Snow kept on pouring down from the white blue sky, swirling in the wind until it fell on my coat. My eyes were focused on the small herd of white tail deer, stomach growling in hunger. The snow was helping somewhat, as I had taken a few mouthfuls to avoid giving myself away through my breath.

Digging my paws into the snow, I snuck closer to the deer. If I was part of a pack, I'd simply charged ahead, forcing the deer to keep running until they slowed down due to exhaustion. With no other wolves to run down the deer and aid me when I got tired, I had no other choice but to sneak closer.

My ears twitched on each crackling sound from the snow underneath my paw, the deer treading through the snow, kicking their legs high up in a show of health and power. The wind kicked up, dragging snow over the ground in ripples, as if an invisible creature ran past.

Licking at my teeth, I snuck closer a few more inches, freezing whenever the deer looked up. I couldn't waste this opportunity. If I couldn't catch myself a meal now, I'd be forced to go to the pack wolves and be a slave to their whims and mercy.

Paw after paw I snuck closer, until one deer snorted and bolted away, spooking the rest of the herd. I cursed but ran after them, feeling my muscles protest sharply against the motions.

As the herd scattered, I tried to find some individuals that were sick, wounded or generally slow. The foals were nearly adults now but not nearly as big and they'd have a harder time running through the snow.

My heart thudded in my chest, tongue lolling out of my jaws as I ran as fast as I could. The deer fanned out, a sea of rippling muscles and dangerous hooves. Targeting one deer was tough enough in these conditions, even worse with them running willy-nilly.

Still, I managed to lock eyes on a buck and slowly but surely caught up to him. He tried to kick me but it left his stomach vulnerable and I eagerly sank my teeth in his belly. He cried in pain and anger, jumping in an attempt to dislodge me as I tried my best to hold on and avoid his flailing hooves.

The hunt wasn't over though. My hold on the deer was weak, especially with my muscles and bones protesting against every wild buck and kick that jolted me left and right. As he stumbled in the snow, I released the deer, darting forwards in an attempt to grab him by the throat.

A snow drift made me stumble though, sinking into the deep snow and I watched in horror as the deer lined its hoof up and kicked with all the power it had. Bones snapped with a sickening crunch as badly healed injuries easily gave way underneath the massive hoof.

I howled in pain, dropping to the floor and flailing as my body cried out in pain. The deer quickly ran ahead but it was all over. Panting heavily and whimpering under my breath, I shivered as I slowly got my bearings and looked at my leg.

It laid limply in the snow, thankfully not bleeding though I could almost see the tissue swell. I knew the fracture had never set properly, as I had assumed my hip had been both broken and dislocated. Still it had been manageable to move around it otherwise.

But now pain was pumping through my body with every heartbeat, the leg that had previously been so tense and curled up now dangled loosely from my body. I didn't dare move it, as the pain was almost too much to deal with just standing still.

Catching my breath, I slowly took a few wobbling steps and had to bite my tongue to hold in the pained yelps. Getting to the pack's territory was going to be extremely painful. But I had to, unless I wanted to die from starvation.

The journey was hard and gruesome. Each step I took jarred the broken bones, making them grind painfully against one another. But I forced myself to keep walking, to set one paw in front of the other, crunching down on snow as my wounded leg dragged behind me.

It was one of the few downsides of being a rogue. If something went wrong and you got wounded, you got nobody to rely on but yourself. There was no pack mind to link with and nobody to rush to your aid.

My flanks heaved with effort, my legs trembling as I looked around. The quickest route was through the human village, as I didn't have the energy to move around it. I just hoped that none of the humans would try and call a wildlife center to my aid.

I might be without a pack, but I preferred to live my life outside a cage.

And I'd like to keep my balls, thank you very much.

Sadly enough, it was somewhere close to noon and traffic was busy as ever. Already I could hear the human's exited gasps when they spotted me, a few hushed murmurs and phones glinting in the sunlight as they took pictures.

Forcing myself to move quicker, I limped heavily across the road, ignoring the whispers from the humans pointing at the limp leg I dragged along and the honking car that had to stop for me. The pain was nauseating, draining my body from energy as I wished to curl up and never move again.

Already I could feel the tissue swelling, pain pulsing through the area as the broken bones clashed against one another with every painful step. It reminded me of how I felt when I had just been cast out, though back then was worse. Much worse.

I don't know how much time it took as my focus was on moving my paws and nothing else. When I felt the soft pulsing of power a bit ahead, I let myself droop down on the floor, letting out a howl to announce my presence.

Several wolves responded, as I could hear them yip and howl back, rushing to my location. I panted weakly, my head flopping on the floor with a dull thud, too weak to hold my body up.

