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Levi

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She was fast.

She was fast on her paws, so damn fast sometimes I forgot that she just turned.

She was a damned pain in my ass, but I couldn't help but grow more fond of her. My wolf cared for her like she was one of ours, one of our pups. The thought in itself both made my heart feel things it hadn't felt in years while also shooting tendrils of anger through me. We had pups, we used to have pups, and now they are gone because we were not there to save them.

I don't think I will ever be able to forgive myself for letting Eve go that day. I should have gone with her. Even if I couldn't save them, at least I would have died with them. I wanted to die.

I still wanted to die; less than I did before, Charlie was a lot to blame for that, but the longing to walk to the moon with my family was still there.

My beast wouldn't let me though. Damn asshole.

No matter how much I tried to let the craze that comes with loosing a mate set in, he would fight it off. It was like he was waiting for something. He still felt so strongly towards the pack we left, and now with Charlie girl here I knew he would never let me leave her.

But I didn't really want to leave her.

When Lander suggested that she travel to a pack, join one, when she was ready, I thought I was going to lose my shit. I wanted to bash his brains in right there. He's lucky he's my brother and can hold his own against me; Lander was always good about being able to hold his own with his words and teeth, he was a great beta.

It's not that I disagreed with him. I knew she would have to eventually. The longing for one would drive her wolf crazy eventually. That and her wolf would start to eventually push her to find their mate, whether Charlie wanted to or not.

But she was filling a void that I never thought would be filled; breathing the air of life back into my soul and reminding me why I had to keep living.

I would never admit it to her, not now anyways, but that little shit saved me.

There was no denying the bond that was there between us. I accepted it the moment she started to shift. It was like watching my pups shift all over again. I knew she was in pain yet inside I felt so much agony; I couldn't help her, I just had to watch her suffer. It was damn terrible, feeling that helpless.

Yet now she's a damn alpha female and a damn strong one too. Stronger than a lot of females born with alpha blood running through their veins.

It worried me.

It worried me because I knew the trouble it could cause her; the challenges and provoking she would face. The thought of anyone trying to harm her made my beast snarl in my mind, he wanted to tear their throats out for such an act.

I had faith in her, though. Every day she got so much stronger, her beast got stronger, and their bond became more and more like iron. She would be one hell of a female by the time I was done with her.

She was shifting through the tree, effortlessly. It was like watching a dancer. I couldn't help but let a small smile of pride tug at my lips. She had come so far.

I picked up a long green robe as she approached and handed it to her. She was breathing hard. I had worked her hard this morning.

"Good job girly, those shifts looked a lot better today."

She smiled a bit and wiped away tiny beads of sweat off her forehead. "It feels so natural. I was so much less exhausting this time."

I smirked as she mused to herself. Dammit, she was a strong female. Strong females only meant strong males coming after them. I sighed at the thought and picked up the cooler. I would hate to have to hand her mate's ass to him in front of her, although at this point I don't think she would mind.

Any mention of the word 'mate' around her made her eyes light up with fear. She tried to hide it, but she did not hide it well. I couldn't blame her. After everything she had been through, I wondered if she would ever truly to be able to accept a mate.

We walked back to the cottage where Derek and Elliot had made sandwiches for lunch. They reeked of sex. Pheromones were flying in the air like they had gone around with a damn Febreeze can and sprayed it everywhere.

I let a low long growl of disapproval out as Charlie scrunched her nose and coughed.

"Can we open some windows?" Derek chuckled at her and nodded as Elliot zipped to raising some of the windows in our little cabin.

I set the cooler down and grabbed a few sandwiches as she made her way back to her room. The pheromones were starting to filter out of the air, but that didn't stop the desire to vomit at the sight of the vampire love fest happening in my kitchen.

"Will you two either take it in a room or stop? Scratch that, take it like a mile from here so this place won't reek of your dicks anymore than it already does."

Elliot chuckled while Derek's face flushed. He always got worked up so easily.

Elliot shrugged before coming to sit across from me. "Sorry Levi, but you know that they say, absence makes your dick grow harder."

I growled again and raised my newspaper to block out his smug face. Charlie padded out of her room in clean sweats and a tank top then grabbed a few sandwiches for herself before sitting next to Elliot.

