"Okay time to separate," James said with an amused smile as he stood in between us. "Savannah, there are a few wolves I want you to meet." I nodded as they walked up to us. "Right here is Lincoln, Malcolm, Jeremiah, and Kyle. Lincoln and Malcolm are twins." Those two gave off twin vibes from the way they stood next to each other. Like me, they were dark skinned. Both brothers had brown eyes. Lincoln wore his hair short while Malcolm had a lion's mane on his head.

"Nice to meet you," they said in unison and Ryder groaned.

"Please don't start that twin thing."

"Sorry, we had to show off for Savannah," Malcolm said. Jeremiah had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He was built like all the other males. He had muscles and abs that I'm sure plenty of females would love to lick. I narrowed my eyes at the smirk that was plastered on his face. I knew the reason for that smirk and I didn't like it. I looked away from him and to Kyle, the skinniest of them. He had chocolate brown hair as well, similar to James' with brown eyes.

"You're a tracker," I stated, and he nodded.

"The fastest wolf Blackhound has. It's nice to meet you."

"Same to you," I responded before turning away. I felt a hand grab my arm and I growled from the way it made me heat up.

"It's nice to meet you too, sugar," Jeremiah said, and I felt agitated. Who did he think he was? Did he think he had automatic claim on me because of what was between us? I wished I hadn't smelled him, but there was no stopping it. I smelled him, but he still wasn't mine and I wasn't his.

"Don't touch me," I hissed, snatching my arm away.

"I know you smell it," he said, walking closer to me.

"Yeah I smell it. I smell a potential bond." The others looked shocked by this news. "You aren't my true mate and I'm not yours, so you can use those charms on someone else who cares."

"A bond is still a bond." I flashed my teeth at him. I wasn't in the mood to deal an arrogant male, especially an arrogant male who shared a potential bond with me. My father told me about potential bonds and told me the importance of ignoring them.

"Sit down, Nannah. We need to talk about mates."

"We already had this conversation, Dad," I said.

"That we did and what did I say?"

"I better not give him my neck until that little shit deserves it." He wore a proud smile.

"Good, you were listening, but we're talking about something a little different this time. We're talking about potential bond mates."

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. "Potential bond mates?"

"Yes. A pull to a potential bond mate isn't strong as a pull to your true mate, but it's strong. Damn is it strong, but probably not as strong as you, Nannah," he chuckled. "A potential bond mate are wolves who are potentially compatible with you. Just because you share a bond with them, doesn't mean they can have your neck. You save your neck for your true mate, understand? If I'm not there to beat their asses, then you're going to have to. Don't be afraid to put an arrogant male in their place."

I could tell Jeremiah was the type of wolf that didn't get the hint. They needed to learn the hard way. I was happy to help him learn. Ryder knew the look in my eyes. He saw it when we fought.

"Back up," he ordered everyone else. "It looks like Jeremiah is in for an ass beating."

"Of course," James said with a smile.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jeremiah asked as everyone else backed away to give us room.

"I am going to show you why it's not a good idea to mess with me," I said. "You're going to learn that not just any male deservers my neck." Before he could comprehend what was happening, my fist collided with his chin. I hit him in the jaw. He stared at me in anger as he wiped the drooling blood from his chin. "What're you going to do about it?" He growled and came at me. I kneed him in the gut and used my elbow to hit him in the back. He fell to the ground and I snarled. "Get up!" I growled.

This male was arrogant, too confident for his own good. He kept coming at me with a pathetic attempt to attack me. I wasn't some doe in the woods. The fact that he thought he could just have me infuriated me. Did he think I would possibly be a quick lay because we shared a potential bond? Did he think I would fall for his charms? Dumbass male. That's what he was. I could feel his anger. He was pissed, so pissed that he shifted before it was called. Weak. He was a weak male.

I was caught off guard and he slammed into me with his full weight. We went tumbling and he pinned me under him. He snarled in my face. I growled and shifted under him. I threw him off and bit into his side. I dug my teeth into his side and pulled out flesh. He howled in pain before snapping at me. He swiped his claws at my face. It stung, but it wasn't enough pain to slow me down. I jumped into the air, gripping onto the scruff of his neck. He growled and snapped, trying to throw me off. I dug my claws in his back and as he threw me off him, I took flesh with me.

We continued on like this until I somehow had him in the dirt. He was thrashing around like a fish, trying to get out of my hold. My teeth were around his neck and he would die if he didn't submit.

