Humans.

For as long as Willa could remember she'd been taught to despise the species. It was a tradition when all pups reached a certain age they were taught to fear people, especially those of Seabrook.

"You should never trust a human, no matter how trusting they may seem there are always ulterior motives."

Her father's words would stay with her for the rest of her life.

It was a crisp autumn morning, the sunlight peeked through the trees, warming the young pups faces as they ran through the forest.

"Slow down!" Willa called, whining to her brother who was ahead of her.

"No way!" The pup called back, a smirk on his young face, his sharp canines flashing toward his sister.

She frowned and pushed harder to try and catch up with him. Pushing her small legs to their limit.

As Willa slowly started to close the distance between her twin, a smell wafted through the air hitting his tiny nostrils. She came to a sudden halt, almost tripping from the momentum.

She was about to call Wyatt but he was too far gone. The scent called to her, pulling her towards it like a magnet. It was a new scent, something that had a hint of familiarity to it, something that had trickled its way into the den once. And Willa distinctively remembers the elders becoming quite worried about it.

But here she was - alone - and her curious young mind was intrigued by it.

She followed the enticing smell until she saw smoke rising in the distance, along with hoots and hollers that she knew came from no wolf. Crouching behind a rock she spotted them.

Humans.

Willa had to tell Wyatt about this. The pup had never seen one before, only stories about how dangerous they were. But she didn't see it, they seemed to be hunting. Just like her pack. What was so scary about them?

The young pup watched as one of the men stalked up on a deer, but instead of using claws like she was used to they held a long metal stick. A rifle, if she remembered the elders' lesson correctly.

Bang!

A loud noise startled the wolf and a shiver went down her spine as the deer fell to the ground, dead. It all happened so fast. Could those sticks kill anything that fast? Perhaps it was time to leave before the humans noticed her.

She made to run off but an unfortunately placed twig snapped as she tried. The humans went silent and Willa's ducked behind a rock.

"What was that?" one of the humans called

"Maybe it's some more deer," another one said.

"Or one of them were-wolves," that comment made Willa's heart seize for a second. No outsiders were supposed that her pack existed.

"They are rumored to live in these woods. And if we caught one we'd be legends."

One of the men let out a harsh laugh that made Willa shake with fear. What if they found her? What if they took her away from her family? What if she never saw Wyatt again?

She was brought out of her train of thought by leaves rustling close to her. "C'mon out you little were-wolf," one of the men teased.

"Yeah, we won't hurt you," the other said.

The men were getting closer and closer and if Willa didn't move they would surely find her. So she got out from her hiding spot and sprinting deeper into the wood but it was cut short by the rifles firing at her path, throwing up dirt all around her causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.

She was blocked and soon the men closed in on her, devious grins on their faces.

"We're gonna be millionaires," one of the men said. He wore a white baseball cap, and leather jacket, with a thick scraggly beard.

The other, who wore a white tank top, chuckled in agreement and grabbed the young werewolf by the back of her neck, lifting her off her feet so that they could get a better look at their prize.

"So this is a werewolf," the man that held her said, admiring their catch, "wonder how much she'll sell for."

Willa growled and clawed at the man's arm holding her but her claws weren't as sharp as they could be and he maintained his tight grip.

"Let me go," she growled, baring her teeth. No matter how scared she was, she could never show it.

"Aww look at this stupid mutt's attempt to be scary," baseball cap man cooed.

Willa thrashed around in his grip, trying to get free. She tried to howl for help but it was cut short by the tank-top guy, slapping her across the face and putting his hand over her mouth, causing the pup to whimper.

"You better shut up, before I pump you full of bullets," the baseball cap guy threatened, holding up his rifle.

The tank-top guy's eyes suddenly lit up and a threatening grin graced his lips, "Kyle, I got something that might help with that and not damage the goods. Check my bag."

Kyle went over to their camp site then returned with something that made Willa's heart stop. It was the only thing of humans that the elders had ever showed the pups, something that made even older wolves cringe to look at.

A muzzle.

Kyle grinned and admired the device before looking at Willa with a crazed look in his eyes as she stared with fear at the muzzle.

"Not so tough now are you?" Kyle said. He grabbed the pup's head before fastening the muzzle to her face.