She scarfed all three of them down in a matter of minutes. She was hungry. Her beast was hungry. It only meant that they were growing. Good. She needs to grow and be able to handle herself.

"Hungry Char?" Elliot teased.

"Mhmm," she mumbled with a full mouth. She swallowed and washed the sandwich down with some water.

"How was your run?" Derek asked as he plopped down next to me.

"Good," she sighed out. "It's nice out in the mornings now."

"Summer's almost here," I mused. "It won't be for long, though."

She cocked her head a bit at me, curious. I completely forgot that she had spent most of her life in the city, and wasn't savvy to wilderness knowledge. Sometimes she seemed to in tune with the forest that it would blindside me when she asked questions like this.

"Well," I started. "Here in Alaska, winter is long and summer is real short. It will stay nice until about September, then we will bunker down for a long winter until the snow melts off around April."

"Good thing I've been chopping so much wood," she added.

I laughed to my self a bit and lowered my paper so I could look directly at her. "Well, there's a hell of a lot more to chop."

She rolled her eyes, a habit that I had started to rub off on her, and went back to picking at the plate of cracked black pepper potato chips on her plate. It was always like this with her. She was either deep in thought or I couldn't get her to shut her damn mouth, but it did make my wolf happy to see that she was so eager to learn more about our world.

I smelled him before he even got to the front steps. I quickly rose and shot Charlie a look that said to 'stay put,' although in the back of my mind I doubted she actually would. She challenged me all the time. Part of it wasn't necessarily her fault and my beast knew that. Her beast was an alpha female and inclined to behave in such a way; I'm going to have to put that female on her ass again soon before she picks up habits that could get her killed.

"Lander," I greeted.

He smiled at me then looked around me to where Charlie was poking her head out. "Morning brother, morning Charlotte."

"Ya hungry?"

He nodded followed me back into the house and helped himself to two of the sandwiches Derek had made. He was a good man, my brother. Better man than me. But I could tell the toll the pack was taking on him was hard, draining him. He was meant to be my beta, not an alpha, and it was starting to show.

"Thank you," he said to Derek as he took a seat next to me. My right as he always would be.

"So," he said between bites, "the good news is that shirt of Charlotte's didn't turn up anything."

She wasn't good at hiding her emotions. The relief painted on her face was evident as I am sure mine was. She wasn't ready for that, for a mate. That girl had been through so much that I feared if her mate were to show up now that the relationship's bond would suffer. She would fight it, hard, and when she did accept the poor asshole it would probably be a weak union from the drain her fighting created.

She wasn't ready for it, but neither was I. I wasn't ready to let her go just yet.

"But?" Elliot prodded.

Lander sighed and wiped his mouth a bit before looking over to me. "No one felt anything but Claire and the kids felt something. It had the most impact on Liam."

"What do you think about that?" Elliot mused. I could mean a lot of things, but right now all it did was make Charlie a bigger and bigger enigma in our lives.

"Well," Lander started as he took another bite. He swallowed it down and sat back on his chair as he chewed on his words. He was an artist when it came to talking, always choosing the right words to convey his message. "I think it's like your's Levi, maybe familial. With Liam, I don't know. Could be because he's older, or because there is a potential bond. I'm curious to find out when he comes by later."

"Potential bond?" Charlie's voice was trying to sound impassive but I could detect a slight bit of fear in it.

"Finding your true mate is hard Char, sometimes it takes a long time to do, and sometimes not. It just depends." Derek was always gentle with her. He and I were ying and yang, together working perfectly to care for her.

"Remember what I told you, girl? About going without a mate?" I asked her.

She nodded. It was a conversation I doubt she would ever forget. "The longer you go the more restless your beast becomes. You may be the master of that beast, but make no mistake that there is a beast that lives inside of you. Our mates our half of our soul, and help to keep our beast's tame. The longer a mature wolf goes without one, the more he starts to become like his beast because he doesn't have a mate to complete his soul and fill the void that would calm the wolf."

She looked at Lander who was watching her curiously. Lander had many thoughts about Charlie, many which pissed me off. His theories about where she fit in made my wolf want to tear his arm off, mostly because deep down I knew they were probably true and that pissed me the hell off.

