Hey guys! I know this is a boring-ish chapter, but it's really just a filler. It introduced the Shadow Pack and some key players in the story:

1) Darren

2) Jebadiah

3) Michael

4) Delaine.

They are all very important, so don't forget them! They are going to be appearing throughout this entire story! Especially Jebadiah and Michael. Darren is next on the importance list, and then Delaine. :]

Anyway, I'm really glad you guys are liking this story! Even though I don't reply to comments, I read every single one! They all make me smile so big and I love how supportive you all her! Thank you so much!

Also, I know this will be a disappointment, but I will not write a Xavier's POV in this story. All of this book is in Cadrian's POV, but after I'm done the book (which will no doubt take a while) I promise, I will add an extra chapter with Xavier's thoughts. But I want to keep you guys in the dark, so I won't be writing in Xavier's POV. Sorry!

Anyway...

Comment.

Vote.

Fan.

-Tavita

***

Chapter Eight

***

My eyes fluttered open, with much reluctance. Sleep still heavily lidded my eyes. I just wanted to let go and sink into the oblivion, where my dreams comforted me and kept me away from the harsh world I was in. I let out a sigh and relaxed back into the soft, warm pillows, letting waves and waves of sleep wash over me...

Until I realized: My pillow wasn't usually this soft. It was hard and incredibly uncomfortable.

And I was exiled from my pack. I had left the homeless shelter. So where did I get a pillow?

I shot up in bed, panic flooding through me. My head spun around in dizziness. I felt like I would throw up. I tried to stand, but then I felt a piercing pain shoot through my stomach. I gasped in shock and hugged my arms around my torso, which I realized, was covered by thick bandages, dots of blood seeping through.

Where are we? my wolf asked in a panicky voice.

Trying to gain my breathing under control, I glanced around the room. It was small and the place was metal: iron. Whoever had locked me up in here knew I was a werewolf. Iron couldn't kill us, but it would hurt immensely and I wouldn't be able to break it down. No werewolves could. This was obviously some sort of prison.

Suddenly, a door slid open. Reacting quickly, I pushed back against the wall, clenching my fingers into fists around the warm sheets. Any normal wolf would've attacked, but my body was in pain and I wouldn't be able to take whoever was at the door.

Shakily, I raised my head to meet cold brown eyes. The man standing there must have been in his mid-twenties. He was very built with ropes of muscles around his arms. He had to be at least over six feet four. His black hair was short and spiked up.

"You're up," he said in a harsh voice.

Is it not obvious? my wolf snapped, but I refused to let my wolf take over long enough to utter those words.

"Where am I?" I asked, my voice trembling. "What am I doing here? Who are you?" Questions kept firing from my mouth. I felt anxious and jumpy and especially nervous. I caught a whiff of the man's scent: werewolf. I knew I was in the same state, so what pack had I stumbled upon? There were three packs in our state; most states had two to five packs. Or were they rogue wolves?

The man scowled. "The question is, who are you? You were trespassing into Shadow Pack territory," he growled, stalking forward.

I backed up farther against the wall. The rage in his eyes reminded me of the man who shot me with the silver bullet. The man stopped as if surprised. He must have smelled the fear rolling in waves from my pores and seen my trembling.

Tears pricked my eyes. "I didn't mean to intrude, I-I swear. A man, h-he shot me with a silver bullet and I dragged myself into the forest. I didn't know it was already taken," I said with a sob.

"Are you a rogue?" he asked. There was a hint of curiosity in his voice, no doubt wondering what a girl as young as me was doing out on her own.

I shook my head, my lip trembling. "My pack...they exiled me," I whispered.

I heard an intake of breath and heard his foot shift. I looked up to see that he had a defensive stance and a wary expression on his face. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm no use to them. I'm weak and they have no need for me. They only kept me because the old alpha was good friends with my father, but he was recently killed. The new alpha...he exiled me," I whispered. My heart ached at the thought of Xavier, but then I shook it away. Xavier was nothing, but a distant memory now. He didn't matter.

He does matter. We love him, my wolf insisted.

Xavier will never love us, I snapped back. She instantly became silent. I'm sorry, I told her quietly.

She didn't answer, but the man interrupted my mental conversation. "Mhm." He seemed deep in thought, then looked at me with narrowed eyes. "Someone will bring you dinner soon, as you've been unconscious for three days. Our alpha will see to you tomorrow morning and then we'll decide what to do with you. Until then, I'm Gordon Hall, the Shadow Pack beta," he said. His voice was expressionless and so was his face, but I caught just the tiniest hint of confusion in his eyes.

