I was lost.

After fleeing from the wolf-humans, I ran until my legs were trembling, my pads swollen and torn and whole body aching. Now, as I slowly woke up, I realized I was no longer in a forest, nor was I in the mountains.

Instead, I found myself pressed against a lone tree in the middle of a clearing. Picking this spot to sleep must've been from pure exhaustion because anyone could see me laying here.

I could faintly remember that I had been trudging along for more than just one day... but for how long, I had no idea. Judging by the way my body was trembling, it seemed more than two days.

What concerned me the most though, was the road I spotted in the distance, several cars passing by. I could still see the mountains in the distance, but they were far, far away. Yawning, I stretched myself and felt my muscles protest sharply.

Moving forwards, my ears flicked to the side as I realized that walking was going to be a challenge today. Already my paws were throbbing, seemingly on fire. I could feel several muscles twitch as I simply stood and my throat was throbbing something fierce.

Glancing up, I yawned again before slowly walking away from the tree. I didn't even know what I was looking for now. Wolves? I couldn't trust them, as it seemed they could change to humans too. Humans? They'd put me in a cage, mock me, bind me and force me to fight some of their pets.

What was left to trust?

My eyes landed on the road, or rather the dense forest behind it. I couldn't smell my scent coming from that direction, so I knew the weird human wolves were somewhere on the other side of this clearing.

Still, I was hesitant to approach the road. Humans were after all humans... who's to say they wouldn't simply turn my way with those obnoxiously noisy and not to mention smelly devices?

I picked up speed when I noticed there was a considerable gap for me to cross the road, the approaching car slowing down as the humans spotted me. With ears flattened against my skull, I almost didn't notice that there was in fact a fence along the road, which made me jump at the very last second.

My stomach scraped over the barbed wire on top, which ended up wrapped around my hind paw. I howled and twisted as I fell but as I hung there, I felt my heart starting to race.

I was stuck! They're going to catch me !

Kicking with my legs, I squirmed and wriggled, feeling the wire dig deeper and deeper into my paw. The humming of an engine came closer, a soft, metallic squeal sounded before the car stopped right beside me.

Using my front paws to twist around, I glanced over my shoulder and squirmed even more when I saw a car idling there, the humans already stepping out. I didn't focus on what they were saying; even if I did, all I heard was my blood roaring in my ears as my heart raced in my chest.

I felt a slight movement and flinched, twisting my head to see the man on the other side of the wire...with...wire clippers?

Don't touch me!

My teeth were bared, ears twisted back and eyes wide but much to my surprise, the human didn't back off. Instead he spoke softly to his companion, waiting for his reply before reaching forwards with the clippers.

I squinted my eyes, waiting for the pain but blinked in confusion when the man worked on the wire that held me. Every snip was accompanied with a jerk on the wire, which admittedly hurt but it also dropped me a few inches ever time.

Suddenly I heard them cheer as the world toppled down and all four paws connected to the floor. I didn't wait for them to have a second thought of letting me alive and instead bolted for the woods, hearing the men shout out behind me.

When I came to a halt, I realized that part of the wire was still attached to my leg, circling around it. I tried to ignore it but as I lifted my leg, the barbed wire dug in deeper, making me wince.

I tried lapping at the wound but that didn't really work either. Sniffing the wire, I hesitantly grasped it between my teeth, softly tugging at it. All it did was tighten the coils around my legs, forcing the other barbs to dig in further and I quickly released it.

Shit! Now what? I need all four legs to hunt properly...

My head shot up as I heard voices approaching and saw the humans standing a few steps into the road, looking around. They seemed to talk to one another while holding a small device to their ear.

"Oh, there! Hey boy...it's okay, we're not going to hurt you..." The man spoke softly, curling his fingers as he crouched. I raised my hackles and snarled, snapping with my teeth. My tail might be tucked firmly against my belly but I was prepared to bite if he dared to do anything funny.

"Shhh, it's okay dear. The vet's on his way..." The man stayed put, talking to me as I turned, keeping my wounded side away from him. A low growl rumbled through my chest as I eyed this human.

"Why is he just sitting there?" I wondered curiously, feeling a trickle of rain starting up. My fur allowed the rain to slip off easily but this human was surely getting cold and soaked....

"What are you doing, you weird human?"

It wouldn't understand me anyways and I sniffed the air to make sure this was a real human...not one of those weird...wolf humans. But his scent was purely human, slightly tainted by salt and ... smoky beef?

"You must be in pain...poor guy." He slowly moved his hand in his pocket, coming back with something brown and twisted before he snapped a piece off. I flinched back when he threw it at me, snarling at it when it bounced and landed a few inches away.

My eyes flicked back to the man, growling in distrust as I tried my best to ignore whatever he threw at me... but... that scent... My nose kept twitching, stomach growling until it won, and I slowly edged closer to sniff at the dried beef.

It was gone in a quick gulp but as I was leaned down, I heard the faintest click before a sharp pain pierced through my rump. I whined and twisted my head, snatching an empty dart between my teeth and tossed it before dashing away.

A few shouts rang out behind me as I darted between trees, the wire snagging behind branches until I tripped when it latched around a root.

