ALICE<br/><br/><em>Your new prize wants us to stop Rich. Want to tell her your decision? Tell her she is going to be your mate and the rest of us have to be content just beating it off while listening?</em><br/><br/>Alice's face fell and her eyes widened. She had just begun to trust Rich, and now he would be just another Lycan. No. No, she wouldn't let that happen. She had just found freedom, and she was determined to never be a mate again! No matter what. She'd rather die first, and she didn't plan on doing that either.<br/><br/>The injured (but healing) woman shook her head and spoke firmly, although she wasn't sure if the two lycans fighting could hear her.<br/><br/>"That's not going to happen."<br/><br/>And with that, she leaped off the porch and hissed slightly as the landing jarred her injury. Taking off in bare feet, she ran as fast as she could into the forest. She didn't like simply running away from her problems, but she didn't see any other choice at this time. As she ran, she wanted to shift into her wolf form, but she couldn't until the wound was fully healed, unless she wanted to stunt the recovery.<br/><br/>Her world was a blur as her lycan speed allowed her to run faster than any human, and also sense where things were by the smell. That's when she smelled it...blood. Lycan blood.<br/><br/>God in heaven, she was cursed! Still, she knew that she couldn't allow someone to lay bleeding, so she turned and ran toward the coppery scent. What she found made her stop and gasp. There was a man, naked and face down in the dirt, scratched and beaten. If he was human, she would have worried about a murderer or thief in the area, but it was in the middle of the forest, and  he was decidedly a lycan. Kneeling beside him, she placed one small and soft hand on his back to see if he was still breathing. He was, thankfully. She didn't know why she felt compassion for a male lycan at all, but apparently she wasn't as unfeeling as she wanted to be toward the race. When she felt how cold and bloody he was, she slowly turned him over and looked at his face. He was a handsome man, and it was impossible to tell his age, although he looked to be mid-thirties. Lycans could be much older, though. After all, she was nearing 90.<br/><br/>When she looked down, she blushed and had to ignore the large bulge that was very obvious. Her hand went back to his face and began to stroke the blood and dirt away. She saw the large gash on his forehead, and knew that she had to wash it out before it got infected. Still, she wasn't willing to go back to the other pack. Although he could be a part of it, for all she knew. She tore a strip off her dress and pressed it over the wound to stop the bleeding as she stared down into his face.<br/><br/>It was possible that he might pop up and attack her, but he didn't seem able to. Besides, if he turned out to be a bad guy, he was injured enough that she could probably outrun him...at least in her wolf form. Her blue eyes were wide with curiosity and worry, and her red curls fell around her pale face like a veil. She decided to speak.<br/><br/>"Hello? Can you hear me?"