Ayla knew help was on the way, so she was doing her best to find a way to stall Mason.
She hadn't known him long, but she got the impression he was an angry little man.
All she had to do was provoke him and she would be able to go from their.
It was working too!
Being a disobedient female didn't sit well, as he immediately went to where he felt it would hit her the hardest.
Hurting those closest to her.
Mason just didn't know that her newly found family was on the way to get her already!
She was listening to his words, poaching them for bait.
"You just don't know how to listen, do you? Don't worry, Alpha Ulfric can fix that before they hand you to his son. They will get you in line".
He shook the crate hard in an attempt to rattle her as he finished talking, in a way to show his dominance over her.
It just so happened to be enough that Ayla could bust the door open when it shifted.
As the door burst open with the force of her skull against it, she flew out, transitioning in the process.
Her fur was almost white in the moonlight as it flashed behind Mason's back, leaving the fully exposed Ayla standing firm, her glowing eyes present.
"What's that about me not listening. I think I listen pretty well. There was that part about you knowing for a fact that your Alpha and Luna aren't my parents. More than that, knowing their actual plan for me. Did I hear that right"?
Mason came to an abrupt stop.
"What, NO"?
He looked back to see her standing behind him.
Confusion ran over every inch of his face, but fear was doing its best to creep in.
"How the hell did you manage that? There's no way you should have been able to get out".
Ayla smiled.
"Didn't you hear me say 'come and get me' as a dare"?
Her eyes were steady, fierce, as confidence seeped out of every pore, but she wasn't done yet.
"I was curious who was going to take the challenge. I wondered how long it would take the rats to show themselves. Funny, it was only you".
Mason's face wore a look of pure terror.
"You don't understand. Ralph's showing up changed everything. He knows me, and he would have left with my head. I didn't have a choice".
She stopped him.
"Sure, that's what it was. Like that wasn't your plan all along. You always have a choice. The thing is, you chose wrong. Unlike the others, you chose the wrong team. Soon, you won't have your head, and it will be your fault. No one else's".
Mason looked like he was trying to save himself somehow, but he was coming up empty.
Ayla shook her head, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the man in front of her like she had a sour taste in her mouth.
"You'll never be him, you know. Dominic. He's a good man. He saw for himself what he wanted in life, and he went for it. He knows how to choose the right thing, consequences be damned. For that, he will be and has been rewarded".
A sly smile slid across her face as she turned to run from him before he yelled and moved toward her.
"I don't want to be like him, you're wrong" he yelled at her.
She could tell his words were getting closer, as was his physical presence, so it was time to act.
"Keep telling yourself that. I see the way you look at him and compete with him".
As the words left her lips, her body sprang into the air, allowing a wolf to land instead.
Ayla had no clue if there was anyone else in the woods waiting to help him or how far they had gotten.
That was the first time she was actually captured, and it wasn't scary.
Well, it was scary, but that wasn't what she was feeling.
Ayla was infuriated.
She was going to do her damnedest to make sure that didn't happen again.
At that point, she just needed to focus on putting distance between herself and Mason.
Immediately, she bolted in the direction that she thought she felt Alexander's presence.
It was time to let her wolf guide her.
Mason sounded like he ran in the opposite direction, which gave her a feeling of relief.
He felt a sense of shame that he had never felt before.
Alpha Ulfric had never made him feel the sense of nothing that Ayla had made him feel so easily.
Mason wanted to get as far away from everyone and anyone as he possibly could.
Somehow, even though the three teammates were running for the same destinations, Ayla, Dominic had managed to get somewhere between Alexander and Mason.
Ayla was running fast and was in the mix somewhere between Alexander and Julius.
Dominic seemed to be the outlier and off the straight path when a black wolf approached him.
It was more of a side attack, knocking Dominic off his paws as they collided.
He hadn't expected anyone to come from beside him and attack him as he was trying to reach Ayla, so it caught him off guard.
"YELP" escaped him as the large black wolf watched him land hard on the unforgiving ground with a loud thud.
Dominic was picking himself up, shaking the leaves and dirt off his fur as the black wolf circled him, doing his best to gather himself and push the pain from both sides of his ribs and abdomen.
It was clear the wolf was circling its victim for another attack.
"Traitor"!
Dominic was still unaware of what was happening.
"What do you? What are you talking about"?
The black wolf was still circling him, tightening the perimeter as he did.
"You lied to me. You would send me to what would be my death over strangers" he growled.
Dominic was still not sure what he was being accused of, but he was aware of who it was at least.
"I don't know what you're talking about".
Close enough that they could hit each other easily with their paws, the black wolf continued circling him as he spoke.
"Yes, you do. I can smell all of them on you. I watched you. She has her wolf, and a pack, and you protect her. Traitor. You were sending me to my death".
Dominic was starting to realize what he was talking about.
"No"!
Before he could say anything else, a massive black paw struck his ribs, sending even more pain through his body, launching him to the ground again.
"Stop. You don't know everything. Let me explain" he said.
Just as he was trying to reason with the wolf, he heard the sound of multiple feet running somewhere nearby.
Others were close, but not too close.
Maybe Dominic could hear them running because the hit to his ribs had knocked him back to the ground.
While he was still dealing with the shock of the blow, Dominic had a jaw lunge at his throat, and it started to clench his neck.
