CHAPTER SIX: ARIA

I ran through the woods, my heart pounding in my chest. The pack was under attack, and I could hear the sounds of snarling and snapping all around me.

Ryder and I ran to a hidden hatch where the children, women and elderly were kept before he left me here and took off bursting into beautiful brown fur.

I'd been helping the other women, Elsa and Lorraine to calm the children because of the terrifying growls sounding ahead when I noticed a rogue through a cracked opening in one of the walls snooping around very close to the entrance of the safe hatch.

I called Elsa to the side and told that I'd be going back up because I noticed a rogue. She looked scared and concerned for me. I showed her my silver weapon and smiled at her little bump as she pressed her hand to it.

"Be careful" she whispered as she locked the hatch back in place.

I crept to the corner where I thought I saw the rogue and hid behind a thicket and there he was looking extremely haggard as his dirty grey fur stood on end, sniffling around, he must have followed the trail that brought all of us down here. I unsheathed the silver dagger.

I'd learnt about stealth during some of the vigorous trainings I got earlier to push my wolf to the surface or so I thought as I tiptoed around the thicket ready to strike him when a twig snapped, good gracious so much for stealth training.

The rogue whipped his head to my direction and growled. His dull brown eyes gleamed with excitement. It was either strike or be striked and I wasn't going down just yet.

He leapt forward to charge at me as I swung the silver blade and struck the upper part of his jaw earning a deep growl from him, his claws dug into my left thigh drawing out a loud scream from me. I immediately dragged the dagger lower with all my strength rupturing his main artery. This time his growl was so loud I thought he'd bite my head off but then his breaths came out in ragged puffs as blood splattered all over my face as he slumped halfway on top of me and stilled, the life draining out of his eyes. This was my first kill.

After the initial shock of what I'd done, the pain from my fresh wounds coupled with my healing rib pierced through the fog in my brain as I struggled to pull my leg from underneath the dead rogue.

I had to leave this area, his growl must have alerted a few other rogues and if they found me here I might not survive long enough to alert the other pack members about the safety of the hatch.

As I ran, I stumbled over roots and fallen branches, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins, but I knew I couldn't keep this up for much longer because no matter the training I got, I couldn't run fast for much longer with my rib and now injured leg.

The distant sounds of snarling and snapping, kept me running till I spotted a brown wolf with black tipped ears much smaller than Ryder's wolf up ahead. It was Reena. She was standing frozen, watching me as I ran towards her. For a moment, our eyes met, and I thought I saw a glimmer of recognition, of concern.

But as I got closer, I realized that her expression was cold, calculating. She thought I was a goner, that the rogues would catch up to me and finish me off. And in that moment, I knew that she didn't care.

I felt a surge of anger and disappointment, but I didn't have time to process it. A rogue burst out of the underbrush behind me, it's eyes fixed on me with a hungry gleam.

Reena didn't move. She didn't even flinch. She just stood there, watching as the rogue closed in on me.

My grip on the silver dagger tightened as I prepared to stab the rogue when another rogue crashed into me from behind. I fell, rolled and hit my back on a tree's trunk. I'd lost the dagger when I fell. I looked up to see the two rogues closing in on me. I turned my head sideways, Reena was gone.

"No" I screamed but that seemed to excite the rogues as saliva drooled down their jaws.

This was it. I was going to die in the hands of rogues because I couldn't sense my wolf and shift. A lone tear slipped past my left eyelid and rolled down my cheek as a blur of movement burst out of the trees, tackling the rogue closest to meand sending it tumbling to the ground. Ryder. He was fighting off the rogue.

They both rolled and came to stop before he tackled the rogue and bit into his neck, killing it.

The second rogue growled and came at me. I moved backwards on my bum and screamed when he clawed on my already torn left leg. He lifted his left paw again with a growl when Ryder snapped his neck just like he did the first one. Ryder had saved me, he risked his own life to protect me.

As I caught my breath, I couldn't help but think about Reena. She had stood by and watched as I was about to be attacked, not lifting a finger to help me. It was a harsh reminder of where I stood but Ryder's actions had shown me that there were still those who cared about me, who would risk everything to save me.

The rogue attack raged on, chaos erupting as snarls and screams filled the air. Pack members scattered, trying to fend off the attackers. Ryder crouched down and whined at my bloody leg and face. My vision blurred.

"I'm okay Ry, you saved me" I whispered, my voice choked as I ran my fingers in his soft brown coat. He whined again and then signaled to his back with his snout so I gently got on him as he ran through the forest, dodging snapping jaws and slashing claws.

A loud growl caught my attention. Alpha Ryker battled massive rogues, their bodies clashing in a blur of fur and teeth. I watched in horror as he fought off seven rogues on his own. He was bleeding from so many areas, but he kept snapping necks. Just before Ryder took a turn, a rogue came up from behind Alpha Ryker slashing his jaw while he was clawing at two other rogues sending the alpha crashing to the ground. One of the pack warriors snapped the neck of the rogue but it was too late as sorrowful growls filled the air.

"No" I gasped.

Ryder stilled before picking up his pace. I didn't need to be able to mind link to know that they'd just found out that our Alpha had died.

The attack seemed to go on forever, but eventually, the rogues began to falter quickly. Our few surviving pack warriors held and the rogues met their end with only a few escaping.

As the dust settled, I sat on a patch of grass and surveyed the carnage close to the path that led to the hatch. Bodies lay scattered, some still. Then I remembered the alpha...he...he was gone, even though he'd never stood against the way I was treated by the other pack members, well... it wasn't their fault, it was mine, the tears streamed down my face endlessly, my shoulders shook. He was truly gone, a victim of the brutal attack as were many others. My heart sank, where was Mum, Dad and Reena?

I turned to find Ryder, he'd shifted back, wore a loose short and shirt stashed in one of the trees. He stared at me, knelt down, wiped my tears and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close.

"Dad, Mum, Reena?" I choked

"Dad's in the infirmary with Mum, Reena's almost there as you should." He answered and gently scooped me.

"We'll get through this, Aria. We will." Were the last words I heard before darkness embraced me.