"I'm Cadrian...Forrest," I said hesitantly. But then I realized that my family – or the people I used to call family – didn't want anything to do with me. Why should I keep living by their name? "I'm Cade," I quickly contradicted to my earlier answer. "Just Cade."

A faintest trace of a smirk quirked his lips. "Okay Cade," here he raised his eyebrow, "don't try anything while you're here. This room is heavily guarded," he cautioned, but afterwards shrugged. "Of course, you don't seem like you'd be able to escape anyway, but...," he trailed off, gave me another look and confidently strode from the room. My face flushed instantly. Even he thought I was weak and he didn't even know me.

Since I had nothing else to do, I just lay back down and stared blankly at the ceiling, wondering what my life had come to. I was a rogue, as Gordon Hall had assumed. I was a prisoner in the Shadow Pack territory, which I heard was one of the most ruthless pack in the United States. I had heard Xavier talking to his friends about how the Shadow Pack hardly ever socialized with the other packs and were always so closed off. They were also one of the strongest packs and had over I sighed and closed my eyes, intending to just rest for a bit, only to sink back into the awaiting darkness...

~

"Get up."

My eyelids fluttered at the voice, but I nodded off again, giving into the sleep that was pulling at my mind.

"Wake up, rogue," a voice demanded. This time, my shoulders were being shaken and not gently either. With a soft groan, I blinked my eyes open and looked into darkened, emerald colored irises. They were so very close at first, but then slowly began to back up as I fully awakened.

I quickly sat up as I realized there was another, a different male in this room. An agonizing pain shot through my stomach at the quick movement and I gasped in shock, doubling over and lying still, waiting for the pain to pass. When it does, I look up at the man standing at the side of the bed.

No; he's not a man. He's only a boy, probably my age or maybe a little older. He has hard eyes that shouldn't be so dark and filled with anger and coldness. It's such a shocking green color; I could imagine it twinkling happily as he smiles. The boy has a strongly built body. His height was I'm guessing, five feet-nine or ten. His hair was short, an inch long and pure black. In his hands, he was carrying a tray.

Catching sight of the food, my stomach growled. They looked delicious. For being ruthless and violent, they sure treated their prisoners with manners. When the boy heard my hunger, he scowled. He probably hadn't wanted the task of giving food to the prisoner.

"Here," he snapped, pushing the tray into my hands roughly, almost spilling the glass of water. "Eat. I'll come back in thirty minutes to collect the plates. You better be done by then," he muttered before stalking off. I spotted a girl standing by the door, watching me curiously with the same green eyes as the boy, except they were more vibrant and full of life. She had pixie cut black hair and I assumed they were twins. They looked the same age.

I hesitantly dug into the food as I heard the door sliding shut behind the twins and the girl telling the boy, "Come on Darren, she's just a kid. Don't be so mean," before it was all quiet again.

~

The next day – it was the next day, right? I couldn't tell; there weren't any windows – I woke without the pain in my stomach. When I moved to sat up, it didn't hurt like it usually did. Taking a chance, I took a peak under the bandages and noticed that the skin and muscle was healing up nicely. Thank God that the pack wasn't as heartless as everybody had assumed they were.

I looked around and saw another door I hadn't noticed before. With curiosity burning inside of me, I cautiously crept out of bed and along the cool metal floor to it. I turned the handle slowly and pushed the door open to see a bathroom. With a sigh of relief, I took a much needed shower, washing off three months of dirt from my body. Then I brushed my teeth with an unopened toothbrush after putting on the clothes I had on before – which were definitely not mine. Someone must have changed me.

When I opened the door to the bathroom, I realized that there was the Beta, Gordon Hall in my room along with the boy who had brought me food: Darren, I think. They were standing by the door, talking quietly, too quietly even for my sharp hearing. As soon as I entered though, they stopped and stood up straight. Gordon gave me a blank look, no smirk or confusion I'd seen last night. It was expressionless. Darren, however, just scowled at me.

