The Kiara that had definitely not gotten her beauty sleep was tempted to send a kick flying towards Roman, but fortunately for him the exhausted, worried, just wants some tea Kiara won that fight. So instead, she sent him a tired glare and sighed. Yup, she definitely should have stayed in bed. Not that it really mattered because everyone was waking up now. Adrian wanted to talk to her, there was food on the table, and why on earth had Roman brought the rabbit. Kiara only hoped he wasn't planning on chasing it.

There wasn't much time to dwell on this, though, because not long after Hide had left, something tugged at her chest. The mug that was in her hands dropped, smashing into pieces. She could no longer breath, every gasp hurt her chest. Adrian ran out the door like a bat out of hell, and she knew, just as she always knew, that something was wrong. That someone was hurt. Her wide eyes turned to Roman who was still sitting there with the small creature. "Hide," was all she said before she too was running.

It only took a minute or so to reach everyone, but it felt like forever. As if she was dying on the inside. It was her job, more than the others, to keep everyone in this pack healthy and here was Hide. Unconscious, hurt, and worse, it was her fault. Without even thinking, she pushed everyone out of her way as she knelt next to him. Her fingers prodded at his ribs, knowing now why she could not breathe.

"You're going to be fine, Hide. We're going to get you back inside, and fix you right up." Her voice was gentle and warm, as she fell into her old position easily. Yet, she could not stop the hitch in her breath as she thought of what had done this. If she had said something weeks ago, if she had trusted her pack, maybe she could have prevented this.

The Kiara that had definitely not gotten her beauty sleep was tempted to send a kick flying towards Roman, but fortunately for him the exhausted, worried, just wants some tea Kiara won that fight. So instead, she sent him a tired glare and sighed. Yup, she definitely should have stayed in bed. Not that it really mattered because everyone was waking up now. Adrian wanted to talk to her, there was food on the table, and why on earth had Roman brought the rabbit. Kiara only hoped he wasn't planning on chasing it.

There wasn't much time to dwell on this, though, because not long after Hide had left, something tugged at her chest. The mug that was in her hands dropped, smashing into pieces. She could no longer breath, every gasp hurt her chest. Adrian ran out the door like a bat out of hell, and she knew, just as she always knew, that something was wrong. That someone was hurt. Her wide eyes turned to Roman who was still sitting there with the small creature. "Hide," was all she said before she too was running.

It only took a minute or so to reach everyone, but it felt like forever. As if she was dying on the inside. It was her job, more than the others, to keep everyone in this pack healthy and here was Hide. Unconscious, hurt, and worse, it was her fault. Without even thinking, she pushed everyone out of her way as she knelt next to him. Her fingers prodded at his ribs, knowing now why she could not breathe.

"You're going to be fine, Hide. We're going to get you back inside, and fix you right up." Her voice was gentle and warm, as she fell into her old position easily. Yet, she could not stop the hitch in her breath as she thought of what had done this. If she had said something weeks ago, if she had trusted her pack, maybe she could have prevented this.

Darkness did not hold onto Hide for long as someone began to lightly shake him and even slapped the least damaged side of his face. And though all of it was somewhat gentle, all he could produce was a low, pained whine. There was just not enough air in his lungs to get anything else out, it all hurt so badly, the light shaking had not helped. He was quite sure though that whomever had shaken him and slapped him had not been the same thing that had attacked him. This was a person he could actually sense, he could smell her, feel the faintness of her body heat. Despite not knowing who this person was, he felt oddly relieved that it was not the monster that had attacked him a short while ago. If she had been talking though, he had not heard a single damned word she had said.

It felt like seconds before another familiar presence neared him, along with a familiar scent reaching his nose. It was Rose. Even more relief found him as fresh tears started to roll down his face, he still couldn't quite manage to open his eyes, though they started to burn with the mix of fresh tears and dirt. But after that, his thoughts began to slip once again. He had smacked his head pretty hard on that dumpster, had enough to dent the fine metal, but it seemed he had managed to escape too much injury to his head. He barely felt as he was poked by Rose and the fact that Adrian had arrived did not register either. Everything seemed unimportant at the moment as the throbbing, stabbing pain continued to assault him and his breathing, leaving him with small, shallow breaths.

