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Gabriel POV

The fur on my back raised as I stared into the shockingly bright eyes of the creature who wanted to kill me. We were in identical offensive crouches, our teeth bared, and low, matching growls coming from deep within our throats. I shifted my stance slightly, waiting for the cougar to make the first move. As the animal studied me further, his eyes changed. No longer did they have an aggressive edge to them. Now there was a cautious glint in them. The cougar backed away slowly, keeping its eyes on me the entire time he retreated.

When I heard the animal's paws hitting the forest floor, making his escape, I allowed my body to relax. It took a moment for my heartbeat to return to normal. That was the first time I’d encountered an animal in the woods who was the same size as me. I'd only been able to shift into my wolf form for a few weeks. The first time had been the night before my sixteenth birthday. All I could remember was the agonizing pain as my nails and teeth extended, my spine curved, and my body morphed into a giant wolf with light-brown fur.

The transformation had gotten easier since that night, and until today, I'd only encountered bunnies and squirrels in my wolf form. These small creatures ran away from anything larger than them. As I continued my run through the woods, I wondered why the cougar had stopped its attack. Had the animal’s sixth sense picked up on the fact that there was a supernatural quality to me? Did the cougar correctly guess that I wasn't quite an animal or human, but something in the space between?

Despite my stand-off with the cougar, I was glad I had listened to my parents and had come to the woods for a run this afternoon. Spring was coming to an end, and the sun pleasantly warmed my back as I looped around the tall trees, their vivid green leaves gently floating down.

In my wolf form, all of my senses were heightened. Tipping my head back, I inhaled the scent of ripe berries, the earthy smell of dirt, and the aroma of new flowers blooming. I could hear a bird chirping from half a mile away, and my peripheral vision allowed me to see most of the lush forest in a way that I would never be able to fully appreciate in my human form. Before I left the house, my mother had said it was a lovely day for a stroll through the woods. I couldn't agree more.

My father agreed to the run, too, but for an entirely different reason. Ever since I started transforming into my wolf, he had been wanting me to shift forms at least twice a day to practice. My dad said that once the transformation was like second nature to me, he would start my Alpha training.

When I transformed that first time, it was like a switch flipped inside my father. No longer was he just my dad, but now, even at home, he acted like Alpha Everett of The WaterLock Pack. All he did was go on and on about how I needed to start preparing to one day take his place because our pack was small, didn’t have much money, or a lot of warriors to patrol for us. I knew my dad loved me, but sometimes it was like he saw me as an Alpha inheritor first and a son second.

Don’t think about that right now. Just enjoy your run.

Digging my nails into the dirt, I propelled myself even faster through the woods, kicking up leaves, sticks, and pebbles in my wake. Soon, my worries were a mile behind me. They couldn’t catch up to me if they tried. As the wind whipped past my face, I wondered if this was how a dog felt sticking its head out of a car window.

When I entered a small clearing, I skidded to a stop, realizing I was on the edge of our pack’s territory. It had been a long time since I'd been in this area. A bubbling stream flowed happily down through the middle of the clearing. Skinny trees were scattered across the banks of the water, creating shade for large, flat rocks. To the right was a field exploding with a riot of color. Deep purple, bright yellow, bold pink, and dark blue flowers gently swayed with the wind.

Sometimes nature’s simple beauty dazzled me. It was hard to wrap my mind around the fact that my own pack’s territory was hiding an area as pretty as this.

An electric shock went through me when I saw a girl lying flat on her back on a rock, reading a book. Her long black hair was the exact color of ink, and it moved through the wind, hypnotizing me like a swinging pocket watch. She hadn’t heard me, absorbed as she was with her book.

I couldn’t see her face, and even though there were a lot of girls in my pack with long black hair, there was something familiar about her. Looking at this girl was like gazing into my future. I couldn’t move from my spot, frozen in a completely different way than when I had encountered the cougar a mere ten minutes ago. No, this emotion coursing through me was new. Why did it seem like this girl could change my life with a single word? Like all it would take was one glance from her, and nothing in my life would ever be the same. Who was she?

A loud rustling to the left interrupted my staring. The girl turned at the sound, setting her book down. My breathing stopped when I saw her beautiful face. It was her!

Summer Golding.

A pull unlike anything I’d ever experienced tugged at my heart.

I opened my mouth to call out a greeting, but before I could even take another breath, a creature leaped out of the bushes. This beast wasn’t a bunny, a squirrel, or even a cougar.

It was another werewolf.

Now I understood how the cougar had figured out I was supernatural. Shifters had a different aura around them. Like the magic that allowed us to transform was a tangible thing that you couldn’t see with your eyes, but you could sense it in the atmosphere around the shifter. Of course, I'd seen another shifter before, but that was when I was a human. Seeing it through my wolf form was different. This aura was only noticeable with my animal senses.

The wolf was sandy-colored with patches of fur missing, and half of his left ear was gone. I could see his ribs, and he was staring at Summer like she was his next meal. This wasn’t anyone from our pack. I didn’t recognize his scent. That could only mean one thing: the beast was a Rogue wolf.

