The impenetrable darkness of the night sky was slowly but surely brightening up, giving way to the approaching dawn. As I struggled up the hill, I could already feel the subtle warmth of the rising sun that stretched over my back.

Ahead, the trees bathed in a vibrant glow, the colorful canopy protecting the soil and animals below from the rising sun. We still had a ways to go but with the wind blowing in my face, I could finally catch the scent of the Black Ridge Pack.

We were getting close. Dangerously so.

Leaves and branches crunched behind me, making me look back to see little Emilia running up the hill. Seemingly with limitless energy, kicking through loose leaves that had naturally piled up beneath the trees.

A soft smile curled my lip as I called out to her, watching as she jumped up, hands releasing a bunch of the leaf litter and sending it in a spray through the air.

Emilia's vibrant eyes locked with mine, breath visible in the nippy morning air before she grinned widely, closing the remaining distance between us.

"Are we there yet? I'm getting a little bit tired." She muttered breathlessly as she took my hand. Even with her relatively happy demeanor and childish antics, she was clearly suffering.

Her eyes might've been vibrant but at times she became distant and quiet, eyes darkening until she seemed nearly lifeless..

Scarred by the recent events that had deprived her of her parents and birth pack.

No child should ever witness the deaths of their parents, especially not by those that are considered family. People she trusted, people who had sworn to protect the rest of their pack.

Sadly, there was no way to turn back time, no way to bring her parents back to life. The only thing I could do, was bring Emilia to her relatives' pack and hope she was strong enough to push past these scarring events.

"Almost but not quite pup." I replied, crouching as she reached up before I grasped her gently under her arms. Arms that quickly wrapped around my neck before she crowed with excitement as I lifted her further until she was seated on my shoulders.

It helped that I wouldn't tire my arms out as much compared to holding her in my arms, but she was also clearly visible from upon my shoulders.

Something that would make the pack hesitate and think twice from attacking us on sight. I hoped. Border patrol would be the first to sight us approaching the pack and while they usually fought back intruders, I hoped that the sight of Emilia would at least give them enough pause so I could explain why we were there in the first place.

Emilia quickly nestled in, resting her chin on the top of my head before she kicked her legs with excitement.

"Nice excuse to let me carry you around, miss I'm-so-tired" I teased, grabbing a hold of her lower legs so she wouldn't fall off my shoulders.

The cute smile she flashed my way showed that I caught onto her little scheme before her fingers tangled gently in my hair. "Can't you just shift in your wolf? We'd get there a lot faster than in walking." Emilia said, giving a little tug on my hair as if anticipating that I'd shift right that instant.

Instead, I gave her legs a gentle squeeze from where they were kicking against my legs, almost as if she was encouraging a horse to go faster.

I snorted, shaking my head and gaining a giggle from Emilia as I tilted my head back to look at her.

"I'm not a pony or a horse, Emilia." I said only half-jokingly, halting her playful kicks with a firmer squeeze. She rolled her eyes with a little huff. "Of course not Lyra, you're a werewolf. You change into a wolf, not a horse." She explained matter-of-factly, as if I had been questioning her intelligence.

"Anyways, I'm tired from traveling, can't we go any faster?" she whined like a true pup, making me chuckle as the eight-year-old drooped over my head. "You can shift and get there quicker, right?" She begged.

Rolling my eyes, I gently pushed her back upright, forcing myself to climb the hill ahead of us. "I would if I could, little one. But shifting right now involves far too many risks."

Her legs stilled, fingers petting through my hair for a moment longer before she quietly asked, "Why would it be dangerous?"

I sighed, knowing that we were going to touch a sensitive and possibly dangerous topic. But I needed to sit down with Emilia before we crossed into pack territory.

"Do you remember what I told you earlier?" I spoke calmly, pausing for a moment to scan our surroundings. "Why I was a wolf only the first part of the journey and shifted back yesterday?"

Emilia hummed thoughtfully before replying, "Yeah... you said you couldn't be a wolf so close to the pack..." Her weight shifted as she leaned over so Emilia could look at me. "Is this because you aren't pack?"

"Yes," I sighed tiredly, cursing the fact that, even though her parents had all the time in the world, they hadn't thought to explain her anything of a life outside of the pack.

Dried leaves crackled underneath my feet as I slowly trudged further up the slope, sighing as I could finally start to see the top of the hill.

"There are several wolves that live outside of pack rule. Nomadic wolves follow pack law but prefer to roam around the world instead of being forced to remain within a territory."

A shiver ran over my spine as I continued, "Then there are Outcasts, wolves who have been banished from their packs for a variety of reasons. Some of them may be evil, some of them may be good." I shook my head before snorting.

