The Transfer

The run back to the pack was agonising. My leg was bleeding badly and it throbbed painfully. Trying to run was ridiculous, but Kade and Alfie held me up as best as they could. They pushed me to run faster so we could get back to the pack doctor quicker.

"I could speed you back to the pack, Ali. It would take a few seconds,” Ezra told me. I shook my head as Kade pushed me back up again.

I was in pain. I was hurting so badly that I felt like I might pass out. But I knew that I couldn't give in and let Ezra take me back. I had to show everyone that I was capable of taking the hard route and getting back to the pack without Ezra's help.

"It's fine, Ezra. It doesn't hurt that bad anyway,” I told him. I looked down at my leg, noticing that the bullet hadn't even gone through my leg. It had only grazed the skin, but it still hurt. It was still going to need medical attention.

When we reached the pack, all eyes turned to us almost immediately. Henry and Melissa rushed off. I could feel Henry's anger. I knew that he had to go and deal with the situation. Seeing humans so close to the pack was concerning.

Kade's friends stopped and shifted back into their skin. They slipped on clothes and watched as Alfie and Kade carried me towards the pack doctor. Lila, Brayleigh and Ezra followed behind us.

I entered the pack hospital and Alfie bounded off to help Henry with dealing with the situation. Kade helped me over to a bed and nudged me onto it. Then, he stepped back as the doctor — Cameron, also Brayleigh's mother — appeared in front of him. Kade and the others were quickly pushed out the room. Cameron grabbed the curtains and closed them, so no one could see in. "You're going to have to shift back, sweetheart. It'll hurt. But the quicker you do it, the sooner we can fix you up,” Cameron told me. I sighed and nodded. I shifted back into my skin.

She was right. It hurt. My bones shifted and and skin changed, my bullet wound seeming to expand as I turned human again. I yelped in pain as Cameron slipped a baggy shirt over my head. I held my arm to my chest and let the tears fall.

I was bleeding badly. My arm was covered in blood. The wound throbbed painfully, like it had its own heartbeat.

Cameron wiped away most of the blood and then made me lie down. I did and held my arm out to her. She motioned for me not to look, and I didn't.

I turned my head and gritted my teeth as I knew the pain was about to come. I clenched my fist and curled my toes as Cameron placed a blanket over me. I gripped fistfuls of it with my non-injured hand.

I felt Cameron dabbing at my wound with the cotton bud and I cried out in pain. It stung like a bitch and I wanted to punch Cameron in the gut for it.

"It's okay. Just a little longer, sweetheart,” Cameron said, trying to soothe me. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my jaw so hard that it hurt.

When Cameron finished attending to my arm, she wrapped it in bandages and then left me to rest. The others bounded back into the room moments later.

"Are you okay?" Lila asked me immediately. I could hear how worried she was. It made my gut twist. "I'm fine. It was only a graze,” I muttered tiredly. It had been a long past few days and I needed a long sleep. But it was hard with the nightmares.

They came every night. It used to be every so often. But they were there every time I shut my eyes. They scared me half to death and most nights, I woke up in a sweat and crying. Some nights, Ezra had to wake me up because I was yelling in my sleep.

They were getting worse. I had no idea why but I needed to find a way to make them disappear. I was tired of being tired.

"Stupid humans. They always have to ruin everything," Brayleigh muttered bitterly. I chuckled a little at her. I'd never seen a human before. But today was strange. They smelt odd.

To be quite honest, they didn't smell like a dog.

"It's fine, Bray. We can go hunting another time," I told her softly. My eyelids felt heavily and I felt like going to sleep.

"I think we should let you rest, princess. Just call if you need us, okay?" Ezra said suddenly. I was thankful that he knew me so well. I was exhausted.

"I'm staying. I'm going to sit right here,” Lila said, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. She smiled at me and I nodded. Ezra walked over to me and kissed my crown before leaving the room. Brayleigh waved goodbye as Kade pushed her out the room.

"Rest now,” Lila told me. She smiled softly at me and I nodded. I let my eyes shut and then let myself drifted into a sleep.

1

The following two weeks were hard. After recovering from my gunshot wound, I got straight back into training. Every day, Alfie pushed me harder and harder. I was getting stronger, filling out more. My legs became only muscle. Lila always made jokes about me and I quote “popping someone's head off with my thick thighs’. She said she couldn't wait to the day that she was to see me decapitate someone.

I grew toned abs. They weren't incredible like some people, but they were abs and I had never had them before. I was proud.

My arms were toned and all muscle. I could lift my body weight plus more and I felt powerful whenever I threw a punch.

Over the weeks, I grew much closer to Lila, Brayleigh and Kade. My pull to Lila only grew stronger and stronger. But she never said anything. I wasn't sure if she felt it and just didn't say anything. I didn't say anything because I was nervous about what it might mean.

It wasn't a mate pull. I knew that it would be stronger than what I felt with Lila. It wasn't a negative pull, but it made me feel protective of her. The pull made me want to guard her and protect her against any harm that came to her.