A Rogue wolf was a shifter who had committed a crime that resulted in them being exiled from their pack. These wolves were forced to live in the wild, fending for themselves. Ever since I was born, there had been an increasing number of Rogue wolf attacks throughout our kingdom.

The first time I heard the term “Rogue wolf” was when I was seven. I was walking by my father's home office and overheard a conversation he was having with my mom. They were talking about how there had been three different Rogue wolf attacks in our kingdom in a span of a week. One of the victims had been a sixteen-year-old girl taking a walk through the woods. The other two were young boys around the same age as me at the time. All three victims passed away from their injuries.

As I stared at the Rogue who had his eyes locked on Summer, I remembered what my father told me that night after I overheard him speaking with my mom. First, he explained what Rogue wolves were and warned me to stay within our borders and immediately tell him or one of the guards if I saw anything suspicious. Then, he said the words that were playing on a loop in my mind right now.

If a male Rogue attacked a girl, it was usually to assault her in some way.

Hot fury unlike anything I’d ever experienced coursed through my veins.

I’m going to kill him. I’m going to completely annihilate this bastard.

I made eye contact with Summer, trying to nonverbally convey that she should run. She had never transformed into her wolf. She had no way to defend herself.

Summer let out a high-pitched scream, and in that moment, her terror flowed through me. It was like her fear was my own. The Rogue and I pounced at the same time. He leaped for Summer, but I intercepted him, sinking my teeth into his right shoulder. When he howled in pain, a burst of pleasure shot through me.

That’s for making her scream, you bastard.

Before I could clamp my jaw down, the Rogue spun around, ripping away from me. He was quick in a way that could only be learned from years of fighting in your wolf form. My father had been teaching me hand-to-hand combat since I was six, but he hadn't started my lessons in fighting in my wolf form yet. Even though my opponent was weak with hunger, he was a more experienced fighter than me.

The Rogue retaliated by springing forward and slamming into my side, knocking me to the ground with a loud thud. All the wind was knocked out of me, and I couldn't catch my breath. In the back of my mind, I registered Summer screaming.

Hurry! You have to get up! She needs you.

Even though my mind was screaming at my body, I physically couldn't move.

The force of my opponent's blow had stolen all the air from my lungs. Try as I might, I couldn't force my body back up. A dull buzzing started in my ears, and cold devastation swept through me as the Rogue lunged for Summer , who was trying to scramble off the large rock and run for safety.

But that bastard was determined to get to her. Even though the Rogue was slightly limping on the side where I bit his shoulder, he was still quick as he pounced on top of Summer and tore into her arm.

Her blood curdling scream hit me harder than the Rogue had.

I tried to get back on all fours, but I still didn't have any breath.

Get up! You have to save her!

Using every ounce of willpower I possessed, I struggled to stand, trying like hell to force air into my lungs. Summer continued to scream in agony, spurring me on even more.

You are the future Alpha of the WaterLock Pack. You can beat this bastard who is trying to hurt a member of your pack on your territory. You have to protect Summer at all costs. If anything happens to her, you won't be able to live with yourself.

With shaking legs, I managed to propel myself at the bastard who was still biting Summer's arm. He didn't hear my pursuit, focused entirely on his prey.

You're about to become my prey, you monster.

When I was only ten feet away, I leaped into the air, aiming myself at the Rogue. Thankfully, he turned his head at the last second, unclamping his jaw from her arm. Summer's blood dripping off his teeth made my insides blister with rage. I let out a low, guttural growl. The Rogue's eyes widened with fear right before I slammed into him, knocking him to the ground and tearing into his throat. He tried to fight me off, but there wasn't much he could do while on his back. My wolf took over, and instinct drove me to violently shake my head, ripping apart his throat.

After only a few moments, the Rogue stopped struggling. His body went limp, and his eyes were blank, expressionless.

He was dead.

I didn’t linger over my first kill. I spun around, and my eyes zeroed in on Summer. She was still lying on the rock. Her eyelashes were fluttering, and soft groans were escaping her lips. She had a large bite wound on her arm that was gushing blood. The book she had been reading had fallen to the ground, and some of the pages were flecked with dark blood.

My fear for her safety skyrocketed.

I swallowed past my terror, knowing that I had to act fast. She was losing too much blood. If she didn’t see our pack healer soon, she would die.

Breathing deeply in and out, I centered myself enough to change back into my human form. I wouldn’t be able to carry her as a wolf.

My hands shook slightly as I gently picked her up, making sure to support her head. As I started running, my stomach churned.

“You’re going to be all right, Summer. I promise,” I muttered as I left the sunny clearing, the stream still bubbling behind us.

As I sprinted through the forest, trees blurred past me and branches cracked under my quick feet. The woods continued to play their melodic sounds, but all I could hear was the faint thud of Summer's heartbeat against my chest — a sound I'd do anything to keep hearing.

***

Please wake up. Please wake up.

Summer was lying in a hospital bed, her beautiful face troubled, even in sleep. It had been hours since the attack, and Healer Elijah stopped her sedatives an hour ago. Our pack's healer was standing over her now, waiting for her to wake up.