"Don't be stupid!" Ryder shouted. I could feel this wolf's anger pulsate under my teeth, but it wasn't enough for him to win. It wasn't enough for me to let him go on mercy. I wasn't the type to give mercy, especially to an arrogant male like this one. He whined like a pathetic pup and stuck his neck out the best he could. I released his throat and pushed him off me. I shifted into my skin and Cassandra threw me clothes.

"I should have killed you for being so weak!" I snarled at him. "Shifting before it was called...pathetic!" I spat. He glared at me but didn't make a sound.

"Go run it off, Jeremiah," Ryder said. "Did you not hear me? That was an order." Jeremiad had no choice but to take his defeat and ran in the opposite direction.

"You're something else," Malcolm said.

"Jeremiah had it coming. He walks around like he's entitled to the world," Lincoln said with a scowl. "I feel sorry for the female who ends up with him."

"Thankfully, it's not me. I don't do arrogant males," I grumbled. "Can we get on with this hunt? My beast has a real need to sink her teeth into something." With the annoying distraction gone, we were finally able to start the hunt.

"Are you sure you're alright to hunt?" Cassandra asked. "Your injuries—"

"—are nothing," I finished for her. "They'll heal in no time and I need this." We all stripped down and met back up in wolf form. I felt a pressure in my mind and I pushed back. I eyed Ryder who growled, and I rolled my eyes. I eventually let him in.

"Do you have to fight me every time?" he asked.

"Of course I do," I replied. I continued to allow the others into the link. Everything in the world had bonds and connections. It's how wolves thrived. We couldn't live without bonds. There were many types of bonds such as pack bonds, family bonds, or the bonds we shared with our mate. Those bonds allowed us to communicate with one another. It's how we were able to use the mind-link.

"Everyone's here?" James asked. We all responded and headed out to the heard of deer nearby. Ryder and I ran ahead of the group while James remained behind with Cassandra. She was still nervous. I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She needed to be careful because that hesitation was going to make it hard for her to catch anything.

My wolf grey excited when we spotted them. They were oblivious to the danger they were in. My mouth was watering at the thought of tasting their meat. I conceded to let my wolf have this time. She wagged her tail with anticipation.

"Let's go," Ryder said, and he didn't need to tell me twice. My wolf jumped down the hill and we found ourselves neck and neck with Kyle. The wolf was fast. He passed us and tackled into a deer. We moved through the herd that was now trying to get away. We jumped into the air and tackled one to the ground. My beast sunk her teeth into the poor deer's neck and made a mess. She shook her head, digging into his neck until the life left his body. Deer weren't hard prey. They may be faster than us, but we were stronger. It was the way of the food chain.

We left that body and moved onto the next. We were hunting for the entire pack, meaning we didn't have time to stop and enjoy the meal. We needed enough meat to feed the pack for the upcoming winter. It was less work than taking all the meat from the stores. I spotted Cassandra running behind James. She watched in awe as he tackled down a deer. I watched her go after a doe of her own. The doe was fast and maneuvered through the herd. Cassandra nipped at the doe's back legs until the doe lost her footing and tripped. Cassandra didn't waste any time killing it. It was natural for her. She was a little messy when it came to taking them down, but she was doing it.

My eyes followed the buck that spotted Cassandra. Those males were fierce with their antlers. Cassandra was clueless, too busy chasing after a doe to notice.

"Cassandra, get out of there!" I shouted as I sprang forward. I growled and ran in front of Cassandra as the buck charged forward, slamming his antlers into me. I whimpered as the antlers pierced my flesh.

"Savannah!" Ryder tackled the buck from the side. The buck rolled and got up with a vengeance. He was their leader, their protector. The twins came from behind and bit the buck in the hind legs. James ran up to Cassandra and I. He stood in front of us in case the buck decided to run back this way. Ryder and the twins worked as a unit to take down the buck. The buck had trouble deciding where to focus his attack. It was futile. Ryder snatched off an antler and Lincoln bit into its thigh. Malcolm got a good bite from him. In the end, it was Ryder who ripped the buck's head off. It looked up lifeless.

I felt like paper that had just been punctured with holes. I could feel the blood oozing into my fur. It grew too hard to maintain my wolf form, so I shifted back. James and Ryder shifted to their skin.

"Someone is coming," James said. "Just hang on." That was easier said than done. From all the blood loss, it was hard to keep my eyes open. I heard shouting before I lost consciousness.