Sol hadn't noticed it at first but when he tried to get the wolf into the back of his pickup truck, he had noticed a syringe sticking out from her side. His initial thought was to yank it out, but she seemed to be in too much pain.

He thought it best to leave it in for someone with some actual medical knowledge to decide.

But what he did do was quickly run into the house and grab a blanket to cover the wolf up in. Her blood quickly soaked through, but there wasn't anything he could do but force her paws against the wound, quietly encouraging her to place some pressure there to stop the blood while he drove them back to Clark's pack.

It would be the most that he had spent with a pack ever since his own was obliterated, but he would do it if it meant saving the wolf's life.

He would worry about those humans getting away later.

It usually took a little under two hours to drive to Clark's pack if he was taking his time but today, he made the journey in less than an hour. Sol dreaded to think about the multiple speeding tickets that were bound to be delivered to his mail locker in town in the next few weeks, but he didn't have time to dwell on the thought.

His knees threatened to buckle under him as he picked up the wolf in his arms, but he gritted his teeth and kept his stance.

"Let me through!" Sol commanded one of the wolves who was stood guarding the border to the pack.

The man shrunk a little at the sound of Sol's Alpha command, but he stood his ground nonetheless with his hands fisted at his sides, getting ready in case things got messy. "Who are you and what is your business here?" His voice was loud and strong, but it was clear that he held no ranking.

Sol appreciated the wolf's loyalty to his pack and his concern for their safety, but now was not the time.

"I need to see the healer."

"You haven't got permission to enter the pack grounds."

"The Beta knows who I am. Even the Alpha."

The man looked like he doubted Sol's words.

Sol clenched his jaw in both frustration and anger. Shifting the wolf in his arms, he looked down at her briefly. Her eyes were open, staring at his face as he attempted to get past the guard. He could tell that she was in pain, but seemed to downplay it with a wolfish smile, but she nearly immediately winced at the action.

Sol ground his teeth.

"My name is Solomon Westbrook, Alpha of the Shadow Keepers Pack. I command you let me through before I have to kill you." His voice was loud, clear and powerful. The guttural growl ran through the forest and Sol was sure that at least half of the pack had heard him command the guard, demanding entry.

But Sol didn't care.

This was life or death.

The guard cowered at the Alpha command and bared his neck as a sign of respect. The man had heard the story of the Shadow Keepers Pack, and the fact that there was only a few remaining pack members but they had dispersed all around the country and had joined new packs over the dismemberment of their own. He knew that their Beta, Clark Levy came from the pack and he had also heard about the Alpha's son that had survived the attack.

The guard had even seen Sol before – perhaps only once or twice – when he had to visit Clark, but not once had he thought that he was the Alpha that had lost it all. Having spent more than a decade on his own and living amongst humans, away from a pack and just werewolves in general, the man feared for his own life.

He should have let Sol through as soon as he saw him walk through the border. Hell, he had even walked through the kitchen when Sol was having breakfast that morning with Clark.

"Help me." Sol commanded the man again, refusing to look at him.

The man lifted his head and scurried over to Sol quickly.

Both men shifted the wolf so that Sol was carrying her upper body while the guard helped out with the lower. Silence passed between them as they carried the wolf over towards the healer's cabin.

Luckily, the healer lived on the outskirts of the forest and Sol didn't have to parade the injured the she-wolf all throughout the pack while she was injured and in need of dire medical attention.

To his relief, the healer was already waiting outside her cabin before Sol even managed to rush here. One of his pack must of mind linked him.

On normal occasion, the healer, or the pack doctor as what they go by now, would have been found in the medical wing in the pack house, but it the day light had started to fade and it was soon evening. The doctor had thought that his day had been done since there were currently no wolves in the infirmary needed his supervision, but it seemed that he had spoken too soon.

There was no time to rush the female wolf to the infirmary.

The doctor, Sam, would have to take out the syringe now. If they waited, the wolf was sure to bleed to death.

Sol couldn't think straight as one of the pack wolves helped to lay the female wolf down on the ground in the doctor's living room. He stood on the balls of his feet in anticipation, filled with fear and worry as he watched Sam examine the wolf in silence.

