Nym POV: (Black wolf)

I yelped and cowered away from my Alpha, Landres', snapping jaws. He snarled and crouched, moving closer as if he wanted to hurt me. "I'm sorry Alpha! I was only just going to take a little bit!" My whines penetrated the air around us.

The rest of the pack was in a large circle around us, moving in perfect motion in a perfect circle. They kept saying my name, a soft growl in their tone.

"Nym."

"Nym."

"Nym."

"Nym."

One after another, as if they were an echo of each other. They always did this, calling the name of the pitiful wolf that had picked a fight with our alpha. Landres was a kind leader, but he had a temper.

~~Flashback, before the fight~~

"Dig in everyone." Landres said softly, dropping the buck at the root of a tree. Everyone moved to start eating. Everyone except me. I was the omega of the pack. When I was lucky I got to eat the scraps of what was left of our meal.

Today I doubted I would be lucky, as our pack hadn't eaten in a week. Winter was coming and food was scarce right now. The deer had gone, or had been killed off by the two-legged beasts. The bears were all in hibernation. We didn't eat fruit, and even if we did, all the plants we could get fruit from were gone.

I watched everyone else tear at the freshly killed buck. The meat seemed to fall right off the bone. It looked delicious.

I whined quietly, only to receive a glare from Landres. I waited patiently, sitting there, waiting for them to be done…But it wasn't happening fast enough. I was starving. I was freezing. But Landres didn't care. He just dug in with the rest of them.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. I crept closer, keeping my belly low to the ground, my ears flat against my head and my tail tucked between my legs. I tried my best to squeeze in beside some of the others, but as soon as I touched them…They stopped eating and looked at me.

Then suddenly, they all began backing away, looking at Landres. Landres growled loudly and began moving closer to my now cowering body. Mother Nature help me.

~~ End of flashback~~

Landres caught me off guard, his jaw opening wide on the side of my face. Before I knew what was happening, he had taken a chunk of my hair, along with a bit of flesh, but more importantly he had taken what was left of my pride, the last of my dignity.

Loudly, I howled up into the air. Mother Nature that hurt so bad!

Landres stood over my cowering, body. Looking at my bleeding face. "I have told you, at least, 100 times to wait your turn, Nymeria!"

I whined softly and looked up at him. He never used my full name…not unless I had severely pissed him off. He began walking in a circle around me, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't think you ever learn, do you Nym? Do you?" As he said that, his jaws snapped close to my face, causing my to yelp, in fear.

"I…I'm hungry Alpha! Please! I haven't ate in a week…And what I did eat barely kept me going…"

He snarled, growling, his pace moving faster.

"That is what an Omega is. The one who is the weakest. The weakest link in the pack. And that is all you'll ever be, Nym."

His words hurt…They hurt more then the flesh and fur ripped off of my muzzle. They hurt more than all of the rough "playtimes" that I and the other wolves had had. I was used to getting tossed around, bit, clawed, anything that might cause physical damage. However, this emotional damage was too much. I couldn't handle it.

Landres looked at me, before to the rest of the pack. "Go to the den. Get some rest."

Quickly, they nodded and began running back to the den. I didn't bother watching them leave. It didn't matter to me.

I laid the good side of my muzzle pathetically onto the soft muddy ground, shivering gently. Before I could make a move to stand, I felt Alpha Landres' warm fur surround me. He had curled up with me, and was now gently licking the wound.

I flinched gently, only to receive a nuzzle from him. He had done this a lot recently. Hurt me then he comforted me. It was very confusing. Too much for my tortured heart to handle.

"I'm sorry Nym. I really am. I hate hurting you…you know that."

I nodded slightly, looking down. Yes, I knew he didn't like to hurt me, but he did it anyway. Sure, sometimes it was my fault, but not always.

"Nym. I've been thinking a lot recently. About the Mate I am to chose at the end of the month. I have taken three or four of the females into consideration. But…none of them have a good appeal to me. None of them except you."

My eyes widened like saucers and I sat up, looking at him. Had I heard him right? Did Landres just say he wanted me as his mate?

He nodded and licked my nose, as if he could read my mind. "Yes Nym. You. I want you to be my mate. My significant other. All of that. Please? Can you look past everything I have put you through and try to be happy with me?"

I simply stared at him, before nodding and nuzzling him happily and licking his nose. "Y-Yes! I…I will!"

I saw him smile and he nodded, helping my stand and nuzzling my chin a bit. "Wonderful!" He licked my head, then my cheek.

The pain had gone away. It didn't hurt as bad anymore. I don't know why, but it seemed that when he had licked the wound, all the pain went away.

He began leading me towards then den. Once there, we went to the back of it, and curled up gently, snuggling into each other's warmth.