The thing about my shotgun plan was that it wasn't really a plan, and if my plan were a shotgun, I would be shooting empty shells. Meaning, I didn't really think it through beforehand, and I probably should have considered the fact that first, he had no idea who I was, and secondly, tackling him probably wasn't the smartest thing to do when someone was in enemy territory.

But whatever.

We rolled a couple of times, long enough for me to know I caught him off guard and long enough for me to realize that he was, in fact, not a happy camper.

We ended with me flailed on the ground and him standing over me, jaws unhinged and ready to bite off my face.

I think it was around that time when I thought this probably wasn't going to end well.

'DON'T DO IT ITS MACY STOP!' I screamed it to him, well, mentally anyways. I guess it didn't go through fast enough because suddenly his face came down to take a chunk out of my neck, and I was damn lucky that I was able to dodge it. Barely though.

'STOP STOP STOP STOP.' Maybe my panic wasn't helping but I didn't think it went through again, because he was poised to attack, until at the last second he paused. Maybe it was my high-pitched whines that caught his attention, but whatever it was, thank god it worked.

I attempted a grin, and he titled his head slightly, then sniffed.

'If this wasn't potentially life saving, I would be completely creeped out by you sniffing me like kibble,' I say.

'Macy? What the hell is going on?' Carter finally replied. I let out a breath of relief.

'Well, currently, your attempt at killing me is failing,' I say, 'and I'd appreciate it if you let me up.'

He jumped back quickly. His head was still tilted as he looked at me, and I know he was trying to figure out if this was a ruse or not. I want to roll my eyes.

'Yea yea, I get it; strangely wolfy for someone who was human like two days ago. Don't remind me.'

He shakes his head and takes another step back.

'At least the name "Shrimp" still stands,' he says, and I could picture him smirking like he always does.

'I AM OF AVERAGE HEIGHT YOU FREAK GIANT.'

If animals could laugh, I'm sure the noise Carter just made would be what it sounds like.

Suddenly I feel a presence behind me, and Carter gets into the defensive again, hackles raised. I turn my head to the side only to find Waylon, Alan, and reluctantly, Neil, standing behind me, not nearly as defensive as Carter.

'Chill, they're my prison break buddies,' I say. And before he can reply I ask 'Where's Cayton?'

He looks around, shakes his head, and then, as if suddenly remembering something, looks at me with both panic and anger in his eyes.

'Where's Bethany?'

While I was definitely worried about Cayton and where he was, I knew that he was probably in a lot less danger than Bethany.

'Follow us.'

*

My last thought was to Carter, even though I knew it wouldn't reach him. It was a simple I love you, but if he were here, that's all we would need.

But he wasn't here, and I had no way to tell him.

Roy's nails dug deeper into my skin, but even then I couldn't cry. The pain was intense; the realization that this could be my last day even more so, but I still couldn't cry.

It was all a blur—Joshua was as eyeing Roy like he wanted to murder him in the cruelest way possible. Roy pulled me closer, stepping back.

"We are not letting her go. I refuse to let you fall into her lies," Roy says, his final attempt at saving himself.

"I almost didn't believe her," Joshua starts. "But you seem very adamant about hiding something." His voice drops lower than I've ever heard it go, and his eyes seem to darken with each word. "I'm only going to ask once. Did you kill my mate?"

Roy never responds. Instead, I see Joshua searching his eyes intensely, and Roy makes a strangled sound. He's doing what he should have done all along-going into the deepest recess of Roy's mind and sorting through his memories, his thoughts-

"You bastard-" Joshua's words are cut short, because he could have in no way been able to control his anger at that point. He shifted, and suddenly I was standing between a man who had my throat between his fingers, and a wolf who was losing control.

It was my saving grace, as crazy as that sounds. Roy wasn't going to go down without a fight, so he let me go, pushed me roughly to the side where I bounced off the wall and onto the floor, and shifted into his wolf.

I wheezed and gasp for air, holding my hand against my throat to feel the blood. My head is spinning, both from lack of air and the not-so-nice slam against the wall. I can't focus on it too much though, because my main focus now is getting out of this room before I become a chew toy.

I skirt along the wall, out of the way of the two wolves currently squaring off, growling at each other. I thought I could slip out without being noticed, but as I got the door open, Roy locked his angry eyes on me, and I knew I wasn't getting away easily.

He lunged towards me, but I swung out the door and took off down the hallway. I hear a crash as he hits the wall, and then Joshua lunges after him in return. It's a mad frenzy, and I hate that I can't shift. I may not have been strong, but years of running had definitely paid off.

I made it to the front door, Roy still chasing after me. Joshua was trying to fight him, which helps me out considerably since it slows Roy down, but I can't help but think that all the furniture they're destroying, all the pictures and décor that are being broken are all the things Erica chose.

I push the thought out of my head and force my feet to carry me faster, looping around to the back of the house, which is my best shot at losing Roy. I can hear the howls and growls following me, though, and I know I won't really lose him until either he has my neck or Joshua has his.

Things were not going well.