Once on, Willa started hyperventilating. She tried to claw the cursed device off of her face, but it was made silver and burned her as she tried. But it didn't stop her - she needed it off her face. She couldn't move her mouth without getting burned so she couldn't howl for help. A small whimper escaped her throat.

The two hunters started to laugh at the young pup's struggle. Loud harsh sounds that made her ears hurt.

"Maybe we should put a collar on her and put her in the pound," Kyle sneered. Making Willa whimper even more.

But before the two men could do anything else a howl came from behind them. The humans turned to see a large werewolf glaring at them, growling threateningly.

Willa's father.

"Put her down," he snarled.

The man immediately released her and the pup tumbled to the ground before scrambling away from them.

"Willa close your eyes, and cover your ears" the wolf ordered, staring the hunters down.

She quickly obeyed, but it didn't block the horrified screams of the men. A minute later a pair of strong hands shook her and she opened her eyes to see her father staring down at her with concern and fear in his eyes.

He stared at the device fastened around his daughter's face as she still tried to rip it off but still getting burned.

Tears fell down her face as she whimpered, "I can't get it off." but the muzzle burned her face as she spoke.

"It's ok, young one," her father said, his voice even, though she could see the fear in his eyes, "you'll scar your hands if you keep trying."

The older wolf went to the leather straps that wrapped around Willa's head, "don't move young one." He then slashed that straps causing the muzzle to fall off her face, then he tore it to shreds before bringing his daughter into a tight hug.

"I heard the guns and then Wyatt came to me saying he couldn't find you," her father said,"I thought I lost you."

As if on cue her twin brother came dashing out of the brush, "Willa!" he cried, before tackling her in a hug. She didn't miss the tears in his eyes, "I looked back and you were gone."

"I'm sorry," Willa apologized, tears falling, "I smelt something, so I went to investigate."

"But you must never get close to a human," her father said, "do you understand young one?"

Willa nodded. She would never forget.

That experience shaped her fear and hatred of humans ever since. So when Addison initially reached out a hand to help the wolves Willa was skeptical to say the least. No matter how many times Wyatt claimed that the human girl was the 'Great Alpha' she didn't buy it.

Didn't trust it.

Especially after it was proven that she wasn't the Great Alpha.

But maybe it was Addison's charming nature, or how she saw the werewolves as friends and not just savage beasts or how she helped them find the moonstone, but Willa's walls started to come down. She no longer saw the humans as the threats she did when she was younger. But maybe as…friends?

No.

Her father's words echoed in her brain. The humans weren't friends. She needed to assess them as threats that could hurt her and her pack.

Willa was in math class when she noticed out of the corner of her eye was a group of kids staring at her. She tried to ignore them but their gazes bored into her like silver being applied directly on her skin.

She turned around to glare at them, "What do you guys want!" she growled, "cause if you want your blood to stay inside of your body, you better quit staring at me!"

The teens went back to their work and Willa went back to hers trying not to get them out of her mind. But she couldn't get the feeling that something was off. Everywhere she went it felt like they were there, watching her, studying her.

"I just feel like they're up to something," Willa said, later that night. It was dinner at the den and Willa sat next to Wynter and Wyatt to vent her frustrations.

"Maybe they're staring at you for other reasons," Wyatt suggested, of course being the optimist he would say that.

"Yeah, like maybe they have a crush on you," Wynter teased, taking a bite of deer. Willa stared back at her with an unimpressed look.

"Or," Wyatt interjected, "maybe it's because you're one of the only werewolves in your class."

Willa huffed, "Maybe." She hated when her brother made sense.

"Maybe you should try to not threaten them, and instead make friends," Wyatt suggested.

"Yeah, right," Willa rolled her eyes.

"Hey, if Wanda can make it work," he gestured to the young wolf pup that sat on the other side of the den, "why can't you. "Besides," Wynter interjected, "they're just humans. They're friendly."

The Alpha growled, "they're not just humans!" she snapped, making Wynter jump at the sudden outburst "humans are dangerous, and don't forget it!" She threw her piece of meat to the ground before storming off to one of the smaller caves.

