The swishing of the whip made her flinch before it made contact.

It soon did, the silver cutting deep into her flesh.

She bit her tongue; it was only worse if she makes a noise.

***

The husky wolf pounded the ground as hard as she could. Her limbs hurt but she couldn’t stop, not yet. She panted as her chest burnt with the speed, she was pushing herself to her limit; she knew her tracks would be followed. She’d tried to avoid other’s territories, there was one that was going to be unavoidable, and she’d be there soon. It would be a miracle if she got through it alive, but she had to try.

She was running so fast her eyes barely registered the royal crest carved into the trees; the border. She realised too late. Growls soon ripped through the trees. The husky wolf tried to think as she ran. She could submit, which could mean death, or run, which also could mean death. But before she could think more she felt teeth on her scruff and she tumbled to the ground. Snarling and snapping of teeth were right next to her ear.

The wolf mind retreated to allow her human back. The human that had begged her for hours. She flipped onto her back in submission, her neck bared as four hulking men slipped out from the trees. There’s the one brown wolf that tackled her, baring down, then another darker grey wolf. “Skin form!” a dirty blonde haired man barked. The husky looked down, she knew what men did to females when they were naked. She whined softly, hoping it came across. “I said skin form!” the blonde barked again.

A black-haired male’s eyes glazed, “I’ve alerted Gamma Trey,” the black-haired male spoke. The blonde’s nose twitched, seemingly annoyed by this information, but didn’t say anything.

“Please, I’m a female. I’ll shift with clothing.” She looked to the brown wolf, hoping she could communicate. All wolves that had alliance with the king could communicate in wolf form… she hadn’t got that alliance, however. Her pack was one of three that were classed as enemies of the crown… she knew this was dangerous but it was her only hope. The wolf didn’t register any acknowledgement, she swore to herself.

She curled up as much as she could and shifted back to skin form. Hiding herself as much as possible, her matted brown hair obscuring her face. “Shit!” The blonde removed his t-shirt as soon as he saw the female form. A form that was marred with dirt and blood, bruises evident amongst the dirt. Her appearance small, looking around fifteen. The blonde handed the t-shirt over while all the others averted their eyes out of respect. She took the shirt and quickly pulled it over her head, gingerly getting to her feet, but the blonde had to reach out to catch her as she stumbled. She cowered as his hands gripped her elbows. “Sorry,” she squeaked.

“Your trespassing,” the blonde’s tone less harsh but still serious.

“I’m sorry, I know… I had to,” her voice didn’t match her appearance. It was older, a wisdom lay in her voice.

“Gamma Jesse, we need to take her in,” the black-haired man spoke.

“Yes, infirmary,” the blonde; Jesse ordered.

“Sir?” Jesse ignored the question.

“Can you walk? It’s a few miles,” Jesse asked the brown-haired girl, still that note of authority in his voice. She began to think this was a bad idea. What if she was jumping from the frying pan into the fire? Her body shook and she backed away from the royal Gamma, terrified of what he’d do. She shook her head as she backed off slowly.

Jesse’s face turned into a scowl as she backed away from him. As a rogue she didn’t have any say in what happened now, she’d trespassed onto royal packland. She’s lucky he was showing her mercy taking her to the infirmary, if she was an adult or a male her heading would be very different. He stepped forward and grabbed her roughly. “Infirmary… or cells,” he growled down to her. She squeaked trying to wrench her arm from his grasp but failing. She was no match for these males who probably trained for hours a day… while she’d been locked in a room for more than half her life. The sounds of crunching twigs turned everyone’s attention.

A light brown haired man with shining hazel eyes stepped into their view, pulling on jeans. He quickly took in the scene before strolling towards Jesse. “Dude, let her go,” he said almost tiredly.

“Trey, she’s a rogue.” Jesse challenged.

“She doesn’t smell like a rogue,” Trey responded simply as he pried Jesse’s grip from the girl. “Hey Darling, what are you doing here?” he asked gently, leaning down slightly to be at her height so he looked less intimidating. Her blue eyes flitted around to all the males, this one seemed different, his hazel eyes appeared kind.

“I-I couldn’t cope anymore. He beat me,” she whispered to her toes, Trey’s eyes softened further.

“No ones going to hurt you now. You’re safe,” he said gently. She looked up and nodded a fraction, fear still evident in her blue orbs. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. I can see the bruises darling, do you have any other injuries?” The girl shook her head, hoping no-one saw anything different, she definitely had more injuries.

She knew in skin form she’d struggle to walk far; she’d been running all night. Her wolf was much stronger than her skin, her wolf could cope. Trey gently guided her, his arm hovering over her shoulder. The black-haired man followed while the others continued their patrol.

She stumbled after five minutes of walking, making Trey reach out to catch her. “You OK?” he asked as he set her back on her feet, her knees shaking with the effort of holding herself up. She nodded, not very convincingly trying to take another step, but her knees buckled. Trey quickly scooped her up, carefully placing his hands so as to not touch anything inappropriate. Her wide fearful blue eyes looked up to him, he felt the shivers racking through her body. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He smiled kindly as he strode at a much quicker pace than they’d been going.

“Everyone does,” she whispered, barely audibly.

“Not here, The King protects everyone.” The girl shook her head “He’ll protect you,” Trey comforted. “What’s your name?”

“Klara,” she whispered, now her adrenaline was leaving her body, exhaustion was gripping her. She knew she couldn’t fall asleep though, she needed to stay alert.