Kale's POV-

I was happy that she had returned from Grandmama's with no issues. When Nat mind-linked me that Lucy had arrived safely, I quickly put someone else in charge of checking our security preclusions. I knew that I probably shouldn't be shirking these duties, but I wanted to get to the gym as fast as possible to make sure with my own eyes that she was absolutely safe and sound. Besides, I have been told over and over again that I needed to give my warrior leaders more responsibilities... This was their chance.

I hadn't even been able to focus on my tasks because I was so damn worried about Lucy. This was becoming an issue; she was an issue. The feelings that were becoming stronger and stronger within me for her were becoming an issue. I obviously had a lot of issues. I was acting like a psycho and could barely control it.

I was always just so damn worried about her though. It had taken everything in me to not go and pick her up on Grandmama's doorstep as soon as they were done with their session. I had decided to give her a little time alone and some breathing room on the trek back from Grandmama's. I knew that she had just shut herself off from everyone for a whole week, but I wanted to give her some time and space still without overcrowding her. Plus, I figured that I needed to start showing her that I trusted her as a pack member. If I didn't show that I trusted her, no one else would as well. I also really needed to stop worrying about her all the damn time

That was an issue for me though. I couldn't stop worrying about my supposed mate. I was being ridiculous. However, trouble seemed to follow the small she-wolf everywhere, and that was what scared me. I was so very protective of her. I knew that it was an alpha thing with their mates, but it was becoming a very big nuisance... and I hadn't even accepted her as my mate! I still thought that someone was trying to trick me. All the while, though, these feelings were starting to get out of control.

I opened the door to the gym and could immediately feel the tension. Everyone was rushing towards the pup training area.

'Kale...' Sam mind-linked me, panicked.

I didn't like the panic in the word. I rushed over to the area, but I was too late. It was already happening and no matter how quick I was, I couldn't stop it. No one could. I just had to let it happen, in fears of hurting the little pup that Lucy was cradling to her chest.

When his claws sliced through Lucy's, my Luce's, back, I involuntarily let out an angered and pained howl. It was like I could feel the claws ripping through my heart as her back was shredded. The howl quickly turned into a roaring growl. How dare he even think about harming her, much less actually do it.

Still, Lucy had made no noise and just stayed crouched down while cradling the little girl to her. She was trying to breathe deeply and stay calm.

I was over to him in the blink of an eye. I launched him into the wall and pinned him there by his throat with so much force I was surprised that his neck wasn't broken. I could feel his skin crawling underneath hands as he was beginning to shift.

"No," I ordered with authority. His skin calmed as his wolf obeyed my Alpha command. He was shaking violently though.

"KALE!" Lucy's voice was much stronger than one would think after that kind of attack.

I let a little bit of pressure off his throat so that I could look at my supposed mate for a moment. She was standing, though hunched slightly, looking strong. She was still cradling the pup with care and practically pleading at me to calm down with her eyes.

Blood was dripping on the ground behind her, and her shirt was hanging loosely on her frame barely hanging on to cover her. I couldn't see the wounds, but I knew it was gruesome by the look on all the pack member's faces. The thought of all of these people seeing her like that made me even more angry.

I growled deeply. I watched her as she slowly walked over to my sister and handed the little girl to Natalie. Both of our eyes never left each other's.

"Kale," she spoke lowly as she walked to me cautiously, I didn't miss the pain in her eyes and her slight limp. "Please don't lose control; this is already a bad enough situation."

I knew I was almost shifted. I could feel that I was gradually beginning to change into my much larger wolf form from the anger at the male before. My claws were borne, more hair was erupting on me, and my ears were even probably sprouting on my head.

She touched my cheek softly as I tried to look at the man before me. "Kale, calm. I am okay; Lexi is okay."

"You're hurt," my animalistic voice said in a growl. I tightened my hand against his throat, there was no way he could breathe.

"That doesn't mean another has to be," she said softly. She trailed her soft hand down my cheek, over my neck and chest, across my arm, and down to the hand that was strangling the male that hurt her. "We can deal with him later, after we have all taken a timeout, okay?"

I didn't want to let go, but the way my body and wolf were reacting to her was remarkable. My wolf-side actually listened to her and stopped mid-shift, leaving me mostly human once again. I knew she was right. I didn't even know what happened here; I needed to understand before I reacted brashly. Regardless, I couldn't tolerate violence like that. It was not allowed in my pack. I was debating on whether or not to let go of him.

