Kyra's P.O.V

My eyes slowly opened, the earlier morning light, making me squint a little. I was not in my wolf form, I was still a human.

I sat up and looked for Kaiden, but he was not in sight. No one was in sight.

"Kaiden? Locin? Leora?" I called for them.

I heard the brush rustle and flinched and faced the direction of the rustling.

Out of the brush came the silver and navy blue Metallic wolf, he was limping but was okay.

I scrambled on the ground until I felt the roughness of a tree up against my back.

I had no words to say, no scream to choke out, just little whimpers that escaped my lungs, staring at one of the wolves that attacked me.

"Hey, relax, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not like my brother who goes around hurting others for no reason unless it's a good one." He approached gently.

"You bit my leg yesterday and stomped on my friend's chest." I growled with my fangs peeking through my lips.

"Because that was a good reason, I was defending myself and following orders from my brother." He explained as he sat down.

I kept my glare away from him. "Where are my friends and my mate?" I snapped.

"They went hunting. Kaiden, your mate, told me to keep an eye on you. He trusts me better since I'm calmer and gentler than my brother Shade." He told.

"But you both are assassins." I growled.

"That doesn't make us killers to all wolves. We only kill wanted wolves, ones that have killed more than ten wolves and up in cold blood." He explained.

"And then what? Bring the dead body to your pack and eat it?" I joked harshly.

He shook his head. "No. Sometimes we bring the bodies, yes. But we are not cannibals, we bury them and we are rewarded if it's a high wanted level."

I raised an eyebrow and turned my gaze to him. "What sort of reward?"

"See this necklace? We get rewarded pendants from our first bounty hunt. Mine is a cross, as you see. My brother's is a black diamond." He explained.

"I see. Anything else though? As a reward?" I asked.

"After a certain amount of time, we are rewarded to become masters to train younger and beginning assassin wolves." He looked to me.

"What was the youngest wolf to learn?" I asked.

"You must've heard of Sapphire the Legend?" He asked.

"Only rumors." I told.

"She was the youngest and most skilled Assassin wolf in all the regions. She was killed by a human protecting her pregnant sister." He told.

"Oh my. That's horrible." I lowered my head.

"Why? Any wolf can be born to be an early assassin wolf." A deeper growl came from the brush.

It was Shade who appeared from the brush, the massive wolf stalking towards me.

"Brother, leave her be. Didn't you harm her enough yesterday?" Sitka growled.

"I can't play with the half-breed?" He asked.

Hearing 'half-breed' set me off in an instant. Within a second I was a wolf and had Shade pinned to the ground, my fangs bared in anger.

"DON'T call me a half-breed! You don't even know me!" I snarled.

He smirked and was strong enough to pin me to the same spot on the ground.

"I don't know you, but I do know something about you, and I can see and smell the scent on you." He snickered.

I became worried. I trembled underneath Shade, my eyes were wide with worry.

"Your pregnant with that Solar wolf's pups." He chuckled.

I swallowed hard.

"Shade, get off of her. What's it matter if she is pregnant?" Sitka butted in.

"Brother, you don't get it do you? Those pups will be born half-breeds like her. Might as well dispose of them now while they are still tiny." He gaped his jaws open.

"Over my dead body." Growled a familiar voice.

I whipped my head over to see Locin, thank God he was alone.

"Get off of her, right now!" Locin snarled.

"Listen to him, Shade." Sitka urged.

Shade stepped off of me but not without a scoff of displeasure.

I hurried over to Locin and crouched down behind him.

"Oh come on, pup. I'm not that scary." Shade snickered.

I flattened my ears down and scowled. "When you threaten to bite my stomach open then I have every right to be scared." I growled.

"Did he hurt you?" Locin nuzzled me.

"No I'm okay." I licked his nose.

"Well, half-breed, you two-timing on your mate?" Shade smirked.

I got up and stomped toward him and snarled. "I'm sick of you badgering me about my species. I have heard it all my life, I don't need to hear it from the likes of you."

"Four words. Don't. Care. Half--"

I bit his chest and dragged him to ground, his chest was bleeding from my bite.

"All you got, pup?" He tested further.

I growled and went to bite him again until he kicked me in the stomach.

"OWW!" I cried out turning human and falling to my knees.

"The fuck man!" Locin snapped and went to aid me.

"Self defense, man." Shade growled.

"She's pregnant, idiot!" He snarled.

I grabbed my stomach and held it in agony. I didn't feel any blood coming out, so he probably didn't hurt the pups. But the pain was unbearable.

I began to tear up. "Where's Kaiden?" I whimpered through the tears.

"He should be on his way back soon." He told.

I leaned down to the ground, all I could do was just scream and cry, the pain was just so painful.

"Kyra, calm down it's okay." Locin tried to calm me down and he pulled me into his embrace.

"Go find Kaiden, please!" I pleaded.

I pressed my head to ground, my arms wrapped around my stomach, I didn't know what was wrong, maybe Kaiden or Leora knew what to do.

