I hold my hands up defensively to the unknown white wolf. It's clearly an intruder. I can tell by the raging fire sparked in its eyes. Its size is decently large, but I think I can take it if I can shift into wolf form. My wolf is definitely bigger than this one. I just need to stall it, so I can take a couple steps back, giving myself time to shift before it strikes me.

"Please," I tell the wolf, "don't attack." I whisper.

At the sound of my voice, it's ears perk up in a strange manner.  It freezes momentarily with confusion written all over it's face. The fire that once burned in it's brown eyes, has fizzled. The hackles on the back of its neck lower with it's bewilderment. I cock my head to the side in confusion, I have no clue what is going through its head right now, but I'm a little thankful for it.

That's when I notice a figure in the background. Near the woods, I see Rina standing there with two travel backpacks in her grasp. She's clutching them nervously and I can tell she's shaking as she stares at my confrontation with the white wolf. My eyes motion towards the woods, telling her to go on ahead. She shakes her head at me, telling me she won't. I groan. Now is not the time for her to disagree and stand there idly.

"Go now!" I whisper scream at her.  At the sound of my voice again, the white wolf seems to snap out of whatever was going on in its strange little head. Its brown eyes glare into me again. I watch Rina flee into the woods and I sigh, internally relieved. I take a small step back. The wolf growls loudly and takes a large step forward, getting way too close for comfort.

Growls erupt from behind the while wolf. My eyes flicker towards the new intruder, but to my relief, I notice the rugged, rough and dirty texture of one of my pack mates. He notices me, immediately recognizing me as Damien's mate, he stalks forward and growls at the wolf who's mere steps ahead of me. His hackles raise high, and his growl is low and deep. The white wolf, not wanting to turn its back to me, backs up and turns ninety degrees, so it can see that there is indeed another opponent stalking towards it. I can see the annoyance in it's eyes. I back up another step, causing the white wolf to turn my way and growl, with that quick distraction, my pack mate lunges forward, blood lust in its eyes. It pounces onto the white wolf and a loud screech rings through the air. The two tumble in a ball, teeth and snarls erupting from the depths of their brawl.

I take this moment to turn and flee into the woods. I need to find Rina. I head towards the direction she ran in.

I can hear the chaos erupting from the pack house behind me and I can feel my chest pounding nervously in hopes that all my squad mates will be fine in this attack. My arms pump in a rhythmic beating as I run as fast as I can through the woods.

"Rina?" I call out, hoping she'll hear me. She couldn't have gotten too far, right?

"Rina!" I scream, slowing my running to a light jog.

Where could she be?

My steps slow to a halt. As I stand there, my short yellow dress blows in the light breeze that's circling through the woods. The sun is going down, and I know I need to find Rina before all daylight has disappeared. I call out her name a few more times, but I am once again unsuccessful. I growl and slam my fist against a nearby tree.

Dammit. We should have come up with a meeting spot. Now it's going to take a while to find her. And it's not like shifting and howling out to her will help considering all the wolf noises going on in the area. She'll never hear me.

A loud and startling growl errupts from near me. I jump backwards and glance towards the noise. To my surprise, I not only find one strange wolf before me, but two new wolves. My heart lunges in my chest. Thankfully they are a good distance away. I turn and run, full fledged deeper into the woods. My already exhausted muscles push themselves to the limit. I'm about to lunge forward and shift when suddely I'm tackled to the ground by one of the wolves.

I land on my back, scraping against the hard surface of the forest floor. I scream, from shock and pain as I feel the scratches from some unsuspected sharp rocks that line the dirt on the floor. I glance up at the grey wolf that has me pinned to the ground. It growls, staring me right in the eye.

My eyes squint at it fiercely. I feel my wolf surfacing in rage.

This can not be the end.

My fingers start a slow shift to nails and I swipe my hand up, bashing the wolf in the face. It growls, but loses it's balance. I'm able to kick it off of me and roll to the side. I stand in enough time for the other wolf to approach behind me. The one I bashed in the face quickly recovers, and now I'm  suddenly being circled by two large wolves. I pant heavily. For some reason I'm far more tired than normal. I try to keep both wolves in my vision, so I'm constantly moving. Trying not to give one wolf my back for too long.

