Sixteen

Zane had left early with Nico to wherever they were going, saying they would be back by nightfall. Zane held Whisper in his arms a little longer than usual when he says goodbyes, and she wondered what was going on. Whisper tried to make him tell her where he was going, but he only said not to worry about it, that when they got back, they all would go on another run. She knew he was just distracting her, but she still forgot about it.

When Wren came over and took Whisper on a walk, she was a little awkward, not as happy as she was the day before. It brought Whisper's mind back to what Nico and Zane could be doing. She asked Wren too, what they were doing, and she said that they were going to have a meeting with someone important, and that Whisper shouldn't worry. Frustratingly, she let it go, again.

It was early afternoon though when the two women heard alarms going off. It sounded as if they were coming from the pack, but Whisper had no idea why. Wren did though and looked shocked.

"Whisper, we need to go back!" she hissed and started undressing quickly. Wisper stood there and watched her for a moment. When she saw the female hadn't moved, she came up and put her hands on Whisper's shoulders. "Whisper, please, Sweetie. We need to go home. Something is wrong!"

"What could be wrong?" Whisper asked, fear slowly working its way through her body.

"I don't know, but they don't sound the alarms for nothing. We need to go see what's wrong."

Whisper stared at Wren for a long time before undressing. They shifted and started running back, paws packing the dirt below. When they made it, they saw Anton and another male going up against a group of wolves. Whisper took in the leader of the group: he was average height for a beta, a sleek coat of medium gray and amber eyes that seemed to be glaring at the two members of Zane's pack.

Growls and snarls were exchanged before the male beside Anton lunged and all hell broke loose. Wolves went after each other, fur went flying everywhere, claws gleamed with blood before digging themselves into flesh. The leader of the rival wolves threw Anton aside and looked up. His eyes caught hers and there was recognition, as if they had seen each other once.

Whisper whimpered and backed away a little before the gray wolf stalked towards her. His eyes seemed hungry as he licked his lips, tail swishing behind him lazily. Whisper got down on her belly and flattened her ears, terrified of being killed.

Before the male could even get close, Wren stepped in front of Whisper and growled furiously, warning him to stay away. The male growled back, getting ready to lunge at the females. Before he could though, a black wolf knocked him aside. This wasn't as big as Zane's or as intimidating, but he was still strong. With one quick motion of his claws, he sliced the gray male's throat.

He turned to the females, still in the midst of the continuous fighting around him, and shifted. What appeared made Whisper's mouth drop open in shock. The same brown eyes, same brown locks of hair that was getting too long, but a strong young adult male with muscles instead of baby fat. "Whisper," he said softly, as if knowing she had been through so much.

Wren snarled but Whisper bounded around her and up to the male, yipping and barking happily. He knelt and wrapped her in a warm hug, chuckling softly and falling back so she was on top of him. From behind Whisper, Wren shifted and put on a large shirt. "Who are you?" she demanded.

Playtime over, the young male sat up, still petting Whisper on the head. "My name is Luc. I'm Whisper's best friend from childhood."

Wren blinked and glanced at Whisper who seemed content to stay with the male. She was confused because she had never seen Whisper act so carefree with another male. Not even Zane made her this happy. "Childhood?"

"Yeah. That is until she was taken away. I've been looking for her ever since I turned of age."

Wolves all around stopped fighting as the rival wolves stared at Whisper in awe and amazement. Zane's pack seemed confused and looked to Wren for guidance since their alpha was out doing important things. "Stand down," she breathed. Zane's pack obeyed and immediately went behind the female in complete loyalty. The wolves with Luc did the same behind the male. Whisper was now left in the middle, sitting in front of Luc with loving eyes.

"I apologize for the fight. We thought you were the ones who kidnapped Whisper and we were only trying to get her back."

"She's not going back with you."

Both Luc and Whisper looked at Wren in shock and disapproval. "Why not?"

"Because Zane—" she trailed off, not wanting to say anything in front of Whisper.