I sighed again. Sometimes I forgot that talking to her about these things was like trying to explain them to a child. It was odd. I never had to explain everything to a human before, the humans that shifted before when I was around all died.

"So everyone has a true mate, the one whose soul sings to their's. However, there are things like potential bonds."

"Which are?"

"Which is a wolf that yours could be compatible with," Lander added. "The bond and desire is not as strong as it would be with your true mate, but it would be compatible enough to work. If wolves who had potential bonds decided to mate and both accepted the bond, the mark would not fester on their neck, but it wouldn't be as strong as one from a true mate."

"So you could break it?" She asked.

Lander nodded a bit. "Sort of. You can't really break is so much as it will eventually fade. For example, let's say you and I had a potential bond and decided to mark each other. The mark wouldn't fester, because there is a potential bond there, but if we were apart for too long or started to reject the bond, then it would fade away."

She leaned back and chewed on her chip while she let Lander's words set in. "So what about your true mate?"

"That's forever girl, you ain't getting rid of that. Only if they die." After I said it I felt a pang in my chest and a pang where my mark used to be. It had faded long ago but the feeling was sometimes still there, like a ghost.

"A lot of wolves mate with other's they have a potential bond with if they haven't found their true mate."

She nodded to lander then ate another chip. "So what do they do if they mate then one of them finds their true mate?"

Lander sighed and shrugged. "I haven't seen it happen but I would assume that it would be hard. We have some mated couples in our pack that are not true mates. They have been together for a long time now and are just as happy as the ones with their true mate. I could imagine that separating them now would devastate them."

"Note to self then..."

I laughed at Charlie. "Don't worry Charlie girl, I feel like any man who tried to claim you now would probably be shredded to pieces."

She looked at me with a devious smile as her blue-grey eyes started to glow. I let out a hot breath and went back to my sandwich. Her wolf was damn strong. Poor bastard that had to mate with her, she'll have him on his ass before he knows what's happening.

Lander quickly snapped his eyes to the door before looking back at me. "Liam's here."

He smelled just like Lander but more youthful, a male wolf still coming into himself. He was a good kid. Pain in the ass at times and a little cocky, but like Lander he had a good heart.

"Stay there Charlie."

She nodded as I walked out the front door with Lander in tow. Liam was waiting at the steps. He knew better than to walk into my house without permission.

"Liam," I greeted as I walked down the steps to meet him.

He looked up with silver-blue eyes like the rest of ours. A family trait. He looked so much like Lander when he was younger. He was a little lanky, although he was starting to build up as Lander did at his age. He had a long way to go.

He smiled at me then looked over at his father for a fleeting second. "Uncle, it's been a while."

I had seen Liam and his siblings every now and then. Claire, their mother and Lander's mate, would send them out to me to check on me. Mostly because she knew if I was in a mood, that I would tear Lander's head off. I wouldn't dare hurt the kids, though, their blood was my blood.

"See you still haven't filled out as much since I saw you last, but your dad says that you've been training well recently?"

He puffed up a little. Proud. I needed to knock that down a couple of notches. He had to humble himself and understand where his place was. He may be next in line to be alpha, but he was not the true alpha yet.

"Liam, have you eaten?" Lander called out while walking down the steps to meet us.

"Yes, we had leftovers. Mom says hello by the way, uncle."

I nodded and looked over to Lander who was grinning at me with a sly smile. We had our own internal bet going on; Charlotte against Liam. Lander was convinced that Liam would have her on her ass, and he very well may. But after I am done with her that girl will be able to rip his balls off before he can blink.

"Listen, Liam, you're going to start coming out here to train with me and Charlotte. I know your father's told you about her. She needs to get used to other wolves and train herself, and we need to fill you out a bit. You're about the same age I was when my father started grooming me, it's time."

"Sounds good to me," he replied with a hint of excitement. I could see the fire and admiration in his eyes. If he was going to run our pack then he was going to get trained the way my father trained me, he was going to get his ass beat a few times. Well, maybe more than a few.

"Liam, Charlotte has only been around Levi and me. Be careful with her, she doesn't understand all our ways yet, but we are thinking you can help her learn. You're close to her age so it would probably be nice for her to have a friend around her age." Lander was always thinking of others and their wellbeing.

