The Transfer

I woke in the morning to a painful burning sensation on my arm. I shot upright in my bed and looked down at my bicep. There was a mark on my arm, and my gut twisted in pain as I realised what it was. I wasn't stupid.

Veronica was with Liam again.

I looked next to me, where Liam had slept last night. He wasn’t there anymore, but his scent was. I was covered in it and so was my bed. I felt more than relieved to have his scent around me. It was comforting.

I sighed and got up. I got ready and then sat down on my bed to pull on shoes and socks. On my nightstand, I noticed a folded piece of paper.

My beast purred as I reached for it. It had 'SUGAR' written on the front. It was from Liam. He was the only one who called me that. I didn't understand the nickname, but clearly it made sense to him. I kind of liked it too.

I opened the note and read over it with eager eyes. Liam's handwriting with messy but easily readable. He was left handed, judging by the smudges on some of the words on the paper.

Had to leave early for Beta business... hope you have a good training. I'll catch up with you later - L I smiled to myself and the disappointment from the burn on my arm disappeared. I slipped on shoes and socks before I bounded out my room, too excited for the day ahead.

"Morning," I greeted Jenny and Ezra as I walked into the kitchen. They both immediately gave me strange looks.

Ezra raised his eyebrows at me and rolled his eyes as he sniffed the air. But a smirk grew on his lips quickly. "I hope you didn't mind that I let Liam stay last night. He told me that you asked him to stay anyway."

I nodded slowly, only slightly remembering the conversation that Liam and I had when he first brought me to bed. He placed me in my bed and tucked me in, kissed my forehead and turned to leave. I remembered reaching out to him and grabbing the sleeve of his hoodie before he could leave.

I must've asked him to stay after that. It would explain how I woke up with him in my bed.

"Nope. It's all fine. I'm going on a run now... are you joining?" I shrugged at them both and then looked to Ezra who was dressed in what he called his “sexy vampire gear’. He only wore it when he worked out.

Ezra grinned at me and motioned to his outfit. "I've got my sexy outfit on. Of course I'm coming.” Jenny rolled her eyes and scoffed at Ezra as I laughed. He was such a tease. But I loved him anyway. Ezra looked back at Jenny and winked before we made our way to the front door.

I expected Brayleigh and Lila to be waiting outside for me, but they weren't. I figured that they both decided it was too cold in the morning for running. It was beginning to get almost too cold for even me to run.

"Let's take this trail. It leads right into the forest. Long but easy,” Ezra said as he pointed at a trail that was next to Brayleigh's cabin. I had taken it only once before. The trail gave me an odd feeling. It made my beast on edge. I had no idea why. The trail was perfectly fine. There wasn't anything wrong with it. But it gave me the chills.

"Alright. I think we'll need to be careful on this mud though. It's starting to get slippery around here now," I told him cautiously. He laughed and nodded at me as we started to jog.

The first part of the track was fine. My beast was cautious but neither of us were uncomfortable. That was until we reached a quarter of the way.

The air seemed to shift. It felt different, less comfortable. It wasn't welcoming in a way and I for some reason felt somewhat threatened. I didn't like it whatsoever.

I almost slipped on the mud. Ezra grabbed my arm to steady me and then we kept running. He released me as we veered left on the track. The mud was slippery and I found myself sticking more to the side of the track rather than in the middle.

"This trail gives me the creeps,” I told Ezra honestly. I screwed up my nose as I sniffed the air. It didn't smell any different, but it felt different. It made my beast anxious.

"Me too. I just wanted to see if you felt the same. I don't know what it is. You got any ideas?" Ezra confessed. I felt better almost instantly, knowing that he felt the same. I wasn't just being weird "Maybe someone died around here and their energy still lingers? It happens,” I suggested. Ezra shook his head but kept his eyes on the trail.

"We haven't had any deaths in Takiani in about two months. The last one was killed in a hunt a little while out,” Ezra replied. I wanted to stop and investigate. But there was nothing to even investigate. I thought hard as Ezra and I ran. Eventually, we came to a fork in the trail. Ezra and I stopped as the air shifted again. I felt threatened, a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"You feel that too?" I asked Ezra with a quiet voice. It felt bad to speak loudly. There was something weird going on in this spot.

"Unfortunately. Let's go this way. Maybe someone has accidentally crossed over into our territory. Sometimes people get a little lost and wander into the wrong places. The border is just up here,” Ezra told me. I nodded at him as we took the right that lead away from the pack.

We didn't run fast. We were steady and careful. I kept a sharp eye out. There was something odd going on and I wanted to spot it straight away. But nothing came up.

Not until the wind changed direction and I caught the scent.

I wanted to gag. My stomach twisted and churned in pain. I felt incredibly sick. I bit my lip as Ezra and I both stopped.

"Rogues," Ezra mumbled. I didn't want to breathe in. I remembered the scent too well. I had smelt it enough times to know exactly when a rogue was near. This time, the scent was so strong that I knew they were close.

I turned my head and froze when I caught a glimpse of grey in the trees. I turned my head again and began to see numerous different things. There were people, rogues, some in their fur and others in their skin.

Ezra and I were surrounded. They were in every direction. We were trapped in a circle of rogues. "We're surrounded, Ezra,” I mumbled out. I saw the grin on his face and frowned. Why was he smiling?

"Excellent! We can attack in any direction we please, Ali girl,” Ezra said as the rogues came out the trees and made themselves properly visible to us.

Most of them were dangerously skinny and looked like they were seriously sick. They weren't big wolves. None of them looked like a challenge, but strength always came in numbers. They could overpower Ezra and I if they were good enough.

"I called for help. They'll be on their way now. But they won't get here on time. We can take them together. Watch your back and don't get yourself killed,” Ezra told me. I looked at him with wide eyes.