"Oh shit! It's that rogue wolf... Someone alert the Alpha and get a stretcher!" Fingers brushed against my coat, almost hesitantly so, shaking as if prepared to yank back if I were to snap. "Can you hear me?"

I whined. It was all I could do, all the strength left in my body. The man lowered his head with a relieved sigh before he brushed through my fur. "We're gonna get you out of here and judging from how you look, you can't make it easier for us by shifting back?"

Whine.

"Thought as much." The man nodded, looking back as more wolves ran over, some sniffing at my fur and sneezing. They flinched back from my leg when I growled lowly, daring them to press their luck.

"Easy. As soon as we have that stretcher, we're going to load you up and carry you back. I'm Neal by the way." The wolf snorted before shaking his head, muttering something about the pack link before standing up.

Low growls kept rumbling through my chest, my eyes flitting around with distrust. It would be so easy for them to kill me now, to just rip into my throat, though I knew that would be a quick death.

Knowing pack wolves, they'd go for the belly, rip it open and let the organs spill out. Time and infection would run its course and kill any rogue they'd encounter.

My limbs twitched as I grew more and more tired, my head resting on the floor while that wolf, Neal, frowned and reached down, gently lifting my lip the slightest bit. Whatever he saw made his eyes widen, his words shouted yet sounding oddly soft.

I could see wolves running towards us, the Alpha's eyes gleaming with anger as he followed behind them until we locked eyes. The look in his eyes made me think of another Alpha, my mate's Alpha, who had looked at me with disgust before he had howled for the pack.

A rallying howl, to signify there was a feral rogue that needed to be destroyed.

-~-~-

The wolves instantly snarled, hackles raised as they looked at me with contempt. My eyes found my mate's, begging and pleading him to stop this madness. He had a high rank in this pack and I was his mate. Surely there was something-

His eyes narrowed with betrayal and anger before he simply averted his head and followed behind his Alpha, going towards the Pack house while the rest of the Enforcers snarled and darted for me.

Teeth dug in, jarring me out of my shocked state as I howled for my mate, howled for him to help me. No response was given, only anger that flooded the link before it was shut violently. In the short time that it took to try and link my mate, one of the Enforcers was already sinking his teeth in my scruff, shaking his head wildly as if he was shaking a rabbit to death.

Flesh tore under sharp teeth, more painful bites and nips at my legs and hip as I took off running. My heart thudded violently in my chest, tail tucking in against my belly after it was caught in a painful yank.

I could feel the blood flowing from my neck as I darted through the trees, trying to avoid the Enforcers as best as I could. But my muscles couldn't cooperate, already exhausted before the chase started.

They caught me several times, each time their teeth dug into any vulnerable spot they could find, tearing flesh and ripping through chunks of muscle. The pain was nothing I'd ever experienced but what hurt even more was that these were wolves I knew.

Wolves I saw as brothers and sisters. And yet they turned on me without a question, tossing our friendship in the wind and for what?

"I don't understand! Why are you doing this?!"

They didn't respond, shunning me from the link and their territory. Kayla jumped on my back, claws digging in my skin as she ripped in my scruff, her brother Evan was quick to latch onto my hip.

I could actually feel his teeth grinding against the bone, could feel myself weakening and drop to the floor as they yanked and jerked their heads, all of them intent on killing me.

When I couldn't run anymore and stopped resisting, the biggest Enforcer sank his teeth in my broken leg and yanked me with him, dragging me all the way until the edge of pack territory before I was flung across it.

I landed in a pitiful pile of fur and mangled limbs, unable to move and struggling to breathe properly. The link I had with the pack snapped the second I was flung over the border.

No longer did I feel their presence in the back of my mind, nor could I feel my mate anymore. The bond was severed, broken brutally while their anger and hatred still burned through my mind.

The group made a show of reaffirming their bonds, muzzles soaked in my blood as they scent marked one another and the border, kicking dirt in my general direction before they turned their backs on me with lifted tails and disappeared into the woods.

-~-~-

I blinked, shaking all over as I struggled to separate memory from reality. Hands sifted gently through my fur, a woman and man sitting at the edge of a bed I was on. Yet I couldn't stop these shivers that ran through my body, couldn't understand the voices that hummed in my ear.

I didn't even realize that the high-pitched whimpers and whines were slipping out of my own muzzle.

My body was still groggy and slow to respond, though I noticed the lack of pain. Looking down at my leg made me frown, as I realized they had placed a cone over my head so I couldn't see what had happened to my leg.

Still, the exhaustion and stress was too much for me. I simply laid down and closed my eyes, hoping that this time, I didn't dream of a lost life.