It wasn't until Kiara began to prod at his ribs that Hide's eyes shot wide open with a rather loud, pained cry. "S-stop...!" He whimpers out, his face twisted in pain with a heave of his chest as he sucks in a sharp breath. And much despite the chill of the early morning air, sweat mingled on his face, mixing with the blood and tears. He understood well that she needed to check, but it did not stop the shooting pain he felt with each touch. Quickly though he settles right back down, jaw clenched while he tries to control his breathing. But it did little good, even with the small gasps he was managing, it still hurt.

Hide merely offers Kiara an utterly pained expression as his eyes flicker from the warm dark brown color they usually were to a much more wolfish yellow.

When a girl came running around the corner, at first Sierra was glad that someone had come to help. That was until she realized that she had an awful lot of blood on her hands and was poised to look very guilty.
When the girl ran at her and screamed to get away, Sierra obeyed, throwing herself back so hard she landed on her butt with a startled "Ah!"
She regained her footing quickly and took a few cautious steps forward, peering toward the man as the woman had her back turned. However, the girl turned quickly and snapped at her again, causing Sierra to jump back another few feet, hands held out in the universal defensive gesture.

"Woah woah, you got the wrong i-" Before Sierra could finish her sentence another person came running, placing himself between the first woman and Sierra, and looking very threatening. Sierra could smell them, too; both of them wolves as well. She had the sick feeling that she just pissed off a pack, something that, in her experience, always ended badly.

Sierra took another few steps backward, but also unconsciously lowered herself, ready to either fight or bolt. Probably the latter. She glanced between the unconscious man, the new man, and the woman, silent and still, afraid to make any sudden moves. "Listen," she stammered, "Hey I didn't do nothin', I swear!" She held out her blood-smudged hands before her. She took a breath to speak again when another woman, probably a wolf as well, came running and began tending to the wounded man.

Sierra shut her mouth, looking around very anxiously. She fucked up. She fucked up really, really badly. She was incredibly outnumbered and the man glaring at her did not look like he was joking. Many years of ground-in instinct came to her and without thinking, she shifted (tearing her clothes in the process) and ran as fast as she could down the back alleys, completely forgetting how suspicious this would make her look.

The girl had barely turned when Adrian followed suit. His clothes ripping off his body as he leaped and changed forms simultaneously. Chasing the girl down the alley he felt adrenaline pumping through his veins. His vision was red and he wanted blood for Hide, but he was the beta and had to control himself. He was now right behind her as they both ran down the alleys, Leaping he grabbed the back of her neck with his teeth and rolled her like a deer. As they both rolled he returned to human form and held on to her. Picking her up he slammed her doglike body into a wall and then the ground. He held her there with his hand on her throat and his eyes burning yellow. "Change back into a human now or ill crush your throat." Adrian growled through gritted teeth.

Relief flashed through Rosalie as she saw Adrian run over, and a tad bit more when Kiara came to help Hide, but it wasn't enough to wash away the anger she felt at the moment. She glared at the stranger from behind Adrian, her eyes shooting a glance at her blood stained hands. Rose's eyes widened as if all of her doubts had been erased and her assumptions were confirmed.

The female shifted in what seemed a blink of an eye and shot out into the alley. "No!" She shrieked as she watched the wolf get away. Without asking questions, Rose quickly threw her purse and jacket off, sprinting after the female, shifting in mid-stride. In the back of her mind she knew she'd regret it, not only because of her clothes ripping, but because she'd get her ass chewed for doing things on impulse. A growl made its way out threw Rose's bared canines, her ears pinned against her head as she let her nose lead the way, running as fast as her legs could manage. She wouldn't let Adrian go alone either, fearing that there could be another pack awaiting. The chase didn't last long though. By the time Rose had reached them, Adrian was already in his human form and pinning the other wolf down. Rose refused to change forms and stood near them, canines exposed and hackles raised, snarling. In case the girl wouldn't change forms, she'd be ready.

Sierra ran as fast as she could, feet flying over pavement and garbage and who knew what else the found in the back alleys. She was very fast, and would have been able to outrun her pursuers under normal circumstances, especially in a panic like this. However, her lack of knowledge of the area was her downfall, and she had to make a tricky manoeuvre around some bins that slowed her down enough for her pursuer to pounce.

