"Twelve," Jody snapped. I stood there silently. I had removed my shoulder sling, imagining that Jody wouldn't let me work with it. She would probably have burned it. I had also overslept. The pills had done their magic a little too well. "Twelve minutes late!" she yelled and snapped a finger in front of my face.

She had been heating a knife for twelve minutes. The blade was bright orange. She pulled my sleeve up as high as it would go and yanked my hand so it was gripping the fridge handle. She smiled cruelly. "If you move your hand an inch, I will cut it off. You can't get that much more incompetent. A stripe for each minute you wasted my time."

Panic coursed through me. I wasn't sure if she was exaggerating for effect or had actually turned into a psychopath. As the days to the Hunt would down, my life became increasingly worthless in the eyes of the pack.

Be with the trees. Be with the—

The pain hit me first. Then, the scent and then the sound. She burned for a few seconds then moved up my arm and burned another line. Every instinct in my body was telling me to pull away, but I had to stay still. Almost a minute later, she yanked my sleeve back down and huffed. "Go."

I slowly extirpated myself from the fridge, noting that I should clean my fingerprints off the shiny metal after my shift before Jody saw it. She loved her fridge. I quickly walked out.

The room was quiet. The trees seemed to be holding their breath in silence. Soft light was just beginning to filter through the windows, rivaling the soft yellow of the artificial lamps on the wall.

My body ached. At least it was going to be a beautiful sunrise.

I spent a few hours preparing the line and getting ready for the first shift. I was restocking teh napkins when a voice made me jump.

"Excuse me?" I forced myself to relax. It had to be an omega. They were the only polite ones. "Is breakfast open now?" I turned and met his eyes, frantically hoping my own were not red rimmed from tears, pain, or exhaustion. I don't think I could handle any more punishment.

He was not from our pack.

Cedar.

I quickly readjusted my posture and nodded quickly. His entire presence radiated with power and dignity. He was wearing slacks and a button-down shirt, but he may as well have been in tuxedo.

I gestured to the food, hand shaking. If my pack was vicious, how vicious would this guy be? This must be the Cedar beta. He nodded once and began to serve himself. He picked a fork out of the bin and glanced over at me curiously.

"Where is the rest of the pack?" His eyes were coolly curious. They were a bright green that reminded me of summer foliage. Don't be fooled. His pack was ruthless. If Jody would cut off your hand, he would cut off your head. 

I froze, scrambling to remember what question he had asked me. 

"Your pack must have a different schedule. By sunrise our pack would have been all halfway through the meal. I arrived late to ensure your alpha would be here." I nodded. Was he going to punish me because the alpha wasn't here yet? "Beautiful view," he commented and glanced at me again. I was uncomfortable with how confidently his eyes roved over my body. It wasn't a romantic interest, nor was it a medical one. It was just curious. It was terrifying. "What happened to your wrist?" he asked.

Ice cold panic flooded my veins, and I quickly tugged my sleeve the rest of the way down. His eyebrows raised intriguingly. It was a curiosity that could eat me alive. I waited, but no anger followed. My chest began to tighten in panic.

"You don't speak much, do you?" he noted.

"Well," Charlotte said, rounding the corner. "She's a non-shifter. So, our alpha, in his wisdom, commanded her to silence for a year, hoping it might bring her out of the shell. Turns out, she's just a dud. The Hunt is tomorrow." She grabbed a plate and quickly tossed me a wicked smile. I took a deep breath to calm down. She was wicked, but at least I knew she was dangerous. This beta? I had no idea what he was capable of. 

The beta rocked back on his heels, glancing at me again. "The Hunt? That was outlawed years ago." Charlotte smirked and shook her head.

"Not in these parts," she said. "Let me introduce myself. Charlotte, future Luna of Redwood." The beta gingerly took her hand, amused by the number of rings. "We look forward to having your females potentially mate with our pack."

"Females?" he asked in a controlled confusion. "You will meet with our whole pack. We are here to discuss the border issues. My alpha sent me ahead to ensure our information on your pack was accurate. Meeting potential mates is an...auxiliary agenda item. A potential one."

Her eyes widened and she quickly tried to recover, turning to scoop granola on her plate. He caught her off guard. My chest began to loosen. An enemy of my enemy... Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.

The beta nodded at me once more, and the two of the spun off with their food. The two of them sat down at one of the tables, Charlotte trying to win him over. Chelsea came in soon thereafter. She glared at me as she piled food on her plate. Eggs. My body ached too much to care. I was supposed to take some medicine this morning, but I had forgotten in the rush to get to work. Besides, I had this afternoon off. That would be my chance to shift. I was going to shift. Then I would heal, and everything would be normal. I just needed some time to myself. I was going to shift.

Everyone filtered in as normal. Alpha Maximus came in, got his food, and left without incident. I could have cried in relief.

After breakfast, I began wiping down tables. Chelsea, Alpha Maximus, Charlotte, and the beta were still talking.

"You must have an impressive food surplus," the beta mused as I neared. He was staring out the window at the sun perched between the peaks. I'm glad he noticed it, too. I glanced out at freedom.

"Well, yesterday, there was an unfortunately shortage," alpha said confidently. He was intentionally deepening his voice. If my heart wasn't pounding in fear, I would have been amused by his insecurity. The beta was incredibly handsome and had no shortage of confidence. Could Alpha Maximus really be that intimidated?

"Well, it everyone piles their plates full of food they are not eating, you must have a surplus. You are literally throwing it away," he said and stared at Chelsea. I smiled with my back to their table.

At that, the alpha stood up to leave. "Alpha Maximus, I would like to tour the grounds," the beta said.

