I couldn't move, staring up at the man in front of me in pure outrage and horror. Rufus hardly looked phased, standing very still with keen eyes resting on me.

"No..." was all I could say. I was stuck in an acute form of shock. No, this couldn't be real.

"Yes." He said. "Finn and I know each other quite intimately. And he'd be very disappointed with you for hanging around me."

My lips quivered, "no, he'd be livid knowing that you've been stalking me all week."

"That he would be, and yes, you've peaked my interest the past few days with his smell all over you. Except I know he won't challenge me on my curiosity." Rufus smirked, "he hasn't stood up to me about anything in his life. I'd be interested to see him try; maybe he's grown a pair of balls being the almighty Commander. I'll crush any respect these people have for him in seconds once we come face to face."

"You've done enough to him already!" I hissed, my shock beginning to fade as my anger boiled.

"I've been given this opportunity to do more." He snapped in reply. "I'm alive again, and I will ruin him."

"Why? Why do you want to hurt him?"

"His brother killed my father, and Finn knew about his demonic twin's plans. He did nothing to stop it." Rufus growled. "I intend to make pay for keeping his mouth shut."

"Your father?"

"I was the Alpha's son, and that monster murdered him! It is Finn's destiny to bear his brother's punishment!"

The pieces fit together as I sucked in a breath, "his father... your father... you both are cousins."

"Indeed we are. And I intend to rip his damn leg open again just like I did all those years ago. I will break the bones in his body all over again just as his brother did to my father."

A rumble echoed in the air, making Rufus and I both whip our heads backwards. In the distance a collection of white planes rolled in from the horizon. The Doves.

My heart sank as I looked at Rufus who turned back to me with a smile. "Right on cue. He's in for a surprise."

He turned and began to walk away, a red, hot anger building in my chest.

'They drug me out during the thunderstorms to maul me when no one would be able to hear a thing, and then they'd leave me there until Phoebe found me in the morning. No one cared so it continued, and every thunderstorm since then... I feel like they are still there, waiting for me, crouched to strike.'

I couldn't let him hurt Finn again, my Finn. The man I loved. I'd protect him when no one else would, not even this wolf who was his own cousin.

In a rage that blinded me, I sprung forward, digging my fingers into Rufus' arm. "Do not hurt him! I won't let you!" When his head turned around to look down at me, I punched him clean in the face.

Rufus let out a loud snarl as his head snapped back. He rubbed his jaw before looking down at me. "You've made a bad choice, Kate." His shoulders straightened and he only seemed to grow taller, wider with each moment as he towered over me. He was bigger than Jack Warren ever was, making me swallow.

Even in my fear, I narrowed my eyes, letting out a hiss. "You will not abuse him ever again! Do you hear me? He is a good person and you are scum. Scum! He deserves everything good in this world and I hope you die again so you can go to hell where you rightfully belong, you fleebag. You will not touch my boyfriend or else I will kill you myself!"

Rufus only chuckled, "I'm calling your bluff." His fingers wrapped around my bicep, giving it a squeeze. "Look at yourself, pipsqueak."

A weight was pounded into my chest, his other fist coming around to hit me square in the rib cage. I flew backwards, falling to the ground out of air as I wheezed. Lying on my stomach, I managed to prop myself on my forearms, raising my head to look at Rufus through messy strands of dark hair.

His footsteps sounded against the ground as he marched towards me, eyes dark. I dug my fingernails into the dirt, channeling all of Raphael's combat training. It was time to get to work.

Except, Rufus never made it to me.

One second he was in front of me, and the next in an explosion of white, he was gone, his figure replaced with another, friendlier face that glared down at me.

"I told you! I fucking told you!" Samaria hissed, wings fluttering as she landed on her feet. Her fists were clenched, eyes dark as she looked to where Rufus lied across the field. She'd hit him hard, his body hitting a steel stand where a collection of arrows had been resting. He'd snapped the steel into pieces and I heard him let out a snarl, Samaria's hands coming up on either side of her face. "Stay behind me, dumbass!"

Rufus used his wings to propel himself forward, but he was unbalanced and wobbly compared to Samaria who'd spent far longer in feathers.He lunged at her, wings out and feet uncertain on the terrain. She side-stepped him with ease, her feathers curled around her body; his grip on her came up short.

Samaria turned on her heels, her knuckles smashing into the side of his face. Shoving him to the ground, she looked up at me through matted hair. "Go! Get out of here!" She bellowed on her knees, struggling to keep Rufus pinned underneath her thin body.

I felt frozen, torn as I tried to stand but felt an unnerving sense that I couldn't just leave her here. I had to help; this man was dangerous. Rufus let out a roar, clocking Samaria in the rib cage. She let out a cry, falling flat on her back as the big man rolled over on top of her with fists blazing.

