A New Friend

I'm sitting at my desk the next day when Julianna comes bursting in. "Dawn, we need you at the northern wall," Julianna cries breathlessly. I look up and see her bent over, hands on her knees as she gasps for breath. "If this is another attempt to get out of patrol woman," I start. She shakes her head violently. "Just come see," she demands. I roll my eyes, but get up anyway. May as well humor her or she'll never leave. I can hear whispers among the pack members downstairs, but I've learned to tune them out unless something particularly important peaks my interest. Walking out the front door and through the town I notice its earily quiet. "Tigger, where is everyone?" My voice carries authority but I'm sure even she can hear the concern. "At the northern wall," she says softly. When we finally get close, I can see she's right. Half my pack must be here. I smell blood and fear and my protective instinct kicks into overdrive. I force my way through the crowd and find a young woman, no older than twenty four, shaking. Her blue eyes are wild and half crazed as they dart around, likely looking for a way to escape. Her long raven colored hair is matted and knotted, falling limply onto her face. Her body is what worries me though. For one thing she is completely and utterly naked as the day she was born. But her mocha colored skin is marred with scars, some old and some clearly new, as are the bruises and cuts that slash all over her. Goddess she looks like she screwed Edward Scissorhands. I hear murmurs throughout my pack and growl, accidentally scaring her. I take my shirt off, leaving myself in my sports bra and jeans as I gently kneel beside her and give it to her. When she takes it, I turn away and face my pack. "If you all have any sense of self preservation, you'll scatter immediately. This poor woman has clearly been through enough without a pack of wolves ogling her like a fresh kill. Now go," I order. I hear a chorus of "yes alpha" before everyone scatter, leaving me and Jules with the girl. When I step closer she whimpers and curls further into herself, and I dont miss how she is particularly curled around her belly, her arms wrapped around it.

I decide to sit down in front of her, folding my legs under myself. "I won't hurt you. Are you hungry," I ask gently. Her body still shakes but she nods hesitantly. "Jules, go get some of the chicken and fries from last night please. Make sure they're warm. And bring her a Dr. Pepper," I say. She hesitates but nods and darts off. My eyes wander back to her belly as I try to listen. When I can't hear anything, realization hits me. "You were pregnant weren't you? Before you escaped wherever you were," I ask. My voice is soft, trying not to scare her or upset her. But tears fill her eyes anyway as she nods. "I'm only going to ask this so I know if I need to plan a rescue. Did your baby survive," I ask softly. She whimpers and shakes her head, causing me to growl softly. Julianna returns with a plate of food and a glass of Dr. Pepper, handing them both to me. I slide the plate over to her and lean forward, gently setting the glass down close enough she can reach it but far enough I don't scare her. She hesitantly takes a nugget and bites into it. Her eyes widen and she starts wolfing them down. Judging from her size, I'd say it's been a while since she was properly fed. I stand up, offering her my hand. "Let's get you cleaned up, ok," I offer. She hesitates but nods slowly. When she takes my offered hand, I pull her up gently, leading her back to the house where, apparently, most of my pack is still hermitting.

Ashton pushes through the crowd and his eyes widen when they land on the girl. "Nadia," he all but shouts. His tone is a mix of emotions. Surprise and happiness but terror and concern too. He rushes to our side and picks her up bridal style. "You know her?" He nods and looks at her. "She was an old friend of mine. She disappeared though at the same time as her parents so we assumed they moved and didn't say anything," he says softly. "She's more than welcome to stay with us."

"Of course our whore alpha would allow another snake. She loves screwing her other one so much," a deep voice rumbles. I tense and turn around, glaring into the eyes of a pack member. "What was that," I ask calmly. I can feel Wynter clawing to get out. "You heard me. We all deal with him because we have no choice. Now you expect us to accept another one of them? When does it stop? When one of is dead from them," he demands. I growl lowly. "Ashton take her upstairs."