"Of course. Charlotte, would you please—"

"No," the beta said. "I would like her to show me." My smile vanished as I ignored the finger that I knew was pointing at me. Be with the trees. My heart began to pound out of my chest in anxiety.

The alpha sputtered. "Her? She is hardly worthy company."

"For unworthy company, you speak of her often. Which confuses me because you have banned her from speaking for a year," he said. I stood up and walked to another table. "Are you deaf as well?" he called. I took a deep breath and turned. I looked deferentially at the alpha.

He sighed and nodded. "The three of us," he said. The beta looked at him suspiciously, not expecting him to volunteer his own time. The alpha feigned offense. "Surely you wouldn't say no to me, would you?"

"Of course not. And surely you wouldn't mind letting her have a day of speech before the Hunt?"

Alpha Maximus was gritting his teeth. This meeting was not going well, and for some reason, I was getting caught in the middle of it.

"Of course," he finally said. He turned to me, and I instinctively flinched. He chuckled dismissively. "Jumpy today, aren't you? You may speak one day early," he said graciously, sweeping his hands in a grandiose manner.

I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say, if I even had the voice to do so.

The beta reached out his hand. "My name is Beta Eric. It is a pleasure to meet you. It seems unfortunate that you have found yourself in such an inept pack." I swallowed.

The alpha spluttered. "Inept? How dare you—?"

"You should at least know what I am telling my alpha. The truth will always out." He looked at me when he spoke. Alpha Maximus scoffed and turned. I realized the beta's hand was still out. I offered my hand and winced at his grip. He trapped my hand in his as he gently lifted my sleeve with his free hand, exposing three of my burns. I jerked my hand back, breath catching in the back of my throat. I glanced around nervously. No one else had seen. He looked at me and nodded. "Let me see the rest of camp. I have not yet been able to explore."

"Of course," the alpha said and began to walk. Charlotte followed him and the beta gestured for me to go next. I nodded quickly and jogged after him. The beta took up the rear.

+++++++

"Yes, alpha. I fear the reports are accurate. They are accurate if not a little too lenient. This alpha is a serious risk to our pact. They are archaic. He had continuously mismanaged his finances and resources; his fighters are a mess. She-wolves are discouraged from participating in pack life and abuse is... well, it's bad."

A deep voice returned. "Do you have proof? If we are taking this to the Wereking, we will need more than your word."

"That will be easy enough. Do you remember the Hunt?"

The voice scoffed. "The Hunt? For non-shifters?"

"Mhm."

"That's been illegal for several decades now."

"Well, they are having one tomorrow. The poor girl hasn't been allowed to speak for a year. I know of some of the physical abuse, but I am convinced there is more."

The man on the phone growled. "I will be there in twelve hours. Don't let them start the Hunt without me. This may save us a trip."

+++++++

"You haven't spoken yet," the beta mused. I stood still, refusing to meet his eyes. The alpha was attempting to show off some of his fighting skills on the field. We had explored the entire camp and stopped here. I had never seen the fighters' training before. It gave me a headache, which compounded with the ache in my shoulder, so I gave up trying. They moved too fast. The ground was nice enough to look at.

In reality, I was doing everything I could to stave off a panic attack.

He gripped his lips together. "Your pack is really pathetic," he chuckled. I glanced up at him in shock. I relaxed a bit when I realized he was talking about the fighters. "You may not be able to tell, but they are horribly uncoordinated. Three of my members could take down twenty of them." I looked at him skeptically. He laughed and glanced out at the field. Suddenly, he turned to look at me. "How did you get those burns?" he asked seriously. His eyes seemed to dig into my soul.

I froze, trying not to look in the alpha's direction. For all I knew, this beta would out me as a snitch.

"Are they self-inflicted?" he asked.

The ridiculousness of his questions made me look at him in surprise. I shook my head sharply.

"It was only a question," he said plainly. "Who did this to you?"

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet and stared down. Even if I told him that it was Jody, he would have no idea who that was. Maybe he would think it was justified. Maybe he was just testing my loyalty.

Thankfully, he didn't press the matter. He just sighed and turned to the training field. "Alpha Maximus?" Beta Eric called.

"Yes?" Alpha Maximus returned, clearly out of breath. His eyes were alight, as if anticipating this beta to compliment him.

"Who is your beta?" he asked. Alpha Maximus paused and glanced around. His warrior likewise looked around, as if waiting to see if someone would volunteer.

"Uhh. We are between betas at the moment."

Beta Eric lifted his eyebrows. "Why?"

"Well—"

"If you were to die today, what happens to your people?" he asked sharply. He leaned forward, armed crossed across his chest, emanating disapproval that made even the alpha break eye contact.

After a few seconds, the alpha shrugged. Sweat trickled down his face. He really is incompetent, I realized.

The beta glanced around at the fighters. I snuck glances at them. Despite the alpha's incompetence, they still looked coordinated and terrifying. "That will be all for today," the beta announced. Alpha Maximus didn't even try to assert his authority.

Fear pounded through me. Tomorrow was the day. I had to shift today. We had been out for a long time. It was almost dark. I had permission, but I had still not uttered a word.

Everyone was dismissed and left, except the alpha. He walked up to me. The beta had stepped away to talk to a few of the pack members. "Tomorrow is the day," the alpha said. I nodded. "I gave you permission to talk," he said, reaching out and grabbing my arm. I tensed, panic sweeping up to my eyes, but his touch was gentle. "Trust the process."

I nodded again at his cryptic words. Why could he not just speak plainly?

"Get to bed. You will need all the strength you can get tomorrow," he said. I nodded.