Her heart was beating out of her chest and she felt like she couldn't breathe. Stupid panic attack. She sat down against a wall trying to calm down but tears started to fall instead. Hopefully no one came in to see their Alpha like this.

Unfortunately she heard footsteps coming closer and she hastily wiped tears away and straightened up. Until it was revealed to just be Wyatt. She relaxed a bit.

The Beta wordlessly sat down next to his sister, knowing that she would talk when she was ready. Werewolves were affectionate creatures and leaned on others when they needed it.

"Shouldn't you be out there enjoying your food?" Willa said, her eyes boring into the ground, unable to look at her brother's face that was probably laced with compassion.

"I'd rather be here with you," he said.

"Why."

"Because I know you need me."

"I don't need anyone. I'm the Alpha crying out loud!" she snapped.

"Even Alphas need someone to lean on," Wyatt said, his voice calm and soothing, "Especially you. After what happened when we were young. I'm mean anyone would be scare-"

"Just shut up Wyatt!" Willa snapped, "just go and leave me alone!"

"Willa you shouldn't be alon-"

"Just go!"

Wyatt understood that his sister needed space, he knew how that day as pups had changed her. And how she had never healed from it.

"Maybe you should relax a bit around humans," The Beta said before he left, "it might be the only way to heal." Willa didn't respond and Wyatt left his twin to her own.

Willa hated to admit it but maybe he was right.


As the days went on Willa took Wyatt's advice and relaxed more around humans, she didn't threaten them if they looked at her for a bit too long. Or growl at any person that got too close. And perhaps Wyatt's advice was helping.

Not like she'd ever admit it to him.

There was only one thing that felt off. Those kids in her math class kept staring at her wherever she went. But as soon as she would look at them, they would pretend to be looking somewhere else.

Weird. But maybe it was just a human thing?

Though with Addison's help she soon found out their names.

Percy, a jock, who also had Bio with her, where of course he stared at her. Ellen, the nerdy teacher's pet. Phoebe, who seemed to be the most threatening out of the group. Jack, the twink. And Carmen, who…existed? Yeah nobody knew much about her.

But it felt like they were stalking her, taking notes or something.

"You're just being paranoid," Zed said, when she brought it up at lunch "I've talked to Percy and Jack, and they seem pretty cool. Actually they're pretty interested in werewolves."

Which made Willa suspicions grow even more, "what do you mean?"

"Well they ask about your moonstones and weakness to silver a lot," Zed said, before he could elaborate the bell sounded everyone headed off to class.

But the feeling something was off never left her, even when she headed to the den.

"You seem fidgety," Wyatt pointed out.

"I'm not," Willa said, though it was a complete lie, as she had paced around the den since arriving from school, "ok. Maybe a bit."

"Maybe you should head out for a walk or something," the Beta suggested.

Willa nodded because a walk did sound pretty nice, "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." she said.

Wyatt chuckled, "be careful out there."

Willa rolled her eyes in response, she was an Alpha. What could happen?


It was a beautiful night. The moon gleaming down on the dark forest. Willa could feel her moonstone's power coursing through her as she sprinted through the forest. She felt powerful. It was so freeing. To be out in the forest and be herself with no one judging her.

She let out a howl, one of joy. One that echoed under the night sky and spread throughout the forest. A smile formed on her lips as she breathed in the beautiful scents of the night time forest.

But something was off. A scent that didn't belong in the pine filled forest. A scent all too familiar.

One that brought back harsh memories.

Humans.

Willa ran through the thicket toward the smell, determined to put the bad memories behind her.

It got closer and closer until she entered a clearing of trees. The smell of human was everywhere. Overwhelming her sense of smell so much that it almost made her puke. Not even the highschool reeked that much of human, due to the zombies and werewolves evening it out.

She looked around but saw no sign of anyone. And the smell was fresh but overwhelmed her so much that she couldn't pinpoint where the person, or people went or who they were.

But the smell didn't restrict her hearing and she could make out five sets of footsteps rustling in the thicket.

"Whoever is out there better come out before I rip you apart!" Willa threatened.

Something whistled behind her and before she could do anything she was met with a sudden prick in the back of her neck. She turned to see a dart sticking out.

Tranq dart.