Was he insane? How could we kill this many rogues? There were at least ten of them.

Ezra spring into action before I could. He leaped forwards and took down a rogue in his skin. The rogues neck was snapped within a few seconds.

My beast roared and clawed at my mind as rogues came for us. Most of them were in their skin. There were two wolves, and they were going for Ezra.

"Kill the girl first," one man hissed out. He sprung at me first. I blocked his blow to my face and punched him in the stomach.

He stumbled to the ground as another leaped for me. He had his fangs out and his claws ready to tear me apart. I dodged him and kicked him to the side.

A fist hit me hard in the jaw. I winced at the pain and stumbled. I slammed into another rogue, and he slashed my shoulder with his claws. My beast was pissed. She hated rogues.

We growled lowly as we regained our balance and leaped at one man. We sliced open his belly and punched him in the stomach so hard that blood squirted from the cut. He fell backwards and to the ground.

One man grabbed me from behind. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me still as one man punched me in the nose. I felt the blood trickle down my nose and I growled loudly as I kicked my legs up and dug my claws deep into the arms of the man holding me.

I grabbed one's arms as he came for me and I tore them clean off. He screamed in agony, and fell to the ground. I winced at the sight but I didn't care.

All I could see was red. I was furious. My beast was roaring and slashing her claws at my mind. She wanted a piece of these wolves. She wanted them dead.

They caused nothing but pain.

I heard a familiar yell. It was Ezra. I knew it was. But I couldn't turn to help. I had four rogues trying to kill me. I wouldn't make it to him in time to help him and protect myself.

My beast was even more angry at the fact that Ezra was getting hurt. He was our family.

A girl came up to me and she clawed at me. I dodged her and instead, she clawed one of the other rogues standing behind me. I grabbed her by her hair and tugged her down, connecting her face to my knee. She cried out in pain.

I felt claws on my back, digging deep and clawing hard. But I didn't care. I shoved the girl to the ground and spun around. I lunged at the two rogues and took them to the ground. I punched one in the jaw hard and hit the other in the mouth with my elbow. I heard a crack and heard him scream. Every part of my body was pulsing with rage. I was so angry that I couldn't think straight. I felt like an animal

I slashed one of their throats with my claws and then punched the other in the throat. He gasped for air and I took the time to hit him hard in the side of the head. Before I could hit him again, hands grabbed me and yanked me off.

I hit the ground with a thud and dodged a set of teeth chomping down on my face. I rolled out the way and got up to my feet fast. I glanced over at Ezra, who was getting beaten badly.

He was holding himself and I knew that I had to be quick to get to him.

"Sugar, I'm on my way! Are you alright?" Liam's voice shouted inside my head. I felt relief to know that he was coming but I was too busy to reply.

I leaped onto a man, elbowing him hard in the ribs and then punching him in the sternum. He cried out in pain and we both hit the ground hard.

Someone jumped on top of me immediately. I felt claws at my belly and cried out in pain. I sent my fist into the rogue’s jaw and threw him off me. The other rogue was quick to his feet yet again.

I dodged his hit but slammed right into the paw of the rogue that was stalking around us. The wolf clawed my ribs and went for a bite straight on my neck. I punched the ugly beast in the throat and kicked hard in its stomach. I dodged away and went for the other rogue.

I grabbed his arm and snapped it. He screamed loudly, and then swung his other arm at me. I blocked his blow and got up. I stomped down on his ribs as hard as I could, and watched him suffocate.

"Alison!" I heard a loud shout. I turned my head, Ezra in my sight. He was about to be killed.

My heart stammered in my chest and I feared that I was about to lose another important person.

I raced over to him, slamming into the rogue that was about to claw Ezra's throat out. The two of us tumbled on the ground, and I slashed my claws and threw as many punches as I could.

The rogue hit me in the stomach. I grabbed his arms and lifted my leg to kick him. His arms detached from his body and he flew away. I got up, but not quick enough to watch the wolf flying towards me.

Before I could react, another wolf slammed directly into the rogue that was about to end my life. I felt weight lifted off my shoulders and sighed. I watched as the help Ezra had called for came into sight.

The wolf that had saved me was Liam. Him and the rogue hit the ground and tumbled hard. Liam was quicker than the rogue. Liam swiped his paw at the rogue and slashed his face. The rogue winced and whined loudly and jumped back.

Liam's veins were loud. He was humming louder than I'd ever heard him before. He was pissed off, and his beast was ruthless. He was dangerous and he was protecting his female.

My beast was deeply intrigued by our male. She respected him for saving us.

Liam went for the rogue again and this time he got his teeth around it's neck and bit down hard. The rogue whimpered loudly and then went limp between Liam's jaws.

I sighed in relief and turned to Ezra. I raced over to him and helped him up. Ezra was badly hurt. He had deep slashes and bites all over him. He was bleeding and he looked terrible.

"Are you alright?" I asked him as I helped to keep him on his feet. Ezra nodded slightly and leant against me tiredly. He was weak. He needed Jenny.

"Jenny, Ezra needs you!" I called to her. She wasn't around, but the other wolves that had arrived were studying the rogues that Ezra and I had killed.

"I know, I'm on my way. Keep him conscious for me and then I'll take care of him," Jenny replied back quickly. I heard the panic and worry in her voice and I was relieved that she would be here soon.

With her vampire speed, she should be here in a few minutes.

Moments later, Jenny arrived. She looked more than worried to see her beaten up mate. But she thanked me as she took him from me. I helped her to get his arm around her shoulders and then watched them disappear in thin air.

I smelt more wolves arrived and looked up as Henry arrived, a number of other wolves trailing behind him.