As you can imagine, we were running around with practically a wanted criminal. So you can guess that when thirty other wolves are honed in on his scent, we were going to be found pretty quickly.

And we were headed straight for Joshua's house.

With three people who had broken out of jail.

Like I said, things were not going well.

Somewhere between the tree line and Joshua's home property, a girl was running towards us with blood running down her neck and panic in her movements. Behind her, two wolves followed. Well, one looked dead set on her, and the other looked dead set on the wolf chasing her.

And then Carter, Alan, Waylon, Neil, and I were running straight for them. Carter more so than us.

Now, I'm all for not thinking before you act. As we've discovered before, it's actually my specialty. But I knew that running in between this little dispute wasn't a good idea without even having to think it through. Of course, you can't expect a Beta wolf to have that kind of self-control. Apparently.

None of the other guys were going to stop Carter. If I didn't know him, I probably wouldn't have either. But I did, and as much as I knew he would fight me on it, I bit into his tail to pull him back.

We all came to a standstill as Carter whipped around and attempted to claw my face. I was expecting it so I managed to dodge it rather easily, but I didn't expect him to lunge forward, disregarding the fact that my mouth was crushing his tail.

Side note: despite the situation, I was very concerned with the fact that if we were human right now, I would be biting his butt.

Anyways, so I was being dragged behind Carter, which, while slowing him down, only made him angrier, therefore increasing his will power.

It wasn't until Bethany realized whom she was running to that Carter halted.

"Cart-" Bethany was a mess. Her throat was covered in blood, which was running down into her shirt. When she spoke it looked like it caused her a great deal of pain, and it barely came out above a raspy whisper.

Then a loud growl came and the other two wolves were hot on her tail.

She took off, and at that point it was no use. I released Carter, and chaos ensued.

It was like a really weird, sci-fi action movie was taking place right in front of my very eyes. Carter jumped onto the heaping mess that was Joshua and Roy, not really caring who was who and going for whoever gave him easiest access.

Bethany ceased her running and stood in front of me, watching as Carter took on the two wolves. I think she tried to scream, but all that came out was a sound so high it sounded like it came from a broken whistle.

The three men behind me were all confused at the sudden fight, and I don't think they really knew what to do.

And then there was me, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, who was who, and why I had the sudden urge to drink a lot of water.

Well, of course, we weren't the only ones there. Joshua was the Alpha, and he was kind of being attacked right now, but by who wasn't so clear. Bethany was jumping up and down, tears in her eyes, pointing at one of the three wolves in the altercation. I didn't actually know who was fighting who, and neither did anyone else, but she seemed to know. But she couldn't speak.

So the thirty or so members of Joshua's pack were all charging, but stopping short. No one was giving orders.

Alan jumped into the fight, and attacked who I assumed was Roy. The other wolf, Joshua, helped him, and at that point Carter jumped in too.

Then a loud howl came from behind me, and I turned to see my mate, Cayton, running full speed ahead towards us with some of our pack members.

If nothing else, this whole situation was just a hot mess.

My priorities were not very clear, I guess. To me, they were, but to Wolfette, her only priority was Cayton. And boy was she happy to see him. Don't get me wrong, I was overjoyed, but there were more important matters at hand.

What happened next was this: My little rag tag group of jailbirds and Joshua's little scuffle were sandwiched in between a bunch of confused Midnight Fire wolves and angry Dusk Valley wolves.

The only person who had an inkling of what was going on was Bethany, but she was incapable of speech. She could mind link, if her hands hadn't been cuffed...

That gave me an idea. I looked at Waylon, his eyes wide and his stance defensive yet apprehensive. I nodded down to Bethany's wrists, signaling him to get the keys. He shook his head, and then looked towards Joshua's house.

It took a few tries to get Bethany's attention, but once I did I saw the tears running down her face, the helplessness in her eyes. I gently bit down on her shirt and forced her to move. I faced some resistance, but I kept moving. Neil and Alan were in no way trying to stop me, and no one else paid me any attention. Clothes in mouth, and Bethany tagging along reluctantly, we made it to the other side of the house where no one could see us.

Picture myself... It took a few second for me to shift back into a human state, but once I felt the last bone painfully pop into place, I threw on my shirt and pants. Sighing, I shook out my hands and cracked my neck.

"That'll get old real quick," I mutter, as the last of the pain fades.

"Ok, so no one knows what's going on, and you're the only one who does, right?"

Shrugging, then nodding, she holds her hand to her throat and shakes her head.

"I know, that's why we need to get the keys so you can communicate with someone. You know where they are?"

She thinks for a second, and nods yes as she wipes her face.

"Great, let's just sneak-"

"Macy!"

So much for sneaking. Although, I don't mind. My heart bursts as I turn around and see Cayton, human, running towards me. I almost want to cry, but I have a mission.

I let myself be swooped up in his arms as we collide. He holds me tighter than he ever has, one hand in my hair, and the other around my waist. I squeeze back just as tightly, breathing him in and letting myself have this one moment of bliss.

"Oh thank god," he breathes into my ear, pulling me impossibly closer. He breaks away, just far enough to lean down and kiss me, hard. My body ignites, and for a second I know what it would be like to be a firework. It feels like ages, and with Wolfette here, I'm fully aware that he is completely naked...

