Outliers

And in all the stories my daughter shall hear, it will not be princes that slay the dragons, but little girls that believe in magic with big, brave hearts and even bigger dreams.

She will learn to rely on her own sword in every battle, in every struggle, in every war because she will learn how to devour every single monster from their very core.

- Nikitta Gill

My ankles rolled, balance askew, and I landed against the grass and mud on my knees and forearms, half on Nero. Mud splashed against my face, in my eyes and my mouth as I groaned and pulled myself up on shaking arms.

We certainly hadn’t landed as eloquently as Riley, the young boy who — though also caked in mud — was on his feet and sprinting towards the woods.

“Fuck me,” Nero groaned, struggling to gather himself.

“Come on, get up,” I said, tugging him up to his feet with one hand while I wiped the mud from my face with the other. I tucked my knife — the handle slick with the rain and dirt — into the tight pocket of shorts that ran the length of my thigh.

“Maybe if you hadn’t pushed me out of the fucking window,” he snorted and paled as he glanced back up at Riley’s bedroom. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Russo was snarling, his fury unleashed, as he forced himself through the window frame after us. Gone was the calm and collected male. He probably hadn’t even considered we’d jump out of a window to escape him. Idiot.

Nero was off, sprinting after Riley while I followed at the back. I didn’t once glance behind me, but I could hear the resounding thud of Russo hitting the ground. I knew I could outrun him only if he didn’t shift.

But it didn’t really matter if I could escape Russo. All that mattered right now was if Riley could escape. There was no fucking way I was going to let Russo get his hands on him.

Up ahead, I saw Riley clear the field and cross into the trees. Good. Maybe if he could run far enough, he’d find the other trainees or even the enforcers, and they could protect him.

Nero and I followed Riley’s lead, desperate to keep up as my feet sunk into the swampy earth. Two days of hard rain had rendered it so saturated that it was almost impossible to cross without my feet sinking an inch into the ground with every step. Our escape was clumsy, more human than of lithe, graceful wolves, but it was fuelled with desperation to stay one step ahead of the male that hunted us.

We reached the sharp line of trees, not hesitating to push ourselves into the thick forest that lay ahead. Nero followed Riley with ease, and I recognised the route the young wolf led us on almost instantly. This was the route Thane and I ran when training - it seemed Thane had been taking Riley on the same route, a hard path of gnarled routes, brambles and sharp overgrowth that desired to trap those whose concentration slipped for even a second. We knew this land. We had been studying it to sharpen our instincts and reflexes. Russo was on foreign territory, a stranger oblivious to the felled logs and hidden holes that one had to dodge.

Not for the first time I was realising just how intelligent the young Alpha to be was.

Nero and I deftly avoided the low-hanging branches and far-reaching tree roots, though the sodden ground that had my thighs burning at the extra effort needed to keep my balance.

My harsh, laboured breaths fogged against the frigid air. Behind me, I could hear Russo’s pants as the male refused to end his pursuit.

But we were creating distance between us, however minuscule, as Nero and I managed to traverse through the woodland with familiarity. Riley was far ahead now, faster on his young legs, aided by his Alpha genes.

I allowed myself to feel relief, however briefly, as I watched the distance between Riley and us grow. Even if Russo reached me, even if he reached Nero, Riley could escape. He could find the others and they would protect him while Nero and I fought off Russo.

But that relief didn’t last long. Not as I ducked out from under a thick stooped branch of an aged tree and witnessed Riley running right into the arms of one of the Nevada trainees appearing out of nowhere.

Riley looked so small in his arms, trapped in the male’s grasp as forearms crushed Riley to his chest. The other Nevada trainee appeared just a second later, a crooked, deadly grin curving across his mouth.

I felt my heart stutter in my chest as Riley’s eyes caught my own, and the pure fear I found there as Riley realised how useless he was against the fully grown male cleaved into me.

My pace faltered for only a second, but it was enough for Russo to gain an advantage on me. The male lunged towards me, fingers grazing my ankle and forcing me off balance.

I fell hard, head smashing against a rock just as Russo’s body surged into me, knocking the wind from my lungs.

Strong hands wrapped around my wrists, slamming them on the ground and pinning me in place. I writhed against his body, bucked against the restraints, but couldn’t escape Russo’s weight.

“Emily!” Nero cried, glancing back just in time to see my defeat. I watched through damp eyes as Nero stumbled to a stop between me and Riley, wild as his attention darted between the two of us and he eyed the threats that surrounded him.

The same mud that coated every inch of me painted across his pale skin and clung to his curls and to his clothes. He was panting, huge heaving breaths that had him wheezing; not from the running, but the dread and panic I saw leaching into him.