"Kale..." Her voice was mostly even and still quiet. "Would you please take me to get healed?"

I looked her in the eyes and couldn't deny the pain that was swimming there. The blood that was dripping from her back had formed a small puddle, and I knew she was losing too much blood for her already weakened body. Yet, there I was trying to kill the culprit and not taking care of her.

I instantly dropped the guy and scooped Lucy up carefully making sure to not hurt her more. She buried her face in my neck and breathed deeply just as I breathed in her scent. I walked away from the guy and passed my Beta and sister.

"Wait," Lucy whispered to me hoarsely.

I paused, against my better judgment, and she peeled her face from my neck. She looked directly at the little girl in Natalie's arms. The girl was crying so hard that she was beginning to hyperventilate.

"Lex..." Lucy's voice was soothing, "It's okay. I'm okay."

"Th-this is my fault!" the little one wailed. "I-I..."

Lucy looked up at me for a moment with a look that I couldn't quite place. It was something full of worry and understanding. She was obviously worried about the distressed pup even in spite of the deep cuts on her back that were bleeding profusely.

I almost started walking again due to how pale she was beginning to get. However, before I could start walking again, Lucy reached out to the little girl and took her from Nat's hands. I could see the struggle in her eyes and how painful the movements were for her, but she somehow still secured her in her arms through the pain. The little girl didn't add much weight to my arms as Lucy was already underweight so even with the child cradled to her, they were almost nothing for me to carry. She settled back into my arms after she secured the girl on her body, trying to avoid hurting her wounds at the same time. She soothingly whispered into the girl's ears while cuddling her while trusting me to get them both to where she needed to go.

I was impressed, to say the least. She looked so dignified and poised that you could've overlooked the wounds had they not been spilling out blood everywhere. Only I could tell how exhausted and pained she was.

Everyone around us stared at my supposed mate and I, bewildered before I walked away. No one could understand how someone with deep wounds like that could be worried about others in that moment. Lucy was special and they were beginning to see that. Lucy could see things in people and situations that others couldn't, not only due to her divine powers either... It was just the type of person she was. I prayed that they were starting to see that now. I knew that we all needed Lucy as a part of the pack, and it wasn't even about winning the war at that point... We just needed her.

---

I sat Lucy down on the bed in a room that had already been prepared for her due to my mind-linking Doc on the way to the hospital. She was pale and I could tell she was dizzy. The amount of blood that covered me and my clothes was unnerving to say the least. She lost too much for comfort.

I was worried about her. All the while though, she was just cradling the little pup and comforting her. She had her calmed all the way down by the time we stepped into the room. How she had gotten the distraught little one so calm so quickly, I didn't understand. She had a special way about herself, a calming and loving energy. She really would make a spectacular Luna.

"Lucy..." Doc said softly with a calming smile. He was used to much more volatile and rough wolves. Most wolves were rather mean when hurt. Lucy just smiled weakly at the man. "I need to examine your back," he explained.

Fear flared in Luce's eyes, but she nodded silently. She tried to shift the little girl somehow to cradle her while Doc could do his job, but there was no way that she could do that efficiently. She looked at me in panic as she realized that she was going to have to let the girl down. She had just gotten her calm too...

I sighed, I had never been incredibly good with children, but this was obviously important to Lucy.

"Lexi," I cooed softly. "Why don't you let me hold you for a little bit while we let Lucy get all fixed up?"

Lexi whined and then her eyes widened when she looked at me as if she just realized that I was even there. "Alpha!" Lexi said and stood up and bowed her head in respect.

I could see the disappointment in Lucy's eyes when she saw Lexi's reaction to me. It made me want to whine in distress.

"Kale is fine for now, little one. Come here, sweetheart," I said as soothingly as possible.

"Go on, Lex, he won't bite," Lucy said and brushed her hair back gently. "He's not near as scary as he thinks he is..." She joked and got Lexi to laugh. "Get to know your Alpha..."

Lexi approached me cautiously and I scooped her up. It took a lot of convincing for both of us... but I finally stepped outside of the room as a female nurse helped Lucy change into a hospital gown. Doc watched me solemnly as I paced back and forth with Lexi in my arms out in the hallway impatiently until the nurse finally opened the door again.