"Zane what?" Luc encouraged.

"Because Zane would come after you," she finally said.

At this statement, Whisper's hackles raised and she growled at Wren and Zane's pack. Wren looked slightly offended but stood her ground. Luc pulled Whisper back to him and said, "Just because he is going to come after me doesn't mean I'm not going to take her. She's in danger and I don't think she should be here."

"But," Wren stammered. "Whisper, you know Zane is about you running away. You've only spent a couple of days here. Just wait until he get's back before deciding, please?"

Whisper whined, wanting to go with her only friend from childhood. She couldn't bare to see him leave without her. She didn't want to be alone anymore. Her mother left her, left her because of something terrible. She handed Whisper ff to a male who only brought her pain and suffering until even he sent her off to a facility. Whisper was tired of being alone. She was tired of suffering the pain of so much that had happened to her. She didn't want there to be any more pain coming from the life she had. Why couldn't she just have this one person give her the love she desired from a family who was lost to her?

"Whisper?" Luc caught her attention and she looked up mournfully at him. "If you have to stay here—if you want to stay here, then you can? If they are helping you then I can stay and give them information and help them? But I don't want to take you away from them if you like it here."

She whined again. Of course she liked it here, but what about what she had before? What about Luc? What about her old pack? She had missed Luc all these years, and now that he was here, she couldn't let him go. She didn't want to see him go or to have to go away herself. She just wanted peace…

Wren sighed and gestured for a wolf to give Luc some shorts. "Here. We can wait until Zane arrives before we figure out what to do." Luc nodded and grabbed the pants, still keeping on arm around Whisper. Wren turned and started to walk away when she turned back to them. "Whisper, we should get you inside and dressed. Once that's finished, you can spend time with your friend."

Feeling better for now, Whisper bounded away from Luc and up to Wren who opened the door to Zane's shelter. Whisper went upstairs and shifted, then dressed. When she opened the door, Wren was waiting for her. "What is it?"

"I don't trust him," Wren said bluntly.

Whisper tried to process the words, but for some reason they got stuck somewhere in her brain. "What do you mean? He's my best friend. Luc and I are close."

"Were close." Wren sighed and cupped Whisper's face with both hands. "Sweetie, that was a long time ago. I'm surprised he even remembers you."

"Of course he remembers me! We are best friends!"

Wren nodded, unable to suede Whisper's mind. Letting her go, Wren stepped back and ushered her down the stairs. Whisper went down into the living room to see Luc there on a couch, a woman beside him a little closely. "Luc?" Whisper said.

Luc looked up at her and smiled. "Hi Whisper! Man! You've grown into a beautiful woman!"

Blushing, Whisper sat down on the couch beside his then looked down at her hands in her lap. "Where have you been?" she asked softly.

"Going around here and there. But I'm alpha now, so there's not a lot of time to do much anymore."

"You're alpha?" she asked, glancing at him. He didn't look anything like Zane.

Luc nodded. "This is my mate, Nala."

Whisper looked at the woman with blonde hair that was messily made into a bun atop her head. She had blue eyes, unlike Zane's, hers were cold and lifeless. Her mouth turned into an insulting sneer. "Hello, Runt."

Hurt, Whisper flinched. Immediately, Wren sat beside her and glared at Nala. "I would watch your mouth, before I break it!"

Luc growled. "Speak to her again like that, and you'll be the one who will be broken!"

"Don't test me, Alpha!"

"Please stop!" Whisper breathed, scared something bad might happen.

"Not until this pup learns her manners towards her elders!" Luc demanded ferociously.

"Learn my manners?" Wren snorted. "Have you looked at the thing beside you?"

Both started to growl and Whisper was disappointed. She was hurt being called the Runt of the litter. She was scared of Luc, and Wren was being awfully mean. She didn't want to be in the room anymore, so she ran outside and shifted. She heard Wren call her name, but she took off into the forest.