The other Nevada male, the one not detaining Riley — who had not for one second stopped fighting the hold on him — stalked towards Nero like one would approach a startled horse.

“Protect Riley,” I said, voice hoarse but hard without an inch of hesitance, not allowing my own fear to be visible. I wouldn’t let them hurt Riley. I couldn’t. Not this boy who had lost so much already when the weight of an entire pack’s future had been thrust upon him.

I didn’t let myself embrace the fear; fear that I couldn’t fight against this, that I couldn’t survive against these full-blooded wolves. And I had had years of practice to push down that fear - I had years of practice to ignore the same fear that had told me not to push against Jack’s control, the same fear that told me I couldn’t hold my own against wolves and that I did need to be separated from them, to be kept safe.

I didn’t watch Nero any longer, couldn’t watch to see how he fared against the other Nevada wolf.

Russo was in my face, snarling like a wild beast, baring his fangs at me and forcing me to submit to him. He slammed my arms back into the ground once more, and I felt something snap in my left arm.

I couldn’t escape the hold he had on my wrists, and no matter how much I writhed against the mud, I couldn’t shift him from atop me. So I snarled right back at the male, and sunk my blunt human teeth into his face.

That had the male surging back with a sharp hiss, just enough for me to drag myself out from under him through the mud. The hard metallic taste of blood stained my mouth, dripping from my chin and mixing with the rain that continued to fall.

Fingers — like thick claws — dug deep into the earth as my arms quaked with the effort it took to pull myself up and onto my feet. Breathing deeply, I mustered a deathly glare as I staggered back away from the male, who was now seconds from shifting.

Unsheathing my knife, not sparing a glance towards the fight breaking out behind me, my gaze was sharp as I assessed Russo’s every movement. My left arm was throbbing as it hung limply at my sides, but I didn’t need to it to cut into him, not when my right hand gripped the familiar weapon.

The hulking mass of a male was rife with fury as he snarled and growled at me, clutching at his cheek where I had torn a chunk from him. Blood seeped out beneath his tanned fingers and ran the length of his wrist.

“You bitch!” Benjamin Russo roared, the sound reverberating against the trees that guarded us from all sides.

I should have felt fear. I should have felt afraid of this male, should have felt the same fear I felt when faced against that mountain lion, however many days ago that had been. But I didn’t.

Not as adrenaline surged through my veins and I grinned at Russo with all the restraint of a madman - baring my blood stained teeth to him as a promise of more pain to come. I felt alive. I felt free.

“Not used to things biting back?” I taunted, steeling my spin and approaching with a swagger in my step, stopping only when I was just an arms-length away. There was no more running now. That was no longer an option, not with Riley restrained and the sound of Nero’s struggles behind me; not as I heard Nero cry out and the sound of his body hitting the floor.

This time, I had no choice but to fight. And there was nothing to hold me back.

“I’m going to tear you to shreds!”

Behind him, movement in the trees caught my eye for only a second.

That wicked, cruel grin of mine didn’t lessen as I whispered, “Good luck with that.”

Daniel emerged from the woods faster than I had seen any wolf move, battering into Russo without warning and knocking him to the ground.

I didn’t waste a single second, whirling to face the Nevada traitors. Nero was battered and bruised on the ground, the male he had fought against bleeding but still standing, eyes wide at Daniel’s sudden appearance.

I lunged, with a speed I had acquired from my years of sparring with Jack and with the accuracy I had developed against Thane every morning. My knife slashed against his thigh, his forearm, and grazed his neck as he attempted feebly to block my attacks. I shoved him to the ground, and his legs buckled beneath him with ease.

“You think you’re better than us?” The male spat; David, if I remembered correctly. He was shaking, every inch of him on edge, as he glowered up at me.

Behind him, the other Nevada male — Javier — was backing away from the fight, dragging a struggling Riley along with him. Riley looked so small in his arms, so powerless. The only mercy was that Javier didn’t seem inclined to kill Riley himself. That task, it seemed, was for Russo.

“Is that what you’re so afraid of?” I smirked. My fingers flexed on the hilt of my blade. “Worried you don’t compare?”

David shifted into his wolf, a wolf that seemed so small now that I had seen Thane in combat. He barred his fangs at me, lip curling back just enough to show me that sharp gleam of white bone. David leapt towards me, more reckless than brave, as his jaws aimed to wrap around my thin human neck.

I rolled to my right, sliding through the mud just as David landed and skidded on unsteady paws. I was by his side again, the knife plunging deep into his gut. David spluttered, the wolf whining in a horrifically high-pitched wail as my blade tore at his flesh and innards. His claws swiped at me, tearing through skin - but the pain wasn’t enough to stop my attacks.

