We all got back to the palace fencing. Michael stood there shocked when he saw Davis holding me and blood soaking my shirt.

"What the hell happened?" Michael shouted running up to us and ripping me out of Davis hands.

"Wolves... two of them attacked. She's been bleeding the whole time."

Michael began to run with me inside.

"Wait no, please. Thomas, he has to be ok. Please," I whispered looking behind Michael as we ran inside.

"I'll find him for you, alright?" Davis yelled.

Michael carried me inside. To my luck, King Pierce and king Astor were walking towards their office and saw us. King Pierce was instantly at our sides, walking with us hastily. They were demanding what happened but Michael didn't know. All he could tell them was I had joined the paintball game.

"Thomas," I demanded out again. Why was no one telling me anything about him? I needed to know.

"Michael, where is my son?" King Pierce demanded.

"Davis went to look for him and Derek Valencia. They were the last ones left in the game."

Thomas and Davis ran inside the building shortly later. I couldn't help but reach out to hold Thomas' hand to which he immediately took.

"I'm so glad you're ok. How didn't it kill you?" He asked. The doctor continued to patch up my side, pressing gauze and tape around the bite marks. It stung and I hissed in pain.

"I'm not a royal, Thomas." I growled out, holding my eyes closed. "They want royals more than me. It heard the other wolf howl and it ran."

Thomas didn't push it any further. King Pierce and Astor didn't look very frustrated. I suspected that this was a usual when royals were in town, no matter what sector.

Looking to the side, away from them covering up my bite, I could see a very angry and pissed off looking Derek Valencia. His father stood arms crossed against the wall watching him basically throw a tantrum. Doctor's tried to look him over but he would just try and throw things around the room and leave.

"I guess they really pissed him off." I smirked. "Can we go lay down now? I'm over this place." Thomas laughed, looking at Davis.

"Man, I swear, your girl must have some distant royal connection or something because I've never seen a non-royals chick shrug off so much pain or attacks in my life." Davis smacked Thomas' shoulder before he picked me up and began to walk out.

"Minimum 12 hours till that heals, Charlotte." Davis yelled, sure to hold eye contact with me. He was hinting at my past two nights of activities. As much as he didn't know where I was going, I knew he didn't like it and wanted to stop it from continuing.

My injury wouldn't stop me from going to Shaw though. I was fully prepared to slam his face on the ground. I thought we were friends. At least I wouldn't have guessed for him to send his people to attack me. It was aggravating knowing these were his people. Granted, he wasn't an alpha but it seemed like he had some weight to his words.

Thomas and I reached his room and once again his bed was my end point. At this point even Thomas was exhausted. He laid beside me, shutting his eyes and resting his hands behind his head.

Glimpsing outside the sun wasn't setting yet. I knew I could get a couple hours of sleep before going to wolf territory but how would I wake up. If I set an alarm, he'd probably wake up and hear. But the good thing was, I knew him.

I could turn on a loud movie, fall asleep while it plays and when it stops playing I'd likely wake up to the sudden silence. That's how it was in the past. Thomas groaned when I grabbed the remote over the side of him, soon after rolling over onto his side.

I couldn't help but groan out as well but mine was from the pain in my side. Finding a 3 hour movie was the easy part. Now, all I could do was close my eyes and pray to God I'd wake up at the end of it.

It was more than three hours before I woke up. When I looked up at my side table clock, my eyes widened and I sat up too quickly. Thomas rolled to his side, still asleep. My hand went to my side, grinding my teeth together in an attempt to not make a sound. I crept out of bed once again seeing the pitch black sky outside.

I didn't bother to change clothes. It wasn't worth it. Knowing I was about to get in a fight with Shaw made me smile more. However, I grabbed a spare sweatshirt knowing the cold had begun to move in with the switch of seasons.

By the time I made it to the forest, I could feel my side bleeding slightly. But, I could also smell wolf. It was way too close to be wandering around. I knew the smell though.

The smartest move I could make was to go directly towards it right? Its smell got stronger with each step I could take. Soon, I found myself face to face with the same wolf that had bypassed me and went straight for Derek Valencia. It's front arm was severely bleeding and I could see blood coming from its side as well. The blood was strong and I didn't know how to respond to it. It was both luring me towards it but also held a stench that made me crinkle my nose.

