The young brunette girl felt as if there were ropes surrounding her, constricting the airways in her lungs.

Torn between the past and the present.

So much had changed but some things felt the same in the oddest of ways. Her own inner demons and inability to truly feel as if she belonged here or there was becoming an increasingly more difficult problem as the days rolled into weeks.

A feeling that she now did not belong anywhere - or perhaps, she belonged in the grey hues of the world.

Unseen and forgotten.

While Ace seemed like a mad man on a mission to find her, she knew coming back would be more like a trap than a welcome home.

A death sentence disguised as a rescue.

Something inside of her no longer trusted those from before. The lies they spoke that took deep and dark roots inside of her, finally became visible.

The words she believed once upon a time seemed only like stories now.

Someone once told her that the victor always lives to tell the tale in their perspective. This became more apparent the more Ryder showed her this world that she had been kept from and lied to about.

Her mother swore the shapeshifters were the true foe but as time changes just as the wind does, Alisa no longer believed they were the greatest foe she would have to yet face.

But something also told her that the wolves couldn't be trusted either - something felt odd about both worlds, as if she no longer had a real home or a place to feel a true belonging to.

Despite Ryder and the others constantly reminding her that this is their home but she still felt out of place.

A home she had not earned, only used lies to keep her head above the water. Barely it seemed at times.

She had woken up not long ago, learning that she had been passed out for two whole days. Yet, she felt the exact same as she did those two days before.

Nothing had changed for her. Her sense of belonging only seemed to blur more.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

The sound of Parker's voice lulled Alisa out of her inner thoughts of turmoil and she was thankful for the distraction.

"I'm okay, thank you," she murmured softly, sitting up slowly.

"I heard I was out for two days by your mother," she quickly added, looking up to finally meet his eyes.

They only showed relief and that comforted her in a way.

"Yeah, you gave us all quite a scare back there," he chuckled, running a hand through his red hair.

"What...what happened?"

"Well, truth is we aren't sure. We were hoping you'd tell us because Ryder and the girls aren't saying a word," he answered, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

A weird feeling erupted in the pit of Alisa's stomach. Either she had heard Ryder wrong before passing out or he was yet to inform the pack they were 'mates'.

The word felt odd on her tongue and she felt undeserving of such a title, much less the Luna part of that equation.

Her head began hurting at the very thought, and her heart began beating rapidly in her chest almost similar to the moment she transformed on the night of her first arrival at Snake's Canyon.

Stumbling into the Sabor Tooth's pack lands wasn't exactly what she had intended to do but she was thankful for the way things had turned out seemingly well in the past couple years for her.

Yet, it still felt off and she couldn't shake that feeling no matter how welcomed they made her feel. Not a single thing either of them could do would change that and being Ryder's supposed mate surely wouldn't.

"I...," she started, unsure how to begin telling Parker what happened.

Her memories were still frazzled, like jumbled up puzzle pieces inside of her mind.

The young seventeen year old wasn't even sure if she remembered Ryder saying the word 'mate'.

Almost felt like a hallucination to her in a way.

"Mine."

The single word alone could create shivers down the lost girl's spine.

A word uttered by a voice unfamiliar to her ears, deeper and more mature. It came from Ryder's mouth but it wasn't his voice.

It was like something else had taken over him in that moment and Alisa wasn't sure she could even trust her hazy memories of that day.

"I don't really remember, I'm sorry," she finally decided on, looking away from Parker unable to meet his eyes with her lie.

Her resolve would surely crumble.

"Oh no, maybe I best get the Theta. Amnesia can be a tricky side effect of head wounds. Hitting a plant on your way down will surely do that to you," Parker chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood at hand.

"No, there's no need. I'm fine really, it's just slightly blurry at the ends. But I'm sure they'll come back in no time."

He only waved her off before getting up to find his mother, the Lead Medic, Mabel.

Alisa's thoughts stayed trained on Ryder's strange new voice that had befallen her ears. A part of her enjoyed the raspier version but she had an inkling who that could've been instead of Ryder.