"Our alpha wants to see you immediately," Gordon said to me after a brief silence. "It'd be best if you just cooperate and don't try to escape when we take you to him. If any of us feel threatened, we'll kill you instantly," Gordon warned. I nodded mutely. "Good, let's go. Darren," Gordon looked pointedly at the younger boy and with a glare, he walked towards me. His warm hand grabbed around my arm and he pulled it behind my back, pushing me forward. I stumbled, but didn't crash, as he had such a tight hold on me. Darren gave me another nudge, so I took that as my cue to follow Gordon out the metal room and up the dark stairs, probably into the pack house.

I saw a lot of people as we got to the top of the stairs. There were about three pregnant women, chatting on huge, spacious couches. The whole house had an airy feeling to it. It was so open and comfortable. I breathed in and out, enjoying the fresh air. There were children playing, but when everyone saw us, they all fell silent. I ducked my head, not liking their suspicious and cautious stares.

We were walking through the living room, out towards an exit when a little boy who couldn't have been more than three years old detached himself from the gathering crowd and ran up to Darren, Gordon and I. An older woman gasped and tried to grab for him, but he quickly dodged. I froze when he ran into my legs and stared up at me with the biggest, prettiest, blue doe eyes I'd ever seen. He had soft brown hair that was in waves around his round face and a small, warm body.

"Are you my mommy?" he asked and my body stilled again. "You look like my mommy." His voice was excited as his chubby arms tightened around my legs.

I gave a panicked look to Darren who had slightly wide eyes. He was quiet, just like everyone else. When I looked at Gordon, he was giving me a look that seemed to ask, well, are you? Since nobody was answering or helping me out, I gave a forlorn look to the adorable child who was attached to my legs like I was his only lifeline.

"No, I'm not your mommy," I murmured. "I'm sorry."

His eyes widened then narrowed. "Yes you are. You look like my mommy," he insisted.

I shook my head. "No, sweetie," the word came naturally from my lips, "I'm not your mommy," I repeated.

This time the big doe eyes welled up with tears. "B-but...she has black hair, too," he protested. His pink lips quivered and then he broke out into sobs. My heart clenched. He was just like me; an orphan, with no parents and no one to love him as much as only a mother and father could.

The woman who had called out to him came and gathered him into her arms. She had whitish blonde hair that curled around her face. She had an aged beauty to her and her eyes were warm and hazel. She gave me a soft smile before cuddling the boy to her chest. "Oh Michael, I'm sorry, sweetheart," she cooed before turning away. My heart gave another lurch for the boy who had lost his parents as well.

Gordon cleared this throat. "Come on, let's go," he told us, leading us out the door to the backyard. It was incredibly spacious and large. There were targets for shooting with arrows in quivers beside of them. The grass looked worn and trampled on and I assumed it was for the wolves to train. I looked away from the bows and arrows and focused on the tall, blonde haired man that was standing by the edge of the forest. His blonde hair moved with the breeze and was shy of brushing the tips of his very, very broad shoulder. He was huge, around six feet-seven inches. I could only see the back of him, but he was obviously very muscular. The air of power around him instantly gave him away as the alpha.

"Alpha," Darren called as we neared him. The man turned around at the sound of Darren's voice and his eyes caught mine. Hazel, the same hazel of the woman who had carried Michael the little boy, away. He had a strong chiseled face that would make any human woman drool with pink lips.

"Darren," the Alpha nodded at the boy. "Thank you for assisting her to me, you may leave now," he said in a deep, calm voice.

"Are you sure, Alpha?" Darren asked, standing up taller inconspicuously.

"Yes, Darren. Gordon and I will handle this matter," he said.

Darren nodded mutely and quickly walked away. As soon as disappeared out of view, the Alpha turned to me. "I am Jebadiah Pride, Alpha of the Shadow Pack. My Beta tells me that you unintentionally trespassed onto our territories after getting shot?" His voice was sharp and matter-of-fact. I stuttered while trying to answer. His gaze was unnerving.

"Yes. I didn't mean to trespass, Alpha Pride," I mumbled, my head lowering.

"Speak up," he demanded. His voice was controlled and still calm. He hadn't raised his voice at me even though he could've and had a valid reason. Xavier would've beaten me by now. I felt the hollowness in my chest again at the thought of my mate.

"Yes, Alpha Pride," I tried to speak louder, but my voice still trembled.

I heard Alpha Jebadiah's footsteps as he approached me and then his large hand was around my neck and lifting me off the ground. I gasped in shock and my eyes snapped to meet his, my wet hair hanging lose over his wrists as he basically suffocated me.

