James sat in his plump office chair, glaring at Mitchell. He was trembling over his Alpha's menacing gaze, but it was deserved. Melanie stood behind James, her hand resting on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him, but it wasn't working. He was angry.

"Explain. Now!" James growled, his powerful voice echoing through the office.

Mitchell shivered, the power of the Alpha flowing through his bloodstream. He looked up at the Alpha, his light blue eyes filled with fear.

"I-I..." He stuttered, unable to fathom words. He cleared his throat, before looking into the storming eyes of his Alpha. "There's a rumour."

Melanie's eyes flashed. "You're basing your theory of an innocent she-wolf over one rumour?!"

"The rumour is that of the disappearance of the Moon Pack." Mitchell said, and James leaned back – the Alpha was curious at the mention of the all-powerful pack.

"The Moon Pack was wiped out ten years ago." James stated, his eyes dimming slightly.

Mitchell shook his head. "Wiped out by a lone wolf with fur like silver..."

Melanie snapped her head to James. "The she-wolf has a silver coat."

James rested his forearms against the armrests on his chair, Melanie's tense fingers on his shoulders. "Are you saying that the she-wolf wiped out the entire Moon Pack? The Moon Pack was the most powerful pack, next to the Royals, maybe even more powerful... One wolf?"

Mitchell nodded his head. "Yes Alpha."

"Yet this is based off a rumour." Melanie snarled. James turned around to face her, the cogs of his mind swirling in his eyes. James thought back to what Melanie and Mitchell had reported to him.

"She's powerful, Mitchell felt it and so did you Melanie, and you're a Luna... It could refer to how she wiped out that pack." James said, running a hand through his golden stumps of hair.

"We don't even know if it was her or not!" Melanie cried but she saw James's eyes harden. His decision was made whether or not she had a say.

"I swear on my life Luna, this is the same wolf." Mitchell vowed. "The description is the exact same."

James snapped his head to Mitchell with sparkling light slit eyes of his Alpha wolf, like storm clouds dispersing in time for the eye of the thunder. "If this is the wrong wolf, then your life will end, do you understand?"

Mitchell shivered at his tone but he nodded, baring his neck in submission. The single movement of his head sealed his fate.

James looked down upon his Beta. "Then it's settled. We're leaving the silver wolf – if she really wiped out the Moon Pack, she's where she belongs. Trapped." He ordered, and both Melanie and Mitchell bowed their heads at the order.

The brunette child, Isabella, backed away from the Alpha's office door slowly, the information she just heard alarmed her. Her green eyes watered, knowing the outcome. They were leaving the big wolf who understood her.

Isabella ran down the stairs of the pack house, careful not to make her footfalls obvious to the Alpha and Luna behind the office doors. The brunette girl rounded a corner, running into her best friend. He had golden hair tickling his ears and bright blue eyes that gleamed with mischief. When he saw Isabella, he smiled with his missing tooth.

"Hey Isabella!" He said, ignoring the others that were in front of him... the popular kids of the Silverwood Pack. Outside of Isabella's friendship group, she was an outcast for being a mere orphan.

"Arnold, they're not going to save her!" Isabella cried, eyes threatening to spill over on to her innocent face.

Arnold frowned. "They're not going to save who?"

"The wolf at the zoo! They're not going to save her!" Isabella cried again, her brown hair whipping around as she shook her head in shock.

Arnold's blue eyes widened, and the others around him did too, before one of them laughed. Arnold chuckled, and soon everyone was cracking up laughing. Isabella looked shocked at her supposed friend.

"Arnold?" She whispered, not believing the laughter she was hearing. They'd been close since birth, always taking the others side... He'd believe her still, right?

"Isabella, there aren't any werewolves at Central Park Zoo! Don't be stupid." Arnold snapped, smirking at his other friends. They nodded encouragingly at him, and Arnold felt his ego and pride rise in his small body.

Isabella's lip trembled and a tear rolled out of her green eyes. "You don't b-believe me." She stuttered.

Arnold snorted. "Us werewolves are strong! They won't get captured by humans, and we certainly don't cry like a baby."

Isabella gasped, stepping back as though he slapped her. Arnold's eyes flashed with regret almost instantly even as the rest of the wolves around them laughed to the brink of tears.

