As the three of us moved away from the castle together I began to realize just how much I had missed my friends and how relieved I was to see that they hadn't been badly injured. We had spent seven years together, having no one else to lean on. We only had each other through some of our hardest years. Sure, we fought, but they were my family, they were all I had since my mother abandoned us, my brother passed, and the fire took my pack. And now I was delighted to share my new discoveries with them.

Once we were a safe distance from the palace I began to yip and bounce on my paws, thrilled to be around my little pack again. In addition to this there was also an impressive amount of reprieve for my anxiety that I had almost forgotten about. Though I had sacrificed myself to save Hunter and had taken the blows on his behalf I had still been a little worried that someone had followed the pair, that they didn't make it out completely unscathed. The silver collar that had singed my throat had shown me that the king- or at least the former king- was sick of our antics and had become more tenacious against our presence.

But there we were, chasing each other around like pups, all of us moving wonderfully which meant that none of us had been injured too badly. We would all live to see another day and for a little group of rouges that was a beautiful thing.

We moseyed further from the palace, putting kilometers upon kilometers between myself and my mate, but the fact that I had abandoned him wasn't on my mind. For the majority of the trek I was simply enthused about being reunited with my pack and thinking about everything I could tell them, like how Griffin was so kind and everyone in the palace was so considerate. We had clearly been so wrong about the world behind the walls of the palace.

But as we progressed around the forest I noticed a pair of eyes looking at me. Then another. And a third set.

I froze, trying to assess if there were more. I sniffed hard, but was unable to pull any more scents other than the two males and the one female. Then, I slowly lowered my body down, pulling my lips back as I growled loudly. My first thought was that it was the king's men, or maybe it was Archer out for a stroll with that god awful collar. Then I considered the worst option. If it was simply another pack that we had stumbled onto we would have an even harder fight ahead of us. At least the royals would go easier on me, but I still hadn't been announced which meant we were still just worthless rogues.

But to my surprise Thorn didn't try to defend himself. He didn't even look moderately concerned. He actually shifted into his feeble human form.

Alarmed and baffled, I leapt in front of the fool, still snarling at the beasts that he was deeply underestimating.

"That's enough, Violet." He soothed.

One of the wolves moved out of the coverage, holding a bundle of fabric in its mouth. The wolf's eyes locked on me, studying my hunched form warily but it continued to move closer. It was a large brown male, his wolf larger than Thorn's. But his demeanor seemed to be even more timid that Hunter's so his approach was confusing. Very soon he was within reaching distance but I refused to be the offensive one, we could easily be outnumbered by wolves who hadn't revealed themselves just yet.

"No need to be so hostile." Thorn continued. "These wolves are friends not foes."

As if to prove Thorn's statement the wolf lowered his head submissively and dropped the bundle of clothing at Thorn's feet.

"I've heard that you've been prancing around the palace like a queen." Thorn said, slipping into a pair of breeches that certainly had been stolen from a guard. He kicked a lump of blue satin towards me, "If you're going to be the most useful to us you need to practice your speech and your movement. Shift."

I was so used to following his orders that I did it without hesitation. This transition came much easier than the previous ones I had been subject to. It was still awful and painful, but the process was much faster. I barely had time to grit my teeth in agony before it was all over. Once my fur had been replaced with soft, human flesh I tugged on the awkwardly sized dress and stared at the man who had been my leader for years.

"Are they-" I began but my voice died in my throat.

"They are new additions to the pack, yes. More wolves who believe in our cause. After you were taken away I knew that we would be very vulnerable with only two left. I began recruiting and so far we have three more members. In a matter of months I'm sure we can have hundreds of followers. I had no idea so many wolves followed our ideology. But enough about us. Tell me, how did you get into the castle like that? You were their prisoner, but then you were walking around the palace with the prince and even by yourself."

"Were you watching m-" I rasped out. I coughed roughly when the words got stuck.

"Of course we were watching you. We circled the palace hundreds of times before we spotted you the first time. Poor Hunter was blaming himself relentlessly and refused to sleep until we saw that you were at least alive. And you were with the prince. How did you manage that?"

I wished time would stop, just for a moment. I wanted some time to consider what I was about to reveal to my old pack mates, the people that had loathed the royals with me. I wish I had wondered about how my comrades would take the news and what they would do with it. But that was not the case. My mouth was working faster than my mind.

"Mates." I mumbled.

