My jaw clenched on its own accord as I felt my shoes sinking into the soil once more, my frustration at still being within these pack making it harder and harder to control irritation. I decided that it would be best if I focused my attention on the attacker that my wolves now had cornered, but as soon as I did so, I felt myself frown.

I was expecting to see an adult. Someone who was actually capable of attacking the mate of an Alpha. But instead, I found myself staring at a child. A boy. He didn’t even look old enough to hold the bow he was carrying, let alone know how to use it. He even had a quiver slung onto his back. There were three parallel lines breaking through his eyebrow and running down the length of his cheek.

“And this? Are the rest of you hiding in the woods somewhere?”

I had spoken to the wolf who was transporting Luciana earlier through the pack link, and he had assured me that they were well on their way to the pack and that he had no plans of stopping any time soon. I warned him to be vigilant for any signs of attack, and I sent two of the other wolves to join their party.

“What do you mean by ‘the rest of you’?”

The boy shrugged, his shoulders dropping down halfway, before he reached up and pulled an arrow from the quiver, loading it and taking aim faster than anyone I had ever seen in my life. What shocked me even more was that he had chosen to aim at me. His arms were steady. Unwavering. He made it seem as if being scared was the last thing on his mind. He had some nerve.

“I’m referring to the rest of your group. Whoever you guys are.”

He let out a very adult scoff, his eyes darting over the wolves that had now taken a step closer to him, their growls coming out a lot more vicious than before. It didn’t take a genius to know that it was because he had taken aim at me. A threat to an Alpha was a threat to the pack. I knew my pack well enough to know that they wouldn’t support or carry out an order to attack a child. And I trusted that they knew me well enough to know that I would never give such an order. But I had to admit that we now found ourselves in a very delicate situation.

“Luckily for you, I’m the only one who wanted to come. Everyone else was too scared to join me. Imagine that, huh? A pack that’s too scared to protect its own Alpha!”

My frown seemed to be deepening further and further the longer I stared at and listened to this boy. I now came to realize that the parallel lines running down his face were scars, a claw mark if I had to take a wild guess. His muscles looked well developed for a child who seemed so young.

It was then that I came to the conclusion that this was no human child. It was a pup. And his manner of speaking was rather... odd, to say the least. It felt as if I was having a conversation with an Elder. And what did he mean by a pack that didn’t want to protect its Alpha?

It felt like all that this child was doing, was confusing me even more than I already was.

“Who sent you after us? And what pack are you from?”

A smirk covered the child’s features, reminding me of Malcolm in that moment. I sent a glance to my Beta, who looked as alarmed as I felt. The delicacy of the situation became apparent once more. This child came across as more than just your average pack pup.

“Actually, I’m from this pack.”

Time seemed to still as I head, more so than saw, the arrow coming towards me. I was aware of every agonizing sound, the wind shifting and molding around the deadly object. Malcolms growl drifted to me, me both turning in a horrid manner as he pushed me aside. The growls of my pack followed soon after, and I prayed that they weren’t attacking the boy.

The breath left my lungs once my body collided with the ground, the arrow passing above Malcolm and I, rendering us safe from danger. My eyes focused on the pack, who were taking turns to nip rather aggressively at the child, being careful not to injure him. In that moment I couldn’t have praised them more.

Malcolm pushed himself up first and then reached down to give me a hand up too. The child looked furious, the air around him seeming to buzz. My eyes must have been playing with me. I had never seen a child act or react in such a manner before. It was an alarming sight, and yet, I found myself intrigued.

I watched as one of my wolves pounced, way higher than was necessary, an obvious sign that he had no intention of hurting the child. My shoulders tensed as I watched his body turn harshly, flying backwards and colliding with one of the trees that surrounded us. He whined, struggling to push himself off of the ground.

I growled lowly, narrowing my eyes in the direction of the space where the child had been standing, but I felt my eyes widen as I took in the sight of Luciana standing protectively in front of the boy, her chest heaving wildly. Her cheeks had gone red, a clear sign that she had been running. But the more pressing issue was the way she was glaring at me, her eyes seeming darker than they were before.

“Luciana?”

My voice was laced with the disbelief that had filled my being. How was she here?

“I think you’ve had enough time to talk. It’s my turn now, Alpha Isaac.”

Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, venom lacing the word Alpha. My eyes started playing tricks on me once more as the air around them seemed to start moving.

“I think he’s doing it.”

My attention wavered as I turned to look at Malcolm, unsure of what he was referring to, but when my attention returned to Luciana, my eyes focused on the child, who seemed to be moving his hand in a motion that was very similar to the one that the air was moving in.

“You invaded our pack, making us grovel at the hands of yours. And then you kidnapped our Alpha. My father. And then you came back here with the intention of taking me too. You made a fool of me by allowing me to believe that you weren’t thee Alpha. I want to know why. And I want to know what you’ve done with my father.”

Her voice was sound. She didn’t falter once, let alone stutter. Being in the presence of this child seemed to be giving her the type of confidence that... that an Alpha was born with.

“And what gives you the impression that you’re in a position to make demands?”

I almost gave Malcolm a pat on the back. Trust him to know what to say while I observed like a sitting duck. I watched her eyes move to the child, a dead giveaway that whatever she was thinking was related the the child. She returned her attention to us, her confidence stronger than ever.

“I doubt you’d like to find out.”