Chapter 18 - Oh... crap.

Lucy's POV

"Right," David says as all twelve of us stand around on the outskirts of the forest. "So, are we all understood on what's going to happen?"

Everyone murmurs a quick 'yes' in a reply. The atmosphere around our little group is very tense, as we're all poised and ready for whatever might happen tonight. If there's one thing we all know then it's this: tonight isn't going to be easy.

The way that the three groups have worked out is like this: David, Wayne, Wendy and Sam make one group and Helen, Max, John and Jack make another. This obviously then leaves me, Justin, Dean and Ricky to make the last. Fantastic.

For the first part of the journey we'll all be running together as there's no point in splitting up right away. However, as soon as we find a suitable place to ditch our clothes off at, we all part ways. My group will be going in from the direction of Beck's, whilst the other two groups will be coming in from other angles so we form a sort of triangle formation. The hope is that, if the rogues notice us on their land, then they'll split up so we don't have to face all of them at once. Of course, there's always the chance that that plan will fail completely, and then we'll be in big trouble.

"Okay, let's get going," David then orders, glancing over at Wendy and giving her a quick strained smile. And that one smile sums up everything that's going on right now; nobody knows how this is going to go down, and that's a seriously worrying thought.

"Hey," Justin says, making me pause as I'm about to follow Wendy and Helen out of sight to change.

"Yeah?" I ask, vaguely aware of Dean watching us.

"I want you to promise me something," he replies, and I just stare at him in confusion as I wait for an elaboration. "If we run into trouble today, I want you to stay out of it," he continues, and I instantly frown in annoyance.

Great, that's just fantastic. What a way to make it clear that he thinks of me as completely incapable. Call me stupid, but I'd thought that we'd been starting to get slightly past the whole Omega thing (at least for now anyway), but I guess I was just being naïve. I know that I'm not the best fighter, but I also know that I have my dad's blood still running through my veins, so I'm perfectly able to look after myself. Hell, I've been doing it in these woods for the past seven years, haven't I?

Rolling my eyes, I go to walk away, but he grabs my arm to stop me. Huh, we seem to be making a habit out of these sorts of situations.

"I'm serious, Luce. If we run into any of these rogues, which is going to be pretty inevitable, then I want you to run, or hide, or just... stay out of the way. And don't say you can't do it, I've seen you run, I know you can."

Okay, no way in hell is that going to happen. If these rogues are really connected to the attack on my parents, then I'm not backing out. I can't back out. This is as much my fight as any of these others, if not then more, and I fully intend to embrace it. They're not getting away with what they did; I'll make sure of it.

"Lucy. Promise me?" he asks again.

"Sure, whatever," I lie through my teeth before walking away to join Wendy and Helen.

I can't believe that Justin actually has that little faith in me after everything. I mean, I know that I wasn't the most composed when we left Beck's yesterday, but I didn't completely lose it, which has to count for something, right?

I quickly kick my converse off and stuff my odd socks inside them. Next, my checked shirt joins them, along with my jeans, and then I'm good to go. The other two both wait for me to phase, as I obviously take a bit longer due to arriving slightly later, and then we all pick up our clothes in our mouths and head back to the others.

Once we're all ready, we set out, each having to carry our own clothes as David didn't want to put Devon in any danger.

We run in fairly tense silence until David gives the command to drop our clothes under one of the bushes. I quickly do as I'm told, my body filled with nervous electricity as it's now finally time to put the group theory into action.

If this turns out to go completely wrong, is it my fault? I was the one who said that it'd be better to split up, what if I was wrong? What if I get us all killed or captured or something? Oh, shit...

In total, it takes about an hour for us to reach the edge of the forbidden land, and we run in a sort of square, with Justin and Dean in the front and me and Ricky behind them. However, when the scent of the rogues gets so strong that we know we're close to their land, Dean falls back behind Justin slightly and I take up his place at the front. There's no question that I am the best at spotting traps, which is definitely a good skill to have when going into a place like this, so it's like an unspoken rule that I go in front.

I quickly glance over to my right, growing more and more unsure about this whole plan, but relax slightly when I notice Justin's reassuring gaze. Okay, I don't care how confusing the guy is, he's always had the power to calm me down with just one of those looks, ever since we were kids. So, with that, I lead us carefully into probably the most feared place in the entire forest.

