I had believed Thorn's theory for years. It was the only truth I could comprehend. It was a thought process that alleviated some of the horrendous pain that had whirled within me after I had lost everything. It allowed blame to be placed on someone. It made a species accountable for the tragedy that I had suffered.

Humanity was bad. Humanity was the reason that my mother left, my brother had perished, and my former pack had gone up in flames. It was the single similar participant in all of the events. My father's unreliable sense of humanity seemed to play a part in everything that had caused my world to change and led me to a very different life from the one I expected to live as a child.

But my perspective was altering now.

I loved Thorn. He had led me through some of my darkest nights, kept me warm and dry when the sky opened up with wild rains, and he would silently hold me when I sobbed with loneliness. He had been an amazing leader and the one I needed the most. Or, at least I thought he had been before I had been thrown into that awful dungeon.

Griffin hadn't been anticipated. I never considered what consequences would come from being mated to the prince, the man I had lived against for seven years, because it didn't seem like a possible outcome. If anything it seemed like a joke that was too cruel to be played. But it had become a factual part of my life very quickly and though I couldn't fully understand why it had already begun changing my views.

Griffin was entirely human. There was not denying it. And he carried all of the traits that came with the title with pride and honesty. He was kind and compassionate. He was thoughtful and articulate. His limited amount of instincts meant that he ran off of what he deemed to be rationale instead of animalistic impulses. He was considerate in situations that would cause werewolves to take violent action. But I didn't truly think that his soft and thoughtful ways were necessarily toxic. Unlike what I was used to, absolutely, but not destructive like Thorn claimed.

I now knew that Thorn would never see Griffin the way I saw him, he would never give my mate a chance. And it was only reasonable to think that Griffin would never be fond of someone who was still striving to bring down his family, the entire royal bloodline. I briefly wondered what Griffin would think if he knew how much I loved the werewolves who had such brash accusations against him. It wasn't a beautiful train of thought and I immediately decided that if it was within my power I would never let Griffin found out. in addition to this I had to make sure that he and Thorn never crossed paths.

For now, my mind was a mess and my purpose was unclear. Yet, I remained in human form just as Thorn had demanded. A couple of evenings had passed since he had taken me back to my old packlands and broke my heart all over again. He no longer touched me and I was deeply thankful for that as I presumed it meant that he was- at least temporarily- respecting the fact that I was mated to someone else. But everything was still very tense. I wanted to confront him about his actions, tell him that it didn't change my reality of being mated to the prince that he so despised. I held my tongue because now was not the time for such altercations.

There was a heavy weight over the small, makeshift pack. Though no one voiced it I knew that all the new members resented me slightly. They were all united with Thorn on the common belief that the royals should not be human. That werewolves should be ruling over the werewolf realm. And I had returned with wonderful leverage and mis-matched views. I had come back, but not to help, to hinder, their plans. My lack of conformity spurred their hardened leader to instruct a midnight excursion that had been both exhausting and painful. It only seemed fair that they were merely tolerating me for the time being.

The only person who wasn't acting like I was a leper was Hunter and he was too timid and too terrified to voice his supporting thoughts.

While I didn't know where the future would take me I knew that I wouldn't survive long on my own which meant I had to make sure that the other wolves wanted to keep me around. Thorn seemed to know that this would be my next logical approach and decided to ruin my plan by ordering the pack to focus on their wolf- based skills.

"Not you, your wolf is not the focus right now. You can shift to eat and that's it." Thorn snapped when I moved to shift with everyone else in the middle the forest.

I almost left out a huff of frustration but repressed it and simply began to re-lace my grubby dress. But as much as Thorn tried to ostracise me I made sure that my good intentions were known. He might've been the leader but I had always been the intelligence behind each action. Working against him would be harder, but manageable.

As the new recruits fumbled in their wolf forms, much like I had all those years ago, I heard Thorn snarling and yipping at them. And his disciplining would only become firmer as they continued to make mistakes. He had never been one for positive reinforcement.

But I was.

I watched the female stumble and land on her stomach, the small hare she had been chasing was already long gone.

