Our bodies become still with the sound. My hands clench tightly around Rory's shirt as my fear rises within me. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, there's something lurking close to us. If it's a rogue, I stand no chance. If it's any type of creature, I stand no chance. I'm basically human, a human with no survival skills.

Rory, I know he's strong, but rogues are a different type of powerful. Their lack of humanity doesn't let them stop. If anything, it's like they have an endless amount of drive that helps them keep going, like adrenaline or something. They won't stop until one is dead and usually it ends up being the insane wolf.

Another twig snaps and Rory and I both jump. I close my eyes, hoping that when I open them, this will all be a dream. That would make things so much easier than they are right now. But when I do open them, we're in the same place. Only this time, the sounds of steps are prominent. They're coming closer and closer, never faltering in their pace.

"Rory," I whimper, probably giving us away. If we're going to die, I need him to know how I feel. And I need him to know we aren't mates, not like we had hoped and planned.

"Hush, Sophia," Rory pleads. He shakes his head and out of respect for my lover, I remain quiet. I know he wants us to survive this. I also know that Rory will foolishly fight for me.

Suddenly, the steps stop. We become blanketed in silence once again. If the forest wasn't eerie before, it's terrifying now. Nothing but darkness surrounds us with only the moonlight to help. I, not having a wolf, am unable to see. Only the fuzziness of the trees is what I'm able to make out. Inevitably, Rory has more power than me in that aspect.

Before I can let my breath out, a figure appears next to us, right in my line of sight. They're so close that I can make out their outline and the whites of their eyes, but any distinguishing features are hidden by the darkness. They're human, that's for sure, or at least they appear to be human. What abilities they have, I don't know.

"What do we have here?" It's a man, or a female with an extremely deep voice. They crouch and I hear them inhale deeply. "Oh, a wolf and... something extraordinary."

Their words come out sensually, like they're in some sort of spell. A hand grabs me without warning, pulling me up and causing a cry to leave my mouth. The being holds me up in the air with a strength that I didn't know was possible. I've seen my father hold someone up like this, but that's because he's an alpha. Regular wolves are strong, but unable to hold someone up with one hand. It's not impossible, but I've not seen it often.

"Let go of her!" I can't tell what's happening, but my body swings from side to side. The sound of a struggle occurs before the sound of smacking hits my ears. There's a thud and leaves rubbing together.

"What did you do?" My voice is strained since this person is holding me by my neck. If I stay perfectly still, my airways don't become constricted. A bruise is forming already though and if we make it out of this alive, I may not have a voice.

"Your puppy is the least of my worries. I could kill him with a snap of my fingers," the person says and a hand caresses my cheek. "But you... you I'm much more interested in."

My body moves forward as they bring me closer. A cold nose gets pressed into my neck and they sniff. I can feel their hot breath against my neck as they breathe out before repeating the actions. Nausea rips through me as my stomach rolls. I feel disgusted and like I can't get out.

"I said let go of her!" Something barrels into the stranger and we go flying. Their grip drops from my neck and I fall to the ground.

Groaning, I can do nothing but roll around in pain. My arm is hurting the most and I hope it's not a break or sprain. I stop rolling as I start to hear growls through the forest. Then, I hear a blood curdling scream. I lift one hand to close one ear as the sound is so loud, so screechy that it hurts my ears. Then I hear a hiss but it's quickly cut off by a deep, powerful growl.

"Get away from me, mutt!" they shout, but that doesn't stop Rory. Though I can't see, their movements are loud enough for me to hear.

That means the sound of ripping flesh is maximized. The stranger yells in pain, but I don't think Rory relents. There's a noise coming from him that sounds as if he's a dog playing tug-a-war with its master. I don't want to think about what Rory is pulling on.

The person's flesh and bone squelches loudly. The sound makes me gag as it happens repeatedly. Their cries and screams are filling the forest, they're so loud. Their pleading goes through one ear and out the other as Rory continues his assault. There's nothing I want more than to see him right now. I only know that he half shifts so he takes on features of a wolf, but not the full thing. He almost looks like a rogue when shifted and I believe that's why the pack was so quick to shun him.

"Rory," I call out, tired of the squishing of flesh and cracking of bone. "Rory, please."

If I could see, I would have crawled my way over. It would've been a stupid action, but at least I would've been able to grab him and try to get through to him. This is the first time I'm ever seeing my Rory so angry. Is it because the situation involved me?

"Please," I whisper once again and that must do it. Hands grab at me, and I feel the thick, wetness of his palms. When his blood-covered appendage comes into contact with my arm, I whine loudly.

"What happened, he hurt you?" He's back to my normal, loving Rory.

