I wince as my stitches rip yet again as I try to take my shirt off. The blood on it is making it stick to my body and I am struggling to get it off.

"Raven? What are you doing? Are you okay?" I hear my brother ask from the door.

"Nothing, I'm fine Derek," I tell him quickly and let out a small gasp when another one of the stitches rips through my skin.

"God damn it Raven, no you're not!" He growls and comes over to where I am sitting on my bed.

He helps me take off my shirt, leaving me in a sports bra, and makes me sit, leaning against some pillows. He grabs a bowl of warm water, a towel and bandages.

"It's okay to ask for help you know, I'm your brother. You don't have to be strong around me," he says cleaning the blood from my stomach.

"I know, its just, I didn't have Ira for an entire week Derek. It felt like hell, I was as weak as a human, I couldn't stop screaming and crying out from stupid things like a slap on my cheek," I sigh shaking my head in disbelief.

"Hey, look at me," he says, pulling my chin to face him.

"You are literally the strongest Lycan I have ever seen, hell the strongest Alpha, I have ever seen. Most wolves would die from the pain of losing their wolf or Lycan, but you lasted an entire week of abuse and torture without Ira. You may feel weak, but I know you are not," he says looking at me with a small smile.

I smile back and throw my arms around his neck.

"Thank you Derek," I whisper. His smile grows wider as I pull away and my eyebrow shoots up.

"Now, who is getting these stitches out, you or me?" He asks and I let out an irritated breath.

"Ira isn't fully back yet so you get to," I smirk and let him deal with the puss covered scratches. He uses his claws to gently cut the stitches and tosses them into the trash can.

He cleans them once more before helping me wrap the bandages around my stomach. My knee was almost fully healed, just stiff and very sore.

"Hey I am going to go check the Silver Bloods border, are you going to be okay?" He asks.

"Derek, I'm the Alpha, I can handle myself," I roll my eyes and he chuckles.

"Okay," he shrugs and leaves my room.

I feel the events over the past week suddenly catch up to me, and my eyelids grow heavy. I lay down and fall asleep on top of my bed.

***************

My eyes snap open and I sit up with a jerk. I look around and realize that it is dark outside.

There is a light cast around my room from the full moon outside. Wait, full moon? Ira how long was I asleep? I ask my Lycan in confusion.

Two, maybe three days, she replies.

Derek! How could you let me sleep that long? I growl through a mind link to my brother.

Believe me, we tried to wake you, Maya got scratched pretty bad so we gave up trying, he explains and my eyes widen in shock.

Oh no, please tell me she is okay, I sigh.

Yeah, she is fine, she is in the Hospital still though, Hailey has been taking care of her, he tells me and I close my eyes with a shake of my head.

Tell her to find me when she gets out. I will be training for most of the day if anyone needs me, I decide and end the link. I take off my clothes and get into my shower. I take off my bandages and let the warm water wash away the blood dried onto my skin for the past few days.

The scratches are healing quickly, all that is left are red marks that looked like they used to be burns rather than open wounds.

I dry my body off with a fluffy red towel and change into a pink sports bra and black spandex shorts. I pull my hair back into a high ponytail that ends at my butt before heading downstairs.

Outside it is snowing again, covering the grass in a thick, white blanket. After having Ira back for a little while now, I can handle the cold again. I walk barefoot towards the Training Center, the trees are covered in frost and snow, giving the forest a whimsical feel.

As I pass through the Main Clearing, I see the pack's pups running through the snow, all bundled up in their snow-pants and heavy coats.

I watch a small blonde girl, Micah, not more than six years old, riding a sled that is being dragged by her older brother Kyle, in his wolf form. Kyle was one of my best warriors at 22, and had one of the strangest Lycans I have ever seen.

I watch as the blonde and brown wolf drags the sled around the clearing, and Micah squeals in glee. Shaking my head with a small smile, I walk through the clearing, smiling at my pack members who give me small bows and respectful nods.

I make it to the Training Center and head straight for the lockers that take up a small portion of one wall. I open mine and decide on black to wrap my hands in. I grab my whistle and put it around my neck.

Jace, are you training warriors right now?  I mindlink my Gamma as I walk to the fighting ring.

Yes Alpha, do you need me for something? he replies.

Yes, I want to test the rogues, our prison is filling up a little too quickly, I tell him and he replies quickly before ending our connection.

Brady, have the rogues brought to the training center, I tell one of my prison guards.

Yes Alpha. I wait for about five minutes before the training center is full of warriors, and the rogues are being brought in, two dozen in total.

I step into the center of the ring and everything goes silent. The first rogue is pushed into the ring and I turn to face him.