Willa suddenly started to feel dizzy, her limbs going numb and black dots invaded her vision. She collapsed to the ground, she couldn't feel anything and five figures suddenly surrounded her. That was the last thing she saw before unconscious swept over her.


"Wakey wakey little wolf," a voice coaxed Willa from her forced slumber.

The wolf slowly opened her eyes and started to become aware of her surroundings.

The first thing she noticed was that she was restrained, her wrists bound by cuffs behind her with silver lined cuffs. Second was that the familiar weight of her moonstone necklace was gone, instead replaced with a silver collar that tied her to one of the tall pines, leaving her feeling slightly nauseous and weak.

Third was that the human smell was stronger than ever which led into fourth..

She was surrounded by humans. Not just any humans, her classmates from math.

"Aww, hello sleepy head," Percy sneered, his face too close to hers for comfort.

Willa growled and bared her teeth, "let me go."

"Now why would we do that?" Phoebe taunted, "we've never had a werewolf to play with before." The way she said 'play' sent a shiver down Willa's spine.

But she couldn't show weakness, "I'll rip your fucking throat out!" she snarled.

Pain suddenly exploded from Willa's left side. She turned to see Jack with some sort of silver cattle prod, jabbing it into her.

The Alpha tried to twist away from the object but Jack continued to press it into her, a sadistic grin on his face. The group of teens laughed, loving to see the werewolf squirm.

"Ok, ok, Jack give it a break," Percy said, "let's not spoil the goods too much."

The skinny kid did as he was told and Willa took deep breaths to shake off the pain.

She glared at the group of teens, "what do you want from me?" She snarled.

"My uncle was a hunter ," Carmen suddenly piped up, the first time Willa had ever heard the girl's voice. "One day he came to this very forest with his friend." She glared at the wolf, "They never came back. They were found a month later, ripped to shreds. Something only a savage werewolf could do."

That hunter. Willa mentality kicked herself, how had she not seen the resemblance. The baseball capped man was Carmen's uncle, guess psychotic hunter ran in the family.

"Now it's time for a werewolf to feel some pain," Carmen said, a psychotic look in her eyes.

A deep growl climbed its way up Willa's throat before dying out into coughs as her eyes briefly flashed a sickly yellow.

"Aww, missing this little wolf," Ellen taunted, holding up Willa's moonstone.

"Give it back," she growled.

"How about no," Ellen said, in a stuck up voice that made Willia want to rip the girl apart. "I think I'll study it instead."

"Or maybe we'll just smash it," Percy said, grabbing it from Ellen then holding it up about to slam it down.

"No!" Willia cried, the weakest she had sounded all night. It was a desperate plea, one that the tormentors deeply enjoyed.

Percy smirked before stuffing it in his jean pocket. Willia breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can we get this party started yet?" Phoebe asked, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," Carmen grinned, "let's play."

Willa stayed composed, though some fear started to slip in. The gun that was in Jack's pocket didn't go unnoticed by her, she knew that with one howl she would be meeting the ancestors way quicker than she would have liked.

Carmen handed Phoebe her backpack and the girl pulled out a muzzle. Not just any muzzle, just like the hunters had.

"So that's why you guys were staring, and asking Zed about werewolves," she snarled.

"We've been planning this for quite some time," Jack said, "waiting for any wolf to track our scent and end up here."

"Little did we know that we would get lucky enough to catch ourselves an Alpha," Ellen said, leaning down to taunt the wolf, running her fingers across Willa's alpha markings.

In return the werewolf growled and snapped her teeth at Ellen's hand, making the girl quickly pull away from the beast.

"Now we can't be having that," Phoebe said before Jack and Percy pinned Willa down, while Phoebe fastened the muzzle tightly on her. Willa growled and thrashed around but the cold circular metal that suddenly pressed against her head, made her stop.

Once done the teens got off of her and Jack put his gun back in his pocket. Meanwhile the others gazed at Willa with pride and malice.

Percy and Phoebe had gotten out some silver brass knuckles while Jack got his prod. Ellen got out a notepad and pencil, prepared to take notes of their subject's torture. And Carmen simply sat down ready to enjoy the show.