"Dawn, don't-" I cut him off with another growl. "That wasn't a request, soldier," I snap. He sighs and I hear him retreat up the stairs. "Do you have a problem with how I run my pack," I snarl. He sneers at me, disdain clear on his face. "As a matter of fact, I do." I hear Julianna groan and Misty chortle when she joins us. "Ten bucks on him," she whispers. "Thirty on Dawn. She's pissed," Julianna replies softly. "You think you can do so much better, then do it," I order. He growls but smirks. "I, Trey Thomas, formally challenge Alpha Dawn Nyte to a fight for the title of alpha." I growl and move before he can, grabbing his throat and throwing him out my front door. He shifts as he flies through the air, landing with a dull thud and snarling as he gets up. "You can still stop this, Trey. I don't want to kill a pack member," I say warningly. He shakes out his fur and lunges. I groan and dodge. "Alright, so we're doing this then. So be it." He lunges again and I dodge, grabbing his hind leg and swinging him into a tree. I hear a crack but, let's be honest it isn't going to do much damage to him. I feel bad for the tree though. I brace myself as he runs at me snarling. When he's close enough, I grab his neck fur, swinging myself onto his back. He growls and tries to slam my leg against a nearby tree. Unfortunately for him that's what I knew he'd do and I move at the last second, causing him to slam himself into the tree. I hear a whimper as he struggles to stand up after that one. But he keeps coming. He lunges for my left side knowing my right is my dominant side. I hit the deck, grabbing a fistful of his fur on his underbelly as he goes over me. I pin him down, my knee at his throat as he struggles. "Yield or so help me goddess I will kill you," I snarl. He keeps fighting, trying to snap at me as he does. I land a solid punch to his mouth, probably knocking a tooth loose in the process.

He shifts back and glares at me. "Yield dammit," I order. He rolls, baring his belly and throat in submission. I stand up, looking at the crowd that's gathered. "Yes, Ashton and Nadia are snakes. This was common knowledge of Ashton. He has never posed a threat to us and has always fought by our side. By my side. He is as much a pack member as any of you and he will he treated with the same respect. We have enough problems with the Ferals building in numbers without adding infighting to our issues. Is that clear?" I see fear in my pack's eyes at the mention of the Ferals and they all agree quickly. I growl and a woman, I assume Trey's mate, darts out and helps him up, taking him in assume to their home. Out my peripheral vision, I see Misty grudgingly hand over cash to Julianna as Jules laughs. These two I swear.

I roll my eyes and go back into the house, following Ashton's scent up to his room. Opening the door, I freeze. He holds Nadia close, both of them locked in a passionate kiss. I stand there awkwardly for a moment before clearing my throat. I chuckle when they jump apart, a deep blush coloring his face. "I just came to check on how she's doing. I know the pack was a bit scary to her earlier," I say gently, stepping into the room. She smiles hesitantly at me. "I was also wondering how she got past our guards and got in," I ask. Her smile quickly fades and she looks at Ashton.

"I travelled in my snake skin. She is small enough that she was able to fit through a small hole in the wall but we were so exhausted, I shifted back as soon as I thought it was safe," she answers. Her voice is soft and airy with a slight accent from somewhere i can't identify. I chew my lip thoughtfully. So a snake can squeeze through a small hole. Fine. But how are the Ferals getting in? I pull myself from my thoughts and smile. "Alright. Ashton, make sure she gets something to eat and some clothes, yeah? I'll be in the office if you need me." I turn on my heel, heading up to my office. "I thought this pack was supposed to be strong. But clearly you aren't if you just allow people to freely break in," a cold female voice says behind me. I turn and see a girl, probably in her early twenties, with short spiky black hair a lightly tanned skin. Her brown eyes bore into me as she crosses her arms over her small chest. "Excuse you," I growl. She rolls her eyes. "You heard me, alpha. You just allow anybody in that can sneak in. I think your defenses are just weak." I growl and feel Wynter stirring as I approach her, inhaling her scent. So she's one of the new Rogues. "I don't expect you to understand why I do the things I do, but you will sure as hell respect me and my choices or I'll throw you to the Ferals myself." My voice comes out as more of a growl as I step closer. Her eyes widen marginally as she steps back, a soft whimper escaping her.

"Dawn!" I stiffen hearing Bear's deep voice ricochet off the walls. I hear his footsteps approach as the girl suddenly bursts into tears. He wraps an arm around her soothingly and looks at me, his eyes hard. "What the hell is wrong with you," he demands. I raise an eyebrow. "Excuse me, but when she decides to disrespect me when my pack has graciously taken her in, I think I'm entitled to feel a little more than slight irritation," I snap back. He tells her to go downstairs, waiting before she's gone before he really lays into me. "You are an alpha. You are supposed to keep your composure and reassure people at this time. Not threaten to throw them to the Ferals. Shit like that is what reminds me how young you were when you took this position. You're still immature." My eyes widen as I growl. "I would stop talking if I were you, Bear. Mate or not, I will not tolerate this," I growl. "No! You need to go down and apologize to that girl," he snaps. I snarl and clench my fists. "Like hell will I apologize to her. Be mad all you want, but I'm not going to apologize to her. And that's final." His stance stiffens before he turns his back to me, walking down the stairs and away from me.