---Zayne's POV---

What are they doing?

I was a bit curious as to why they hadn't attacked me yet but I would've been crazy to try and get out from under the bed. My eyes slowly glanced at the pair of bowls, drool slowly dripping down the corners of my lips as I felt my stomach gurgle in protest.

Food. They placed food within my reach...I kept swallowing; trying to stop the flood of saliva but it was useless. I couldn't stop shivering as I pitched my ears, wincing when the left one felt a little sore. I couldn't even move the tip of it completely but instead, it flopped forwards.

My nose twitched, smelling cold rice, chicken and some vegetables along with clean water. The drooling only got worse as the scent wafted towards me as I curled together, trying to ignore the growing protests of my stomach.

"Not my food."

I slowly turned around, getting a full view of the room and everyone in it. Instincts were still screaming in my head, telling me to duck and roll over in submission but I figured I was safe, for now.

My heart rate was finally calming down from its manic racing as I observed this strange pack. Nobody was trying to dominate me, trying to shove me on my back or even growl in my direction.

"What a weird pack..."

Letting my eyes wander, I glanced around the room, trying to calculate the right way to flee if they ever decide to come after me. Most of the wolves had shifted back and sat in the couches on the opposite side of the bed, where they talked softly to each other.

I could feel eyes on me and instantly lowered down as one of the wolves passed by, sniffing softly at the bedding before it walked away towards the other door. Following its movement intently, I almost missed how one of the slender, younger males had cocked its head as it watched me, curiously.

When he caught me looking, he smiled warmly, blue eyes glittering happily before his happy expression slowly drooped as I shuffled backwards, pushing further against the wall.

He kept looking, ignoring the scowls from the woman beside him or the not so subtle kicks she was aiming his way before my breath hitched in my throat when he jumped up and shifted.

My head tilted to the side as a rather unusual wolf dropped down on all fours. I mean, it didn't look like any of the other wolves I've ever seen before. It was slender with long, elegant legs covered in black fur, shifting to a warm red fur on the rest of his body.

It was significantly smaller than the other wolves but it still had a few inches on me. My eyes widened as it took a hesitant step forwards, stopping as one of the males called him back.

"Seth, don't. I know but just-" the man stopped as the wolf, Seth, twitched his ears and flicked with his tail, making the larger male narrow his eyes playfully. Before any of them could move though, I heard the distant slam of the door and instantly froze, feeling my heart rate spike again.

More? There are more of them?

By now I was pressed flat against the floor, feeling my fur soaking in drool but I couldn't stop! My shivering was starting to get worse and I winced as the door slammed open harshly, followed by the entrance of three huge, muscular and rather loud males.

They were laughing, shoving each other in the room before one of them tripped the other two up, followed by a couple of growls from the two guys as they fell down and started wrestling with each other.

"Guys!"

I panted, keeping my eyes on the balls of snarling and snapping fur as the three wolves went at each other while the rest rolled their eyes like this was a regular occurrence. A few jumped to break the fight up.

When the two wolves got closer and bumped against the bed, I let out a soft cry of fear, my gut clenching together when the wolves stopped in their tracks to inspect the sound. The other wolves growled and instantly shoved the three away as they curiously sniffed around the bed, trying to look underneath it.

I didn't see how they shifted back or how they laid flat on their stomachs to look at me, sadness instantly flashing on their faces, nor could I feel the sorrow or the sympathy that rolled off of them in heavy waves.

All I saw and felt were memories of my past, my present and probably my future.

---Seth's POV---

I mentally rolled my eyes as Wyatt was standing on his tiptoes, hands splayed out on his hips and looking as threatening and dangerous as a playful kitten as he scolded our three troublemakers for making such a loud and unnecessarily volatile entrance.

Still, Terrance, Dylan and Brandon were slowly backing up with their hands in the air as if they had encountered an angry momma bear with her cubs. "But," I thought to myself with a grin twitching on my muzzle, "In this situation, Wyatt is more dangerous than a mother bear with protective instincts."

Marcus' snort told me he had heard my thoughts but hell, I probably projected them anyways. Not that I cared; the pack was family and this family looked after each other. I had already figured out that Alpha Lee had holed himself up in his office not because of the pup's terrified whines but because his wolf demanded justice and the heads of Zayne's abusers on a silver plate.

My eyes flashed back to the terrified Omega, a soft snort slipping from my nose as I spotted the trembling pile of fur in the farthest corner. Damned war wolves and their obnoxious behavior. Terrance, a huge guy that even towered over Marcus, was now being scolded and yanked around by the ear, whining and whimpering that he didn't know Zayne was under the bed.