My breathing is rough.

Then I notice one of the two wolves move a bit, catching my eyes. It's about to strike. I face it quickly, anticipating its attack. As it squares up I feel my muscles tense.

A loud booming growls echoes around the three of us, shaking my bones. The wolf that was about to lunge at me freezes in place. It's muscles, shaking, collapses to the ground in submission. A moment later, my eyes sense something in the corner of my peripherals. I glance towards the dark figure. My eyes widen in disbelief.

There's no way in hell.

"Greyson?" My words slip from my mouth in disbelief. 

Green eyes meet my shocked brown ones. He stands up tall in his dark brown wolf. He strides over towards me. As he does, the two grey wolves stand. They glace between Greyson and I and suddenly their eyes widen in shock. They turn towards me and bow slightly. My face squishes up in confusion. What the actual hell is going on here?

I turn towards Greyson and voice my concerns, "What is going on?"

He gets up to me, and nuzzles his giant wolf head into my stomach. I embrace him willingly, since the other wolves no longer seem to be a threat... I think? I'm not really sure. I stroke his fur and he looks up at me. His eyes tell me I'm safe.

Still confused, I decide to believe him. My muscles relax finally, and I can feel my legs shake a bit. Greyson quickly notices and turns himself to the side, and lowers his body a smidgen. I realize he's telling me to get on his back.

"Seriously?" I comment, raising an eyebrow. "I can walk myself, thanks."

He groans under his breath. Clearly he's annoyed with my resistance. So for once, I submit to what he wants.

"Fine, I'll get on." I throw a leg over his back and grab onto the scruff of his fur for balance. Then I remember why I am out here in the woods in the first place. "Wait, Greyson, we need to find Rina. She's out here somewhere." I tell him, my voice going into panic mode.

If I was attacked by these two wolves, Rina must have been found too.

Greyson turns his head up to look at me. In his eyes I notice no sense of urgency. And it's as if I can understand what he's trying to communicate with me.

"Is she safe?" I ask him.

He nods his head and I let out a deep, relieved breath, that I didn't realize I was holding in. She's safe. I'm safe. This is perfect.

"Can you take me to her?" I ask him.

Another nod of his head follows my words. His giant dark brown wolf head looks over at the other two grey wolves, who happen to still be watching us. Greyson barks out a few wolffish commands, and the wolves nod, soon they run off, towards my pack house. Then Greyson starts his trek in the opposite direction that those two wolves went.

I wonder who they are? Did Greyson make some friends since being kicked out of the pack? I wonder where Leo is. Is he okay? I wonder if the squad members are doing okay as well?

So many questions and so little answers.

My muscles relax as Greyson walks us through the woods. I lean down and nuzzle into his dark fur. It's soft and feeling the warmth of his body seeping through the fur is so comforting. He makes me feel safe. And I'm so glad he is safe. I was so worried about him. I was worried about him being all alone, but now he has me. And he knows where Rina is, so that means I will be able to see her soon too. It's all looking up for us.

My eyes close.

I listen to the rhythmic beat of Greyson's paws pounding against the dirt floor. Every so often he steps onto a small branch, snapping it, but it's soothing in its own way. My mind runs blank, and soon I'm whisked off into he darkness of slumber.

——————————————————

Arms cradle my body. Warmth seeps through the left side of me. I nuzzle into the strong chest on my left. Sturdy arms hold me closer to the warmth and comfort. My eyes, too heavy to open, remain closed. My fingers reach out and touch the skin to my left. It's warm and oh so soothing.

A moment later, I'm gently placed onto something soft and a little cool. The warmth of the body leaves me, and I pout a bit, but soon find comfort in the object I was placed on. I find myself nuzzling into the soft silky textures surrounding me, as if I'm engulfed in a cloud.