"She is decent and asking for y'all," she said softly.

I held Lexi and moved to a chair to be out of the way but still within Lucy's sight. I was deliberately staying to the front of Lucy who was on her stomach on a raised bed for Doc to work on her. The few looks of the flesh hanging off her back was enough to make me sick; I couldn't imagine if a little pup like Lexi saw it. It wasn't the worse wound I had ever seen, but it being on someone as sweet and caring as Lucy made it worse. Not to mention, the fierce protectiveness I felt over her. I could tell that Lexi was already super attached to Lucy, her seeing it would scar her for life probably. I obviously didn't want that.

Still, Lexi was trying to get a peek at it even from where we were sitting, so I began talking to her to distract her. "So little one, how old are you?"

"S-seven, Alpha," she answered timidly.

"Really? Wow!" I said excitedly, trying to get her to loosen up. I honestly was surprised though. She was so small. "When did you turn seven?"

"Last week."

"What?! No way! Happy late birthday, Lexi! Are you excited for your first full moon run?"

Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head no. I furrowed my eyebrows, the first shift was iconic and everyone looked forward to it, I had thought. Why didn't this little one? I could understand nervousness but not outright unwillingness.

"Why not, little one?" I asked curiously. She just looked at her lap as tears were threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. "Hey, its okay Lex. You can tell me. What's wrong?"

"I-I can't keep up. I'm going to be left behind and lost, just like today." The little girl was getting worked up again and Lucy peered over to us obviously worried.

I smoothed Lexi's hair out and hugged her to me. She was scared for the run. The first shift was already scary and not being a good runner added stress. We would deal with that later though. I didn't want to upset both her and Lucy even more at that moment.

"Let's not think about that right now, okay? I think Luce needs us to hold her hands, what do you think?"

"That might be nice," she answered.

I smiled and carried her over closer to Lucy who looked up at me relieved. I made sure to put Lexi down before we got all the way to her so she couldn't see her bloody back. Doc was over halfway done with stitching the claw marks up. Thankfully, with the height of the bed, Lexi was too small to see over Lucy's shoulder to see her back. I, however, could...

As Doc stitched her up, I gazed at her back. Without the shirt and the blood gushing out of the claw markings, I could see the other scars that marred her back vividly. Her whole back was covered with marks of various kinds. I involuntarily let out a growl at the thought of everything she had been through. No wonder the girl didn't even scream as the claws slashed through her skin.

Lucy turned to me and I stared at her face. I could tell she knew exactly what was wrong.

"Later, not now," she reassured me and grasped my hand gently.

I nodded once as I brushed my fingers across the back of Lucy's hand. I whispered how strong she was in her ear as doc stitched her up slowly. She was... so completely and utterly strong in so many ways. It was amazing.

Maybe this wasn't a trick, her being my mate... What if it really was fate? Could it have been Divine intervention of some sort? I wasn't sure, but if The North had send her to me in hopes of bringing me down with a weak mate, then they surely didn't really know her.

She didn't even know her own strength. Fleming had done an excellent job at making her question herself and everything she was. I wanted so bad to show her that she could be so much more than what she thought she was. I just had to believe in her first... I needed to decide if I believed what she had told me was true, if I could trust in my own feelings.

I believed in her as an Oracle, but I had been burned too many times before. I had let myself believe too many others who had told me that they were my mate, only to be let down when I realized that it wasn't true. I didn't think I could handle being let down again, especially by Lucy. Hell, I didn't think my whole pack could handle being fooled again. I truly didn't think that Lucy was trying to hurt us in any way, but if this was a trick and The North was trying to tear us down by using her, then I would be completely destroyed when I figured out the truth... My whole pack would be.

I knew that I needed to trust, and I needed to get over being burned before. A good Alpha would look at this from all angles. I couldn't completely write off her claims because they really could be true, and I could be what was standing in the way of mine and my pack's happiness. However, I needed to be cautious. Just because I wanted a mate for both me and my pack, it didn't mean that I could go into this blindly. I needed to get to know Lucy more to see if I truly could trust her fully. She seemed genuine and I was completely sure that she was being one hundred percent truthful about her feelings towards me because I was feeling the same things... but magic and trances could be very convincing.

I wanted her as my Luna; she'd make a magnificent Luna. I just had to make damn sure that she was everything that I thought she was. I had to believe in her. I had to trust her.