She was quick, dodging his punches left and right. In one lurch, her head came up, her forehead connecting with his to make a loud crack. Rufus reeled backwards, holding his head as Samaria scrambled to her feet.

"Don't just stand there! Go!" She yelled at me, waving an arm in my direction. Samaria gave Rufus another blow, pushing him back farther into the pile of steel shards. I could feel my meraki channeling, screaming desperately inside my head for it to come to me just this once. This man was sadistic, and if I ran I'd leave her with a torturer.

Samaria's hands were small in comparison to Rufus' meaty ones, both of them flying in the air as they ducked and weaved. He would swing and she would leap to one side before making an attempt of her own. Samaria was trying her hardest to pin the man to the ground while he used his strength to push himself back up again.

They danced back and forth, some punches hitting air and others lodging in flesh. Voices were in the air now behind us as I turned around, winged figures emerging from the dining hall as a few dotted the edge of the hill heading towards us.

I swallowed; Finn and Raphael. Their hair color gave them away instantly as they soared towards us and the other guardians began to close in.

Rufus let out a snarl that made me whip my head around. Samaria had shoved him back, wiping sweat from her forehead as she stood over where he laid on the ground. She'd managed to get him down now, and he stayed there, panting. She coughed for breath, "concede! I don't want to hurt you!"

She obviously didn't know as much as I knew about Rufus. When he didn't move, she let in a breath and turned around to look at me.

"Sweet fates..." she muttered under her breath, looking up at the sky. "Look who is home."

Movement behind her made me scream. In one swift maneuver, Rufus had taken up a slick piece of steel and rammed it straight through Samaria's stomach. Blood began to pool down her abdomen, speckling the ground.

She wailed in pain, eyes wide one moment and squeezed shut the next as her feet tried to give out. Rufus gripped her shoulder, whispering something in her ear before dropping her into the grass.

Her body went limp, wings spreading out as she tilted. In a flash, Raphael hit the ground in front of her, his arms catching her delicate frame before she could hit the dirt.

He was on his knees, holding her body up while calling for a medic. My eyes were torn away as a strong figure stood in my path, blocking me from Rufus. I knew the familiar smell immediately even before he'd come. Finn stood straight, shoulders tense and strong as he stared Rufus in the eyes.

"It's been a long time, Finn." Rufus said. "A very long time."

"You should be in hell, not here." Finn's voice was a shade of dark edge and lethality I hadn't heard before, his anger nearing a breaking point the size of a monsoon. My fingers rose, touching his back as I tried to comfort him.

"I made some friends." Rufus replied, "Threw a couple of them around, stabbed a few."

"Fuck you!" Raphael snarled. He'd pulled Samaria back, trying to look at her wound. Her face had gone pale, eyes closed and the rest of her body unmoving. "Medic! Medic!"

I watched as his fingers ran along her stomach near where the thick shard stuck out from her body. His other hand was holding up her head, but one detail drew me in. His thumb was brushing back and forth across her cheekbone.

"... tear open all the muscles in your body with my teeth all over again!" My ears clicked back into Finn and Rufus, making me shudder. "You'll think what I did to you before was kind, merciful! This place will become just like the pack: they'll watch me beat you and do nothing because they will have discovered that inside you are weak and worthless! You are and will always be nothing!"

"Do not speak to him that way!" Finn shifted his weight to look back at me, and in that moment I realized the words had left my lips and not someone else's. Nevertheless I stood strong.

Rufus only laughed, "Are you still set on trying to defeat me yourself or do I need to toss you around like a rag doll for a little longer before you realize that you can't?"

"You aren't fucking touching her." Finn let out a snarl deep from his throat.

"Well, it isn't like I haven't already." Rufus lifted his hand as if he were about to strike, and a wave of energy went through my body. My hand came out as heat flooded out from me.

His arm halted in midair, a golden aura pressing back against his fist. Rufus jumped in surprise as he looked at the barrier and tried to move his hand, which was stuck to it like glue. He looked around before his eyes settled on me.

"You aren't laying a finger on him." I said, feeling the gold shine in my eyes. "I won't let you."

"You're freaky. I guess that's why he's into you." He said to me, malice dancing on his features. "What the hell are you? Some new breed of monster?"

The word hung in the air like a knife to the chest, making me falter. The meraki around his hand began to dim as I felt it slowly begin to recede back into my body. The light died in my eyes and my veins took on their normal color.

"I... I... don't know." I managed to stutter.

"Whatever you are, it looks like you're alone." Rufus smiled, "poor, lonely beast."

Finn lunged at him, punching him clean in the jaw. Their fight never progressed further as a wall of solid light came up between them both.

"That's enough for today." Secta himself stood in the field, hovering beside me as he looked at Rufus. Secta contained him in a large dome of meraki that had a similar essence to my own. "She isn't alone because I am just like her. As for you, you will be extremely lonely in solitary until I figure out what exactly to do to a wicked creature like you."