head once again, rendering him unconscious a second time. A hand on Syri's shoulder brought the zeta back a step just in time to evade a swing from the subordinate. Estan stood in front of the zeta as he shielded Syri from the fight.

A quiet grunt sounded as the leader slashed his claws over Brenton's shoulder. Brenton seemed unfazed, however, as he continued to fight as if nothing had happened. Being a rho, Brenton was at a disadvantage when fighting two deltas; however, the rho was clearly better trained, so he was able to hold his own. A loud cry rang out as Brenton sunk his blade into the leader's side. As soon as the knife made its mark, it was pulled out, and the action was repeated until the delta was on the ground fighting for his life. Brenton's eyes were hard as he turned to face the remaining attacker.

The surviving delta immediately turned on his heel and ran from the rho, whimpering all the way. Brenton made sure the delta was gone for good before turning to the gamma and zeta.

"Are you alright?" The rho asked as he walked over to the two.

Estan and Syri nodded in response. "We're fine, but you're not," Estan said as he looked at the blood running down the rho's arm from his shoulder.

"Ah, I'll be okay. Don't worry about it," Brenton returned casually as he tried to hide his wound from the gamma.

"Come with us," Estan ordered as he began leading the rho and zeta out of the alley. "There is no way I am leaving you to bleed, not when you risked your life to save us...again."

A small smile came to the rho's face as he nodded in consent to the gamma's command. The walk to the cabin was peaceful as the drunken group had left Alia and continued on their way. They were too drunk to realize several of them were missing.

The three were able to retrieve the gamma and zeta's groceries before leaving town and making their way into the woods.

"Do you know who the men are?" Estan inquired of the rho as the sun began its decline in the sky.

Brenton shook his head as he answered with, "I am not certain. My guess would be they are part of a traveling group of hunters and mercenaries who take contracted jobs."

"Ahh, so they're thugs," Syri concluded.

"Ae," Brenton replied.

A moment of silence passed as the three enjoyed their walk beneath the trees. "How did you know we were in trouble?" Syri inquired of the rho as they walked side-by-side.

"I was at my stand in the market and saw you two in the distance. I knew something was wrong when four of the men split from the group and headed in the same direction as you and Estan," Brenton explained to the zeta. The rho continued to hold his hand to the wound on his shoulder, so Syri would not have to see it as they made their way into the grove.

"We are lucky you saw us," Syri commented as Estan unlocked the door to the cabin.

"I'm glad I got there in time," Brenton responded as the three entered the cabin. The rho followed the gamma's request to sit at the table as Estan went to the back to grab his emergency medical kit. Syri poured Brenton a glass of water while the two waited for the gamma to return to the living room. "Thank you," Brenton said as he accepted the cup of water.

Syri sat in the chair opposite the rho as Estan walked back into the room carrying a medium-sized, black bag. Brenton and Syri watched as Estan set the bag on the table and sat in the chair next to Brenton.

"Take it off," Estan told the rho as he opened the bag and began extracting select medical supplies. The gamma stopped rummaging through the bag as he noticed Brenton's hesitation. "I need you to take your shirt off, so I can have a proper look at the wound," Estan explained as he turned to face the rho.

Brenton was silent for a moment before placing his hands on the hem of his shirt and sliding it over his head. Syri stifled a gasp as he saw the numerous scars covering the rho's chest and back. The wounds must have been dealt by a high-ranking wolf for them to leave such gruesome scars on the rho. Rhos did not have as efficient self-healing abilities as other wolves, so most wounds would likely scar. But these wounds were too horrid for them to be made by lower-ranking, everyday wolves.

Syri turned his head away from the rho as tears touched his eyes. He could not imagine the pain Brenton had gone through to obtain those scars. Estan had sucked in his breath when he saw Brenton's chest and back but had remained professional as was his duty as a physician. Brenton winced only slightly as the gamma began disinfecting his wounds. Estan was gentle as he began wrapping the rho's shoulder.

"Thank you," Brenton said to the gamma as Estan cut the bandage. The rho was quick to slip his shirt back on once the gamma had tied the ends of the cloth and had begun placing the supplies back into the bag.

"How about some dinner?" Estan asked the rho as he lifted the medical bag from the table.

"Oh, I-"

"I insist," Estan said when he could tell Brenton was about to decline his offer. "You should rest some before going on your hunt."

"You said Rosie was with Charlie again, right?" Syri inquired as he brought up another reason the rho should stay for dinner.

Brenton nodded his head. "Ae, Rosie is with Charlie."

"Then, there's no reason you would have to rush back," Syri concluded as he began preparing the vegetables they had just bought.

The rho let a small smile come to his face as he agreed with the zeta. "Very well. Thank you."

Estan smiled at the rho as he set the bag aside and began preparing a hearty meal.

>>>>>>

"No, no, no, no, that's not what happened!" Syri laughed as he shook his finger at Estan who was in the middle of telling Brenton the story of how Syri slipped in the stream one day and tripped Estan during his fall, so they both ended up soaked. "You fell completely on your own!" Syri's laugh was loud and high-pitched as he threw back his head and cackled as he recalled the hilarious memory, causing Estan and Brenton to join him in laughing.

The cabin was bright and warm as the three sat around the table after completing their meal and shared embarrassing stories.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I've got one!" Syri proclaimed as he raised his hand. "This one time Inso tried to ride Dyren, and that horse nearly ate his hair! You should have heard Inso's scream when he felt Dyren nose his head!" The zeta's story caused the gamma and rho to roll in their seats as they laughed from watching Syri attempt to replicate Estan's face when the horse attempted to eat his hair.

"Heyyyyy, I thought we promised to not tell anyone about that one!" Estan called out between laughs as he tried to catch his breath.

"That's what we agreed on for the stream one, too!" Syri returned with a giggle, causing the two to burst out into a fresh laugh.

Brenton's eyes were bright as he gazed at the zeta softly as he watched Syri laugh and smile. The gamma and zeta were caught up in their little dispute, so neither of them noticed the rho completely falling for the zeta...even more than he already had. The poor rho was gone; there was no saving him. Even the slightest glance from the zeta caused Brenton's cheeks to flush as he wished Syri would smile at him all the time. But, deep down, Brenton knew Syri saw him as only a friend. The zeta's heart had already been stolen. It had been taken long before Brenton even came into the zeta's life by a man Brenton had never met.

But that did not stop the rho from longing for the zeta with every waking moment, and this dinner was not helping at all. Brenton had only fallen deeper. And it was getting dangerous. Brenton knew that if he did not stop now, he would never be able to.

Little Syri was completely unaware of the rho's feelings and continued to smile at the man whom he thought of as a friend. Had he been aware of Brenton's feelings, he would have held back on the smiles and kept a bigger distance between himself and the rho. But, Syri being the sweetly that he was, wanted to create happy memories with his friend before he and Estan left for the castle where he would live the rest of his life paying off his debt to the prince.

Syri knew it would be nearly impossible to see Brenton once he and Estan left Alia, so he wanted to have as much fun in that moment as possible. Therefore, he did not hold back on the laughs and smiles, causing Brenton to only fall even more.