Amusement warmed my stomach as I sat on my haunches and enjoyed the show for a moment. Dylan and Brandon were shooting longing glances as the door and calculating looks at Wyatt, as if trying to figure out if they could risk taking a break for the door before the mother hen of the pack tackled them to the floor.

Well, there was no way out now; Sebastian had spotted their looks and like the dutiful mate he was, he blocked their exit off. The bundles of muscle and power paled visibly and already whimpered when Wyatt turned on them but my focus wasn't on the pack any more.

Quickly trotting to the bed, I slid underneath, letting my eyes instantly adapt to the darkness underneath it. Marcus may have said that I shouldn't go near Zayne now but though luck; he didn't know what I knew.

And as soon as my eyes landed on the pup, it only reaffirmed my thoughts.

"Seth, get out from under that bed, right now." Wyatt growled lowly, making me flatten my ears on instinct but I stayed put, keeping my eyes on the little wolf a few steps away. I took a step, frowning when he didn't react, not even when I crawled right up next to him.

Oh shit.

"Seth, I'm warning you-"

"Warn me later but correct me if I'm wrong. Doesn't shock become lethal if left untreated?" My sharp and urgent question rang through everyone's mind before the bed was nearly thrown to the side. Zayne didn't even so much as blink, he was simply shaking all over his slender little body, soaking wet from drooling excessively and panting extremely fast.

Alice instantly yanked the pup to her chest, not caring that her shirt would be drenched as she scurried out of the room. My paws rushed to follow her as the war wolves quickly cleared a path with guilt struck faces.

Judging from the state Zayne was in, I doubted his shock was caused by internal bleeding, so as soon as we rushed into our build-in hospital ward, I rushed straight for the cupboards that held the IV lines and barked sharply, clawing at the door.

"For fuck's sake Seth, shift back then!"Greg growled, making me snarl back at him as I snapped back, "You know I can't control my shifts when I'm too exited, you dick." He rolled his eyes and pushed me out of the way, nearly ripping the cupboard door of its hinges as he tossed an IV bag over his shoulders.

Yeah, there was a little tension between Greg and me, glad you spotted that. Personally, I think it was because my wolf was rather unique and a lot smaller than his own big and normal timber wolf.

I sighed deeply as Alice quickly shaved Zayne's front paw and applied the IV, adding a slight sedative to keep the pup calm. When a hand brushed over my mane, I leaned back and closed my eyes, trying to calm down again.

"Good work Seth." Lee muttered as he scratched my neck and the long fur there. I blinked dup at the Alpha with a tired look before stepping away, feeling uncomfortable.

The reason why I knew what to do was that I had been in a slightly similar situation like Zayne, once. Being a Maned wolf, I had been sold to the Black Market and fallen in the hands of an Alpha who deemed himself a collector.

Alpha Lee had visited my former Alpha once, on pack business. He was the one who discovered the fact that Alpha Cloven was growing out of control, hoarding werewolves and stealing pups from their mothers to add them to his collection.

The sad thing of everything? We thought it was normal. It was our way of life; we were born in it and grew up with it so surely, there was nothing wrong with how we were treated, right?

Of course, I hadn't been abused nowhere near as bad as Zayne, judging from the scars that littered his tiny body. You couldn't scar something that you wanted to show off, right? But I had a feeling where his mental state was at, his self-worth or lack thereof.

Being treated like an object instead of a living, breathing and thinking person could break anyone, let alone while being abused. Not only did Zayne had to fight against his physical wounds, he still had to push away the 'normality' of his former pack.

For now, we were the abnormal pack, and the thought of it made my stomach churn with my lunch threatening to come out. Jumping to my paws, I walked up to the soft bed they prepared for Zayne and hopped on, glancing at the Omega before looking up at Alice.

"I think we can find out how old he is, judging from the wear on his teeth." I muttered, making her smile warmly as she quickly petted me over my head, to my reluctance. I did smile when Lee had to fight of the rest of the pack from clambering all over the little Omega as they were eager to curl up beside him.

"No, we're not going to swarm and overwhelm the pup, that's something for when he's settled in." Lee added with a soft smile before randomly pointing at me, Dimitri and sadly enough, Greg. Fortunately with picking Dimitri, Wyatt would be there too.

I sighed deeply and laid my head on my paws. Tonight was going to be a very loooooooooong night.