I could hear the humans approaching, could feel the vibrations of their heavy footprints through my paws and gulped. Turning, I ran in a tight circle, unable to get the wire out and tripped a few times trying to. Suddenly I sagged through my paws, my vision oddly wobbly.

What's going...on....

...I feel.....sick....

A slight whine escaped me before I felt a soft pressure on my leg, warmth brushing through my fur and tilting my head up while I couldn't do anything. I could hear voices but they were growing more and more distant with every second until I passed out.

When I woke up, I was extremely groggy, shaking on my legs and in a small cage. I could smell disinfectants, canines and felines all mixed with the scent of fear. My throat felt sore but as I moved, I noticed there was some kind of wrap around it.

Glancing down, I spotted another wrapping around my hind paw and what seemed to be some dull colors sprayed on by leg.

Weird.

Licking at the wounds gave off a disgusting taste so I quickly stopped, especially when I felt some odd knots scraping over my tongue. What the hell is happening here?

Laying my head down, I listened for any sound that seemed human and heard a few voices. It took a while before a door opened and then two pair of footsteps approached.

"Is this the one Adam?"

A man in a green uniform approached and crouched, nodding as he gazed at me. I silently bared my teeth and backed away as far as I could.

"Yes, though I'd thought Dimitri or Marcus would've come for this one. At least, they were here for the last suspected wolf." My eyes flitted back and forth as another man crouched down, his eyes thoughtful as he sniffed the air.

"There is a... special guest back home that Marcus would hate to miss. Dimitri is still parking the car." He leaned closer and sniffed, making me flicker my ears slightly in confusion.

Licking my nose, I sniffed the air myself and tucked my tail closer to my belly... there was something... off. That one man, Adam, smelled pretty human to me. But the other one...

His scent was too... wild to be human.

Instinctively my lips curled to bare my teeth, body curling up to hide my wounded side. Already I could feel my heart starting to race as I panted, wondering what was going on here.

"I think he's...you know..." The man spoke softly, giving Adam a meaningful look before looking back at me. "But he doesn't... smell normal to me."

Speak for yourself.

"Hey Dorian, Adam. So, what do we have here?" Another voice spoke up, a young man leaning down to look in. I growled warningly at the feeling of being crowded and swallowed nervously, flicking my tongue over my teeth when two pairs of eyes flashed golden.

Wolf-men.

No wonder their scent is off.

"Okay, let's get a crate in here and Adam, you close off that door. Don't want this youngster escaping from us." Dorian spoke up while reaching forwards to unlock the gate.

My ears were pressed flat against my head now, breath panting past my lips as my eyes flashed from one person to the other. What were they up to? I saw their kin in the forest... heard them attack another wolf...

Maybe, they want me just like those humans once did. To be pitted against them but this time, to fight to the death.

My heart froze as panic coursed through my veins. I could see Adam pushing the door shut after he stepped outside, could see the men placing the crate in front of my cage.

No way am I getting in there! No way!

"Easy. We're not here to hurt you Rogue, we're just here to help you." Dorian muttered softly, opening the cage just far enough so I'd step into the crate. I simply stared at them both, not moving from my spot as I growled lowly.

When I saw the man attempt to reach in to grab my scruff, I let out a warning bark, which racketed off the walls. It was an unusual sound for wolves, only used when there was danger...sad to say, I've never been in a more dangerous situation in my life!

"Shhh, hey, its okay. We're friends." The younger one coed, pushing the gate open a bit more. He reached a hand in and paused halfway, as if allowing me to take a sniff. I wasn't that stupid. I knew as soon as I'd lean forwards to sniff at his hand, he'd reach further in and snatch my scruff.

I simply stayed back and growled lowly, trying to warn them off while at the same time not angering these weird...wolves. I guess they could be called wolves, right?

The young man sighed deeply, shaking his head. "He's not coming out on his own, that's for sure." Dorian nodded, sighing too. "Guess we'll need to sedate him. Go ask Adam for a tranquilizer."

I watched the young man stand up while the other one slid the crate back. My instincts gave me a slight push that I didn't need, as I was already shoving the small gate open with my muzzle.

The man just outside the cage wasn't very stable on his feet and stumbled back with a curse. "Dimitri!" The younger man turned slightly, hand on the doorknob, eyes widening comically.

"Whoa boy, easy!" He yelped, hands trying to grab on as I had jumped into him, toppling us both over and into the jarred door. It flew open, slamming into the wall and giving me a way to freedom.

I snarled and whined, twisting in the youngster's hold as he tried his best to hang on while at the same time keeping me away from his face. Managing to twist free, I leapt forwards, yelping as fingers grasped at my wounded paw, if only for a moment.

"Shit, sorry!"

My eyes were locked onto the light as I darted around the wall, ignoring the startled screams. I could already hear the two men following me, could see a human jumping up from her seat behind a desk.

"Stop that wolf!"

"Get him!"

Several voices shouted out at once as I looked for a way out, spotting a large opening to the forest outside. I panted as I darted for my escape and slamming into some invisible wall. I shook my head and ran alongside it to find an opening and then I was outside.

I ran over the dirt and ignored a few screeching tires and obnoxious honks. As soon as I was in the covers of the woods, I felt my heart calm down slightly.

Only until I heard the sound of ripping clothes and two sets of paws gaining on me.