It's chest flowed up and down slowly. It wasn't dead but would be soon. Why wouldn't the second wolf come back for it? Didn't they have any sense of family?

I leaned down, planning to pick it up before it shifted it's head up and showed teeth.

"Look," I whispered, crouching down to it's level. "I know you don't know me. I don't know you, but I know Shaw. Do you know him?"

The wolf stopped growling at me and relaxed it's jaw.

"That's what I thought. So, I'm heading to go talk to him, or more kick his ass, so unless you want to die here, I suggest you let me pick you up and take you to him."

It's head flipped back into the dirt and that was all I needed to lean forward and pick it up. Instantly my side was screaming at me to leave it and find myself some pain pills. I pushed the feelings down and began walking as fast I could with the pain and darkness preventing me from running faster.

It was strange walking into wolf territory with one in my arms. We were supposed to be enemies and here I was saving one from dying. Despite the fact that the other one was going to kill me, I still cared for some odd reason. Maybe it was the fact that Shaw had taught me so much already about them. Maybe it was me being a decent person. Whichever it was, I never played out what could happen to me by helping.

When I got to the clearing and lake, Shaw wasn't around. Slowly, I set the wolf down on the dirt and leaned over, holding my side. I lifted my sweatshirt and could see blood staining the shirt worse than before.

The wolf lifted it's head, watching me. I'd hoped it would realize I was injured too but still helping it. Maybe it could return the favor and not kill me.

Sticks started to crunch all around me. I stood up, still holding my side, looking all around for the noise or any movement. Something grasped my arm before I was slammed into the dirt. I couldn't help but scream out from the pain and surprise.

"Who are you!" The person shouted at me. They pushed my face deeper into the dirt.

"My name is Charlie. Please, stop! I saved your wolf from dying in the forest!" I shouted. It felt like my skull was going to crack under the pressure. It could, but unfortunately that wouldn't kill me.

The man continued to hold me while a couple others came from the forest in human form, running towards the injured wolf. The wolf continued to watch me and not its own people. It observed the whole scene in front of it.

"She's really hurt, Damien." One of the wolves shouted over to the man holding me.

My mind flashed back to the scene of them attacking. I could see the wolf that attacked Derek Valencia and the one that attacked me. Derek Valencia was the one who had hurt the wolf I was now helping.

I screamed out, panting more, coming back to reality. These memories kept popping in my head and felt like nails digging into me trying to force them out.

"I'll just get rid of this one and we can take her in." The wolf holding me dragged me up to standing and I couldn't help but scream. Maybe Shaw would hear me. Maybe some wolf would be kind enough to see I wasn't a threat.

I knew I couldn't depend on Shaw though. He wasn't around as much as I wished he was. Shaw had said individuals never won against wolves much less a group of them but I had no choice but to try and fight my way out.

Flipping my arm around, the wolf swung forward, releasing his grasp on my arm and looking at me in shock. His shock quickly turned to anger as I took off running in the opposite direction. Something snatched my leg causing me to tumble in the dirt. The man crawled on my back and I growled out. As I flipped him over, his arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me with him and pinning me to his chest. My throat cut out of air and I tried to pull his arm away more.

His other arm pushed against my bleeding side, knowing it was an easy target. I screamed out in pain.

Other men appeared around us, my vision began to blur. Although I knew this would never kill me, inside I was beginning to panic. If I was unconscious, they could easily kill me in seconds.

"Damien, wait man, don't kill her. We have to get approval from Ronan."

My heart started to beat more knowing his background. He was the top killer in the wolf world. Ruthless and a killing machine were the descriptions used in our books. Everything in our books said he was dead though. I knew if he came, I'd instantly regret ever making friends with a wolf. This thing wouldn't kill me, he'd drag it out and make me wish I was dead. Shaw, please come!

The wolf loosened his grip on me just enough for me to breathe but not break loose. Although I realized I was staying awake, I worried more about what would happen to me when Ronan showed up. I could only pray Shaw would be here first to put some sort of input in to help.

We stayed there for a couple minutes, myself constantly struggling until I felt it. I could feel my body beginning to calm under the touch of the wolf. It was exactly what happened when Shaw touched me.

"That's it, finally." The man whispered in my ear, knowing my body was beginning to relax and stop pulling. "Let's see who you are."

