RPOV

As I left Dimitri to go find Lissa, I ran through a list of places she could be. The most-likely option was that she was in her room, it wasn't that close to curfew, but she wasn't one to chance anything. If she wasn't in her room, she would be with Christian, either in the commons or in the church attic. I was hoping she was in her room, because that would be the first place I was checking.

I could see the Moroi dorms appear in front of me and was very much aware of the small blonde vampire that was rushing out of them.

"Lissa! What's wrong?!" I asked frantically.

"It's nothing, Rose." She replied shakily.

"Don't lie to me." I told her, but she seemed to be in shock so I needed to let her calm down a little before getting any information from her. "How 'bout you follow me back to my room so I can Change, and then we'll talk?"

She nodded and walked beside me in silence. I could sense her unease and I saw her hands trembling. When we reached the Novice building, Lissa opened the doors leading inside. The hall matron didn't seem fazed by the presence of a seven-foot Lycanthrope and nodded a welcome in our direction. Lissa continued to open doors for me until we were back into the relative safety of my room.

I quickly Changed and got dressed. Once I was fully clothed I sat beside Lissa on my bed, wrapping her in my arms in order to sooth her. This was probably the longest I'd ever seen her go without talking to me, unless, of course, she was asleep.

"What's up, Liss?" I asked gently. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"I don't want to talk about it. It isn't something I want to see again."

"See?" I asked confused. "What did you see?'

"It was in my dorm, like it was waiting for me, when I got back to my room." She said, tears springing to her eyes.

"Do you mind if I go take a look? You can wait here, and if I need to, I'll get help?" She seemed hesitant to agree, but she eventually nodded. I stood from my spot and moved purposefully toward the door. Before I closed the door, I looked back at Lissa, tears streaming down her face, but she stayed silent. I left and made my way to her room, unsure of what would be waiting for me when I arrived.

Halfway up the stairs, I could smell blood. It wasn't human blood, or Moroi, or Lycanthrope, it was an animal of sorts. There wasn't a lot of blood, based on the smell, so maybe the creature was small. As I approached her door, I became aware that the stench was emanating from her room. I paused as I reached for the door handle, a sense of unease was growing inside me, but it didn't feel like my own.

I suppose that as an Alpha I could feel the rest of my pack, but I didn't know what would cause Dimitri to worry at this moment. I assumed he was talking to Alberta and he had nothing to worry about with her. I pushed the feeling to the back of my mind, steeling myself mentally for what lay behind the door.

I pushed the door open, and the smell grew stronger. The sight that lay before me was gruesome, and I'm not sure how Lissa made it out of the building without throwing up. Lissa had her own room, decorated very much in her taste, but now everything was covered in a spray of blood. In the middle of her bed was the source of the blood, it looked like a fox, but I couldn't tell for sure.

My eyes darted from one spot to the next, trying to determine how the fox's blood ended up outside its body. I didn't see a knife, and I didn't think anything was out of place, well, other than the dead fox. Whoever did this, didn't touch any of her belongings, they just left a dead, bloody fox for her to find. I moved closer to the bed to get a better look at the creature. I didn't want to touch it, but there appeared to be a piece of paper placed under the small body.

I gently eased the note from under the dead mammal and unfolded it. Like the rest of the room, the note was splattered with blood, but thankfully it didn't obscure the writing.

I know what you are. You won't survive being here. I'll make sure of it. Leave NOW. It's the only way you might live through this.

"Comrade! Come quick!" I shouted to my Beta. I felt his panic surge again, but I tried to ignore it lest it make me panic. I didn't know what this note meant. "I know what you are?" What does that even mean? I know Lissa is special, being a Spirit user and all, but it was hardly a secret or private knowledge. She declared her magic publicly and proudly at the end of last year.

However, it didn't really matter what it meant, it was a direct threat to the life of a Princess and my best friend, and I was going to take it seriously. The person who did this might not be able to take a Moroi life, but they had no qualms taking the life of a fox. I wasn't going to risk Lissa's life because I failed to take this threat seriously.

"Roza! I can't get into the building!" I heard Dimitri's panicked voice filter into my mind, I guess he hadn't Changed yet. I ran downstairs and flew to the door that he paced outside of. I stepped aside to let Dimitri through, his giant form barely fitting through the doorway as he crouched down.

I led the way to Lissa's room, leaving a stunned dorm matron watching as we walked past. Despite his large form, Dimitri navigated the halls and stairwell gracefully, it was quite impressive. I would have complimented him if we hadn't been in such a rush.

In my hurry to get downstairs, I hadn't bothered to close the door to Lissa's room, but no one was out in the hallways, so no one saw anything. I stopped beside the door, motioning for Dimitri to look through. His massive wolf form wasn't going to fit in the room, so he couldn't do much other than stick his head inside.

"When did this happen?" He asked in a serious tone, his worry for me subsiding and his worry for Lissa growing.

"She said it was like this when she got back from dinner. She's currently in my room trying to calm down." I responded before showing him the note. "I found this under the fox."