"Do you know why I brought you out here, Alisa?"

"Another shape shifting lesson?" The frustrated fifteen year old huffed out.

"I know you guys saw me do it once but maybe it was just a fluke."

"There's no such thing," Ryder fired back.

"We just need to find and connect with your wolf."

"My what?"

"Your inner wolf. You know the animalistic side of you. All shapeshifters have a Second Nature. Werewolves call them their Wolves," he explained with a growing smile.

"They're like your instincts. They guide you on your path. They're a lifelong companion to aid you in your survival and happiness. They also determine your role within the pack, Psi."

"What's a Psi?"

"What you are; An unranked wolf. It's what all new wolves are until their place is found. That is, if you choose to be among us," Ryder began, but as if sensing how serious he had become, the expression rapidly fell away.

"I figured it has a better ring to it than Rogue, what do you think?" He added with a chuckle as his grey eyes sparkled back down at her.

"I guess it does," she murmured looking down at her feet nervously, feeling as if she had a chance to be something different in this new world.

Something unlike before.

"In some cases, a wolf is also known to be more than just a voice of guidance - if they see the need, they may take over their host's body to deliver a message or even control more than just the voice box."

"Do...I have one?" She suddenly asked, looking back up at Ryder.

"Have one what?"

"A wolf - these annalistic instincts you speak of."

"Well, you are one of us, sweetheart. You just need to seek yours out. She's probably in a slumber due to you being at a crossroad," he answered swiftly.

"Until you give yourself a chance to believe what you are, she will seek you out just as much. She will yearn for the connection just as you do. She is a part of you. It's time to meet her."

His words warmed her heart at the thought of having a lifelong companion by her side. Maybe the one person who won't reject her.

But as soon as the smile began to grow, it fell too.

"I have to shift on command to do that though, don't I?"

Ryder shook his head, some wolves needed to meet their other half before they can become one truly.

"Any chance I can meet yours first? It - It might help."

With a frown, he mumbled, "I would love to talk to him too but he's been away for a while."

"Like mine?"

"No, see, Alphas meet their wolves at a much younger age than the transformation one. We need them if we hope to even make it to that stage at all. Young Alphas are always prime targets for enemies and rogues - got to hit a pack where it hurts you know?"

As if realising there was something else she expected, he continued on.

"When something terrible happened in our pack one day, my wolf went away after that. He blamed himself for what happened. I guess it was more his way of saying that I blame myself..."

Her blue eyes stared up at him, soaking in his words.

"But I know he will return when he's needed most. I have faith. Now it's time for you to have some too."

"How? If your wolf can abandon you, why would mine even show up?"

"That's different. How can you disappoint someone you haven't even met yet? Just close your eyes. I think the reason you can't shift on command yet is because you are yet to introduce yourselves, that's all."

He placed a tender hand on her shoulder, nodding to her that everything would be okay silently.

Her eyes closed softly, and she tried to calm her nerves gently.

"Just breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. We won't focus on shifting today, merely meeting your other half after all this time. Think of it like coming home after a long trip."

Alisa drew a deep breath in from her nose, held it for a moment before releasing.

Flashes of Ace and Hestia's face came to mind. Their time together in the last fifteen years, all the activities and the secrets they shared late at night.

Ace often covered for her whenever she messed up. Hestia was also one of the few who didn't always believe in following tradition as if that was the only path given to them.

She even had exceptions to her own rules at times.

Alisa's mother tried her best to steer her towards their ways, and it wasn't like Alisa felt distrust towards her but the way everyone looked at her on that fateful full moon night...

It was a difficult expression to erase from one's mind.

It left a burning hole in her heart.

Where was her home?

"Try to find a voice or a feeling of warmth in the darkness. Might take a little time."

'What was a home anyway?' She wondered to herself, unsure if she truly knew the definition of it.

A word hardly spoken back in her native land.

'Somewhere safe and peaceful.'

It was dull and fleeting, but the light in the darkest of tunnels had flickered.

Her eyes flashed open.