She yelped when the impact came, feeling the familiar grip of jaws on her neck, and was forced to roll. She snarled as he changed forms and slammed her against a wall and the ground, teeth bared and hackles raised.

"Change back into a human now or I'll crush your throat." The man growled. His voice carried authority, not that of an alpha, but still enough to make Sierra freeze in her struggles. She saw the other wolf arrive, putting on a threatening display. Sierra took a split second to think, consider fighting. She could absolutely escape a human grasp, but that would only worsen things. There was another wolf standing by, and she had no doubt in her mind that the two would tear into her if she ripped an arm off of the man like she wanted to. Not to mention that there was at least a small pack waiting, who would definitely come if called, if other packs worked the way hers had. This was a lose/die situation, and Sierra chose life.

Growling, she shifted back, becoming a human girl pinned down, with her assailant's hands clamped on her throat. She tried to cough, but didn't move, other than clawing at the hands around her throat. Her head was spinning, and her ears ringing, not to mention her neck was probably bleeding a little from the bite. Yeah, she'd have been too disoriented after that wall slam to fight anyway. But that didn't help her now.

Adrian held the woman down as she clawed at his hand. His lips were pulled back into a fierce snarl. "Rose,Go get the others and have them bring clothes." He said. Leaning in close to the now human girl he said in a low voice "I am a beta and I will not hesitate to kill you. Do not attempt to escape if you so much as sprout a single fur ill rip you limb from limb.". He waited for the others with one hand pinning the girl down by the throat and the other on his knee, which was being used to hold down one of the girls arms.

Rosalie let out a small whine as Adrian ordered her to leave the two. She growled low and menacing before turning and sprinting back to the apartment. She shifted as soon as she reached the door and made her way inside. She hoped that by now Kiara had made it inside with Hide but she didn't have time to make sure. "Adrian has the girl that tried to kill Hide... " she walked past the kitchen without looking at any of the others and straight into her room, quickly pulling on some jeans and a white t-shirt, grabbing an extra pair of jeans and a hoodie. She made her way to Adrian's room and grabbed his clothes before walking back out to the kitchen and outside. Every moment she was away from the two was nerve wracking.

"Here." She sat the clothes down near them and looked at Adrian. "I'll hold her while you change, if you want me to?"

Sierra's face contorted into an expression of discomfort and pain. The pressure on her throat hurt, and her face was growing red, not to mention the knee pinning her arm at a painful angle. She struggled to breathe, her cheek was scraped and bloody, and her head pounded. She glared up at her captor through her bangs, trying to take even breaths through his grip.

When he leaned close, Sierra closed her eyes. She could feel his breath on her cheek as he growled his message to her, and she didn't like it. A beta, huh? That explained the weight of authority he exuded. Hearing this, and his threat, Sierra couldn't help but glare back up and wheeze out, "Beta isn't normally a position people tend to brag about." Her voice was little more than a raspy whisper, but it carried a condescending tone that was, at the moment, her best and only defence.

The other wolf, a woman named Rose, returned with clothes, offering to hold Sierra down while the man changed. Huh, she'd forgotten about the naked thing. It was so normal to her by now. Her glare shifted between the woman and man, eyes acidic.

Adrian nodded to Rose to hold the girl down. Standing he pulled on a pair of jeans and the shirt rose had grabbed him. He stepped forward picking the girl up off the ground and hitting her in the stomach to knock the wind out of her. After that he threw her over his shouder and proceeded to walk to the apartment. Once inside he would throw her down into a chair and stand beside her waiting for the Alpha to arrive so they could decide her fate. While he waited he looked popped his neck a couple of times.

Cal let out a started gasp as Adrian practically threw the girl down into a chair in their apartment. Everyone seemed to be pointing fingers, saying she was the one to attack Hide. Cal knew this couldn't be true. Not only was this girl much, much, smaller then Hide, but just by her demeanor it was easy to tell she was freaked out. "What the...what the fuck Adrian?" Cal knew that, technically, Adrian was of a higher rank then her in the pack. But this current situation was outside pack control. She let out a growl as she took a step closer. "You really mean to tell us that this is how to treat suspects? For all you know this girl could have done nothing wrong." And if this girl did in fact attack Hide, then she would have easily been able to take out Adrian. "I mean there must have been a different way to handle this situation!"