'Ok, enough of that. TIME AND PLACE WOLFETTE.'

All I hear is some sort of contented sigh. When we finally break for air, he holds me at arms length and examines me from the bottom up, until he reaches my eyes. I immediately look down. I know it will only make him angry-

"Look up," he orders.

And once again, I'm right.

I look up, slowly, hesitantly, both afraid it will cause him to go into a mad frenzy and also, somewhere, afraid he's going to look at me differently.

Again. I'm right.

His eyes shift to black almost instantaneously. I grab his arms, tight, and try to pull him close. But he doesn't budge.

"Cayton, don't do anything stupid."

"Who did this to you?"

He knows, of course, so I wonder why he's asking.

"Cayton, why-"

"Who?"

My eyebrows furrow in confusion, until I remember one small detail—my eye is probably still black from where Neil punched me.

"Cayton, please, just don't do anything. It's nothing." I place both my hands on either side of his face, willing him to calm down. Staring into his eyes, begging him, eventually gets him far enough off his anger that I can reason with him. I pull him into another hug, and his arms slowly creep up until they're wrapped around me.

Just when I think his anger has completely subsided, a loud yell breaks out through the air. Cayton's head snaps in the direction of the fighting, and suddenly any control he had over his emotions is gone, and I'm being pushed away and yanked by Bethany as Cayton shifts and takes off again.

Just like that.

"Cayton!" I start to go after him, until Bethany pulls me away and towards the house. "CAYTON!"

"I'll stop, it." Bethany is in serious pain, I know, and my concern for her grabs my attention long enough to realize that the only way to stop whatever Cayton is about to get himself into is to get those keys.

I don't really know much of what is going on. But from what I've been told, I can make a guess. When Bethany and the other two came running out, it was Roy who was chasing Bethany. But Joshua, he was after Roy. So I can only imagine that something happened, Bethany made Roy mad and Joshua is trying to stop it.

Now considering what Alan has told me, Bethany must have known something about Roy and his evil plan—why he blackmailed Alan, why he is such an asshole...

And I can bet it has something to do with Joshua's mate, Bethany's sister.

It was then that I truly missed home. Warren was a jerk and didn't exactly make life easy, but the drama back home was nothing compared to the shit they had here. As bad as it sounds, it's true when they say that others' misery makes you appreciate your good fortune more.

We were trekking through Joshua's house, which had a more rustic décor theme than mine and Cayton's modernized digs.

'Time and place,' Wolfette mocks me from earlier as I compare and contrast homes.

Ignoring her, I follow Bethany through the house and up the stairs until we enter a room that was completely torn apart. My eyebrows rise as I examine the broken furniture, scattered papers, scratched walls...

"Did Wolfnado tear through here?" I ask incredulously. Bethany looks at me with a blank expression. We tread carefully to the desk, which remained mostly intact. She pulled open all the drawers, rummaged through them, and made a frustrated sound when she couldn't find them.

Meanwhile I'm tearing through the garbage on the floor, until I come across two piles of shredded clothing.

"This was a really nice shirt," I say, examining the dark plum color strip.

Bethany grabs it from my hands and gets on her knees, tearing thorough the clothes.

"Ok, they're not that nice..."

She pulls the keys out of the dismembered pocket of what was once a nice air of pants, and smiles slightly.

"Oh, good thing I found them, huh?" I say as she fumbles with the several keys, trying to find the correct one. She shoots me a look, to which I respond with a sheepish smile. Finally locating the correct one, she unlocks both cuffs and rubs her wrists, sighing in relief.

'Now, what happened to you?' I ask once she's gathered her bearings.

'Roy. He flipped when I told Joshua...'

'Told him what?'

It was then that she relayed everything to me, from her past all the way to today. Roy killing her sister, putting the fault on Alan, her running, all the agony and the misery...

'Bethany, why didn't you tell anyone?'

'I...I was scared,' she admitted. Although a lot could have been avoided if she would have just told someone, I couldn't fault her for it. It was kind of like when I thought Warren was cheating on Lisa and I kept silent. I didn't want to hurt anyone; I didn't want to start anything. And I couldn't imagine losing someone and having that weight on your shoulders. Besides, she was still a kid when it all went down.

I hugged her quickly, but I soon felt a sharp pain in my side. I gasped, but it passed quickly.

Bethany's eyes bulged. 'We need to go. We have to stop this.'

I closed my eyes as another inkling of pain hit my leg. It passed again, and I was following Bethany as we ran back outside. This time we took the front door, made a left, and suddenly we were standing behind a massive fight between wolves. It was hard to tell who was who, and you couldn't discern one howl of pain from another.

My eyes immediately searched for Cayton, and I found he was locked in battle with Joshua, who for the moment seemed to have the upper hand. I saw Carter, battling with Roy while two other Midnight Fire wolves stood ready to pounce. Waylon and Neil stood on the outskirts, not directly fighting but on the defense for any wolves that came their way.

Three words: huge fucking mess.