Chapter 5 - Baby steps

---Zayne's POV---

The wolves were still growling as I shivered on the spot, feeling beyond humiliated as the wolf above me backed off, snorting to get the scent of urine out of his nose. I-I didn't mean t-to but... I flinched as the wolves snarled, the two men on the bed jumping up while the man in the entrance stalked closer.

I could almost taste their anger on my tongue, feeling dizzy from the lack of air. My eyes were flickering from one angry wolf to another, until one of the men stood up on the bed and scoffed, shaking his head at the others.

"Stop scaring the pup! For crying out loud, you guys just literally scared the piss out of the poor guy." The slender male grumbled before sliding off the bed, eying me with a soft expression. My eyes widened in shock, my fear and anxiety only growing more and more. Why was he defending me? My punishment was only going to get worse!

I felt nervous with all the wolves pacing around me, my mind filled with equal parts fear and apprehension. The only time I came into contact with the pack was during training lessons. So why weren't they attacking me?

A yelp escaped me as I was nudged over before a weight softly settled on my back. The wolf was extremely careful not to rest too much weight on my smaller, fragile form. They were all sharing looks, silently talking to each other through the link. I froze at the low rumble that vibrated through the wolf's throat.

Shivering all over my body, I kept myself as small as possible as the wolf kept rumbling, one of the other wolf's sauntering over before it curled up beside me and started licking my fur. A scolding tsk sounded through the air before a pair of slender and slightly cool hands grasped me under my chest and started lifting me up.

"Too much, no, this...I-" my chest was starting to hurt as I strained to get more air in my lungs. The voices of the people in the room became distant rumbles, I barely realised that several of the wolves started to shift back as I was lifted up in a pair of arms.

When fingers brushed over my cheek, snagging in my matted fur and creating a sharp spark of pain through my already battered face, my wolf reacted without thought. With a pained cry, my face jerked to the side as I caught the hand with my teeth, instantly letting go as the man let out a startled sound and released me.

I dropped down on the floor, eyes settling on the relative safety underneath the bed before I made a mad dash for it. The cast on my leg was weighing me down but that didn't stop me from dragging the useless limb behind me as I avoided the grabbing hands and managed to claw under the bed.

As soon as I got safely to the back corner, the cool wall managed to pierce through the fear that clouded my mind. Pressing myself flush to the corner, I curled up as tight as I could, leaving my casted leg stretched out before the repercussions of what I just did crashed into me.

"I bit him. Oh god, oh god, oh god, you stupid mongrel! What the hell is wrong with me? I bit another wolf! What have I done?"

The bed jerked as the wolves occupying it jumped off, feet walking through the room as I laid still, panting and praying that they couldn't get to me. Because I could very easily remember what happens when you bite a superior.

And the memory was vile enough to make me shiver in fear and press myself closer to the wall. "No, let him be." A voice sighed, stopping a pair of wolves from approaching. Instead, they dropped down and whimpered, sniffing desperately as they peered under the bed.

After a few more hushed whispers, most of the unknown wolves left the room, leaving only the three men in their human form before one of them slipped out after a whispered command, softly closing the door behind him.

---Marcus POV---

"This isn't just fear caused by the abuse of dogfighters." Sebastian snarled through the pack, the clicking of his nails audible as he paced just outside the door. I silently huffed my agreement as the Alpha growled silently, his anger tinging his voice.

"An Omega, abused by his former pack." His mental voice rolled through our minds, all of us wincing at the disgust and anger that heavily coated every word.

"Disgusting!"

"Unnatural!"

"How could they do that? It goes against everything we've learned." Sebastian snarled, curling his nose in disgust. The only reason why he didn't growl out loud was the little pup scared out of its mind, as it hid underneath the bed.

As soon as the others heard my thoughts, they stilled. Everyone felt stunned when the pup woke up and reacted the way it did. We knew he had been abused with the dog handlers and we knew how to comfort him best; by surrounding him in our warmth.