"And then there's the rogues. Wolves that have desecrated Pack Law, who have turned their backs on their humanity. They are the reason why packs are so wary of outsiders because they attack packs at random, mauling and often killing innocent people who were at the wrong place, at the wrong time."

Emilia remained silent as I took a deep breath before continuing, "If I were to shift and charge into the Black Ridge territory, running into their pack instead of away from them will make any pack wolf believe I'm running in with the intent of to kill."

"The Border patrol will react instantly and will see me as nothing more than a savage rogue." I slowly explained, reaching up to remove Emilia from my shoulders and placed her on the floor as we reached the top of the hill.

Sad brown eyes looked up at me, fingers clutching at the hem of my shirt. "But, you aren't like those rogues! Not like the stories papa told me... You can explain to the pack that you're a good outsider, a Nomad, right?"

Rubbing a hand over my face before scratching at my nose, I avoided looking her in the eye. I didn't want to scare the poor pup with the truth of this delicate situation.

But leaving her in the dark would only make things worse. The truth was that things could turn lethal within the blink of an eye. And she deserved to know what the future might hold for me or worse, for both of us if the border patrol stumbled upon us and drew the wrong conclusions.

"Things are... not so easy." I hesitated, patting her hair as I struggled to find the correct way to explain this. "There are many possibilities, all depending on how the Black Ridge pack has dealt with outsiders in the past."

Crouching down so I was at eyelevel with the child, I gave her a calm smile. "Most of the scenarios will boil down to three options." I licked my drying lips as I held up three fingers, tapping them one by one.

"Firstly, Border patrol will listen to our explanation and will take us to a detention center, awaiting the Alpha's decision. They'll question the reason why we came, will verify what they can and depending on their findings, will allow you in and guide me back to the edge of the territory."

Emilia grinned hopefully but honestly, that was the best-case scenario. One I wasn't very hopeful for to begin with. I lowered one finger before continuing, "Second option, they will prevent me from crossing further into their pack and will bring you to your aunt while I'm guided out of the pack."

The child nodded, grinning before asking "And the third one?" I sighed, dropping my hand onto her shoulder with a gentle smile. "You will be reunited with your aunt." And I will be killed. Most packs had a kill-on-sight policy for rogues after all.

I wouldn't be surprised if they thought I had kidnapped the child and was trying to use her as leverage. Hopefully they wouldn't see her as a rogue as well.

Emilia's eyes welled over with tears before I hugged her against my chest. "Don't worry hun. There's a change that both of us will make it out unharmed. We just have to hope and believe in the best."

By now, the sun was already reaching its summit in the sky, shining down brilliantly upon us. And even this close to pack territory, I could feel the fatigue settle in, felt the need to take a nap and recover.

But the mere thought caused my wolf to become agitated. She was highly uncomfortable at the mere proximity of pack wolves and I couldn't blame her.

Last time I was this close to a pack, was just after I had been cast out, and that wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.

Clearing my throat, I pushed back up. "So, who's ready to meet the family?"

She didn't respond, a worried frown marring her features as she looked downhill, where the pack territory started somewhere.

It made sense that she would be worried about my safety, given that I was the only one she knew after the rogue attack that killed her parents. I was her little safe haven, her safety that she clutched desperately to herself.

Nudging her shoulder, I winked down at her "Come on, I'll race you to the bottom of this hill." Her frown melted away into a wide grin before she instantly bolted away, not even letting me finish my sentence.

"Cheater!" I yelled after her, grinning as it had pulled her out of the morbid mindset of earlier. She didn't stop, running as fast as her little legs carried her down the hill in a relatively safe manner.

"You cheated last time!" She tossed over her shoulder, not even shooting me a backwards glance as I chuckled and followed at a slower pace.

Within a few minutes, we slid to a halt at the bottom of the hill and close to the edge of the forest, where Emilia was celebrating her victory by dancing around.

"You had a head-start, little cheater." I complained jokingly, making her giggle as she twirled around.

"Perhaps you're just getting slow and tired. I won fair and square." Emilia defended while I held a hand to my chest, mocking being wounded by her words.

"Ouch. Perhaps I'm getting slow and tired because someone has been begging me to carry her and demand I run faster." I poked her in the stomach as I said that, an unintentional yawn slipping past my lips.

She smiled in response, tugging at my hand and guiding me over towards the edge of the forest. "Then go and take a little nap, sleepy head!"

I sighed before yawning once more, rubbing the palm of my hand over my eye. "Might as well..." I mumbled, finding a tree with a decent amount of moss on its roots before I rested my back against it.

Emilia walked over, rubbing her own small fists over her eyes while muffling a yawn of her own. It made me shake my head as I held my arms open in silent invitation.

"Who's the sleepy head now? I think someone else here wanted to take a little nap."