It's not long before I spot the first bear trap. Luckily, it was only half-hidden under a pile of leaves, making it easy to spot as the sharp teeth of the trap are clearly visible. The next trap isn't so easy to see, but I notice the piece of rope attached to a nearby tree at the last minute and stop walking. It's either a net or a snare, and they are probably one of the worst traps ever. Sure, they're not quite as brutal as the bear traps, but they're also a lot less easy to spot. Even after you've noticed it's there, you still don't know where exactly it lies. Plus, Beck's told me a few rumours that a few of the snares have the capability of snapping your leg if you catch it wrong, and I don't exactly feel the need to test out the theory.

Shit, where is it?

I look around on the floor, trying to figure out which of the leaves look out of place, but none of them really do.

So, this trap's been here for a while then, which is even better. Ugh.

Scuffing my paw against the surrounding leaves as lightly as I can, I try and decide on the best course of action to take. If we just chance it then there's the possibility of getting caught, and then we'd have to worry about rogues and hunters, but if we don't get moving, then it'll take more time to find the rogues hideout, which could then lead to us getting caught by some of the rogues. As it turns out, however, my worrying is completely wasted as, when I scuff my paw on the leaves once more, it triggers the trap. I quickly jump back as the net springs to life, missing me by inches. Holy crap... that was close.

Looking over at Justin, I see him eying the net which now hangs a few meters above the ground with, luckily, nothing but leaves and twigs inside. Then, I move my gaze around in search of any other traps within the vicinity, but when I can't find any I decide it's safe to start walking again.

Jeez, something tells me that this is going to take a while...

After another fifteen minutes of continuous walking, stopping to avoid traps, and then walking again, another noise causes me to stop dead in my tracks. It's a growl, sounding so vicious and feral that my hackles automatically begin to rise. Oh... crap.

I'm not the only one who hears it either, as the entire group immediately turns onto the defensive, looking around for the source of the noise, and it doesn't take long for us to find it... or more like them.

There are four of them in total, all covered in black and brown scruffy fur, their dark eyes trained on us as their muzzles are all pulled back into furious snarls. They're all pretty average in size, apart from the two on either end. The one on the right is slightly bigger than the others, and the one on the left looks a little bit smaller. Justin's wolf is easily bigger than all of them, but that's not quite as reassuring as I'd like, especially considering that there's four of them.

There are eight of them, and three groups of us, so I was hoping that we'd only run into three of them at the most. That way it'd be easier for us to take them down. Not to mention the fact that we don't know the area as well as they do, which gives us another clear disadvantage.

We all stand where we are for a few more seconds, sizing up our opponents, and I take particular attention to the smallest of the four. He looks to be the same size as me, if not then only slightly bigger, but he definitely doesn't look trained. Taking note of how his eyes dart back and forth over our group nervously, I decide that if I had any kind of chance taking one of them down, then he's my best shot.

The snarl that escapes my throat reverberates around my chest, vaguely taking me by surprise, and I listen around as Justin Dean and Ricky all do the same. And that seems to be the trigger of the inevitable fight, as the rogues all pounce.

Thankfully, the smallest rogue apparently had the same idea as me, as he races straight at me, obviously deciding that I'm his best choice of opponent. I don't hesitate, I don't think, I just act, jumping up to meet him head on, instantly getting locked in a battle of snapping jaws as we each try to keep the other away from our throats.

Vicious snarls fill the surrounding area as we all get stuck into the battle, but I keep my focus on the rogue who's currently trying to rip my throat out. His fur feels rough and itchy as it brushes against mine, and I do my best not to shudder as I notice a few of the scars that show through it. I also notice just how much skin and bones he actually is, seemingly having more fur to him than actual substance.

Suddenly, a crack and then a yelp sounds out to my left, and I'm momentarily distracted as I watch Ricky roll away from the tree that he's just been thrown at. Out of the corner of my eye I notice my opponent trying to use my distraction to his advantage, but I quickly snap at him as he tries for my throat again. Eventually, I give up on attempting to get a good hold on him, and instead settle for ripping out as chunk of his fur and quickly spitting it to the ground in disgust. Although it doesn't kill him, it sure as hell hurts him, and he lets out a massive cry and takes a few steps back. Getting ready for my final lunge, I'm immediately taken off guard when I see another (much larger) figure lunging into me from the left, and I quickly turn around in time to see the largest rogue of the group flying towards me.

It seems to happen in slow motion, and my brain slowly comes to terms with the fact that I'm not going to survive this. I can't take down both of them, it's impossible. My smaller opponent also decides to attack again, and I do my best to fight him off as just as I feel the other ones teeth sink into the flesh of my shoulder. I yelp in pain. A sharp aching begins to throb due to the wound, but I know it'll get worse. The adrenaline I have pulsing through me is helping to fight off the pain at the minute, though.

