3 The Rescue

"Odette! You're doing the duet in five minutes! are you ready?" Odette heard her producer, Lindsay call to her as she got her hair up in two braids. She was a hip hop dancer, one of the most popular, actually, and was ranked second in popularity, one behind Alice, who she was doing a duet with today. If Odette was being honest, she was always scared to go out on stage. You see, she was a Jewel wolf, and they are hunted. A lot. She hides her identity, of course, but she still can't get the persistent fear out of her brain. It's like someone will jump on the stage and rip off her wig. Sighing, Odette finished tying the elastic into her hair, and headed out to meet her temporary partner.

"Hey, Odie!" Alice said, rushing up to her in her rose ballet dress and her hair put up in a high bun. "You ready?" She asked Odette, who nodded in response. "Wait, before the show starts, is it true that you're a Jewel Wolf? Don't worry , I won't tell anyone. I just. . . want to know who I'm working with first." In spite of herself, she nodded slightly, but Alice saw and squealed. "Okay, I promise I won't tell anyone, but before we start, you have to address the rumour going around that you are one, okay?" Odette didn't get to respond, since there was a blast that knocked down the back wall. "Come on!" Odette yelled over the noise of the wall crushing and the crowd outside panicking. When she saw that Alice wasn't following her, but was instead looking at the intruders with a smile, Odette rushed and grabbed her wrist, pulling her away just as a piece of cement fell where she was standing. "If people are attacking, you don't just stand there and smile!" Alice looked back at the intruders. There were 3 dressed in Royal blue cloaks, and then there were a group of 12 with mustard yellow cloaks and what looked like a black spiral on the back. Odette immediately recognised the symbol as the Garial soldiers, and stopped running, instead hiding behind a pillar, and preparing to pretend that she didn't know.

"Hey, Aaron. Do you see them?" Finn leaned into Aaron's side, and his ears started tickling his cheek. "N-No, there are too many soldiers that are around me, I can't--" He gasped, looking towards the clothing racks. "S-She's there!" Everyone, the soldiers and the three princes sprinted the 100 meters to the racks. However, about a quarter through the sprint, Aaron turned and ran towards one of the pillars, and saw his sister Alice, with a navy haired girl, who's ears and tail looked like they were made out of Azurite. "I found her!" Aaron shouted back to the group who were frantically searching for the Jewel wolf. Only his brothers, Finn and Frank heard him and came rushing over.

"Why did you run away?" Finn asked Aaron, raising his voice. They were 7 meters away from Alice and Odette, and when they raised their voice, the girls' attention drew towards them. "Aaron!" Alice yelled, getting up and running to the group of boys. Odette looked like she wanted to stop her, but she also seemed to. . .be scared of them? It is natural, Aaron thought, to be scared of a stranger. And if she was a jewel wolf, you might as well multiply that fear by 100. While his brothers peppered Alice with questions, Aaron walked up to Odette carefully and slowly and when he looked in her eyes, they were painted in fear.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, startling her even more and making her back up against a wall. Aaron heard the shout of the Garial commander saying:

"She's over there!" The dozen soldiers started running for them, and Aaron grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her out of the hole in the back of the room, followed by his siblings, and the soldiers right on their tails. Aaron sighed, and flicked his ears back, causing a portal to form. Finn, Frank, Alice, and Aaron jumped in, and while Odette didn't want to, she was pulled in by Aaron. However, as soon as she went through the portal, she felt light headed and everything went blurry. She heard Alice calling her name, but couldn't respond, and lost consciousness.

"Do you think she's okay?" Alice asked her brothers, shivering. Aaron walked over to her and rubbed her back. "Yes, she is. She only passed out because of shock. Hopefully," He muttered the last part, and jumped when Alice said: "What did you say?" "I-I said hopefully." Alice looked down at the ground tears forming in her eyes. "What if she is badly injured?" Aaron looked at his sister and lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. "I'm sure she'll be fine. We have all the cures for Garial's poisons. If they tried to poison her, we'd be able to cure her. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, okay?" Alice nodded and wiped her tears. "Y-yeah, you're right, it's probably nothing. . ." Her voice trailed off when she looked at Odette's body. She was moving around, meaning she was awake! Alice squealed when Odette sat up, and ran over to hug her. Odette looked uncomfortable, so Aaron pried Alice off of her, who stuck her tongue at him. Sighing, he turned to Odette and asked "Are you okay? You took quite a fall there." He laughed at the end of it, but he was sure Odette could hear the worry in his voice, past the joke. "I'm. . .fine. I think." Aaron looked at her with confusion, and she elaborated. "When I go through a portal that was not made by one of my kind, there is a chance of me being injured or poisoned. I believe that's why I blacked out. I guess I got lucky that time." "Hopefully that's it. Anyways, I think we need proper introductions, don't you think?" Odette nodded, and said: "I'm Odette." Aaron replied with: "Aaron, nice to meet you," and they both burst out in laughter, causing Finn and Frank to burst in, glaring.

"Why didn't you tell us she woke up?" Frank asked, face splotched with red, and tail up. Aaron looked at Frank's tail's position and instinctively shoved Odette and Alice behind his back, and started to growl. Frank backed up, flattening his ears down against his head. "S-sorry," He murmured, and looked down. Aaron eased, and looked at his brother. He was younger than Frank by 4 years, but still was stronger an faster than him. By a lot.

"It's fine. You're fine. You don't have to apologise to me. I was the one to snap at you." Aaron dragged his hand down his face, smudging the makeup that was put there, and revealing an alpha's mark that he'd hid his whole life. "Y-You're an alpha?" Finn stuttered.