As if my plea was answered, I smelled Kaiden's scent.

"Kaiden!" I screamed as my voice faded to a wolf howl.

I heard paw steps on the ground, I opened one of my eyes and saw Kaiden shift to his human form.

"Kyra, what's the matter?" He asked worryingly and took me into his arms.

"Shade kicked her in the stomach. But there's more to it but I'll let her tell you that." Locin growled.

Kaiden stood up and became a wolf once more.

"You did what to her?!" Kaiden snarled, his sharp fangs bared.

Shade smirked. "Taught her a lesson about self defense."

"You had no right to do that." Kaiden growled angrily.

"Heh, it's over and done with. I'd suggest worrying about your mate and less about me." He scoffed.

Kaiden turned back to me. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and the pain would not subside.

"Kyra!" Leora howled as she ran to my aid.

"Not so fast!" Snarled a she-wolf voice.

Out of the woodworks, a female wolf came to view and stepped in front of me.

For a she-wolf who had to be full grown, she seemed a slight bit smaller than me.

This wolf was black from the top of her head to the base of her tail, gray was mixed in with the black, and the rest of her was a creamy-tan color. This scent was familiar to me, she was no ordinary wolf.

"You're a hybrid, just like me." I whispered but she still heard me.

She twitched her ears and her ice, cold, blue eyes, glared at me like razor sharp crystals.

"What's it to you, princess?" Snapped the she-wolf.

"It's about time you got here." Shade scoffed.

"Don't you start." Growled the she-wolf.

Sitka was speechless and appalled at this behavior.

Kaiden's P.O.V

"Heh, all assassins are the same." I chuckled. "Bitch, step aside before I shred your throat." I snarled.

"Hm, I don't think so. My partners seem to know that this half-breed is your mate, and they know something that you don't." She snickered as she circled Kyra.

"What ever it is can wait, I have had enough of your lies. Sitka, I thought I could trust you to protect her, but now I know I should've just asked someone more trusting." I snarled.

Sitka lowered his ears in disappointment, he deserved more of a punishment, but there wasn't anything I could do to punish him.

"You think you can trust an assassin, child? My, you have a lot to learn." The she-wolf chuckled.

I then saw Kyra go back to being a wolf and attacked the she-wolf without hesitation, she bit her shoulder and kept herself latched on.

"Ow! Get off of me!" She grabbed Kyra by her scruff and threw her to me, in which I was able to catch her as I turned human.

She too shifted to a human, she was trembling, I assumed she was still in a lot of pain.

She huffed in pain. "Kaiden, make it stop." She whimpered.

"Huh? What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Kaiden, I'll take care of her when I finish this bitch off." Snarled Leora.

"Hm, I know you now. You're Leora, the best medical wolf in all of the tribes. And also the leader's eldest daughter." The she-wolf snickered.

"Leora, you know her?" Locin questioned.

"Unfortunately, I do. This is Renae, she's from the Red Oak Pack. I know she's a hybrid like Kyra. She has German Shepard and Siberian Husky in her from her mother and her father is a wolf." Leora explained.

"Smart, for a med wolf." Renae remarked.

"Smarter than you." Leora snarled. "You'll regret hurting Kyra, she did nothing to you three. She protected your comrades from being killed by us, and this how you repay her, with pain? Pathetic assassins."

"Take that back!" Renae growled.

"Enough, Renae!" Growled Shade as he stepped in front of the two bickering females.

"She's right. She protected us. And I probably broke her rib or something. I'm so sorry, Kyra." Shade apologized.

Kyra couldn't even say much but a mere nod in forgiveness.

I looked down at Kyra, I now knew I could somewhat trust Shade and Sitka, not so much of Renae yet.

"Let's take a look at your stomach, Kyra." I told her as I slid my hand to the bottom of her shirt.

"Not here." She said as she grabbed my hand. "Can Leora come with us?"

"Of course." I told her. Even though I just wanted to be alone with her and wanted to make sure she was alright.

"Leora, come with us for a moment." I called for her.

She trotted up to us and followed us into the forest to a small open thicket.

Kyra couldn't walk without making little grunts of pain.

"Kyra can you lift up your shirt, so we can see what happened? Do you want Kaiden to do it?" Leora asked.

Kyra's P.O.V

My eyes widened a little, my heart was beating so fast at this point, I thought it would burst out of my chest.

I didn't want to lift my shirt up at all, cause I myself didn't know how visible my baby bump was already.

"Kaiden can." I finally choked out.

I moved my arms out of the way and his gentle hands slid my shirt up to the top of my ribs. I shivered at his touch even though I was quite happy with him touching me.

Leora turned human herself and looked around on my stomach.

"I do see some bruising on your left side." She touched each rib to make sure none were broken, the lower she got the more it hurt.

"There are no broken ribs, just some moderate bruising. But Kyra, may I ask you this? Are you gaining weight or are you pregnant?" She asked.