Liam nodded again and took a step towards the front door before I caught his shoulder and pushed him right back in front of me with a low growl. My wolf was protective of Charlotte, of our surrogate pup. He wasn't about to enter a place where she was at without our permission. "Liam, now you listen and listen good. You're dad told me about her shirt. We all don't know what it is or why we feel what we feel, but he thinks you may have a potential bond with her."

Liam looked over at his father then back at me carefully. "I can't be sure until I get a better sense of her, but it did feel like that a little."

I clenched my jaw a bit and tightened my hand on his shoulder. I could see his wolf wanting to come out but he knew better than to do that with me. "If that is the case boy, then you listen good, because if you go near her neck I will have yours. She is not your true mate, and you are not hers. She's not ready for any of that yet. Tread carefully because my face will be the last you see when I snap your neck if you overstep."

Liam gulped a bit and took a tiny step back. I nodded at him and cast a side glance to Lander who seemed to be having some sort of internal conversation with his son.

"Charlotte, go change then come out here."

I heard her leave the table and start to walk towards her room. Her wolf, even when it challenged me, was still obedient to its alpha. I chuckled to myself. I will never forget how her face looked when I told her what her wolf had done that first run.

"Liam go run some laps and warm up while we wait for Charlotte," Lander said firmly. Liam looked like he was chewing on something, pissed. He needed to go cool off before he came near Charlie.

"Do you have any chalk powder?" Lander asked as he sighed out.

I nodded and went around to a shed I had built on the back of the cabin to get a small tin of it. Together we marked up a big circle, like our father used to with us, in the middle of the lawn. The grass was soft and cut nicely; Charlie's handiwork. Although she was pissed that I made her mow after having her chop wood until it looked like her arms were going to fall off.

"Wanna chair?" I asked Lander.

He was staring deep into the forest, probably still trying to cool Liam off. "Sure."

Derek had a cooler full of beer and soda already made and Elliot was holding a few lawn chairs. The red head smiled at me slyly. "I wouldn't miss this even if you tried to pay me."

Derek chuckled then followed us out back to where Lander was. Lander smiled at them and gave them both a firm handshake.

"Levi says you two have a bet going?" Elliot asked playfully.

Lander chuckled and nodded. "Levi thinks she'll have my son on his ass."

"You don't agree?" Derek said while settling into a lawn chair.

Lander almost scoffed but knew not to around me. "I don't doubt she is strong, but today my son will have her on her ass."

"Let's make a better bet," Elliot mused.

I settled down and looked back at him curiously. He was a creative  little red-headed shit, but he was a good man and he was good to Derek.

"Whatcha thinking red?" I asked. It was a nickname he hated.

He rolled his eyes at me as Derek handed him a large cold thermos with a straw. Probably full of blood. "First off the winner today gets to bag the first bear of the bear hunt."

I mused a bit. I did like that bet. "I can agree to that, Lander?"

"Agreed," he said without taking his eyes away from Elliot. "What's the second half."

"If she wins today then Levi has to consider taking his position as alpha back."

I growled low and bitter. My beast liked the bet. He wanted our pup to win because she was ours, he wanted our pack. But I wasn't sure yet. I had been gone for so long and was fifty shades of screwed up. I wasn't a leader they needed. That and every bit of that pack reminded me of them, of the ones I lost. The pain itself was excruciating to be around.

I felt a hand on my forearm. "Calm down brother."

I closed my eyes and pushed my beast back.

Elliot scooted forward in his seat and looked at me. "You're the one coaching Charlie. You see the dilemma there. That and, well Levi she is a female after all, and Liam is the next in line alpha."

"You're saying she won't win?" I snarled out.

"I'm saying you've been out here for too long and she, well you cannot keep her with you here forever."

"Brother, you don't have to."

"Fine," I said quickly before my better judgment could stop me.

I felt Lander still next to me. "What?"

"I won't say it again."

I had no idea why I agreed. Maybe it was because I wanted to make sure everyone knew what Charlie was capable of. Maybe it was because deep inside I longed for my pack and knew I needed a kick in the ass to go back.

But there was no going back from this bet, not now.