"What does it mean?" Dimitri asked after reading it a few times.

"I've no idea, but it's a direct threat to Lissa, and I'm not going to stand by and take this lightly. I'm going to start Guarding her daily. I'm not allowing her to come back to this room without a Guard, though I doubt she wants to sleep here anyway." I said looking back into the bloodied room.

"I'll go have a talk with Alberta. You go and check up on Lissa." He said nudging his snout against my hand. I gently ran my hand down the side of his face before stopping to scratch behind his ear. I know it's a cliché spot to scratch, but it really does feel good. I could see Dimitri's agreement as his eyes closed, and his head started tilting to the side.

"When you get done, come to my room, preferably as a human." I gave him a quick kiss on the end of his wet nose. We walked silently out of the Moroi dorms. I broke off to the Novice dorms while he headed back to the Guardian building, though I could see Alberta's form off in the distance, making her way toward us. Letting Dimitri handle that, I went to go comfort my best friend.

"Lissa?" I asked easing the door to my room open. I peered around and found Lissa's sleeping form in the middle of my bed. Quietly, I stepped into the room. I could see tears staining her pale face, and my mind flashed images of a dead fox. I shuddered before sitting down in my desk chair, thinking about the possible options for Lissa to be protected.

I was more than willing to guard her all the time. I didn't need much sleep, and I was already ahead of my class. If I could take my trials now, I could be promised soon, and guard Lissa all the time. However, I doubt she would want me to graduate early. She'd been planning our graduation party since the beginning of last year, and I wasn't about to ruin her plans just because I was scared for her, besides she has a Guardian.

Dimitri could Guard her, at least most of the time. I know he wasn't getting as much sleep as a Lycanthrope needs, but he seems to be able to function well without sleep, and it's obvious that he cares for his charge. I didn't know what Alberta was going to say about the whole situation, but I needed to be patient and wait until Lissa was awake so we could talk things through.

Just as I was finishing that thought, Lissa began to stir.

"Rose?"

"Hey, Lissa." I said coming over to sit on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so great. I'm just concerned where I'm going to be sleeping. I don't feel comfortable going back to my dorm and I definitely don't want to sleep in that room ever again." She said, her voice wavering.

"You can stay here until we can figure something out. Dimitri will be coming over soon. He's talking to Alberta about a few things. I think that we should take the weekend to talk things over. We are still going shopping, right?" I asked. "I know we use the trips to cover my hunting, but since I just hunted we don't have to use it as cover, we really can just shop."

"I think that's just what I need." Lissa said with a genuine smile. "I think it's going to be good to get away from St. Vlad's for a little while."

"I know. I could use a break, and it's just the first week!" I exclaimed, extracting a laugh from Liss. "I hope the rest of the year won't be like this."

"It's going to be the longest year if not." Lissa said solemnly. "But like everything else, we'll get through it together."

I reached out and gave her a hug, she returned it tightly. Her thin arms were wrapped around me in a strength I didn't know she possessed.

"Are you going to be alright?" I asked when she pulled back.

"I'm going to be just fine, as long as I have you." She smiled sweetly before her face turned into a smirk. "So…are you going to tell me what happened between you and my Guardian?"

"What do you mean?" I asked evasively.

"I mean that no man would react that way unless he felt something for you. You didn't see him when he came to get us at your request. He was frantic, desperate, we could barely understand what he was trying to say. All I got was "Roza" and "sick" before I took off running, Alberta was a little slower on the uptake."

"I noticed you got there several moments before the two of them."

"Yep. And then you changed and ran out of the gym, he stood there in shock for a few seconds before he too bolted out the door. You should have seen it. I've never seen a Lycanthrope Transform so quickly and in mid-stride!" My eyes widened, rarely would you find a wolf capable of doing such a difficult process on the move. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Alright." I sighed. She clapped her hands eagerly and sat up straighter, looking at me expectantly. "There really isn't that much to tell. He asked me out, and I said yes, and then we kissed."

"You kissed him!?" Lissa screamed, and I blushed, immediately quieting her.

"Gosh, Liss. Do you want the entire building to know?" I asked when she'd brought her giddiness down to a manageable level. "Yes, we kissed, and it was fantastic. Oh, and he submitted to me."

"Submitted to you? That's kind of kinky." She said with a sassy smirk.

"Not like that. I mean he submitted as my Beta. I'm an Alpha now, officially." I said proudly.

"Why would he do that?"

"He apparently felt it the right thing to do. He told me that I would be a True Alpha, an Alpha that other Alphas submit to because they want to be part of their pack." My pride suddenly turned to uncertainty. "What if I'm not a good Alpha, Liss? Then what do I do?"

"You're going to be a great Alpha, Roza." Dimitri said sweetly from my doorway. I hadn't even been aware that it had opened, but both he and Alberta were standing at my door. Alberta looked a little hostile towards Dimitri, but I couldn't figure out why until she spoke, her voice low, sounding calm. However, anyone that knew her would understand that she was anything but calm.

"You submitted to her?"