I didn't feel anything like that with Brayleigh or anyone else. It was just with Lila and it made us closer.

I became closer with Ezra too. He was so different to anyone I had ever met. He was funny, kind and caring. He was a good cook and he took care of me all the time. He was there every time I had a nightmare. He rubbed my back and let me cry to him.

Alfie trained me hard and we became close too. He pushed me to be better every day. It became routine that every morning I would go for a long run and then spar with someone before pulling weights through the river with Lila.

He made me hum in a way I'd never hummed before. I felt powerful, I felt like a real Alpha.

I had Alfie to thank for that. He was the one who truly believed in me from the beginning. He wanted to help me and he knew I had potential to be something more than I was.

He was right.

I felt a buzz inside me. It was like a hot fire and it burned. It made me feel so strong.

"Morning, princess. How you feeling?" Ezra greeted me as I walked into the kitchen. I smiled at him and sat on top of the counter.

I felt great. For the first time in what felt like forever, I truly felt great.

"I feel good. Surprisingly good, actually,” I told him truthfully. I felt refreshed and like a whole new person. I was stronger, mentally and physically.

"You look good. You feel strong,” Ezra said with a nod. He knowingly smiled at me and sipped on his coffee. I tapped my fingers along the surface of the counter and felt like laughing and smiling.

I felt happy, truly happy for the first time in forever.

"Well, I've got to go now. Lila and Bray said they'd be waiting for me. I'll see you later, okay?" I smiled at Ezra. He shook his head at me and I raised my eyebrows.

"Actually, you won't. I won't be here by the time you get back and I won't return until tomorrow night. My mate is coming back from a trip with her parents. I'm going to meet her in the city and stay in a hotel for the night,” he explained to me. I raised my eyebrows at him even more and smirked.

Of course they were staying in a hotel for the night. They were going to come back smelling like sex and hormones.

"Right... have fun with that," I said cheekily. Ezra rolled his eyes at me but shied away anyway. I giggled as I waved him goodbye and then left the cabin.

Lila and Brayleigh were waiting outside for me like they said. They both greeted me with playful nudges as we headed to the trail that we normally took.

This morning was bitterly cold. Winter was coming and that meant we'd soon be seeing snow and Christmas. My favourite time of the year. My wolf was excited as we ran through the forest. She couldn't wait for Christmas, where we would sit on the couch in front of the fire place and curl up with a blanket.

The dew wasn't necessarily melting this morning. The coldness seemed to delay the nature waking up and the girls and I seemed to wake them up as we brushed past the plants.

Our body heated rolled off each other. I was warm and cozy. I felt oddly hot as I pushed on through my run. I could hear Lila's veins humming and it made me wonder if mine were too.

It had to be why I was so warm and energised.

"So Ezra is leaving Takiani for the night. I was thinking we could do drinks at mine and a movie marathon,” I suggested as we ran. The girls both looked at me with looks of gold.

"That sounds awesome! But will there be food if Ezra isn't there to cook?" Lila asked, and her belly grumbled on cue. Brayleigh and I both laughed at this.

I nodded at her. "I'll cook something. I was thinking maybe pasta.”

The two girls faked moans and I took that as a "yes please’. I laughed and nodded my head. Hopefully my training wouldn't tire me out too badly. I really wanted to have the girls come over. They were at my cabin almost every day after trainings. I hadn't yet been to their cabins because apparently I wasn't aloud, since I wasn't pack. But it didn't really bother me. At least I had made friends and was seeing them.

"Let's shift so we can finish our training and have our movie night as soon as possible,” Lila suggested. Brayleigh and I nodded in agreement as we shifted and tore off into the forest, following the track.

We ran fast and hard. We all playfully nipped at each other's heels until we came to the fork in the path yet again. We headed right to the river where we could get a drink because we made our way back.

But as we approached the stream, we noticed people in the water. A group of males, a few females also. They were from the pack and they were messing around in the water with each other.

"Ugh, great. We should just go. They'll annoy us," Brayleigh groaned through the link between her, Lila and I. I shook my head at her as I slowed and trotted over to the water.

A few people in the water stopped what they were doing and watched as I approached the water. I wasn't about to walk away just because they were there.

"Anthony is coming your way," Lila told me lowly as I drank. I looked up, not backing away from the water. I saw Anthony wading towards me and I held back a growl.

"Ali, baby, we have to stop meeting like this! It's like you're stalking me or something," Anthony said as he rose from the water slightly. I took notice of the long and gnarly scar on his chest.

He caught me looking and ran his fingers over it. "Got it during a hunt. Mountain lion. You wanna feel:

Anthony's smirk was one that I'd seen too many times before. I wanted to smack the stupid grin off his face and I was a perfect distance away from him to do it.

I scoffed at him instead, finished drinking and then turned around and walked away. Lila, Brayleigh and I ran the rest of the way back to the pack, and I heard Anthony's mocking laughter the entire way back.