Charlie walked out and broke through the tension that had been created by my silence. She was wearing some yoga pants, tennis shoes, and a baggy t-shirt that Derek had got her. She walked with pride. She was starting to look more and more like the female we knew she could be.

I stood and walked over to her. "Ok girl, so here's what we're going to do. We gotta see where you're at. So we are going to have you spar with Liam first. Stay in the chalk borders."

She let out a shaky sigh. Her insecurities were still there. They were deep rooted and I knew they would take some time to disappear. "Walk with me girl."

We walked into the woods together. She was nervous and my beast didn't like it. He knew she was strong and didn't want her to doubt herself.

"A long time ago, my father trained me and Lander the same way."

"Really?"

"Mhmm," I murmured as we passed by rabbits and squirrels that had my wolf licking its lips. I needed to take him hunting soon. "You know what he told us about fighting?"

She turned and shook her head. I sighed a bit. It was one of the best and worst things my father ever told me. I leaned against a tree and kicked some acorns around while she leaned against an opposite tree.

"He told me that one day, I was going to have to fight a wolf that was bigger and stronger than me. I was going to have to fight a monster. A challenger, a challenging pack, or a group of rogues. It wasn't an if, It was a when. It would happen, and it has happened time and time again.

"He said when that happens, you do what your wolf will press you to do. You go for the alpha of the group, the strongest, and you tear them apart as brutally as you can. Make a show of them. Recede and let your wolf attack them with every animalistic fiber of its being. Do you understand what I'm saying, girl?"

"You want me to tear Liam to shreds?" She asked slightly horrified.

I chuckled and shook my head. "No girl, you can't kill Liam. Sometimes girl, in order to prove yourself, you gotta make a show to others. You don't just beat them, you beat their ass so hard that they can't walk for days."

She chewed on my words and looked back at me with eyes filled with mild confliction. "I should make a show of him?"

"Liam is a young alpha blood wolf, next in line to take over the pack. Girl, like any male wolf his age with alpha blood running through him, his arrogance is bigger than his balls. He needs to learn to humble himself. He pretty much has it in his mind that he will have you easily on your ass today, and he very well may. He's been training with his dad sine he could walk. He's a strong pup, good heart, and solid mind like Lander."

I looked over at her. Her brows were furrowed and her eyes were starting to fill with determination. Her wolf did not like being told that it was going to be beaten so easily. Good. She needed that beast to be angry and help her to fight.

"But girl, you're something else. You're strong. There aren't many strong alpha blooded females in our pack, Liam's sister is the only one I know of. You put him on his ass and you beat the living shit out of him. No claws until I say so, just fists to start. But his arrogance will blind him and cause him to make mistakes, use that."

She nodded and let out a long breath. I could see her wolf pacing in her. She wanted out and wanted a bite of Liam.

We walked back to the group and I could smell the alpha female pouring off of her like a damn waterfall. It was enough to make lesser wolves cower. I looked over at Lander who was chatting with Liam and smirked. I had faith in my Charlie girl. Even if she lost, she would put up a good fight. She just had to show herself that she could do it.

Liam snapped his eyes to Charlie and subtly sniffed the air. His eyes widened a bit before he looked back to his dad. I felt my beast unsettle a bit.

"He smells the bond Levi, a potential one. He said it wasn't a true mate bond, but there's something there."

"Liam, if you go for her neck I swear boy I will have your head on a spike in front of the pack house by dawn."

Liam's eyes widened and the fur on the back of his neck rose a bit. I growled lowly at him. If he overstepped during this spar I would not hesitate to make sure he couldn't walk for weeks.

Charlie looked over at him and eyed him up and down. Her nostrils flared a bit as she sucked in the air, sucked in his scent. Her eyes dilated a bit as she let out a sharp breath.

"It's a potential bond girl, it ain't a true mate."

"How do you know?" she whispered to me.

"Cause if it was, I doubt either Lander or I keep you two away from each other. You will barely be able to resist that bond girl, it will feel as if the whole world has stopped and the scent is singing to just you."

She nodded and started to tie her long hair back.

"Don't let the bond cloud your judgment. Keep focused and do like I told ya."

"Okay." She walked forward with me and stepped in the circle.

