Vivian smiled at Ava. "you are nice, I like you" she told Ava.
The acknowledgement of this little child meant the world to Ava.
"thank you Vivian, I think you are very nice as well"
Ava stood up from her crouching position.
Vivian held her hand, "come on, let's go to the forest. I know all the herbs and where they can be found"
"Then I will have to depend on you to show me everything" Ava told her.
The three of them continued walking to the forest.
They got to the forest and started picking some herbs. They had picked some herbs when Helena got a message from Ryder through the pack mind link.
"Helena. We have some visitors, I need your help with refreshments" he told her.
"okay, I am on my way" she told him.
She looked at Ava and Vivian, they hadn't even picked up half of the herbs they needed.
"what's wrong Helena?" Vivian asked when she noticed Helena's worried face.
"nothing, it's just that Alpha Ryder needs me to come back to the pack house and do something for him immediately and we haven't even picked enough herbs." Helena complained.
"Why don't you go back yourself and I and Ava will pick the remaining herbs" Vivian suggested.
Helena pondered over Vivian's suggestion. She weighed the pros and cons carefully in her mind. She looked at Ava, "Will you be okay picking the herbs alone?"
"I will be okay, you don't have to worry about me." Ava assured her.
"okay, you two pick the remaining herbs and come back immediately. Okay?"
"okay Helena" they answered in unison.
Helena left them and went back to the pack house. Ava and Vivian quickly picked up the remaining herbs and started to make their way back to the pack house.
On their way back, they were stopped by a huge burly male werewolf.
"hey girlie. I heard you are the bitch who tried to kill our princess. You have got a lot of guts to do something like that" he said with a sneer.
"please excuse me, I have to leave" Ava said politely.
"and where do you think you are going to? I am still talking to you" the man said as he shoved her against a tree. Ava cried out in pain from the impact.
"leave her alone" Vivian said as she tried to push the man away from Ava.
The man pushed her to the ground, "shouldn't you be playing with your dolls?" he asked rudely.
"Don't talk to her that way" Ava said.
The man slapped her hard on the face.
"How dare you talk to me that way? Who the hell do you think you are?" he looked at Ava's body and grinned lecherously.
"You are a female prisoner, do you know what happens to female prisoners here in fireblood pack?" he ran his fingers on the outline of her breasts.
"stop it, don't touch me" Ava struggled with him. The man laughed wickedly as he watched her struggle.
"leave her alone" Vivian said as she tried to push the man away.
"I told you to get lost, little brat!" the man pushed Vivian away, she hit her head on the hard ground of the forest and passed out.
"Vivian!" Ava yelled.
The man looked at Ava and grinned wickedly. "now where were we?"
..............................
Ryder was in a meeting with the other werewolves who had come to visit. He suddenly felt a feeling of unease.
"Where is Ava?" he asked Helena.
"I left her in the forest with Vivian to pick herbs, they should be on their way back already" Helena replied.
Ryder kept feeling uneasy, the feeling of unease kept getting stronger every minute.
"please excuse me, I will be back soon" he told the other werewolves.
He stood up and left the meeting room. "Ryder where are you going?" Jayden asked.
"I will be back soon, take over the meeting for me" he told Jayden.
Ryder left the pack house and walked towards the direction of the forest.
He didn't see any sign of Ava or Vivian. He walked further into the forest and then his heart stopped.
Vivian was on the ground unconscious and Ava was pinned against the tree by one of the pack members.
The rage Ryder felt at that moment was indescribable. He wanted to tear that man off Ava and rip him into pieces. He tried to calm himself down.
"What the hell is going on here?" he asked.
The man turned around and looked at Ryder. "I was just teaching our prisoner a lesson" the man said with a smirk.
"And who gave you the right to do such a thing?" Ryder questioned.
"I... Uh... Just... Wanted her to pay for trying to harm Lily" the man stammered as he spoke. He was just an ordinary werewolf and in the face of Ryder's anger, he couldn't do a thing.
Ryder approached him slowly like a predator stalking his prey.
"are you the alpha of this pack?" he asked,
"no Alpha" the man said in fear as he slowly retreated.
"Are you the beta wolf?"
"no Alpha"
"Do you hold any position whatsoever in this pack?"
"no Alpha"
"So what gives you the right to try to teach her a lesson"
"nothing alpha."
Ryder looked at him fiercely, "the next time I see you harassing her or any other female in this pack, I will teach you a lesson you will never forget. Do you understand me?"
"Yes... Yes Alpha"
"Now scram" Ryder ordered him. He immediately ran away.
Ryder looked at Ava, she was assisting Vivian who had just woken up to stand up.
"What happened here?" he questioned the both of them.
"we didn't do anything, alpha Ryder. We were on our way back when that man stopped us and started to harass Ava. I tried to stop him but he pushed me, then I lost consciousness. Are you okay Ava?" Vivian reported to Ryder then looked at Ava to make sure that she was okay.