I changed Cooper's hair color from dirty blonde to dark brown. It mainly has to do with the fact that when I looked up pics of potential Coopers, half of them were Zac Efron, and most of the rest had dark brown hair. And no, Zac Efron is NOT Cooper, but I was tempted to make him.(That means I owe my apologies to the teenage girls who love Efron, so yeah, sorry. Not. :D) Anyway, back to the book.

Stella

I jumped and whipped around. Mr. Sparr stood in the doorway, his malevolent prescence overpowering. In one hand, he held a gun. In the other, he held a scrawny, dirty child. I looked closer.

That was Rose, my older sister. She naked, and her body was so thin, so frail,  that I could count her ribs and her pale skin hung loosely around her shaky bones.

I gaped, at loss of what to do. Hate, despair, and anger surged through my body. Every restraint I had put on my emotiin snapped. The screech of metal on metal indicated that Ava had finally forced Cooper's cell door open, but I no longer cared. I flung myself at Dylan, but his icy words drew me to a stop dead in my tracks.

"Remember that punishment, Stella? The one where Rose is whipped to death? Well, I changed my mind," his voice oozed with malice, and my heart fell past the soles of my shoes.

"What's going on?" Ava wailed, trying to grab me and pull me out of the prison.

Dylan shoved the gun into Rose's temple and squeezed the trigger.

"NOOOO!" I howled. Without knowing, I shifted into Scarlet, my wolf. I sprung at Dylan, claws outstretched, jaws slavering.

He swung around, the gun pointed at my heart, as Rose's limp body slid to the floor.

"STOP!" Doug barreled down the hallway and hurled himself at Dylan. The gun flew out of Dylan's hand, and both of them lunged for it.

Dylan turned to me. "Your turn to die, precious!"

In an instant, Doug shifted into Oro, his wolf, and sank his teeth into Dylan's arm. Dylan's arm jerked in pain as he squeezed the trigger again. The bullet missed me, but embedded itself deep into Ava's shoulder. She screamed and fell backward into Cooper, blood flowing freely out of the wound. Cooper grabbed her and turned on Dylan, eyes flashing. He was about to shift.

That would ruin everything.

"Don't. Let Doug handle this," I barked. I was in wolf form, but since Cooper was a werewolf, he would know what I said.

Meanwhile, Doug grabbed the gun in his teeth and snapped it with a sharp crack. Dylan shifted and hurled himself at Doug, who turned to us and barked sharply.

Cooper nodded and grabbed Ava in his arms. He took off like a deer, with me close behind. We burst out of the prison and didn't look back. My chest panted and legs burned in fear. Just the thought of leaving my uncle alone fighting Dylan made me want to cry.

After we had run a full mile, Cooper slowed, exhausted. He pulled off some of his remaining adhesives, and I could finally see him as the alpha's son."I will be able to carry her better if I'm in wolf form."

With that, he ripped off his shirt and wrapped it gently around Ava's mangled shoulder.

I had intended to offer to hold her, but I could hardly carry myself. I stumbled along unfeelingly, allowing my sense of touch to guide me.

Rose, the only thing that had kept me going this whole time, was gone. I let out a low whimper.

Cooper shifted into his wolf and glanced at me.

"Stella, I'm... I'm so sorry," he murmured, swiping his tongue across my ears.

"I'm Scarlet." My wolf took over for me, but she, too, was really at a loss for words.

He nodded. "Borealis."

He crouched low, and I tugged Ava onto his back, careful not to injure her shoulder more.

I turned to Borealis. "Explain your whole story of why you got into jail, from the beginning."

As he explained the story, I saw a ray of light peek over the horizon.

At sunrise, we padded slowly into East Moonshadow, heads lolling with exhaustion. In town, there are big, rectangular buildings with big entrances so werewolves can walk into them, shift, and put on some of the clothes that are meant to be returned to the buildings, as soon as possible. I walked into one building and Cooper into another. There, I shifted and changed into a white bra, a dark red t-shirt, blue skinny jeans, and some old tennis shoes.

When Cooper came out in a black t-shirt, tan jean pants, and running shoes, we set off for the East Moonshadow Hospital.

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Ava

I woke up with a headache and a stabbing pain in my shoulder. That's all it took for all the events of last night to flood back.

I sat up abruptly and instantly regretted it. My shoulder, which was only on fire a little, suddenly felt as though someone was trying to cook it over an erupting volcano.

I fell back and closed my eyes. When I reopened them, Stella was hovering over me. "Are you okay? You passed out from blood loss, and surgeon injected you with a sedative for the bullet removal surgery.

Whoa. That's a lot to take in.

"Where's Cooper? And Dylan? And Doug?"

"The doctors wouldn't let a male in here with you, even if he's your soulmate. Doug was fighting Dylan when we left," she replied.

"What about that girl? What happened to her?"

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Stella

After all of the events last night, there had been no time to feel sad, but now, that question struck me like a blow to my gut. One second I was fine, then the, I was bawling my eyes out like a baby. I explained everything. Doug's training, my skill, Rose's affection for Dylan, the whip lashes, the threats, the secrets, everything.

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This was the saddest chapter yet. Tell me, what happened to Doug and Dylan?

Vexwolf

P.S. Cava is real. You are so very welcome, C.

P.P.S. Thanks for the pic of Cooper.