As suddenly as they bit into me, the teeth disappear again, and I notice Justin's wolf out of the corner of my eye, facing off my attacker with a snarl so murderous that it makes even me want to flinch.

That's when a howl fills the air, and it's a howl that I recognise straight away. It's David, and he's telling us to retreat. Shit.

Ricky's the first to back away, obviously aware that this is a fight we can't win on our own, and so the rest of us soon follow. I'm soon to realise the problem, though, and it's that we're going to have to run away. They'll surely be chasing us, and we'll be trying to avoid traps at the same time. As I've already said, they know the area and we don't, so one wrong move for us and we'll be finished. Double shit.

I decide to take the lead again, not caring about ranking or respect, I can remember where some of the traps are but not all of them, and so I'll need to keep a keen eye out.

Justin takes up position to the right of me again and we don't hesitate, we just run, doing our best to avoid any traps whilst hearing nothing but the sound of heavy breathing and thundering paws behind us. They're hot on our tails, quite literally.

I push myself faster, trying my best to ignore the ache that runs through my shoulder every time I do so. Crap, this plan really did not go well... I wonder if any of the others managed to find the hideout.

After what seems like forever, and a couple of near misses with bear traps on our part, the rogues apparently decide that we're not quite worth it. One by one, they begin to fall back, and we wait for a few more minutes before deciding to slow down a little as well. My shoulder is really starting to hurt now, and I don't dare look at it because I'm pretty sure it doesn't look so great either, but I push on through it. It seems to take much less time for us to escape the forbidden land than it did for us to enter, and so I fall back and let Dean take up the front, before we all head back to where our clothes are.

When we get there, we see David's group already there, and the third group turns up a few minutes after us. To say that we all look rough would be an understatement, and a few people, such as Ricky Sam and I guess me, look completely battered.

After collecting up our clothes, we all head back to our territory, taking our time as we're all a little worse for wear.

Once we get there, however, we don't hesitate to change quickly, with the three of us girls heading off to change away from the guys like we did earlier.

I leave my top until last, not liking the idea of pulling the fabric over the fresh wound. The wound itself isn't as bad as I'd thought, though, it's not too big or deep and will heal with time. The amount of blood that's running down my arm, however, is a different story, and I try not to gag. It makes the entire thing look a whole lot worse than it actually is.

With the slightly help of Wendy, I manage to get my arm into the sleeve without too much trouble, and then we all head back to the others.

"Is anyone else hurt?" David asks, looking more stressed than ever.

"Lucy is," Justin says, his eyes instantly going to my arm when I appear from behind the trees.

"Lucy?"

"I'm fine," I promise, really not wanting to make a big deal out of it. I was bitten, but it's really not that bad and, by the looks of it, Sam and Jack were bitten too. Everyone else seems to be sporting some pretty decent bruises, though, showing us that everyone took some form of hit. Ricky seems the most bruised out of everyone but, that was kind of to be expected. After all, he did get thrown at a tree.

"The hell you are, the asshole bit you!" Justin disagrees, and I sigh.

"It's really not that bad, just a flesh wound. It'll be healed within a few weeks."

"Lucy's right, it could've been a lot worse," Wendy agrees, and I nod, which seems to end the discussion.

"Okay..." David says, sighing. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know," Max replies. "One minute we were dodging this bear trap and the next we're being jumped by four of the bastards."

Wait... four? But-

"We got four as well," Justin says, looking over at his dad in confusion.

"So did we," David informs.

"But... that makes twelve," I say, looking over at David as well.

So... Graham was wrong...?

David sighs again, regaining everyone's attention.

"I think it's time I called a whole Pack meeting," he says, his voice grim.

Suddenly, things aren't looking quite as simple as we thought they were going to be...

(Hey guys! So i know that this has taken a lot longer than planned to update and i'm really sorry about that. I struggled quite a lot with this chapter but it's finally here :) So, yeah, i hope you like it and that it was worth reading, go ahead and leave a Vote/Comment to let me know what you think :) i know that there isn't a lot of Justin/Lucy and there isn't any Beck/Lucy in this chapter, but that's because this is more of a rogue storyline development chapter. Next few chapters will have a lot more Beck and Justin in them ;) Next chapter will be a Lucy POV still and should hopefully be up on either Saturday or Sunday.

Thanks to all of you who have supported this story so far, i really appreciate it :) I still think it's unbelievable that so many people actually enjoy reading this book.

Erm... yeah, so i think that's all i had to say so, sorry again for the late update, byee!)