I gazed into the cracked mirror, pursing my lips. It didn't matter that it was cracked right down the middle. There wasn't much to look at anyway. I wasn't ugly just plain. Plain, unnoticed and unwanted.   "Runt," the Luna's piercing shriek split the crisp morning air. "Runt," she screeched louder.   Runt. I wasn't worthy of a name.    I yanked my limp, mousy hair into a messy top knot and dragged my aching body from the floor.    The future Alpha turns 18 in three days. The celebration started two days ago and I was the one who had to do all the cooking and cleaning and decorating. I attended to the pack's every need. It's how I earned my keep. I guess I should be grateful. Some rogue and lost wolves are abused or killed by the pack who finds them. I'm ignored when I'm not needed. Unless they want something I don't exist.    "RUNT," the Luna barked.  

Maddox's POV   Shadow, my wolf, spotted her first. A tiny, scrawny girl with no curves or femine features, racing towards the Cedar Wood pack house. Her stringy, pale brown hair in a messy pile on top of her head. It was only because of her hair you could tell she was female. She wore mens clothes, at least three sizes too big for her skeletal frame and she had no figure to speak of. She may as well be a teenage boy with a body like that.   "Mine," Shadow growled, racing in circles inside my head. His panting grew louder the closer we got to her. "Mine, my mate," he snarled.  "Uh uh, buddy," I told him shaking my head. "Not her. No way. You're wrong."   She struggled to open the heavy security door as she reached it. Too shy to even look us in the face she stepped aside, pushing the door open with her back. Shadow inhaled, savouring her scent. She smelled of crisp fresh linen on a warm summers night. She sme

"RUNT!" The words echoed around the room, faint and distant as if they came from miles away. I tried to open my eyes. The mat I lay on felt wet and sticky.   "RUNT!"    My body shook violently.   "RUNT!"   My hands scrambled on cold, sticky tile. I urged my feet to move, straining my legs until I was breathless and laced with a cold layer of sweat. No matter how hard I tried my body refused to move. Every inch of my body ached and burned. The pain grew with each tiny movement as if a thousand needles were driving deep into my limbs.    "RUNT! UP NOW!" Alpha Patrick. His snarl sounded closer. His hot breath crept over my clammy cheeks. Still, my feet refused to budge. My palms gripped at the floor, my arms ached as I tried to pull myself from the mat. Eyelids closed tight I sighed, sinking back to the mat in exhaustion.   "You dare to cha

Kayla's POV   I was gripped in a pair of massive arms. My heart pounded hard against my ribs. Trembles shook through my limbs. The harder I shook the tighter he gripped me.   His racing heart echoed in my ears as he pulled me close to his expansive chest. The rogue was real. He tore through the forest taking me far from my pack. Far from everything I knew. Ever giant step he leaped sent waves of agony cascading through my broken body.   It was all too much. The terror of what he would do to me, the pain, all of it. I passed out, falling into a nightmare filled sleep. The rogue was real and I was his prisoner.                                 ***   I sighed. A blissful warmth enveloped me. Small, soft hands stroked my tattered skin. My frail body rested on soft ground. A fire crackled beside. I struggled to

Many lower-ranking packs think the buck stops with me. I am the ultimate power and if they challenge me it's only my pack they need to face. They're wrong. Just as humans have their governments we have the Elders, a group of well-loved, well respected retired Alphas. They've watched over us since the dawn of time, protected us, loved us and ensured we acted fairly to those who wrong us. Even the White Wolves could have been overruled by the Elders."Thank you," I sighed. A tiny slither of tension flowed from my body. I slipped my cell phone back into my pocket and massaged my temples."The Elders will be here within the hour," I told Blake and Lena, eager to pass off responsibility for this hot mess to someone older and wiser than myself.I blinked, a desperate effort to relieve the migraine threatening to send me crashing to my knees at any moment, and stepped back surveying the dismal scene behind me. Cedar Wood pack huddled on the dusty mess hall floor. Lucil