Suddenly, my brain was flashing back to multiple memories. I could see last week when Thomas and I relaxed in the grass joking about trusting each other. It flashed over to the dance seeing him deny our relationship. Finally I could see him carrying me, staring back at Davis as he yelled at me.

I gasped, screaming after as my head pounded. My arms gripped my head as the man still held me against him. What was happening to me?

"Ah, so you're dating one of them." The man whispered in my ear. Chills wrapped around me and I wanted to tear this man's head off. He was messing with me and my body didn't know how to handle it. "Let's see more!"

My brain began to flash before someone interrupted.

"Damien, what are you doing?" A voice yelled. I slowly opened my eyes up seeing Shaw standing there looking down at us.

"We caught a good one, sir." The man holding me smiled. "Check it out," his hands gripped my head and others moved forward towards me.

"Everyone stop!" His voice boomed over all of us. The wolves froze in their place. I could feel Damien's hands loosen.

"Charlie, I should have guessed." Shaw crouched down to my level, a smile on his face before he realized what was happening. "Charlie... Are you trying to get yourself killed? You know better than this."

I didn't speak, but I knew it was a smart move. The wolf would have died if I left it there. It needed me.

"Sir, you know her?" Damien asked.

"Damien, Ronan knows everything." Another man spoke.

My body froze. Ronan knows everything. Shaw knew me. Shaw is Ronan. My heart sank as I realized the most vile man in the history of wolves had just befriended me. It was probably a plan to get closer to the royals then kill me.

Damien released me and stood up, moving next to the other wolves standing around me. In the blink of an eye, I stood and ran. I knew before the attempt that I wouldn't make it far. My body gave out just 10 feet away causing me to collapse to the ground, gripping at my side.

Shaw Ronan walked slowly behind me, step in step, as I crawled forward away from him. My side bled into the dirt but at this point it was either that or die.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" Shaw spoke, almost laughing behind me.

"You're a killer. You kill people." I whispered.

"You're only making it worse for yourself. I told you before I wouldn't kill you and I stand by my word." He stepped in front of me making my crawl come to a halt. I couldn't help but let a tear fall. I couldn't trust him. I'd barely known him. My head pressed into the dirt. I was out of options. 

He crouched down, resting his hands down on his knees. Shaking his head, I could tell he was battling something inside his head.

"I was told you saved one of my people. Is that true?"

My eyes turned up to meet him. He didn't turn away, instead I could see care across his face. It seemed genuine. Slowly I nodded my head in answer.

"Let me take you to my town. I want to get that wound healed and let you meet the person you rescued."

"Your people want me dead. Why would they listen to you?" I whispered, looking around at the wolves surrounding us. Both human and wolf form stood ready to attack at his command. He followed my gaze around, smiling and looking back to me.

"Because they are my people. I'm not their alpha but I'm ranked above all of them here. They will listen to me. Right, boys?" He shouted at the end and they are grunted or responded with a yes in return.

Shaw stood up and reached his hand down to me. He waited patiently as I looked around once more and finally sat up and used his hand to fully stand up.

I could feel my body shaking under my own weight. I'd already used up my energy I had left just carrying the wolf here. Now my body was on fumes after the attack from the wolves. With one step, my legs were giving out beneath me.

Shaw didn't bother to ask or give me time. His hands reached underneath me, picking me up and carrying me forward.

"Ronan, you don't have to carry me. I'm fine." I protested.

"Don't call me that. My name is Shaw." He said sternly. "Never did I hurt you or say anything along those lines. I need you to respect that."

"Respect? You lied to me."

"I didn't lie--"

"Omission of the truth is lying, Shaw. You purposely didn't say anything."

"Because I knew you'd run. Look, all your people think I'm dead right? I want to keep it that way. I can explain it all to you but I didn't lie in saying I saw potential. I didn't lie teaching you anything about us. So please, can you try to trust me? If I wanted you dead, I'd have killed you by now and sent the message to your boyfriend."

He was right. He had every option to kill me if he really wanted to. Shaw continued to carry me further away from the palace. I knew he was going to help me but I couldn't help but panic more. Wolves were all around us the further we ventured in. I wanted to scream and run knowing at any second these things could kill me but could only hope that Shaw would keep his word.