Chapter 3

Niall has his arms around Georgia, guiding her archery stance. When her eyes land on me she smirks triumphantly. Leaning in to whisper something to Naill. He turns to look at me, a look of disgust on his face before turning his back to me, ignoring me completely.

“What do you want?” Georgia sneers as she strides towards me.

I hold out the wrist brace, too taken aback to get out any words. She snatches the brace from me, examining it with a look of loathing before tossing it to the ground, stamping her foot on it and twisting to push the support into the muddy ground.

“Get lost, Loser.”

“That was for Niall,” I snap, my temper rising at seeing my hard work destroyed so carelessly.

“Niall doesn't need anything from you so run along little girl,” Georgia chortles, throwing her head back dramatically.

I look at Naill who glances curiously at the brace that's still under Georgia’s foot, his expression unreadable. But then his lip curls again, his voice dripping with disdain.

“What is that supposed to be?” he asks, turning back to adjust the string on his bow. “Did you actually think I’d use… that? Honestly, it looks like something a toddler made in arts and crafts.”

My chest tightens, the sting of his words cutting deep.

“I was trying to help,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper, the weight of humiliation pressing down on me.

“Help?” he barks out a laugh, turning to finally look at me fully,“The best way you could help is by staying out of my way and sacrificing yourself as an apology for your father’s sin against our pack.”

I bite back my tears and flee. 

Why did I even try this? I should have known what would happen. Niall will never accept me, he's made that clear over and over. All his childhood pranks flash through my mind. Like the time he'd almost caused me to drown, or when he'd filled my bedroom with lilies, knowing I was allergic to them. 

Niall is cruel, he's never going to change, I was so stupid to think we could ever have some kind of relationship.

I hate him. I hate my school and all the people in it. I hate my house and my stupid purple bedroom. I want my dad, I need him. Now more than ever. My dad had always told me I was his greatest accomplishment, that I'd given his life true purpose. It's hard to imagine he would abandon me to rogue's life.

I walk and walk, not wanting to go home. The sun slips behind the horizon and darkness falls over our pack lands as I follow the path my father was last seen on. The path where they had found supposed evidence of his betrayal. They had traced his scent to this point, along with the scent of a wolf from our enemy pack from the North. They had based their whole case against him on that single clue.

A cold drizzle whips around me, soaking me to the bone until I'm shivering but I continue on my path. The path is barely visible in the dim light. My stomach rumbles angrily. It had been over twenty-four hours since I'd last eaten, and that had only been half of a measly apple.

With a sigh I finally admit defeat. I need to eat and I'm exhausted. I take a minute to sit on a fallen log whilst I gather my thoughts and rest before I start the long walk home, that's when I feel eyes on me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge, signalling something dark and predatory nearby.

How far did I wander? Did I pass our border into Rogue territory?!

I hear a low growl seconds before sharp teeth lunge towards me, the white points of them glint in the moonlight as the world seems to slow. My unfinished anatomy paper flashes in my mind, as teeth clamp down on my arm, knocking me off of the log. I land painfully on my back, a large menacing wolf above me. He snaps his jaws in my face, his hot breath scented with my own blood. 

I’m powerless to fight off a pack of rogues, especially without a wolf of my own. The snarling wolf draws his head back, ready to lunge at me once again when a large black shadow barrels into him, knocking him off of me.

I try to get up, to run to safety or at least see who my saviour was but my body feels too heavy. My limbs are unwilling to cooperate, my vision blurs and I feel as if the world is spinning around me and quickly turning black.