Stepping forward Adrian gave the girl a cold glare. He was much larger than the girl in both size and ranking. "This is how we treat enemies. This is for me and the alpha to decide and you will accept it. She ran so I followed now mind your ranking before attempting to chastise me." Adrian said coldly stepping forward. Turning he paced back to where the girl was now seated and began to pace waiting for the alpha.

Cal snarled again, really tempted to say something but decided instead to hold her tongue. The last thing she needed was to piss off Adrian, have him punch her in the face then go running to the Alpha. Cal prayed that someday a wolf bit him in the balls. Something about the way Adrian was acting really pissed Cal off. Like how he mentioned this girl ran, and he pursued. She was probably running out of fear. And Adrian most likely was jumping the gun. He was playing leader. Cal let out a sigh and gave the girl a sympathetic look. She knew the others would take care of Hide and until a Alpha showed up she had nothing to do but get madder. She needed to cool down. Ran ran her fingers through her short hair, walking past Adrian towards one of the 'bedrooms' of the apartment.

"Someone call me when the leader gets here."

Sierra gasped when she was yanked to her feet. The man, now dressed, punched her in the gut, hard enough to make Sierra stagger and retch, nearly vomiting several times. She coughed and heaved for air, her throat now unconstricted, breaths coming as panicked and irregular sputters. She was heaved over the man's shoulder and carried back to the building that the attack had taken place next to.

Sierra was carried up into an apartment and thrown violently into a chair, where she leaned over, chest to her legs, gasping and sputtering and trying not to puke. Fuck, that punch hurt. The dude definitely hadn't been holding back, and in the back of her mind, Sierra feared for internal bruising.

As she sat there, leaned over in an attempt to both recover and cover herself, she took stock of her injuries. Her neck was bleeding a bit from the bite, (nothing to worry about) the entire left side of her face was bruised and bleeding from being slammed into bricks, her head pounded, and her guts quivered. She also still had blood on her hands, but that wasn't a concern at the moment.

"Fuck dude, I didn't do anything!" She croaked, voice roughened both by the punch and the soreness in her throat. "I didn't hurt your buddy, fuck!" Tears began to flow, mostly from the pain in her face, but not completely.

She was barely aware of her captor's interaction, and only noticed that the girl was the smoker from earlier, and that she was arguing in Sierra's favour. She sent the girl a look somewhere between pleading and grateful, and hung her head once again, clutching her gut. The alpha was coming, apparently. There was no way this would go over well.

You fucked up, Sierra, she thought, you fucked up good.

Everything switched from a somewhat normal morning into a full fledged shit storm within seconds. Roman just sat down teasing his groggy eyed red headed nest petting his new rabbit about to explain that it was a gift for the new "Pup" in the back room but something felt heavy on his chest and the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise when Kiara gave that all too familiar look. The cell in his pocket went off just as her lips mouthed the word "Hide". All too quickly those sad tired eyes turned alert and full of sympathy. Leaving the rabbit on the table Roman followed Kiara down and out right behind her.

The scene looked rather obvious. Hide was down, another wolf from the smell of it was hovering over him and the protective Beta was already doing what he does best. Roman stood back and let everyone work. Kiara tended to Hide while the others gave chase to the fleeing bitch. Roman did what he did best and simply watched... looked at his surroundings. Hide was far from big, but she was smaller. His wounds were serious and with no sign of a weapon nearby something else must of went down. He looked closer and noticed the dumpster as Rosie passed him to grab some clothing. "Good" he muttered to himself. She was caught by Adrian, he was bigger... much bigger so he wasn't worried. He also was smart enough to NOT kill her until they got some answers. Adrian WAS Beta for a reason and he proved it well as he came waltzing back with the scrawny pup over his shoulder. Giving a nod as in "job well done" to him as he passed.

Roman turned his attention to Hide who was now somewhat awake. The broken ribs proved him hard to move as Kiara poked and prodded to see the extent of his injuries. There was an old rusted screen door laying out in the junk pile near the dented dumpster in which Roman pulled out and placed it next to hide like a makeshift stretcher.