The knot in my chest loosened a little when Summer’s eyes blinked open, and she raised her head.

Her gaze went straight to mine.

Oh…

My breath caught in my throat.

“What…happened?” Her voice was groggy, like she hadn't spoken in weeks.

“Summer, you’re in the hospital,” Healer Elijah said in a calming yet methodical voice. “I'm going to ask you some basic questions. Is that all right?”

Her bright blue eyes swung away from mine and focused on the healer.

“Um…yeah,” she said and cleared her throat. “Sure, that's fine.”

“What's your full name?”

“Summer Ray Golding,” she answered and blushed.

Once, she had told me that her name sounded too cheerful. She was afraid that after people heard her name, they would expect her to be happy all the time.

“Do you know who these people are?” Healer Elijah gestured to a middle-aged couple gripping onto each other with matching expressions of anxiety.

“Um, yeah.” She cleared her throat again. “They're my parents. I hope I’d recognize them.”

Summer's dad let out a shaky laugh and ran a hand through his black hair. It was the same color as his daughter's. Her mom gently patted Summer's knee. Her daughter had inherited her delicate features and tall, willowy build.

“What about these young men?” Healer Elijah pointed at Axel and then at me.

“Yeah, they’re my best friends, Axel and Gabriel. They're brothers,” Summer said, her eyes still on the healer.

Biologically, that wasn’t true. One could tell by just looking at Axel and I that we didn’t share any DNA. Physically, my best friend and I were complete opposites. I’d always been tall for my age, and Axel was on the shorter side for a male shifter. My skin was honey-colored, whereas Axel’s was pale. Axel was naturally skinny, and I had an athletic build.

But he was my brother.

He was five when his parents died, and my parents adopted him. His dad had been the Beta of the pack, so he was going to be my second-in-command when I became Alpha.

Healer Elijah smiled.

“You’re doing great, Summer. Now, for the hard question. Do you know why you’re in the hospital?” he asked.

She winced like something awful had just occurred to her. Then, she glanced down at her injured arm, staring at the large bandage covering the wound.

“I was…attacked,” Summer whispered, her eyes filled with horror, her face draining of the little color it had.

Summer’s mom let out a quiet sob.

“Um, I think it was a Rogue wolf,” Summer continued. “He bit my arm, and all I remember is feeling like someone had lit my arm on fire. It was the worst pain I’ve ever been in.” She swallowed, and a few tears fell down her cheek.

My fingers twitched involuntarily. I wanted to wipe her tears away. I wanted to take her pain away and make it my own.

“I thought, um, I thought he was going to kill me. But someone fought him off. That’s all I remember,” Summer finished.

“Yes,” Healer Elijah confirmed. “Gabriel happened to be in that area and fought off your attacker.”

Summer’s eyes shot to mine.

“Thank you for saving me,” she uttered.

My stomach flipped, and I put my hands in my jeans, not wanting anyone to see them trembling.

“Of course. I’m glad you're awake,” I answered.

“Gabriel carried you here. You lost a lot of blood, and you will always have a scar on your arm, but I think you’re going to be just fine. I’m going to run a few simple tests and keep you here overnight for observation, but after that, you can go home with your parents,” Healer Elijah informed Summer.

After the healer shined a light in Summer’s eyes and tested her reflexes, he asked her parents to come into the hallway so that he could go over aftercare instructions with them.

Summer’s mom and dad kissed her forehead, murmuring comforting words that were too quiet for me to hear.

Then, to my complete shock, they both came to a stop in front of me.

Summer’s dad laid a hand on my shoulder, his other arm around his wife.

“Gabriel, we just wanted to tell you how grateful we are to you for saving our daughter. She’s our…everything, and I don’t know what we would have done without her,” Summer’s dad said in a gruff voice.

Summer’s mom seemed to be beyond speech as silent tears ran down her cheeks, and she nodded in agreement.

“You’re going to make a great Alpha one day,” Summer’s father said.

“Thank you, sir,” I replied.

After the three adults were gone from the room, Summer let out a long breath.

“My arm is killing me,” she said to no one in particular.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” I said, striding forward, battling with myself about whether I should take her hand or not.

But Axel beat me to it. My best friend took Summer’s hand in his and pressed it close to his chest. He stared down at her with an adoring look that I’d never seen on his face before.

I froze and my muscles tensed, like my body was preparing for an attack. My mind seemed to be going a million miles a second. But on the outside, I was like a statue. All I could do was watch what happened next.

“Summer, your attack made me realize that life is short, and I could have lost you today,” Axel said, his voice thick with emotion.

Really? I couldn’t believe he just said that.

Axel was as good as my brother, but he could be a little selfish sometimes. Summer just woke up from being attacked by a Rogue wolf. Why would she care about him having a cliché personal revelation?

“Honestly, I can’t imagine my life with you,” Axel continued, then paused.

Where is this going? Why is Axel doing this now? Why is he doing this at all?

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Axel asked Summer.

It seemed like I was falling down a deep, dark hole.

After that, all I was aware of was the room feeling too small for the three of us and Summer’s wide eyes meeting mine.