I shake my head and wrap my arms around him. The person, I have no idea what state they're in, but they make no sound or movements. At least, not from what I can hear. Laying my head on Rory's bare chest, I come to realize that he's completely naked now. That's an unfortunate effect of wolves shifting while clothed. Unlike the fantasies, clothes don't materialize when shifters change back from wolf to human form.

"No, I fell on my arm, it may be dislocated," I answer, my voice small and shaking. My nose becomes runny as my eyes fill with tears. "I thought that person had hurt you terribly, Rory. Oh, God."

"Shh, I'm okay," he hushes me, tightening his arms around me, but making sure to be cautious of my injured arm. "I'm ok—"

He cuts himself off and it makes me worried. His body tenses so tight that it makes me shudder. In one quick movement, I'm slinged around and on Rory's back. It's a confusing ordeal and I wonder how he was able to do that.

"Please hold on, Sophia-Grace." His tone is commanding and serious, something so rare and unusual for him. "More are coming, I have to shift so we can get out of here quickly."

I shift against his back before wrapping both my arms and legs around him tightly. I start to feel guilty as I feel the hands of doubt gripping at me. Will he be able to run with me on his back? We've never done this before because there's never been a point where we've had to.

"Get ready," he whispers before he takes off. Before he had started running, I felt a small bit of hair grow out of his chest and the expansion of his hips and shoulders. Rory had shifted and this is the closest I've ever been to his transformed body since he's not a fan of doing the action.

Laying my head on his now hairy back, I clench my eyes closed. Perhaps if there was more moonlight in this creepy forest, I'd be able to see the trees passing by and blurring. I have no idea where we're going, but I know we'll be fine because we're together.

This doesn't last long though as Rory slows himself to a stop. His shoulders rise heavily with his pants and they sound harsh. Opening my eyes, I see we're now in a clearing with the moon shining brightly down on us. Any other day, I would appreciate and admire the sight above me, but now's not the time. Looking forward, I finally get to see into the night because the moon is so bright. The sight isn't nice.

Three people stand in front of us: two women and one man. They wear all black, some type of uniform, but I don't know where from. The uniforms are somewhat baggy and the bottom of the pants are shoved into dark combat boots. The woman in the middle is the tallest and she stands with her arms crossed. A scowl is on her face and her stance shows her power and authority. The two flanking her sides stand with their hands folded and their gazes forward. Both have blank looks. All of them wear black berets on their heads.

The leader of the three steps forward, causing Rory to growl and step back. She raises an eyebrow and tilts her head to the side. It's too dark to tell her eye color, but somehow, I'm able to see the questions floating behind her look. That and annoyance.

"State your business, wolf," she spits.

Rory grunts and he squeezes my leg. Pushing my head forward, I hear him grunt again. That's when I realize that he wants me to speak. Taking a deep breath, I turn my gaze back to the woman.

"We're just passing through. We didn't mean to trespass," I tell her, hoping she'll hear the pleading and honesty in my tone.

Her face remains blank though, giving nothing away. "I smell the blood of our own. Just passing through doesn't involve maiming."

My heart beat picks up until it feels like my heart will burst out of my chest. She has to let us explain. She needs to know that we were going to die and we were just protecting ourselves.

"We... we didn't mean to," I shout. I shake loose from Rory's back, but he grabs me before I can step around him. "Let me do this, please, Rory. I have to do this."

He turns to face me and I finally get a good look at his face. Unlike a rogue, his eyes are the normal brown that I'm used to. The only difference would be the slight golden glow they've taken on. His face is somewhat hairy. It really just looks like his sideburns have grown down and connected across his chin, creating a beard. The noticeable difference would be his hairier and larger body and the more beastly construction of his face.

"I'll be okay," I whisper, leaning up to kiss his cheek. This time when I step around him, Rory lets me. I sigh in relief and walk the couple feet to the woman. "Our pack... we had to leave. We don't know where we are, it was a complete accident for us to trespass, but your pack member... he was attacking us. We only protected ourselves."

The woman takes a moment to study me. Her eyes trail down my body, noticing the now mangled gown I have on. At some point during my unconsciousness, I had lost my shoes, so the dress continuously brushes the dirt covered ground. There's a chance that she's familiar with wolf ceremonies. Even if she is, that would just draw more questions. I only hope that she understands that we acted in self defence.

"Sorry," she finally speaks, sneering at me in the process. "Trespassers meet with the queen."

Before I can act, the woman has her hands on me. I barely get to turn to see Rory before my legs are turning to jello. The only inclination that he's still with me is the howl that rips through him.

"And we have a coven." The woman gets the final word in before I pass out in her arms.

Coven? The only beings I know to call their packs covens are witches and vampires.