Liam stepped forward and held out his hand for her, a sign that he meant no harm. Her beast growled lowly at him. He was approaching her to causally and her wolf was not having that. I chuckled to myself and sunk into my chair the popped open a beer.

"Liam."

She shook his hand and studied him. It was almost unsettling the way she did it. She was a predator in this moment; assessing every way that she would tear him apart with her eyes. "Charlotte."

"Ok you two, fists no claws until Levi or I say. First one to submit and show their neck or belly looses, got it?" Lander said calmly.

They both nodded then walked to opposite ends of the ring. They are opponents now, not friends.

"You can do it, girl. Remember, you don't hold back, you make a show of it and beat him until he shows his neck to you, then beat him a little more."

She flickered her glowing eyes to me and nodded. I had to make sure her damn wolf didn't actually come out. That damn beast was sometimes too strong for her own good.

"Go!" Lander barked. He sat back and opened a beer, clinking it with mine.

They stalked towards each other. Liam was eyeing her up and down, a male trying to dominate a female that he desires. I had to bite back my own feelings of it and let it slide. He hadn't done anything wrong but look at her, and I could just kill everyone that looked at her wrong. We'd probably have no wolves left on the planet if that happened.

She moved like she had done this a thousand times. Like she was born to. She was graceful, elegant, yet she was fierce. A lioness on the prowl.

Liam initiated contact, he lunged towards her and she easily side-stepped him. She was quick. Sometimes she was faster than me, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

Liam growled as Charlotte just looked at him with calculating eyes. He lunged again and again she side-stepped him. My wolf was proud, our girl was doing good. Pissing the male off who though he could easily take her.

Liam swung at her and she leaned out of the was as if she was in the damn Matrix. He punched out again, and again she leaned out of his way. He growled low to her and swung, and again she leaned out of his way fluidly.

She laughed to her self and flashed him a devious smile as her canines started to protrude. "Are you going to hit me pup?"

I chuckled to myself. Damn girl learned that from me. Little shit.

Liam swung at her and this time, she blocked his blow and used her other fist to sink into his ribcage. She was so much smaller than him. Liam was tall like Lander and I, but that didn't matter. Her blow sent him back a few feet and I was pretty sure she cracked a rib. Good.

Liam stalked towards her and jammed her in her ribs. She grunted a bit, bit back the pain. She just growled at him and stomped on his toe, which drew a sharp his from his lips, then thrust her palm up to his nose, breaking it.

Liam's eyes were glowing silver now. The young alpha male was not happy about this female toying him around.

He slammed his body into hers and socked a hard blow to her ribs. She cried out and kicked him hard in the gut before crawling away.

It was then I knew something was wrong. Her eyes flickered to me and for the first time since her first shift, she looked horrified. Scared.

Liam charged her and hit her good in her jaw sending her back a few feet. I sucked in a breath and felt the hair on the back of my neck grow.

She seemed to be cowering; she whimpered a bit as he grabbed her shirt and pulled her up until her toes were barely touching the dirt. She was breathing hard with blood running down her face and clawing at him like a mad hyena.

Something was wrong.

She looked frantic and borderline hysterical. I felt shift his worried eyes to me as Liam tossed her on her ass.

She laid there for a moment too long. Liam stalked slowly towards her, towards the female with tears and blood running down her face. It must have triggered something, something in her brain that was taking her back to a time when this was an everyday occurrence in her life.

"Charlotte get up."

She let out a shaky breath and tried to push herself up with a harsh hiss coming out of her lips. She was mumbling something to herself. It sounded like nonsense, but whatever it was, it made my wolf want to run to her immediately.

"Girl, you gotta get up."

She moved a bit again and slowly rose to her feet. Lander looked over at me with eyes questioning the situation. I couldn't pull her out though, she had to prove to herself that she was stronger than this, than her old life.

"You're not that girl anymore, you're not that weakling. Now beat his ass girl. Take your anger and fear out on him."

Something snapped. She kicked Liam in his gut and sent him back a few steps before taking a step back herself and slowly prowling towards him.

Lander looked over at me, he wanted to see their wolves have at it. I nodded. It was time.

"Shift," Lander barked into the air. Liam jumped and quickly shifted into a black wolf with a white tip on one its ears. The black ran in our family.