My blood ran cold. I could feel Kaiden's gaze staring right at me, I didn't even want to look at him in the eye. How was I going to tell him I was showing early, there would be no way I could.

It seemed I just froze, my body was so stiff, even though I was so stiff, I began to shake involuntarily.

"Kyra? What's the matter? Tell me what's going on." Kaiden spoke gently.

I couldn't speak, my voice didn't want to say anything, just little gasps escaped my lungs.

"Kyra? Leora, go back to Locin and the others, let me talk to her." Kaiden told her.

"Okay. Kyra, before I go, look at me." She asked.

I slowly turned my head to her. She hugged my head and kissed it. "You are my best friend, Ky, everything will be okay if it's true, I love you like you were my sister, be honest to him and true to your heart." She said as she let go and went back to being the beautiful light ginger she-wolf she was. I watched her dash through the still slightly snow covered forest.

I was in Kaiden's warm embrace, though I was so afraid to face him, I couldn't look at him with out almost bursting into tears.

"Kyra, look at me." Kaiden said in a slightly stern voice.

I swallowed so hard I thought I was going to choke, but I turned my head slowly and I finally was face to face with him.

"Are you pregnant, Kyra?" Kaiden asked.

I despised the question. Please don't make me answer, please! I can't do it, I don't want to tell him I am and then when the pups are born, he finds out that they are gray and not his, he may kill them.

"Kyra, answer me." He growled, his fangs slightly peeking through his lips.

I got so scared at his growl that I flinched and my emotions tore away at me. I began to cry, I leaned into Kaiden's chest and just cried.

"Yes, I am..." I sobbed.

I felt his heart skip a beat. Was he angry?

"Please don't be angry Kaiden, please! I don't want you to be mad at me, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I knew you didn't want pups right away but...." I felt his hand under my chin, lifting it up to have me look at him.

I looked up at him and I saw him smiling.

"How can I be mad at you, my love? It's only natural what your body is going through, how can I be mad at you?" He chuckled.

I was surprised that he wasn't mad at me. Though the tears didn't subside, I was happy that he was glad but at some point I would have to tell him about me and Locin.

"Kyra, I may have said I didn't want pups so soon, but I knew you wanted me as a mate and to have that special bond with me, and having pups is part of it. Plus, it'll be months before they are born, so we got some time to plan."

I looked up at him. "But I myself don't know how many months it'll be till they are born. Is it shorter than a human, or same length as a wolf?" I asked him.

"Hm, I'm not sure myself. When we find my mother, I'll have to ask her." He said.

In the wind shift, I picked up a smell all to familiar to me, I could sense Kaiden could smell it too.

"Kaiden, I need to follow that smell." I urged.

"Kyra, slow down. Let's get the others first." Kaiden relaxed me.

We headed back to the others, once their, everyone was alarmed.

"We need to go now." I growled eagerly.

"What's going on, Ky?" Leora asked.

"There's no time to explain, we just have to go, I can't lose this scent." I growled and sprinted away from everyone.

Can you really be here? Are you okay? How's is everyone? Please let this be true, I just found out I was pregnant let this be another blessing.

Kaiden's P.O.V

I was hot on Kyra's heels, following her directions, even though I was alpha she was eager to get to her destination. The others followed behind me.

"What's going on with Kyra, Kaiden?" Locin asked.

I smiled blissfully. "The same reason why we were traveling for you and I."

"Your mother?" Locin questioned.

"Yes, when the wind changed direction, I smelled my mother's scent, but I also smelled her mother's scent." I told.

"Her mother is out here?!" Locin growled. "She's a dog."

"Kyra told me her mate trained her as a wolf and she's much better than she was when she lived with humans." Kaiden explained.

"I hope she can defend herself like a wolf, heh she's probably as reckless as her daughter and hot-headed." Locin chuckled.

"So quick to judge." Leora snipped.

"Hey, who else would she get it from, you think her father?" Locin asked.

"Never know. Maybe it's both." Kaiden said.

We stopped talking after that, Kyra was so quick on her feet that, I myself, almost lost track of her.

Soon we saw Kyra stop at the entrance of a pine forest, the scent of other wolves was much stronger, I could smell my mother's scent inside it, I smelled more Solar and Silver Stone wolves inside too.

"What's wrong, Kyra?" I walked up and nuzzled her.

"You told me when we arrived at your pack that I'd have to stay here, outside of the entrance." She explained.

"Kyra, if your mother is here, then you shouldn't hesitate to come in." I told her and licked her cheek.

But before we could enter, I heard growls in the distance, it must've been a patrol coming back.

One growl was the deepest of them all, but where could they be hiding?

Soon, a dark brown wolf appeared into view.

"Who are you?" She growled fiercely.

Kyra turned her head towards her and her eyes were locked onto her, she became so still when her and the other wolf locked their gazes.

The dark brown she-wolf still had bristled fur but was in shock.

What was going on? Did they know each other?