"You are too focused on catching the prey and not worried enough about your surroundings. The roots and ruts you don't see are your greatest enemies now." I advised, nearing her. When I was close enough that no one would over hear us I also added, "And you're too nervous. I know that Thorn is harsh, but your only focus should be the environments and the task. Pleasing Thorn will not keeping you alive in the wilderness."

If a wolf could blush I'm sure she would've. But she set off, hunting down another meal without another thought. I hoped that she caught something soon before Thorn's harsh rebuttal destroyed the hope I had put in her.

I progressed onto one of the males, thinking that he was moving too loudly and clumsily. He was a powerful creature, a warrior, but he had been fighting other wolves. Now he had to sneak up on creatures with impressive hearing. After he destroyed another chance to eat I spent some time with him, showing him how to move slower, but softer and therefore quieter. Once I felt like he had a fighting chance I sent him off again. As he disappeared from my view the female came back into view with a small brown hare clenched in her jaws. Pride radiated off of her and it seemed that my plan to undermine Thorn was working wonderfully.

I was about to move to congratulate her when I saw her jaw loosen and the dead rabbit fell to the forest floor. Her nostrils flared as she breathed deeply. The male wolf I had just sent off also froze. Hunter and Thorn reappeared. Hunter was tense and pensive, his brown wolf low with nervousness.

The air became eerily still as everyone stopped moving for a moment.

Then, Thorn looked like he was nearly smirking. His hulking wolf moved into a position of aggression and offense. I watched him closely, trying to gauge what they were sensing that my poor human nose could not detect. Maybe a large enough creature had stumbled onto his training session and we were all about to be fed.

Thorn threw his head back and let out a strong howl and set off at a sprint.

His loud announcement sent the small pack running in the same direction.

I knew I would be punished but I could not be left behind. I was starving and far too curious for my own good. Without a second thought, or any regard for the vile dress, I shifted immediately. Though I landed on my four paws in what felt like seconds I knew the pack would've already covered so much ground. I inhaled intensely, loving the feel of my wonderful senses once more.

I could smell Thorn easily, his power making his scent strong. Then there was the familiarity of Hunter, softer but so easy for me to remember and identify. The three new scents were harder to place, but I could follow them relatively effortlessly. I took off running, following their trail. After ten strides I breathed in again, making sure they hadn't changed directions suddenly when they were out of my view.

Each scent hit my nose.

Two males. One female. Hunter. Thorn.

Griffin.

My mate was here.

I stumbled. The shock that hit my system at my mate's scent caused my legs to go weak for a moment as pleasure and delight pulsed in my heart. But then it was replaced by panic. And the adrenaline that flowed through my veins made my weakened lengths grow immense strength. Power surged within me, each stride longer than the last, carrying me through the forest at such a high speed that it was almost self-endangering. If I fell I was sure I would shatter my bones. It didn't matter. I pushed harder, only caring about one thing. But no matter how rapidly I moved my legs or how long my strides were I felt like I wasn't moving fast enough.

Trees blurred by. My sensitive paws were plunged into icy water from a creek that I hadn't noticed. The scents grew stronger. A clearing in the trees opened up before me.

Just as I caught sight of my pack Griffin's rough voice reached my ringing ears. He let out a harsh grunt of pain. I instinctively lowered my head down and snarled, hating the idea of my mate being in pain and petrified of what I would find.

The scene before me almost made my heart stop as I drew closer.

The two burly males were standing on either side of my mate. Each of them had a firm hold on Griffin's delicate human wrists. One hard bite would break the bones with ease. As they clenched their jaws tighter and tilted their heads downward Griffin lowered himself down onto his knees. He knew that he was no match for these beasts.

And with the human prince defenseless and forcibly submissive Thorn's massive wolf took slow, calculated steps towards him. It seemed he had found his own prey. The self-appointed alpha of our pack had his teeth bared, exposing his sharp teeth and gums as he snarled. But it wasn't a threat; it was a sound of victory.

The human prince he hated so much was finally at his mercy.

*****Next chapter comes at 25 votes! I hope you all enjoyed it! What do you think of the pack growing? What do you think Thorn will do to Griffin?*****