Soon the darkness takes over again.

—————————————————-

"Arlina," An angelic voice scolds from across the dinner table, "What did I tell you about sneaking dessert before dinner!"

I give a sheepish smile as I try to hide the chocolate chip cookie under the table so it goes unseen, "what dessert?" I ask.

The woman across from me sighs and shakes her head. "You really are unbelievable, you know that right?" I don't respond. "Go put the cookie away, you can have it after you finish your meal."

"But... but..."  I mumble, just then a kid starts crying from another room. The woman across from me stands up.

"Now your sister is crying... Arlina, go put the cookie away or I will tell your father and brother to not allow you to go train with them. Do you want to be grounded?"

"No!"

"Then go put it away," she snaps, leaving the room.

I pout, and angrily grumble words to myself. I stand from my chair and walk over to the cookie jar that's high up on the counter. I have to step up on a stool in order to reach it. I open the top of the jar, but before I place the cookie back in, I greedily steal a bite. As my teeth sink into the cookie, a door opens and in walks a man and a boy.

I hear a deep laugh, "Arlina, are you allowed to be eating a cookie before dinner?" The man asks.

With my mouth full I answer, "no..."

He laughs again, "Well quickly hurry that bite before your mother sees-"

"Before I see what?" The beautiful woman returns with a young girl in her arms. The little girl is a very dirty blonde, with blood shot eyes. She's the one who was crying. The woman looks over at me and frowns, "Arlina, what did I say?"

"You said to put the cookie away, so I was about too..."

The man laughs, "Did you hear that? She was following the rules," his hand shoots out and he ruffles my hair. I giggle and nuzzle into his giant hand.

The woman rolls her eyes, "you let them get away with too much."

"I just want them to be happy," He says, "now put that cookie down, we have your mother's delicious homemade dinner to enjoy."

I giggle, "yes Daddy,"

My eyes shoot open. My head is pounding, with a slight headache. I groan and reach my right hand to my forehead. It's warm.

What a strange dream.

My eyes connect with an unfamiliar ceiling. I use my left hand and place it down below me to help hoist myself up. That's when I realize I'm on a bed, a very soft and unfamiliar bed. I look down, I'm underneath a comforter, one that I've never seen before. But I don't feel too worried, because there's a familiar smell floating all around me. One that I associate with comfort and safety, the smell of Greyson.

I look around for him, but I'm most obviously alone in this room. It's a large room. There is some light seeping in from behind the blinds covering the windows. The room seems to have a colored theme of blues and browns. I scratch my head and continue examining the room.

It's clean, but looks like it's been lived in for a long while. On the walls there are posters of bands. On the dressers there are photos with real people in them. I can even see some trophies on the bureau. But why would a place like this have Greyson's scent all over it. It's not like his scent is just lingering, it's imbedded in the room around me. That's something that can only happen with time.

"Do you think she's awake yet?" A deep voice asks from outside the room.

"I don't know... Greyson told us not to disturb her but I really want to meet her..." A gentle, feminine voice replies.

"Maybe we should just come back another time." The deep voice adds.

"Well... I feel like me peeking in won't hurt..." The woman whispers.

Peek in? Are they talking about me? They mentioned Greyson's name, so they know him... But I'm so confused.

A second later I hear the doorknob turn, followed by a head that pops in. It's a woman, her hair pulled up into a loose bun with random wisps of hair falling down and framing her face. Her eyes look over towards the bed, where she finds me.

"Oh my!" She remarks, "Hello there." She says as we make eye contact.

"Hello..." I answer, rather timidly. What the heck is going on? Should I be concerned about these people.

"Would you um... would you mind if we came in and met you?" The woman asks.

Let them come in and meet me? Why do they want to meet me? And how do they know Greyson. These people are older, definitely around the age my Mom was. I feel that maybe I should be concerned, and a little apprehensive about this situation, but these people seem... nice? Since they seem to know Greyson, maybe I should at least try to get along with them.

So I answer the best way I think I can, "Sure. Come on in."