"Is she going to be okay?" Sol asked after a few minutes of silence, but the doctor ignored him.

Sol only grew even more antsy and worried, which meant that he was even more moody and brooding than usual. And that was not good for any wolf, especially not a born Alpha. "Answer me!" He commanded, his Alpha voice loud and demanding.

The doctor looked up from the female wolf and bared his neck in submission, shivering in fright at the way the Alpha had barked at him.

"Is she going to be okay?" Sol repeated, gritting each word, over emphasising each syllable.

The doctor gulped and nodded his head frantically before he threw on some rubber gloves and commanded one of the pack members who had previously helped Sol lay down the wolf, to get some supplies from the medical box.

It was hard to watch the wolf whine and cry out in pain as the doctor yanked out the syringe from her side.

Sol, as well as three other pack members had to hold her down and stop her from attacking the doctor so he could pull it out and dress the wound.

By the time the wound was bandaged and the blood had stopped seeping out, at least for now, the wolf was exhausted and could barely keep her eyes open.

Sol was kneeled on the grown by her head, running his fingers through her fur and scratching the back of her ear, attempting to soothe her.

She whimpered one last time before she was out like a light.

Sol couldn't help but stare at her as she slept.

It was all his fault. If he had been more careful and aware of his surroundings then they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. She wouldn't be hurt and nearly on her death bed. He had no doubt that if he had even delayed a few minutes in bringing her here, she would have died.

Sol couldn't have another death hanging over his head.

Guilt coursed through his body as he bowed his head and continued to play with her fur as she slept on the ground. The other men and the pack doctor had begun cleaning up the bloody around her while one of the men was running a damp cloth through her blood-soaked fur, but Sol refused to move. He wouldn't be able to even if he wanted to.

She had relied on him to take care of her and he had let her down. Never again, he vowed to himself.

Sol wasn't sure how much time had passed or even what time of night it was, but he nodded his head in gratitude when Clark came by with a blanket and a pillow.

His best friend knew that there was no way that Sol would leave the wolf to sleep in a bed that night.

The night passed without a hitch and the wolf had woken up.

It was early morning, but it seemed that half the pack was already awake. News had spread of what had happened and since the pack members knew Sol and even the wolf their recent visit, some had come around to bring food for the pair while the children also joined to play.

Sol was sat at the kitchen counter next to the doctor as they both sipped from their respective mugs. One of the pack females had made coffee.

Raising the mug to his mouth, he watched the wolf play with the kids. She was still injured and sore from the attack, but the food that she had eaten as breakfast was good to sustain the energy that had been lost the previous day. She wasn't giving them wolf rides like the previous day, but she seemed to be helping them pick flowers outside.

Whenever they would go out of sight or would momentarily disappear from his line of vision, Sol would sit up higher in his chair and make sure to keep his eyes on her.

She was nearly back to normal.

"I kept the syringe."

Sol turned his head to the face the doctor. He knew what those words meant. He had, had the fluids tested. "The infirmary has a lab attached to it and a few of my associates and I tested the contents of the syringe last night. We had the results rushed and they came back this morning."

Sol cocked his eyebrow in question. It didn't seem like it was bad news, but he didn't know Clark's pack doctor well enough to be able to read his facial expressions and body language well enough yet.

"And?" Sol prompted him when momentary silence engulfed him.

"It contained Cephile."

Sol tensed at those words.

Cephile.

He knew what that was.

It forced a wolf to change back into their human form. It was usually used on newly turned wolves who struggled to control their wolves, but too large of a dose could keep them in their wolf form forever. One thing with Cephile was that if one were using it stay in wolf form constantly, they would need to take it fairly often.

"You think that's why she's stuck in wolf form?"

The doctor nodded his head without hesitation. "But it was a very small dose."

Sol's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "So they're trying to force her back into her human form?"

The doctor nodded again.

"But why now?"

Sol found himself asked, but neither of the men had an answer for that question.

And so, he thanked the doctor for his help and hospitality, popped in to see Clark for a quick cup of tea before they were back on the road, heading home.

-

Layla Knight 

02.06.18