That had been quite a feat as well, since all fifteen of us wanted to curl up around the pup and comfort him. I knew even Lee had sighed wistfully as he noticed the wolf-pile that scrambled on the bed before we were forced to take action.

Sebastian and his mate Wyatt had taken the pup, lying down on the bed in human form and were quickly followed by Seth, Logan and Dorian as they each wriggled and bumped their way in the bed, silently flashing their teeth at the other for disturbing the pup.

But when it woke up... I sighed heavily, feeling more than miserable and sick at the memory. Never in my whole life had I seen a werewolf that terrified of its own kind. Dorian was still feeling extremely guilty, scolding himself for approaching the little wolf when it was terrified.

It had been his natural instinct to sooth the pup but as soon as he made the gesture to nudge the pup back on its belly, we all had been stunned when the pup had only curled in even tighter, wetting itself with a terrified whine.

First it had been shock. Pain for the Omega, that it was so terrified in the first place. It should've been worshiped, smothered in love and affection, not bruises and scars.

"Ask Alice if she can come down here and get a bowl of water. I don't know if we can give him some food yet..." I trailed off softly, hearing the slightest movement underneath the bed before Zayne started lapping at his remaining wounds.

I was glad that Sebastian was already outside as I heard his rush to comply to the request while the rest of our little pack remained just outside the door. Glancing down at the bed,I could feel the yearning of my wolf to crawl closer, to show Zayne that we are nothing like his pack.

"Baby-steps, Marcus." I muttered to myself, before frowning when I heard a gnawing sound. Flattening myself, I found Zayne chewing on his cast, trying to pry it off of his leg.

"Zayne, don't."

The pup startled before flattening itself against the floor, big golden eyes wide with fear. A soft knock on the door caught our attention before Alice slid inside, followed by Sebastian carrying a bowl of water. The rest of the pack was standing in the doorway, eager to come in but we knew it would be too much for the pup.

"Baby-steps." Wyatt agreed through the link as Alice kneeled down, trying to get a look of the pup. She was our pack doctor, a very skilled one too but when she sat back with a deep sigh, I feared this was a case beyond her abilities. I could see my own pain and sadness reflected in her eyes before she looked up, giving me a small nod.

She stood up and backed away from the bed before clearing her throat. "He'll be fine." Her verdict was followed by sighs of relief but everyone stilled quickly as she continued, "It'll be difficult, extremely so, to get him back like he should be...but I have a feeling we'll manage. If he's been through all this, then I sure as hell can say that he's a fighter."

I closed my eyes, feeling beyond relieved that the pup wasn't a lost cause. My nose filled with honeysuckle, making me take a deep and long breath before I sighed, smiling sheepishly when Alice grinned up at me.

Her daintily little frame tapped closer before she sat down on the floor, waving the others back in. "We need to let the pup get used to us without any forced interaction. From what you've told me, it was fine with the physical contact when it wasn't aware of it, meaning that he wants to search contact but is afraid of it."

"Don't try and gain his attention." Alice scolded gently through the link, freezing Dimitri mid play-bow. He managed to pull it off by stretching and whining out a yawn before he curled up, his back to the pup.

A flicker of amusement slipped on my lips as the rest of the pack copied our example and scattered through the room, making sure to give the bed with Zayne a wide berth. The last one to come in was Alpha Lee, who gained a nod from Alice before he walked to the bed with a covered plate that smelled of leftover rice and chicken.

His approach didn't go unnoticed by Zayne and I could see the pain in Lee's movements when every step he made was accompanied by terrified yowls and cries before the Alpha simply stretched out as far as he could reach and dropped the plate under the bed, snatching the cover away before he retreated.

Lee's expression was torn between anguish, compassion and growing hatred. He shot all of us a pointed look, "We're going to start this case and we're going to make sure that every single one who had a part in this, this abomination, is going to be severely punished." He growled lowly before stomping through the room towards the office.