All the sounds and smells, it brought Willa back to that day. The hunters. How helpless she was. And suddenly she was just that scared wolf pup again, just as the group began their torture and she couldn't do anything to stop them.


She'd been gone too long.

A simple walk didn't take that long, what if something happened.

No nothing would happen, it was Willa for god sake.

But that didn't stop Wyatt from becoming increasingly more concerned about his sister's well being as the minutes ticked away. Any second now she would walk through those doors, then tease her brother about how tense he looked, call him a worry wolf and ruffle his hair.

But the more time that passed that seemed like less likely to happen.

"Just go look for her," Wynter said after over an hour of Wyatt pacing.

He knew for a fact that if he were to search for her she would get angry and yell at him that she was fine.

But his instincts got the better of him and he headed out into the night to search for her.

It was a clear crisp night, great for a midnight walk. Maybe Willa got caught up in the beauty of it all. Wyatt howled and waited for a response but nothing. He traveled a bit further before howling again, a firmer one, and once again he waited for a response and again got nothing.

The forest was calm. A bit too calm. Something was definitely wrong. Wyatt let out another howl, a desperate one, one that called to his sister, begging for her to respond, one that was only used for emergencies. And still there was nothing.

"Willa!" he yelled, a desperate plea climbing up his throat. "Willa!" There was nothing, the forest was silent.

Tears started to fall freely from Wyatt's face. He couldn't lose her.

Not again.

That day with the hunters. He had never admitted to anyone how scared he was that day. When he turned around and Willa wasn't there. His sister. His twin. Was gone.

"Willa!" Wyatt's throat was raw, his howls hadn't worked, yelling hadn't worked. There was only one option left.

Wyatt had never been the best at tracking someone through smell. That was Willa's skill. But he was a werewolf after all, he had to try. It was his sister after all.

Slowly he caught his sister's scent, the woodsy cinnamon smell that had comforted him so many times. And he finally caught it, it was faint, but there.

And he raced after it, sprinting through the forest to get to her. But as he got closer his heart seized because mixed with Willa's scent was blood, metal and human.

So much human.

Wyatt soon entered a clearing of trees where he saw her.

He felt like he had been dunked in freezing water, his heart seized up and he froze, unable to process what lay in front of him.

Willa, his sister, the fiercest wolf he knew, the Alpha of his pack, laid unconscious on the ground. Her wrists were bound together by cuffs, a muzzle was fastened tightly around her head and a silver collar was wrapped around her neck that tied her to the tree.

And the metallic stench of blood clogged his nostrils, his sister's blood.

Wyatt rushed over to her and it was so much worse. The silver burns that littered Willa's arms and face made him want to vomit. Whoever had hurt her would pay.

He gently shook her, not wanting to hurt her anymore than she already was. "Willa," his voice coming out in a whisper, hoarse from his yelling.

She didn't move, so Wyatt tried again, "c'mon sis I need you to wake up." he shook her again and nothing. He was crying now, begging for her to wake up, "please Willa need you. I don't know if I can live without you."

He continued to shake her and after a few painstaking minutes she finally stirred and Wyatt almost collapsed with relief.

Her eyes slowly opened meeting Wyatt's gaze, he reached out to try and get her restraints off but she flinched away.

Wyatt's brow furrowed in confusion, did his sister flinch away from him? And the look she gave him, it wasn't the usual cocky older sister look but one of fear, like a scared pup.

"Willa," he said, calmly and evenly, "It's me. It's Wyatt."

A look of recognition passed through her, and the fear melted away. "Wyatt." Her voice came out in a broken whisper, barely audible from the sizzle of the muzzle burng her as she spoke.

"Yeah sis, it's me," he said.

"Hurts."

It was a simple word but the pain in which Willa said it made Wyatt want to break down crying. But he couldn't. Willa had always been so strong for him, it was time for him to be strong for her.

A cough erupted from her throat, bringing up crimson, the motion causing the muzzle to tighten around her face, burning it even more. Oh how she wanted to rip the stupid thing off her face, but with her hands tied behind her and she couldn't do anything to stop the pain. Tears fell freely down her face, as she begged for the pain to stop.

