Crystal stared at her neighbourhood. What had once been a place full of laughter, rich scents of food and flowers were today filled with the black smoke and the stench of gunpowder and blood. She tried to pinch herself, hoping against hope that this was a nightmare. A nightmare that was suddenly repeating itself. But as she heard her best friend's voice stutter and question, "Cr...Crystal, what happened?"But before, Crystal could answer, she noticed something that made her pull her friend away from there and run towards the forest. Why would people from the army attack the entire neighbourhood, that too in broad daylight? It made no sense. And yet, the people she had just glimpsed were dressed in their camouflage uniforms.Once they were deeper into the forest, both the girls bent down slightly, placing their hands on their knees as they panted for breath. But their relief was short-lived, for they had barely caught their breath when a man jumped down from a tree. Before the girls

Crystal opened her eyes slowly before shutting them down quickly as the glaring light hurt her eyes. Trying to recollect what had happened, she slowly thought back to everything that had taken place and her surroundings.She tried to move her hands and legs and could feel them tied up. The faint sound of breathing told her that there was someone next to her as well as the smell of excitement that lingered in the air made her know exactly who it was.She tried to open her eyes again but they had somehow turned sensitive to light making her let out an involuntary moan of pain that caught the attention of her captor. Lashley looked sideways at her best friend and spoke in a gloating whisper," Unable to open your eyes? Don't worry, this is a common side effect of the drug that I gave you. It will wear off soon."The careless gloating, made Crystal's fingers itch to slap her face. But first, she needed to figure out a few things..."Why did you do it, Lashley? I slowed down for you. I did

Juan reluctantly checked the girl's pulse and sighed. At least she was out of danger. Or else his own life would have been on the line. Turning back to his Alpha, he muttered, "She is fine. The only reason she isn't waking up is that her body needs to heal internally."Ace looked down at the girl he had rescued two days ago and nodded. He did not know why but when he had seen her collapse, his wolf had almost gone crazy. For a minute he wondered if she was his mate but he would only be able to find that out after she turned eighteen.Before that, there were other things to be puzzled about. The fact that she smelled human but her healing and the way she fought with those rogues made it clear that she was not a simple human. There was also the extreme reluctance in Juan when he had ordered him to treat her. Juan was someone who would do his best to treat anyone with the slightest sickness and this was the first time he had actually refused to help without a direct command from him.As

Ace looked into the eyes of the girl who looked wise beyond her years and accepted the promise with a nod. The girl was indeed smart. She had pledged her life to the pack and not to him. While Ace and Crystal stared at each other, Juan was not happy."Ace! What are you thinking? Giving her shelter would mean inviting every land-hungry pack to come after us. Even if you are the strongest pack, your first priority should be protecting your pack. There is no need to invite more violence to innocent people! And did you not see the rogues she was fighting? There is a rumour among the people that all the rogues have started banding together looking for someone. Who do you think is that 'someone'? And what Luna? To be an Alpha or Luna, you need to have land and a pack! Even though the land of the Snowheart Pack is protected by ancient spells, your pack has been extinguished! What is your life worth against our pack members! They already are hot on your scent, are they not? So, they just have

Ace felt like a dam* perv. He had raced into the room, expecting a rogue to have attacked her and instead, here she was staring at him as if he was the rogue. Her big eyes almost seemed ready to fall out of her face and she was clutching the blanket with a panicked face.Her eyes, if possible widened even further as she gave him a look all over. In his haste, he had only pulled on his sweats leaving his upper body bare. "Uh... Could you please put on some clothes," she squeaked.After seeing that she was pale-faced and shaking he guessed the reason for her scream. Ace walked out of the cabin without a word to get back his T-shirt. She must have had a nightmare. She had had those in the past two nights and it had usually ended in her holding his hand tight enough to stop blood flow into the appendage and if he were a human, break his bones!Crystal stared at the perfect V-shaped back of the man as he walked out. Her eyes however continued to flit back to the small tattoo on his shoulde