Charlie just eyed him. I knew she knew she could shift, and her beast was probably clawing out to do so. Liam lunged at her and in that moment she jumped in the air and let her wolf come forward.

They rolled on the ground together, snapping, scratching, and clawing at each other. Charlie got a good chunk out of his shoulder and thigh, and he scratched up her back pretty good. That was going to need some ice later.

They stepped away from each other; Charlie crouched down, predatorily, and stalked around him.

Liam eyed her hungrily. His wolf growled as both an opponent and in lust. Lander had his hand on my arm. It was harder to resist our primal urges when we were in that form.

Liam lunged at her but she dodged it. She quickly turned her body and jumped on his back; sinking her claws and teeth into his shoulder and ripping the flesh out of it.

She was vicious. Out for blood.

He rolled over and snapped at her leg. She yelped out a bit before taking her other paw and raking it across his face. My beast settled down. We didn't need to step in yet.

Charlie kicked him off her then charged at him. She was a bit sloppy, though. Her anger was clouding her judgment. Liam was smart and used her own momentum to have under him on the ground. He went in for her neck but she just snarled and bit at his ear, yanking it hard and shredding it. She rolled on top of him, scratching his tender belly with her claws and taking a large bite into his front leg.

Liam bit into her shoulder and tossed her off of him. He was bigger and easily could toss her around like a rag doll if she was a weaker wolf.

Charlie fell on her ass and skidded across the ground before standing back up. Both of them were snarling at each other and oozing out blood from all their wounds.

Charlie stalked slowly and Liam watched her. Her wolf looked ready to tear him apart. She had so much pent up anger that had finally begun to spew out that I was almost worried for the poor kid.

Liam growled to her and she just lunged in the air. He met her as she sunk her teeth hard into his shoulder while driving her claws deep into his flesh, towards his ribs.

Lander growled a bit but I put my hand on his shoulder and steadied him. It was not our fight.

Liam yelped but Charlie didn't stop. She smacked her paw across his face while digging into his back. He bit into her shoulder, but she didn't care. She bit at his cheek, hard, until the flesh was firm in her mouth so she could rip it off.

Liam tried to move her off him but she wasn't done. She went in for his neck, for the kill. She had her mouth around his neck and her teeth squeezing at the skin and drawing droplets of blood.

Liam didn't want to quit, he was clawing at her but she didn't care. His neck was in her teeth. I felt my belly fill with pride. That little shit did it.

Finally, Liam bared his neck as best he could to her and she released him. She shifted back. She was straddling him as he changed back into his skin as well and slammed one of her fists into his face.

The shock on his face was priceless and only grew as she hit him again. She let her claws grow out her fingers and seized his neck again. Her eyes were on fire and the fur was starting to protrude out of her neck.

I jumped from my chair and grabbed her shoulders, yanking her off of him. Liam jumped up to lunge at her, but Lander had him on the ground before he could take a step.

Charlie flailed in my arms and tried to claw her way out, but I just tossed her tiny ass to the ground and crouched down so she could see that I was not playing around anymore.

"Calm down girl, you don't want to do this with me."

She was breathing heavy and fighting with her wolf. She wanted more blood of the male who tried to test her, threatened her, and looked at her like a weakling. I didn't blame her.

She was missing chunks of skin, had cuts in so many places that I lost track counting them, and was scratched the hell up. She was on the verge of tears. Tears mixed with blood that streamed down her face.

"Go let Derek clean ya up girl," I murmured to her. My beast was worried for her. He wanted to lick all our pup's wounds clean then take a chunk out of Liam's hide. But I held him back. It was not our fight.

Liam stood up and pulled on some shorts as Lander watched him. He and his son were going to have a fun little chat tonight.

"What the hell is she?" he bit out towards her, an insult that was meant to get a reaction.

I growled viciously at him as Derek helped Charlie up the stairs. "You watch your mouth boy. Now I suggest you get back to your home before I take a chunk out of your hide myself."

Liam let out a snarl himself before turning and shifting into the forest with Lander muttering a string of curses under his breath. Lander let out a hot breath and looked over at us. "I told him I would give him a head start. I have to teach my son a lesson it seems, pride comes before the fall."