Wyatt couldn't bear to see his sister like this. He ripped the muzzle off of her, burns on his hands be damned and tossed it far away. Next he moved onto the collar fastened around her neck, burning into her skin. He sliced through the string connecting the collar to the tree, then bent the silver until it broke and he was able to get it off of Willa. Finally he went to the cuffs, using his fingernail to maneuver around the lock until it clicked and the restraints fell away, leaving Wyatt's hands sizzling but with a blue glow from his moonstone the burns healed.

And as soon as they were off Wyatt tackled his sister into a bone crushing hug. Instead of pushing away like she normally would, Willa clung on her brother like she would never let go, her head buried in his shoulder as her tears soaked his shirt.

The sight was unusual and unsettling to say the least, to see Willa, who was usually so stoic apart from some limited affection she gave to Wyatt and Wynter, be so…emotional.

"Hey, you're ok," he comforted, rubbing her back, "you're ok."

Another cough climbed its way out of Willa, leaving doubling over and coughing up more blood. Her eyes flashed a sickly greenish yellow, before her limbs gave out on her and she collapsed.

"Willa!" Wyatt cried, rushing over to his fallen sister.

And that's when he noticed it.

Her moonstone was gone.

"Willa, where's your moonstone?" he asked.

Willa weakly gestured over to the woods to their left, "they threw it over there." she said, before her eyes slowly closed.

"Hey, no sleeping," Wyatt said as he rocked his sister's shoulder, there was no way he was going to be about to make it back to the den with her unconscious. Willa weakly opened her eyes and they glowed yellow before she coughed up more blood.

She needed that moonstone.

"I'll be right back," Wyatt promised, running off to find Willa's moonstone, "remember no sleeping."

He tore up the earth looking for the piece of jewelry but he couldn't find it and Willa was running out of time. The moonlight did not help - the trees thick branches blocking any light that dared to enter that part of the woods.

Where was it?!

Wyatt needed to find it fast or else his sister would… No he couldn't think about it right now.

After a few minutes of searching he finally saw it, hidden beneath the roots of a tall pine, barely noticable if not looking for it.

Wyatt quickly scooped it up and ran back to where Willa laid still. Her eyes closed again.

"Hey," Wyatt exclaimed, "What'd I say. No sleeping."

He tried to rouse her once again, but to no avail. Her skin was deathly cold and his heart seized at the thought that his sister's eyes might never open again.

"Willa!" he called, "I need you to wake up! Please!"

Wyatt quickly put Willa's moonstone on her, waited. She would come to any second, he just knew it. But as minutes dragged on, there wasn't the slightest stir from her.

Wyatt wanted to cry, to scream, to do anything but he had already used up all his tears and his voice was raw. But despite his throat, he let out a howl. One full of anguish and despair, of longing and of grief.

Willa couldn't be gone, she just couldn't. She wasn't supposed to leave before him, she wasn't supposed to leave like this, away from her pack.

"Please," Wyatt begged the ancestors, "I can't lose her."

He leaned down pressing his forehead to hers, longing for the sense of comfort that usually came with it. While he was down his moonstone touched hers and a bright blue glow sprouted from the contact.

Suddenly Willa's eyes shot open and she sat up gasping for air.

"Willa!" Wyatt cried, "you're ok!" He hugged her tightly like would never let go. "I'm so sorry, if I hadn't suggested that walk-"

"no," Willa interrupted, her voice firm, "this isn't your fault…It's mine."

"Sister, it's not your fault," he said.

"But it is!" Willa cried, her voice breaking, "I froze! I was helpless and I couldn't do anything as they punched and kicked and burned me. It was like I was back to that day when we were younger and I fucking froze! How can I protect a pack, when I can't even stand up to humans?"

She was crying now, Wyatt wrapped his arms around his sister and let her sob.

"We all have our fears," Wyatt said, "even Alphas. But what's important is how we learn from them." He looked at his older sister with compassionate eyes, "right?"

Willa slowly nodded, "I guess."

Wyatt gave his sister's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"When did you get so wise," she said teasingly.

"Oh. I've always been this wise," he responded with a smirk.

Willa playfully punched him in the arm, and Wyatt smiled. Now that was the sister he was used to.

"Now how about we get some revenge."