"That was my son, Lucas, my son" his thoughts a mere whisper.
The jaw that held his neck let go.
It was too late, though.
He had already locked his jaw on the old wolf's neck.
Dominic hadn't fought back.
He didn't move against the young black wolf.
"Please don't hate me for protecting my son".
Lucas didn't know what to do.
He had attacked his General out of anger, unable to control his wolf, but he shouldn't have.
Shifting into his human form, he could see a sandy colored wolf approaching quickly.
At his rear, a second wolf, just a few shades lighter, almost white, came running.
Neither of those was the wolves Dominic had been with.
Had he lied to him again as he was dying?
Dominic would never do that.
As he dropped to his knees, he immediately picked up the wounded Dominic, still in wolf form, and held him with tears welling up in his eyes.
"Why. Why couldn't you just tell me everything" Lucas said, distraught.
The last wolf was making his way to the scene at that moment, the one Lucas recognized that resembled Dominic.
Seeing what was happening, he instantly shifted as he quickly moved forward.
"Because he didn't know everything then. He had just met me" his words loud but shaking.
Lucas turned to see Julius standing before him, tears starting to stream down his face.
Not able to hold back his own tears any longer, he realized who it was.
"You were the wolf. That would make you the son he wants me to help protect".
Julius could see the man that he had searched for so long, barely hanging on in his arms.
"I don't know what you are talking about. If that is your protection, I don't want it" his words now turning angry.
He walked over and picked up his father's nearly lifeless body from Lucas's arms and started to run away.
"He didn't deserve this. Whatever you think he did. He didn't deserve this," he yelled back, leaving the man sitting on his knees.
All Lucas could do was watch Dominic being carried away and pray to the moon goddess that she would embrace him when he arrived.
Julius was right, Dominic didn't deserve that.
The young wolf didn't know what took over him, but he couldn't change it now.
There was no way Dominic could survive after seeing all the blood that was covering him, let alone what was on the ground.
Lucas didn't know what to do.
He couldn't return to his pack because they would want answers.
Sure, he could say what he did, and they would praise him, but he didn't want praise for that.
Before he knew what he was doing, he was shifting back into the brave black wolf and disappearing into dense woods.
Julius quickly but carefully ran with his father in his arms all the way back to the apartments.
Ayla and Alexander at his heels.
They were there to protect Julius and Dominic if any more unwanted guests appeared.
The journey took longer than they wanted, but they were like lightning bolting through the trees.
Just as they reached the building, the pair of protectors changed to two legs.
That night, they didn't care who was watching.
It was important to make sure Julius had an uninterrupted escort to the apartments and got inside as quickly as possible.
His mission had gone from finding Ayla, to helping Ayla, to saving Dominic.
Now that they were inside the building, the three moved Dominic into the first door on the right, so they could see just what the damage was.
It was bad, really bad.
Ayla spoke softly.
"Hey, Dom. I'm going to need you to do me a favor and shift for me. I need to see your injuries".
He didn't move, but a small whimper came out.
His small, frail sound hurt her, deeply.
Ayla wasn't ready to give up on him just yet.
"Dom, it isn't your time. Julius just got to meet you. Shift so I can help you. Please".
She could tell it hurt him, and it took everything he had to manage it.
He didn't look that bad, per se.
Really, aside from what looked like potentially bruised ribs, all of them, a paw slash over his ribs, and his abdomen being bruised, it was just his neck.
His neck was almost ripped through completely, like the other wolf locked its teeth and shredded down his neck in an attempt to sever his body from his head, which probably would have happened had he not let go.
It wasn't as severe as they had originally thought, though, due to all the blood.
Maybe he could pull through.
There was hope.
She looked to Alexander and Julius, "Do you all have first aid anywhere"?
Alexander was the first to run off and grab it.
It wasn't long before she heard footsteps running back.
To her surprise, it wasn't Alexander, it was Phoenix and Raphael.
Raphael looked to Julius, then Dominic, then back to Julius.
"What happened? How is he? He doesn't look so good".
Phoenix tried to calm him down, both of them really.
"He will be okay. That man is strong. By tomorrow, he will be back on his feet. No need to worry", but his voice was slightly betraying his words.
Just then, Alexander was back.
"When did you two get here? How did you know we were..."?
Ayla stopped him.
She assumed it was the bond they had in some way that alerted them.
"Thank you for making it back with the supplies. I need those" she said as she started grabbing everything from him.
"Now you all can talk all you want".
With the supplies in hand, she moved over and started cleaning up Dominic.
She had no clue what she was doing, but she had to try.
Once she cleaned him up, she noticed his wounds didn't seem as bad as when they first saw them.
They were dangerously bad still, but they seemed the slightest bit better.
She finished cleaning him and bandaged him, then closed her eyes to pray, because it would take a miracle for him to survive this.
When she turned, she noticed she had four men staring at her.
They had watched her every move as if she knew what she was doing.
Raphael was the first to speak.
"Is he going to be okay"?
The worry in his voice couldn't be masked.
"Honestly, I don't know. The gashes in his neck are deep but might be closing. We just have to wait and see how he does".
Julius spoke for the first time in a while.
"I have a new mission. Whether he makes it or not. I have a list. You three care to help me remove those names at any point"?