"Red, you and me roll him onto this on three."
Slowly he propped up Hides shoulder with his hands as he gestured for Kiara to do the same below.

"I STRONGLY SUGGEST that somebody do a perimeter check and make sure there are no more stray dogs waiting in the shadows." Roman emphasized the suggestive part with a stern voice to any others still hovering around.

"On three, one... two..." Roman pulled Hide quickly onto the makeshift stretcher along with Red, an uncomfortable groan came from Hide as a result but at least now they were able to get him back inside for treatment.

Once they all managed to get inside and lay Hide on the kitchen table for Red to work on him he brought his attention to the bickering in the living room. Cal seemed upset on how Adrian handeled things and the Stray seemed to be having a nervous breakdown during her half assed interrogation. Roman walked into the room and placed a calm hand on Adrians shoulder.

"Calm down boy, you did good." He gave a playfull smirk as he wrestled Cals stare away from Adrians. "Your right, with those wounds she couldn't have did that to Hide... that being said, that does not mean she had nothing to do with it."

Romans eyes met the Stray wolfs eyes. His deep blue color peircing her soul and pushing his calm composure into her mind. He came close, very close. Taking in her scent making sure not to forget it. Something caught his eye as he pulled a tiny bug from a strand of her hair, rolling it in his fingers before flicking its tiny carcass on the ground.

"Now I'm not concerned about you, I'm concerned about my good friend there." Roman spoke inches away from her face.

"He is part of this family and family looks out for one another, I suppose that ideal does not make sense to a stray like you but I'm optimistic and bet that you do. Your smarter than you look and I know you were there when something went down... so do us all a favor and tell us everything before we break one of your legs and chase you down for sport..." an eerily calm smile came across Roman face.

The unwaivering tone in his voice was serious in every aspect. Finally he slowly backed away and pulled up a chair right across from her and leaned back as if waiting to hear her side of the story.

Rosalie complied and held the girl until Adrian was finished changing and have her back to him when he was done. She winced as he punched the stranger in the stomach and for a second, felt a pang of pity and remorse. The punch couldn't have felt pretty, especially one delivered by Adrian, but the slight guilt soon faded as she remembered Hide on the cold ground, half choking on his own blood.

She walked behind both of them until they got back to the apartments, going inside and walking straight to her room. She might have been mad, but she wasn't heartless. If the girl was to face Jethro, she should at least do it clothed. Rose grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and made her way back to where the suspect sat, stopping a few feet from Adrian. "Don't try and stop me. I'm not going to let her stay like that.... Be it part of our way of life, it's still degrading..... especially being a girl." Rose knew all too well of how it felt to be degraded and treated like trash in her life before the pack, mainly because her pride was too strong and she never gave up or gave in to those demanding her.

"Here." She walked up to the girl, handing her the clothes. "I know I'm shorter, but that's the least of matters. They should fit you otherwise." Her voice sounded foreign to her. Ever since she had been taken in, her voice had been soft and full of compassion. Her voice now was steely, cold with the anger that she felt from wanting to get vengeance for Hide. "I'll be right back." She glanced at Adrian before turning around and walking out of the apartment, down the stairs and back outside to where it all began. The smell of blood and the strangers scent still filled the area, as well as Hides scent, but now there own scents intermingled. There was nothing different, no unregistered scent. Rose tried to find anything she had missed before jumping to the assumption but nothing else came up. Kiara had by now gone inside, with the help of Roman, to try and help Hide. Being the scout, she decided she should give the perimeter a walk through, hoping her keen senses would pick something up that the others would have normally missed.

"Nothing..." she told herself confused, once she had made her way back to the the door. "This is weird..." Other than their own scents and the stranger, there was nothing else. She found this eerie and it sent chills up her spine. Her phone vibrated in her bag that was on her left arm along with her jacket. She checked and nearly threw it at the nearby wall. Four missed calls from work and seventeen texts. Family emergency. Needed to go to hospital. I'll be at work next week as promised.' Rose had taken a few days off before Friday to get ready for the full moon, Friday itself, and a few days after.

"There's nothing out there." She sounded frustrated and almost scared. "I don't know what to make out of it." She walked over to an old couch and plopped down, her mind running through the scents and around the perimeter.

