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Chapter 8

Marielle, go back. My wolf urged me, He just doesn't know.

I ignored her, pushing forward.

Mari, please.

She was just background noise.

He cares about us.

Stop! I demanded. I didn't need this right now. Especially not from her. Whenever I needed her most, I was alone. She was just another being I was forced to share a brain with. Her opinion didn't matter.

You don't mean that.

I broke through the tree line in a flash, forcing my feet to stop. My chest heaved up and down, and my legs burned with pain. My vision blurred, but I refused to cry. I cried enough.

Alana was sitting in the grass, looking off in the distance. She told me earlier that her perception reached far past the border, so she could catch something suspicious miles away. All she had to do was listen closely. When I sat down next to her, she didn't acknowledge me, focusing intently ahead of her. 

I tried to gather what she was listening to, but I heard nothing but a few howls in the night. They were potentially rogues, but they were no threat. They were just passing through unclaimed territory.

"I heard your conversation," she admitted, her eyes drifting to me. "I tried not to, but you guys were pretty loud."

"Are you some kind of super sonic wolf?" I chuckled, dryly.

As far as I was aware, not even the greatest Alpha could hear that far. She shrugged, tilting her head in thought.

"Of sorts." She explained. "I've had enhanced senses even for a wolf ever since I was born. I can hear everything from the nearest neighboring pack if I really tried. None of my brothers could. It was only me."

"That's insane," I gaped at her in awe.

She really wasn't playing when she said she knew everything in this pack. She was like a living surveillance camera.

"My father hated it." She continued with a laugh. "He despised that I was somehow stronger than his oldest son. He tried to kill me."

My parents would tell me countless stories of higher ranks from various packs killing their children. Some were because they were born a runt in a society that cared little for weakness, or the opposite, a female who held power.

It was nauseating, but it happened so frequently that it was perceived as a normal part of our world.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, bringing my knees to my chest.  

"It's alright. He got over it after my brothers threatened to kill him," she smirked.

And I thought my life was complicated. I was grateful for my family, even if I was treated like an outcast because of it. If anything, it made us closer because of it.

Alana looked over at me," Are you okay?"

I looked to the stars, pondering over her question. I honestly didn't know myself. I was dealing with so many emotions at once and I knew that if I let myself, I would only go down a rabbit hole of shame and hate. I decided not to answer, instead pushing myself to my feet. I only wanted to focus on one thing.

Gaining strength. 

**

I quickly changed into a pair of joggers and a fitted t-shirt, stumbling across my room frantically. I tied my hair in a tight knot on the top of my head and threw on Millie's sneakers, not even bothering to untie them as I shoved my toes inside. I didn't have any of my own anymore since Karter and Chandler thought it would be funny to cut a hole in them.