Runt In The Wild

Chapter Sixteen

For the past few months, I have felt like I have been spending more time with Leo instead of all of my friends. We just seem to be splitting up more and more.

When I really think about it, it feels like a thorn sharp claw is digging into my heart. I miss our gatherings whenever we had the chance, but now I just stick to Leo, and my friends seem to do the same with their pre-mates.

So, I decided to do something about it.

I laid on the ground, covered in blood (but not my own; well, my friends don't know that) as I tried to limit my breathing.

A scent started to drift my way through the trees. After that, several other scents joined them as I heard a bunch of familiar paw steps rushing towards me.

"Kate!" A voice I don't hear very often anymore called in alarm. I tried to stop myself from moving as the other wolves surrounded me on all sides.

"Kate, wake up! It can't be; it just can't!" Of course, this was Leo freaking out. I almost sighed at the thought of my pre-mate being the only one who is genuinely freaking out over me.

"No, no, no, no. Kate, stay with us." I made my eyes flutter open like it took a ton of effort to lift them.

"Lucy? Leo? Guys?" My friends crowded around me. "Oh, I have missed you guys so much. I wish we would have spent more time together lately. We have been growing so far apart." I said dramatically as I fake coughed which was actually pretty close to a real cough since I was fighting back tears. I truly did miss them, and it was tearing me apart.

Lucy came to press her nose to my bloodstained fur. "You're right. I miss when we used to get together more. We separated a little when we became Alphas because of our duties, but we almost fully left each other after we became pre-mates. I'm so sorry, Kate. I know how hard it had always been for you to be separated from any of us." Lucy silently cried, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks. And what she said was true. After I was abandoned, they were the only family that I had. My friends and Lonnie.

"I'm sorry, too." Leonardo stepped up next to Lucy. "I just couldn't stop thinking about Lucy that, I guess, I forgot about my friends." Leonardo said, embarrassed.

"Oh, Kate. You always kept us together, but I see that we all have to hold each other together now." Molly said in her high pitched voice as she crept forward on her belly.

Brian nodded his head and came up beside Molly. Leo licked the side of my face. "I'm sorry, Kate. I should have thought about our friendships instead of just me and you. I just love you so much; I want you to be happy."

Okay, so this is becoming a little too sappy for me. What's surprising to me is that they didn't even ask what happened to me, but I can tell that they truly think I'm injured.

"Will you guys promise me one thing?" I ask gently. My friends frantically nod their heads. "Promise me that no matter what, you will always stick together and spend as much time with each other as any other wolf, that you won't leave anyone behind."

"We promise," my friends said in unison.

Satisfied, I started to claw the ground and drag my body limply towards the hot spring. My friends started to protest my actions and told me to rest. I turned to look back up at them with fake pain in my eyes. "Please. I just want to touch the water one last time." Ugh, I feel like a drama queen, and it does not suit me. Nope, not one bit.

I continued to crawl across the grass, halfway on my belly and halfway on my side. I was so close. Then, I finally reached the boiling water. I leaned forward as if to touch it, but fall in instead.

Right before I went under, I heard my friends screaming and panicking above. They think I fell in, but the truth of the matter is that I kind of dived in. I did it on purpose.

I propelled myself up and out of the water. "Kate!" Leo screamed as he ran to lick the side of my face desperately. "Oh, Kate. Lay down you need to rest before you head towards the light."

I started to laugh like a maniac as my friends stared at me in confusion and astonishment. "What the heck?!" Leo yelled, anger and surprise laced in his voice.

"Sorry. It's just that you should have seen your faces!" I continued to laugh, rolling around on the ground as my sides burned.

I finally calmed down so that I could sit up without falling back over. "Kate?" Leo took a cautious step forward. "Are you...okay?"

I gave him a small smile. "Yeah, absolutely perfect. The blood was fake. I just rolled in some prey's blood."

"Well, in that case..." Leo snarled as he leapt forward, his jaws open wide. I yelped as he tackled me to the ground. He nipped my sides with his sharp teeth. I tried to kick Leo off, but he had me on my stomach with his claws digging into my back.

I went limp for a moment before thrusting all of my energy into a jump. Leo flew back with a surprised yelp. I turned around and bared my fangs at him. "How dare you?!" I screamed.

"No, how dare you?!" Leo snarled back after he had recovered. "How dare you try and let me think that you were dying, that I might have lost one of the most important things to me?! Huh, Kate?! Because I would never do that to you!" Fire blazed in his eyes and his teeth glistened.

"Because you didn't think about me!" I screamed as I started to cry. "You don't understand how hard it is knowing that my family abandoned me on purpose, left me to die, and to never see again because I am supposed to be weak. And then for my friends to start going their seperate ways when they are the only wolves that I can call a family now! I was afraid, Leo. I was afraid." I whispered the last line, barely audible in the silence.

I crouched down on the ground and stared at the grass. Why did they have to leave me? Why did everyone that I love and care about try to leave me behind? I finally came to a decision. "If everyone that I love wants to leave me behind, then I will leave before I can love again." I jumped up and ran out of the Hot Springs with my friends in pursuit.

"Kate, please stop!" I heard Lucy call.

"No! I will never get hurt again! No one wants to be with a runt! I'm just a weak runt!" That must have drove Leo nuts because he dashed forward growling. He lunged for the scruff of my neck, but I ducked just in time. I continued to run for the pack boundary when a howl echoed through the air. Leo was calling the other Alphas!

I ran faster and was a few feet away from the border when I heard more wolves join my friends. "Kate!" Leo yelled at the top of his lungs, I heard the desperation in his voice.

I was almost there. 3...2...1...and I was over the border. I continued to run, but as I got farther away from the territory, I heard a howl of agony. Whoever it was, they were heartbroken.

But the thing is, I know who was howling. And it broke my heart to hear her in such pain for losing me, her only daughter. It was Lonnie. I was going to miss my friends, my family. But maybe it's just time to move on. But will I actually ever be able to?

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Hey! How's it going? So, what do you think of Kate running away? Should she have solved her problems another way? Or should her friends have been there for her? Ask questions and comment. Thanks! Enjoy! :)