Sierra caught the clothes thrown at her, pulling on the sweater quickly, and the pants shortly after. Once dressed, she leaned back over her legs once again, clutching her gut. Her breathing was beginning to come easier, but she still coughed and retched with the twisted feeling in her gut. Damn punch. She squeezed her eyes hard shut and opened them several times, noticing the swelling beginning to form on the left side of her face. Hopefully it wouldn't effect her piercings much.

It wasn't long until another man, this one with piercing blue eyes and carrying himself with high ranking, approached her. He leaned in very close to Sierra and smelled her, and Sierra couldn't help feeling violated and humiliated when he plucked a flea from her hair. She scratched her head where he'd touched her, but made herself stop, lest she humiliate herself further.

"Now I'm not concerned about you, I'm concerned about my good friend there. He is part of this family and family looks out for one another, I suppose that ideal does not make sense to a stray like you but I'm optimistic and bet that you do. Your smarter than you look and I know you were there when something went down... So do us all a favor and tell us everything before we break one of your legs and chase you down for sport..."

Sierra could feel the man's breath on her, and did not look at him, eyes instead trained on the ground before her. "Are you the alpha here?" She asked, looking up as he finally backed away, "And yeah I'll talk, but call off your attack dog for a minute will ya?" She glared at the man who had dragged her in here.

"Look," she croaked, "I didn't hurt your buddy out there. I was just minding my own damn business and suddenly this guy comes along looking like he's being hit by an invisible bus. It sounds crazy but I didn't see what hurt him 'cause there was nothing there. The dude looked possessed."

She coughed. "There's no one else out there, at least no one with me. I'm a stray just like you said." She hated to call herself that, but she could think of no better word.
She knew how crazy her argument sounded, but there was no way to phrase it differently. She could only hope that the injured man would wake up and be able to vouch for her, selfish as it may sound. There would be no good way out of this for her unless that happened.

On a normal day, Kiara might have been glaring and telling Roman for the absolute last time to stop calling her Red, but she hadn't had a normal day since the fire. Today was... even worse. She spoke softly into Hide's ear, knowing that he was probably scared, in pain, and most likely had a terrible headache from the blow. "Don't worry. Roman and I are going to get you inside. You're going to be fine. You know I've fixed much worse. Close your eyes and pretend you're somewhere else. Out in the forests, running. That's always a good place."

Then she was moving to his feet, helping to get him onto the makeshift stretcher. It wasn't great, but it was better than carrying him inside and jostling the ribs that were obviously bruised or broken. Despite being so used to this, Kiara could not stop the tears that were running down her cheeks. When they were finally alone, she whispered the words she had been wanting to say since she'd first felt his pain. "I'm so sorry, Hide. I'm sorry."

Quick as she could, she gathered bandages, ice, and a few salves she kept for emergencies. It didn't take long until she had wrapped his ribs, trying to keep from moving him as much as she could. While the fight continued in the other room, she cleaned him up and applied the ice to his head. Finally, Kiara placed her hand on his forehead in a familiar manner, though this time she was not checking his temperature. Instead, she focused all of her energy into one of the two skills she had that the others did not. The first was feeling their pain. The second was taking it away.

"You'll feel better any second now.. I promise.. Just stay in that happy place.." Her hand moved to his hair, a comforting gesture. What she wanted more than anything was to go into that room and save that girl, to tell them that it wasn't her, that it couldn't have been her. But Hide was pack, and she took care of her own first. Besides, her guilt was keeping her as still as a statue. What would Kiara say when they asked her how she knew it wasn't the girl?

Nodding his thanks to Roman as he clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a compliment. The woman asked if Roman was the alpha and telling him to call off his dog. Adrian remained standing beside Roman calmly. "My name is Adrian and I am the Beta of this pack. I am no one's attack dog and I suggest you mind your tongue before I use my interrogation techniques to get you to talk." Adrian snarled the last sentence. Looking around he walked out of the room to find Kiara and an injured Hide. Placing his hand on some of hides blood then baling it up into a fist Adrian said "Don't worry man when I find out who did this to you they die. All of them to the last are going to die. Even if I have to fight Jethro to get it done I will we shall have vengeance." .