"But Arnold...?" Isabella stammered, before one of the other young kids, Jasper, spoke up.

"Are you going to let her treat you like this bro?!" Jasper cried, surprise coming upon Arnolds' face at the defence. He swung an arm over Arnold's shoulders. "Come on dude, this brat is just holding you back!"

Arnold didn't look away from Jasper's welcoming face, and he felt himself smile. The crew around them were chuckling, before they walked away with Arnold in their clutches – a new friend for them, and he had gained loads more than he originally had. Jasper, clearly Arnold's new best friend, was laughing at something that he said, but Isabella wasn't paying attention anymore. She felt the tears trickle down her face as she watched her only friend walk away.

Isabella sniffed up the tears, scrunching up her face and turning away from her best friend, before she ran out of the door. Isabella didn't bother grabbing anything, she always knew she didn't belong in the Silverwood pack. Her parents were the only reason she stayed, their memory alive in these halls.

But her parents were brave... they were strong. Her mother Sophia, and dad, Michael... they would have fought for the wolf's release, no matter who she was, or rumoured to be.

Isabella's green eyes took a new shade – her tears dried as she raced out the door. She would fight for the wolf's release, just like her parents would have.

She sprinted into the woods neighbouring the pack house. Her inner self instantly came forward to help guide her through her escape. Isabella's brown hair caught in leaves, twigs attaching to her clothes.

Her green eyes glowed as her beast emerged partially, directing her away from her old home. Isabella ran out of the woods, barely panting, and ran towards the local bus station on the dirt track nearby.

As she ran towards the shelter, Isabella ignored the crazy stares she got as she skidded onto the last free seat. Closing her bright eyes until her inner wolf had subsided, Isabella calmed her racing heart as the thought of what she'd just done entered her mind.

I just ran away... I... Isabella pushed the panic aside to think of rational reason, but couldn't find one. What have I done?

Isabella slowly opened her large eyes and looked over everyone, who was looking at her in shock. An elderly couple, human she could smell, were looking at her with pity, seeing the leaves, dirt and twigs and no doubt assuming her wayward travels. Besides the human elders, there was only one other brunette at the bus shelter – another human, who was watching her with curious dark eyes. She was familiar...

"A race to make the bus?" The woman asked, and Isabella cringed as her fading perfume attacked her nose. Isabella shook her head, even as the woman frowned. "You're not catching the bus?"

Isabella paused. "I...am?"

"You are?"

"Yes?"

The dark-eyed woman smiled softly, and gently reached over to pick out some of the leaves and twigs from her hair. "You're running away, aren't you?"

The green-eyed wolf hung her head, accepting defeat. "Yes..."

"Any... any reason why?" When Isabella looked away from the woman, she accepted it was all the response she was going to get. The dark-eyed woman sighed and turned to the road, searching for the late bus, while fiddling with her uniform.

Isabella saw her fiddling and recognised the uniform she wore. "You work at the zoo?"

The woman's eyes widened, and she blushed. "Yes, I'm the guide... One of the guys can't do the night shift so, here I am, I guess?"

Isabella smiled. "I was there today! It's really cool... can I stay with you?"

The woman's jaw dropped, the pungent smell of her bad breath seeping through Isabella's nose. The woman looked around at the elderly, who were silently nodding their heads at her. They all had an idea of why she was running, but they were all afraid to say it.

The Zoo guide looked back to the girl. "W-What about your family?" She asked.

Isabella's lip trembled as she remembered Arnold's outburst. "I don't belong there." She whispered, tears spilling over her eyes again.

The woman's human eyes softened, and she gave the pup a hug. Isabella's nose screamed at her as the terrible smells of the guide entered her nose, but she held it together.

"I'll take care of you, okay?" The woman said, leaving the embrace and putting her hands on her tiny shoulders. "You can come and help me out at the Zoo."

A way to help Willow the Wolf. "T-Thank you... um... what's your name?" Isabella asked, a new course of excitement entering her body.

The guide chuckled. "My name is Abigail Keeting, but you can call me Gail. What's your name?"

Isabella thought about it briefly, before finally thinking of a name. She didn't want her pack coming after her, and she couldn't let the werewolf world be unleased on Gail the Guide.

"Marie." She settled on her middle name, and somehow the churning in her stomach ceased – fate had set its course.