"You will choose an opponent in this room to fight, if you lose the first fight, you will not stay in this pack. If you win, then you will continue to fight opponents of increasing difficulty until you lose. The fight is in human form only. Now, give me your name and age," I say, my voice dripping with authority.

"Lionel, 27," he says in a deep voice, raking his blonde hair back with one hand. I notice that he seems to be nervous for some reason.

"Choose an opponent," I say and gesture towards the crowd of warriors. He looks around, before pointing at Jace. My eyebrow shoots up and I smirk.

"Typical of a rogue to choose my Gamma to fight first," I mutter under my breath as Jace comes into the arena.

I blow my whistle and watch as the fight starts and ends in a matter of seconds. I walk over to the rogue that lays against the concrete wall, his body completely limp. I check for a pulse but find none.

"Thank you Gamma Jace for killing the stupid rogue," I chuckle and flick my wrist towards him. One of the prison guards quickly drags his body out of the ring and the next rogue comes to stand in front of me.

"Jack, 24," he says and I gesture to the warriors.

He picks out one of my warriors and I blow my whistle.

*********************

I shake my head in disappointment as another one of my warriors get knocked on their ass.  Two rogues in the ring managed to win their first fight, and several others after that, finally losing when they fought my best warrior, just under Maya.

So after the fights I decided that I would help Jace train the lower ranking warriors. I don't know how I haven't noticed their lack of fighting skills until now, but decided that if they do not improve, then I will have to kick them out of my pack. I can't risk having weak Lycans, they would cause problems with future generations.

I watch the wolves go back and forth kicking each other's asses until I can't bear it anymore.

"All of you stop!" I growl loudly and I see a few Lycans flinch.

"This is embarrassing! You are terrible warriors, no, never mind. You are no longer warriors, you will be referred to as pups and trainees until you prove yourself to me. You will be trained a minimum of six hours a day by Maya, your Gamma, your Beta, or myself until I deem you fit to be warriors," I snarl and stalk out of the center.

I stomp into the forest, growling curse words under my breath.

"What the hell is wrong with the universe?" I growl, and a dozen birds fly away in fright.

"Shade might as well be dead, my warriors are inadequate, I keep having nightmares, I am sleep walking again," I list off as I walk through the snowy forest.

You are falling apart, Ira snickers and I sigh.

Fuck you bitch, I growl tiredly. She continues laughing and I block her out. As annoying as she is, I am glad to have Ira back.

 When I look up, I realize that I am at the building where Shade and I kept our beasts.

I walk inside and open up the stable holding the cheetah kits. I herd them into a play area where they start chasing each other around and chirping with glee. I chuckle before opening the stable holding Madox.

He stalks up to me and rubs his head against me. I stroke his silky black mane and lead him to another part of the building that lets him run around. 

Shade's creatures are laying down and let out moaning sounds that make my heart break. I walk into their stables and stroke their fur for a while then turn to leave. 

I put all the creatures back and walk back out into the forest. I go straight to my house and sit in my office chair. I put all of my energy into finishing everything I missed while I was away.

I paid our pack's bills and ordered a new shipment of supplies to arrive next week. My desk phone suddenly rings and my brows furrow in confusion. I never get calls, I think with a frown.

"This is Alpha Raven Silver of the Dark Forest Pack, to whom am I speaking?" I answer, my voice powerful enough to make any normal Alpha cringe.

"Alpha Silver, this is Blackthorn," I hear and my eyes go wide in panic.

"What can I help you with?" I ask, my tone a little lighter. 

"I was just wondering how Shade is? Along with the rest of my pack members that you stole from me," he chuckles. Fuck! I can't tell him about her accident, he would be furious and want to come down here, I curse mentally.

Lie to him, duh. If he doesn't believe you for some reason you can always force him to believe you that his mate is fine and not in a coma, Ira snorts. I roll my eyes at her comment but decide to listen to her.

"They were initiated into the pack and seem to be doing well. Has your pack been getting better since the Hunters?" I ask, diverting the attention away from Shade.

"Our pack is slowly getting healthier but most of the damage has been repaired," he answers.

"Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?" I said when he stayed silent for a few moments.

"All the Alphas from around the globe have called a meeting," he says and I pause, confused.

"But I wasn't invited," I say, not quite understanding what he was getting at.

"That is because the meeting is about you."

"Why are they having a meeting about me?" I ask, getting a little frustrated at his vague reply.

"They are trying to find a way to kill you."

******************

Hey guys! I am so sorry, it has been such a long time since I last updated but I hope this chapter will suffice. It is not super long but I will try to update more often. Please comment and vote!!!