"W-W-Wait," I said, finally finding my voice before the young Alpha could leave, and he paused but kept looking away from me. "Can you stay, please? I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust you and want to be near you."

The young Alpha seemed to sigh and shake his head, silently indicating that he wasn't going to stay, and my heart broke into a million pieces.

"Oh," I said, feeling dejected and hurt. I wiped my nose with my hand before I stuffed my hand into my pocket. "That's fine, I guess." I kicked at the dirt and took a step back toward the two wolves that were watching the whole thing play out. "Then I guess you can carry on with what you were going to do and leave."

The young Alpha didn't turn to look at me, but he did flick an ear in my direction. His whole body was tense, and I had this feeling that he wanted to turn in my direction but didn't.

He couldn't...

I took a deep breath and released it with a small whoosh before I turned in the direction of both Patrick and Declan and started to walk over to them.

Declan whined and lowered his head, and I could tell that he was growing concerned for me. He flicked his tail and looked at the young Alpha before he looked at me, and a look of worry filled his eyes.

I shook my head and bit the inside of my lip, and I continued to walk toward him, not wanting them to do or say something to him about what he had done and was doing.

The creature hopped lower in the trees but did nothing or show itself to us, even though the wolves didn't seem to notice it, much to my relief.

The young Alpha whined but continued to face the opposite direction from me instead of turning in my direction. His whine was forlorn and filled with guilt, and I couldn't help but wonder what he had done to make him act like this.

Declan seemed to have picked up what I was thinking because he laid his ears to the back of his head. He growled in warning, earning a small growl from the young Alpha.

They both started to argue about whatever it was that they wanted to argue about, and Patrick looked between the two of them with a half amused and annoyed expression on his face.

Finally, Patrick sighed and rolled his eyes, interrupting the two wolves from arguing with each other. He nudged my side with his nose, knowing full well I was bruised there, and I couldn't help but hiss out in pain and swat at his nose, and he jerked his head back so that I wouldn't swat at him.

"Would you stop?" I all but seethed, biting back a small groan of annoyance and pain. "I am hurting right there, and that doesn't mean you can press your nose against it."

Patrick whined and shoved his nose against my side again, ignoring the first warning I had sent his way.

"OW, PA-" I cut myself off from saying his name out loud, especially since the young Alpha was someone that I didn't know and didn't want to get into trouble with because of what I had been able to figure out in the short amount of time I had been here. "PAT-A-CAKE THAT FUCKING HURTS!" I shoved his head hard away from me, and Patrick moved his head away from me so that I wouldn't do that again. I bit back a small groan of pain and wrapped my arm around my side.

The young Alpha snarled and twisted around until he was facing us as soon as I yelled something out in pain. He ran over to us but stopped behind me, glaring at the two other wolves, who had backed up as soon as he ran over to us.

I huffed and turned my head a little to look at the young Alpha, biting back a small scowl. "I hope you aren't telling them anything bad, Young Alpha," I said, and he looked at me with an unamused look on his face. "I can handle my own bullshit and fights. I have had to deal with a lot of shit before that." I rubbed my side and bit back a small grimace. "And this time I do not need to have to hide what I can do and be the basic punching bag for a group of orphans that think they are better than everyone else."

Declan huffed and rolled his eyes. He hesitated and went to take a step toward me only to stop when the young Alpha growled and bared his teeth in warning, not liking the fact that Declan had done that.

The young Alpha pressed his back against mine and glared at Declan, who had taken a step back and away from me. He said something to them, and they both bowed and submitted, whining in nervousness and fear.

I rolled my eyes and scowled, hating that he caused my "brothers" to bow toward him and submit. "Would you stop?" I asked and shoved him back hard enough that I had actually caused him to move back a step. "You are being quite a dick right now."

The young Alpha looked at me, shocked and surprised that I had pushed him back and called him a dick.

"Well, you were, young Alpha," I said and scowled, narrowing my eyes. "There is no need for you to have them submit like that."

The young Alpha glared at the two of them before he looked at me, unamused, but that slowly turned to concern. He took a hesitant step around me until he was in front of me, and the two young men took a step back so that he would have some space.

He hesitated and moved his head closer to my side, watching my every move to make sure that I was fine with whatever it was that he wanted to do. He pressed his nose to my side gently and tried to lift my shirt so that he could see what was injured.

I bit back a tired sigh and pushed his head gently away from me, and the young Alpha growled but moved his head out of my way. "I do not know what you are trying to do, but I'll let you see the bruised ribs. You could have just asked and not tried to do it yourself."

The young Alpha held back an eye roll but moved away from me so that I could lift my shirt up so that he could see the mark on my ribs.

"It's nothing bad," I said and held back an eye roll while I lifted my shirt so that he could see the bruised ribs. "I've dealt with way worse injuries at the orphanage that I had lived at because I was considered an outcast there."

The young Alpha whined and a look of worry flashed through his eyes. He cocked his head to the side while he looked at it before he looked at me.

I let go of my shirt so that it would cover my bruise again and folded my arms across my chest. "I don't know why he wanted you to see that, but I think it was his sick way to show you that I can take care of myself and others."

The young Alpha bit back a small whine and pressed his ears to the back of his head. He looked at the two other wolves before he looked at me and sighed in defeat, lowering his head. He took a step toward me and nuzzled the side of my face.

I bit back a tired sigh and rubbed his cheek, closing my eyes ever so slightly. "And what is this supposed to mean?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question before I pulled away from him, and the young Alpha opened his eyes and looked at me with eyes filled with pain and guilt.

He nuzzled my cheek a second time before he walked away from us a second time, and we watched him leave, feeling stunned that he would still leave even after this and with them trying to say that it would be fine for him to be near me and stay.

Oh, Gods what was wrong with me..?