Chapter 8:

Runt's Memories

"It's just five of them out there," MaKayla said to King and Queen. She and her friend Geoff were the scouts who had been spying on Kate's family, just two miles away

"Who were they?" King asked them.

"Kate, Humphrey, and their three children," Geoff said. "Runt, Claudette, and Stinky. Apparently they're on some sort of 'vacation,' based on what we overheard yesterday."

"No one else is with them?" Queen asked with surprise. "No alphas and betas? That will make our plans go so much smoother. We can just capture them so they can't get back to Jasper and possibly warn their pack of danger."

"That also means me being here is pointless," Princess said dryly.

"Not necessarily," King said. "We may still have things you can do to assist us further. Capturing them five of them won't be easy, but their trust of you, daughter, will be their downfall."

"How?" Princess asked.

"Same plan we talked about before," her father explained. "You will still tell them how you left us, wishing to join them. Just keep them distracted long enough for us to surround them…"

"…and capture them," Queen finished her husband's sentence.


Runt was staring into the river, watching the water flow downstream and the fish swimming around calmly. But the flowing water and the fish were hardly on his mind.

Princess was. For saving his life when he as a pup being the main reason for that. The other reason was because he was in love with Princess. Their age difference of just a year did not bother Runt all that much. Runt would love Princess no matter what, even if she were over a hundred miles away. And he hardly cared that her parents, King and Queen, would never approve of their love because he was from a rival pack and an omega wolf. King and Queen would never let an omega like Runt marry their daughter, an alpha. Not even if he saved her life, they were so selfish.

But her parents' thoughts of alphas marrying non-alpha wolves meant absolutely nothing to Runt. He had grown up with the notion that was not wrong to allow betas and omegas to marry alphas. And Runt was sure Princess did not have the same beliefs of the other rogues. She had proved that, in Runt's mind, when she betrayed her parents to save his life. She had even attacked her own father when he had attacked Runt.

Runt knew that Princess was nothing like her parents of the rest of her pack members. He had seen that as just a pup, so Runt truly believed, now, that she would betray her pack again if she had to. But, more than that, Runt wanted to see her again, not as a rogue wolf but as a wolf wanting to leave them for life in his pack, as a free wolf. And wanting to ask Runt for his paw in marriage. There was nothing Runt wanted more than Princess to be a member of a pack full of wolves who actually loved her. Not wolves who used her as a pawn to take his pack over like her own parents did.

And Runt wanted Princess to be his wife, the mother of his puppies. He had felt in his heart, for some time, that Princess was the wolf for him. Not Daria or Magril, even if he loved them as great friends. But Princess was the only wolf he had ever wanted to love as a wife, despite it being almost two years since they had seen each other. They had not even been together in that time to form a husband-wife bond with each other. Yet Runt was almost tempted to ask for Princess' paw in marriage if he ever saw her again. He dreamed about such almost every night and thought about it almost constantly.

That thought made Runt wonder if he would ever have the chance to just see Princess again, let alone marry her and have her carry their puppies. As he had thought before, Princess still lived in a park that was located over a hundred miles away from Jasper Park. And her parents would never change. None of the rogues were would any marriage between an alpha and a beta, or an alpha and an omega, or any other cross-rank marriage. Not the marriage between an omega and a beta, even if they respected no wolves of those ranks.

Runt now saw something more than just fish and currents in the fiver. His reflection seemed to have disappeared, replaced by that of a beautiful female wolf. The image of her almost hypnotized Runt because he had recognized her right away. It was Princess. But as quickly as this image in the river had appeared, it was gone after she winked at him. He just saw his own reflection in the water instead of his true love's reflection.

Runt only just realized that Claudette was by his side. But he did not know how long she had been there or if she had seen Princess' face in the river in place of his reflection. He could tell, however, that his older sister probably did not understand what it was Runt saw, or had seen, in the river. Claudette only saw their reflections and a school of flesh or two when she stared into the current. Nothing special or interesting.

"What is it you saw, little brother?" Claudette asked Runt.

"She's gone now," Runt replied without answering her question.

"Who?"

"Princess," he said. "I saw her reflection in the water but it's gone now."

"Are you feeling alright?" Claudette asked him.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Runt sighed. "I'm just missing Princess is all. But let's get back to our parents and Stinky before they start worrying about us."