She didn't reply, instead curling up against my side, head resting on my thigh before she fell asleep. And I wasn't ashamed to say that I followed her within seconds.

***---***---***

Without warning I jolted awake, heart racing in my chest while all my senses became hyper aware of our surroundings. It only took me a few seconds to recognize the rhythmic sound of breaking branches and the crunching of leaves underneath paws.

Forgetting Emilia was still asleep within my lap, I jumped up, startling her awake and forcing a cry from her lips. Without a thought I muffled her cry with my hand, hushing her softly and signaling her to remain silent.

My wolf snarled as the speed of the paws picked up the second the border patrol picked up on her cry. I swallowed back a muffled curse, detecting the sound of even more approaching wolves from farther in the woods.

The sun was already dipping way further than I had anticipated and I mentally scolded myself for sleeping as long as we had.

Undoubtedly our scent had slowly spread out over the clearing, getting trapped underneath the trees and shrubberies until an alert pack wolf had picked up on the scent.

It was pure luck that I had years of experience detecting the minute changes in the natural sounds around me, or they could've ambushed us in our sleep.

The only benefit of this situation was the forest blocking the sunlight , preventing me from having to squint and be blinded in case we got attacked.

I pulled Emilia closer, picking her up and giving her a reassuring smile, even though I heard at least four wolves slowing down their gait when we got within their line of sight.

Taking a calming breath, I raised my voice. "I wish to speak with the Alpha of the Black Ridge Pack." Emilia let out a little squeak before I gently patted her back in reassurance.

Slowly, four snarling wolves prowled out of the edge of the forest. Their gaze fixed on me, hackles raised to not leave any doubt of their hostility.

All four of them were males of varying strength but none of them were the Alpha. Though there was one of the larger wolves that had a subtle surge of power within their scent.

Probably the future Alpha.

The tension was thick within the air as all the wolves slowly spread out. Furs varying in different tones of grey, brown and black, all bristled as they slowly came to a halt.

I could tell that they were communicating over their pack mind, most likely discussing their possibilities, perhaps even summoning someone to contact the Alpha.

However, there was a very subtle change within their posture that made my wolf tense and snarl out defensively. The subtle flexing followed tensing of muscles, how their claws were digging into the forest soil.

They're not going to give us a chance!

As soon as my wolf's snarl ripped through my head, I held tighter onto Emilia and darted to the side, avoiding the pouncing wolves by a hair.

They snarled, snapping their jaws as they darted after us. And even though it was a struggle, I managed to stay ahead of them. In some cases, those Alpha genes at least came to my aid.

Plus, after years of a life as an outcast, I had trained my endurance and stamina much more than most pack wolves. My life depended on my ability to outrun wolves and now wasn't any different.

Frustrated snarls sounded behind me as the pack wolves realized they wouldn't catch up, making me smirk slightly. However, that smirk dropped when a howl resounded ahead of us before the bushes exploded when another of the border patrol leapt towards us.

Purely on instinct, I managed to leap and roll over the back of the wolf. I could feel its hot breath and teeth skimming over my flesh, fur stroking over my back whilst Emilia screamed in fright.

The second I landed back on my feet, I was sprinting ahead, knowing that any hesitation on my part would result in my or perhaps, our death.

These wolves were making it obvious that they weren't going to stop to halve a chat. They were here to deal with the rogue threat and I wasn't about to find out if they had any qualms with killing a defenseless child.

A child that, whilst innocent, might be deemed a future rogue in their eyes.

I risked looking over my shoulders when the sound of the pursuing wolves slowed abruptly, making my heart chill at the sight of ten wolves that were glaring at me with murderous intent.

However, that fear was nothing compared to the sight before me as I looked back towards where I was running.

In an attempt to avoid the wolves, I had darted side to side, altering course but traveled back in the general direction we'd come from.

However, I had arrived at the sheer drop of the large hill Emilia and I had climbed earlier today. With the pack behind us, fanning out to block off any escape routes, I only had two options.

Stop and face the angered pack that had showed nothing but aggression towards us... or leap off the cliff and hope we would survive the fall.

The choice was scarily easy to make, even if the chance of surviving was slim. But my wolf urged me ahead, knowing that once these wolves caught up to us, I would be torn to shreds.

A few broken bones were a small price to pay to safe Emilia from being ripped around like a ragdoll. Shaken to death like a dug-up rabbit.

"Close your eyes." I hushed in her ear before sprinting ahead, leaping from the edge of the cliff and surrendering to the dizzying sensation of freefalling.

And as I spun us around to make sure Emilia wouldn't take the brunt of the fall, all I felt was the fear as the wolves followed the edge of the cliff, tracking my descent as Emilia's terrified screams pierced through my ears.

Pain. Sickening, bone-crunching pain as I impacted a split second before everything disappeared as I lost consciousness.