Thorn froze for a breath, staring at me like he couldn't believe what I had just said. And it was an entirely fair reaction. I hated the royals and I hated the fact that they were running a werewolf kingdom. They were almost entirely human which only added to the shock value. It was terribly rare for humans to be mated at all and the former queen had been a rare occurrence. The likelihood that such a thing would strike the same family twice was unheard of.

But Thorn's face broke into a beautiful smile and he nodded slowly.

"That makes all of this so much easier." His hands closed around mine tightly, his eyes meeting mine with delight, "You are a miracle, Violet."

I opened my mouth to tell him that Griffin was not at all what I thought, that we needed to rethink our targets and our ideas. Yes, humans ruling over the werewolf world was wrong, but Griffin had not asked to be put in that position. He was only doing what was expected of him. But Thorn wasn't paying attention to me anymore. With one hand still holding mine, he led me towards the other wolves, Hunter following behind us slowly.

The newest members were fine. Quiet and polite wolves. Wolves that would listen and obey all of Thorn's demands and would follow him into war without hesitation. The two males had been warriors in their previous pack, already bonded heavily to one another. And the softer shewolf they had acquired was agreeable enough, but I saw the way she glanced at Thorn, always nervous but unable to cover the excitement. They seemed to be exactly what Thorn felt he needed.

And my sweet Hunter never strayed from me, trailing behind me in wolf form as we wandered through the forest, my ugly dress getting caught on everything.

After a while I forgot who we were. I forgot why we were so hated by so many and how we had all become lone creatures that had bonded over a mutual hatred. We left the palace behind us and with each step it drifted further out of my thoughts. For the time being we were just a band of werewolves, some of us in human form, the other half clinging to our animalistic sides. It would've looked like a disaster from the outside, but I found it oddly comforting. Though my world had changed very suddenly these were my roots.

Along with the soft Hunter and the strong Thorn we had expanded to two warriors who were alarming similar, large and muscular but in need of guidance and control. And the girl who was enamored with Thorn was similar to Hunter, but a little more outspoken, more fire in her passive eyes and more pride in her movements. Knowing that Thorn had gathered up more wolves immediately in my absence made me feel slightly uneasy, like I had been replaced without a second thought, but I refused to dwell on it.

After a few hours of walking Thorn decided that we had trekked far enough. He announced that we would be staying in the small clearing for the night. I immediately missed the bed that I had become accustom to so quickly though it made me feel spoiled. But as I moved to remove the dress so I could shift into wolf form without damaging it Thorn shook his head.

"You're staying human."

And though he didn't say it I could tell that he wanted to talk. After seven years together I could read the slightest change in his eyes, the difference in the way he spoke and moved when something was on his mind. I complied.

As the others shifted into wolf form to prepare for the night and moved off to find the perfect bedding of soft pine needles and broken down leaves Thorn and I stayed together in human form, seated side by side under a tree. It felt like it had been forever since we had done this. For a long time we said nothing, just watched the pack. My eyes stayed mostly on Hunter, thinking about how grateful I was that he was alive, that my sacrifice hadn't been in vain. But Thorn was watching the new members and beyond. His serious eyes surveyed the area intensely, always looking for a threat. Always watching out for everyone else. Slowly, as the others drifted off, his attention returned to me.

"I was very worried about you." He said.

The words were strong and filled with meaning, but his voice was bleak and level. His strong hand fell into my lap, resting on my thigh. Living with only each other for so long I had known that he was my best choice for mating. We had shared moments like this before and I had known that it wasn't everything I could ever want, but I was accepting because it was the best we could do in a hard situation. And I didn't doubt that if I had been in human form more often this would've been a normal occurrence and maybe I would've been more tolerant to it.

But now everything had changed.

"You can gather so much more information from inside the palace walls; this is an amazing step, Violet."

His body shifted towards me. His eyes roved over my face, dipping down from my eyes to my lips. I could feel his warmth, but it wasn't comforting like Griffin's. It was overpowering, to the point that it almost felt like it was suffocating.

"I always knew that you would be my breakthrough. My miracle." He breathed, still coming closer.

Then his eyes closed and he leaned towards me.

I was frozen, my mind spinning too quickly to produce valid thoughts and wise actions. All I could think was that I was mated to Griffin, but he was everything I thought I would hate. He had changed my entire way of thinking so quickly. I was supposed to be with Thorn, but now I was worried that he wasn't the one I needed anymore.

His mouth pressed against mine.

Warm and slow. Firm and familiar. So masculine and so dominant.

My lips moved with his despite the way my heart pleaded against it in my chest.