"Can you give me a good reason why I shouldn't just kill you now, Cadrian Forrest?" he asked, staring at me, his head tilted slightly. I tried to breathe, but it was extremely difficult with him holding my neck.

"I-It's C-C-Cade," I gasped out.

"Okay Cade," he said in a similar way as to Gordon did when I had told him that my name was Cade instead of Cadrian. He sounded kind of...amused. "Are you going to give me a good reason or not?"

I put my hand over his, trying to pry his fingers off. That only resulted in him gripping tighter. Losing all hope, I just fell limp in his arms, meeting his hazel eyes with my strange, milky blue eyes. "Y-you should," I gasped, "just k-kill me." Tears dripped down my cheek. Jebadiah's hand loosened and he dropped me. I collapsed to the ground on my knees, doubled over, trying to get oxygen in my lungs and crying. "I have nothing more to live for," I sobbed. "Just kill me. Please," I begged, lifting my head to meet Jebadiah's dark eyes that had lost all traces of amusement and humor.

For a few minutes, he just looked at me. We stared at each other, hazel to blue, blue to hazel, locked together. Then, "okay."

"What?" Gordon asked, sounding shocked.

Jebadiah gave him a blank look. "Cade has nothing to live for." He shrugged. "So, we grant her, her wish." He turned to me again. "How would you prefer it, Cade? Beheading, burning or cutting out the hearts? Or do you just want us to pick while you're unconscious?" He had a glint in his eyes as he asked me. Alpha Jebadiah Pride had a dark sense of humor.

"Jeb!" the woman with Jebadiah's eyes came rushing out with a furious look in her eyes. "I have raised you much better than to agree to such foolish requests. There will be no killing here tonight!" She glared at Jebadiah who I assumed was her son. They had the blonde hair and eyes to match.

Noticeably stiffening, Jebadiah turned to his mother. "I'm the Alpha. My pack, my rules," he said.

The woman shook her head. "That won't work on me, son," she told him and knelt down beside me. "How about we get you some clothes to fit into? Granted, you'll have to continue living in that awful room in the basement, but some clean clothes would be nice, right?" She smiled and a fresh flood of tears slid down my cheeks. Nobody had ever been that kind to me since my parents.

"Delaine, she could be dangerous," Gordon tried to protest, but Jebadiah's mother shrugged it away.

"Her? I don't think so," she chuckled. My face heated instantly. I didn't protest or speak while Delaine raised me to my feet and began to lead me away. I caught a glance of the disbelief on Jebadiah's face, then anger and my heart spiked. I didn't want them to beat me. They could kill me. I'd be okay with that, as long as it was quick, but I didn't want to be reminded of the cruelness of my old home.

Delaine turned her head to look at me. Her eyes were warm and friendly. She had a vibe to her that I instantly liked. It reminded me off my own mother. Though her face was relaxed and she seemed completely at ease next to me, her hand around my arm was tight and I could tell she was strong even though she didn't look it.

"You are...Cadrian, am I right? But prefer to be called Cade?" she asked me.

I nodded, silent.

"Cade suits you better anyway," she told me, patting my shoulder as she led me downstairs to the metal room again. I dreaded living the openness of the Shadow Pack house, but at least I knew I had someone that was kind and helpful. It was better than nothing. "You stay here, okay? I'll be right back. And I apologize for Michael. We found him at the edge of our border a month ago. He's only three, poor boy. Still cries for his momma and daddy," Delaine said sadly. She smiled softly at me before walking up the stairs, closing the door behind her.

I sat in silence on the edge of my bed, lost in thought. Not five minutes later did the door open. Expecting Delaine, I looked up with a hesitant smile on my face which instantly vanished when I saw Darren's cold eyes.

He stalked closer to me and got in my face. "Don't take what Delaine says to your heart. She's kind to everyone. You're nothing special and Alpha Jeb will end up killing you anyway," he growled before storming off.

Frozen in place, I watched as he left. Delaine walked in as he walked out with a half-hearted smile. "Darren is a bit temperamental. He doesn't like rogues since they killed his parents, so don't let him get to you. He is usually mean to everyone," she laughed and handed me folded sweatpants and a tee shirt. "Go change," she ordered.

Nodding my head, I walked out to the bathroom and slowly changed into the clothes she had given me. All the while I was thinking: How did I end up here?

Fate, my wolf answered. Fate has never liked us, but maybe she is being merciful for once.