"I think Charlotte took a good chunk out of his arrogance today," Elliot called out.

Lander rolled his eyes and bit back a growl. "What time tomorrow?"

"Bring him in the morning. We'll be swimming."

Lander nodded then shook his head as breathy laughter came from his lips. "I'll bring him then."

I nodded as my brother stripped his clothes and ran into the forest after his son. His son that lost to a female wolf with barely any training, yet she fought well. Very well.

I knew though, that Liam would not make that mistake twice. He would come back with a vengeance. Charlie needed that. She too needed to be put on her ass a few good times.

I was still worried about her, as was my wolf. Something snapped in her out in that ring, fear. I could kill that husband of hers for what he did to her. My wolf wanted his neck for laying a finger on our pup.

I walked back into the house and followed the smell of her blood and sweat to Derek's bathroom where he was running a bath for her. He signed and looked back at me as he set Charlie on the counter while the water ran.

"Watch her, I gotta get some more gauze," he said as he quickly rushed out.

I ran my hand through my hair and let out a long breath. She was shaking as more tears came from her eyes like a stream. I was not usually the comforting type, but my wolf pushed me to walk over to her.

I wrapped her up in my arms and stroked her hair back. She just clung onto me and cried hard into my shirt. I felt a low growl vibrate through me. My wolf hated that Liam did this to her and wanted blood.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me," she said through a shaky breath.

I pushed her back a bit and wiped away some of the wetness on her cheeks. "Girl, what are you talking about?"

She let out a shaky breath and shook her head. "I snapped. I don't understand. I was fine and then every time he came at me it was like I saw Marcus' face instead. I don't understand but I just snapped. My wolf wanted his head and I just–"

She burst into tears again and buried her head in my chest. I stopped her up and walked her to the tub that was almost full and set her gently in it.

"Girl, you ain't got nothing to be ashamed of. First off, you won. Secondly, you got a lot of good hits and I think took Liam's arrogance down a few notches."

"I don't feel like I won. I feel horrified with myself. I was so scared, Levi."

My wolf was unsettled. He didn't like her feeling this way. She was no monster, there wasn't an evil bone in her body.

I sighed and sat next to the tub while she wiped a new tear away. "Your wolf wanted vengeance girl, but mostly she wanted to protect you. You were wronged bad before girl, that husband of your's deserves to be skinned alive, and your wolf is blood thirsty for that. There ain't nothing wrong with feeling that way, and there is nothing wrong for letting your wolf do what she feels is necessary to protect you when your scared, most of the time it is to save your life."

"I just felt like I used to. Weak. I hate that feeling."

I gave her a small smile and nodded. "I don't think any human who survives that first shift is weak, do you?"

She smiled through her teary eyes and shook her head. "Girl, you ain't weak, and you ain't the same girl that I pulled rogues off of. You're going to get stronger, but you have to believe in yourself. If you don't believe in yourself then no matter how tough you are, it won't matter."

She nodded and let out a shaky breath. I sighed and scratched my head. I kind of wanted to find this husband of hers just so she could let her wolf have a run at him. "You may not be proud, but I am proud of you girl. You were scared and loosing but you came back and fought hard. Hell, I had to pull your tiny ass off Liam who is probably getting his ass beat by his dad right now. Don't doubt yourself girly, cause no one here does."

She nodded as I stood when Derek came back in. I started to head out and let Derek clean her up.

"Hey Levi?"

I turned to see her let out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

"Welcome girl," I answered. My wolf's annoyingly big heart swelled and I tried not to groan.

She was turning me into a damn sap. I rolled my eyes at the thought of yet in a small part of my heart I loved it.

I sighed. My wolf was proud of her, proud of our surrogate pup. He didn't want her to feel ashamed of herself, if anything he wishes that I would of let her beat into Liam some more.

I chuckled. It would be my luck that my wolf would want to claim that little shit as one of his own. A small girl who was turning us into a damned sap.

A small girl who was starting to breathe life back into parts of me that I thought died. I thought of my pack, the pack I had been away from for so long.

She had won. My beast wanted our pack, he longed for them. I would be lying if I said I didn't too.

Either way, regardless of what the future held, that damn girl was turning my world upside down; or maybe she was turning it back right side up.