He now lay prone, bleeding out against the earth. Rain washed away against the blood as the wolf struggled to move against the pull of his wounds. David was bleeding quicker than he could heal. I left him to bleed, turning my attention to the male now quivering as he watched his friend slowly die.

Riley had stilled in Javier’s arms as the male’s hold on the young boy shook. One quivering clawed fingertip was held against Riley’s throat, but the boy no longer seemed so afraid - not when his eyes met mine and I saw the same determination thrumming through my bones reflected in him.

I approached slowly, stalking across the minuscule distance between us as if I had all the time in the world. Javier’s terror struck eyes followed every step. I knew I must have looked a sight, wild tendrils of red hair stained with blood and dirt, matted against my neck and face as the rain did little to wash away the evidence of this battle. My face, my body, every inch of visible skin beneath my athletic shorts and t-shirt were covered. I could feel the grime coating me thickly. But my eyes… my eyes were wide and clear as I stared down the male two seconds from pissing himself, and I hoped they conveyed just how powerful I felt in this moment and how weak I viewed him to be.

Javier faltered, his hold on Riley slackening.

I looked at Riley again, just a small glance with a command that somehow, miraculously, he seemed to understand.

As I leapt towards Javier, Riley was knocking the arm away that restrained him and surging his elbow into his captor. By the time I was on Javier, snarling at the cowardly male, Riley had already distanced himself and was now kneeling at Nero’s side, helping him to a sitting position.

Javier — to no surprise — was no difficulty to defeat. I left the male unconscious on the ground, face in the dirt as he bled from the cuts I had inflicted across his limbs.

It was only when I was sure he would not be waking any time soon that I allowed myself to rush to Nero and Riley’s side, scanning them immediately from head to toe to assess their injuries. Riley was completely unharmed, to my relief, and Nero was already quickly healing and pouting.

“Are you okay?” I asked, exhaustion already weighing heavy on my limbs now that the adrenalin that had fuelled my fight seeped from me and left me feeling somewhat hollow.

“I can’t believe I missed all the fun.”

I was quick to scoff, rolling my eyes as I muttered dryly, “You’re fine.”

So instead, I turned back towards Daniel - where the sounds of his fight with Russo had already ended. The familiar male was scowling, looking far more serious than I had ever seen him. Russo was at his knees before him, head arched back, throat bared as one of Daniel’s clawed fingertips tug deeply into the flesh. Blood had been drawn, and I knew one move from either males would end Russo’s life.

“He’s yours to finish.”

I paused, blinking at Daniel. Whatever surprise I was feeling, I was sure, was clear in my face.

“Mine?” I laughed, casting a look of disgust at the kneeling male that still managed to sneer at me, despite the position he was in. “I don’t give a single shit about this male. He’s all yours. Protect your Alpha.”

Daniel didn’t wait for further confirmation, and in one abrupt swipe of his claw, Russo was dead on the ground before us.

There was a sudden silence in the woods that seemed so heavy as the four of us stared down at the unmoving body. I didn’t feel any relief, or pride, at the sight - I was simply just too tired to care. He had dug his own grave going after Riley, after all.

“Well,” I sighed, placing a hand on Riley’s shoulder. “Should you need a loyal Beta, I think you’ve found him.”

Daniel looked towards me sharply, surprise fleeting in his expression.

The young boy only nodded mutely, staring at the frozen expression of his father’s murderer.

“A position rightly earned,” Nero added. And I knew I didn’t imagine the respect in Nero’s eyes as he appraised Daniel - the male he had done nothing but complain about since knowing him. I wondered briefly if Daniel’s opinion of Nero had changed at all. “Now, where the fuck is everyone else? We weren’t exactly quiet. How far do you think they ran before they realised ol’ Benjie never left the inner territory? Do you think they’ve even noticed? I blame the negligence on Adriel. It’s probably his fault somehow.”

I cracked a weak smile, twin to the grin curving across Nero’s bruised face that dimpled his cheeks. A wobbling laughter escaped, one driven by relief that we were all alive, and the sudden drop in adrenaline that drained my body in a way I hadn’t felt before.

I pulled Nero into a tight embrace, as if anything less would have him slipping away from me. I realised now that my legs were shaking, exhaustion leaching all strength as I leant heavily into Nero, relying on his strength to keep me upright. Tears brimmed in the corners of my eyes.

And that’s how the others found us, Nero and I hugging as we laughed against each other, looking as if we had been dragged through hell. We probably looked absolutely insane.