1 Prologue

"Erin! Come play with us!" Zach yelled with laughter in his voice.

"Yeah sis, come join us. It'll be fun!" Scott said excited.

Shaking my head in joy, I quickly shifted effortlessly to my wolf form. Bounding over to where they were situated at, near the lapping water on the beach of the lake. Tackling them, we started to roughhouse with each other. The twins of course were ganging up on me as usual, they loved doing that.

Hearing a sharp bark of annoyance, we stopped playing to glance over were Carson was sitting and watching us play like pups.

"Erin, aren't you too old to play like a pup? You should come over and we'll talk about good battle plans for the future." he said, giving me the look.

Whispering gently to my two younger brothers, I told them my plan. Turning back around. I faced my brother and changed back to my human self. I was happy to notice that my swimsuit I had on before I changed was still on my body. Usually when a werewolf changes into their wolf form, they still have there human clothes on and so they rip apart when you change. Either that or you take them off and be naked when you change in front of other pack members. With my pack, we were able to change into our wolf form and then back with our clothes on our bodies that didn't get ripped to shreds.

Walking over to my brother with a calm look on my face, I stood before him. Slowly a grin replaced my calm exterior, as I carefully watched my younger brothers sneak up on Carson from behind him.

"Guess what Carson?" I asked him.

"Hmm…" he wondered.

"Gotcha."

Just as my two brothers jumped him and held him against the sand, I could see that there was sand sticking to Carsons face where a small glare was pointed right at me. Smiling gently I stooped down to where his face was planted in the sand, and ruffled his hair with my right hand. I could hear a small growl coming from the base of his throat, warning me that he was going to pull an alpha thing on the three of us.

"You know what brother? It's okay to act like a pup sometimes, it's completely fine to have fun every once in awhile. That's why the moon goddess gives us our soulmates, why we have our other half of our souls. It's so we can enjoy the life we have, because we only get one life. So we have to live it to the fullest that we can, or else we'll end up as a lone wolf battling the demons on the inside that are trying to take over."I said softly, knowing exactly what my words meant to him.

Standing up, I looked at my younger brothers, and flicked my hand quickly as it told them to let him go and have some fun in the lake. Watching as they jumped off of Carson and made a race to see who'd get to the water faster than the other. I loved seeing the innocence in my two brothers, that was why it was good to act like a pup sometimes. When they get older and become a warrior in the pack or a hunter, those kids will lose the quick-witted innocence that they have. They'll have to face the real world, not the one they knew as a child when everything and everyone was a friend.

"You know, you'd be a better alpha than me Erin." Carson said quietly.

Glancing over to him watching me watch my brothers, I just sighed loudly and sat down next to him.

"You also know that being an alpha is tough, and that usually it's the firstborns duty to take over the title when their older and wiser." I replied calmly, looking across the large lake that bordered our territory.

"I know that Erin, and yet I see that you can do much more than I ever could. Especially with our brothers. You don't need to speak to them to stop them from doing something that they're not supposed to do. Unlike mom, you don't have to."

"I know, and I don't know how I do it. If I did, I'd tell you for sure. You know that."I replied gently.

"Hey now, don't get that somber attitude with me Erin. I know you better than you know yourself."

"Did you just use a line from a song I know?" I scoffed.

"Maybe…" he said.

I watched as my parents exited from the forest near where the twins were playing in the water. They were both in human form, swinging my youngest sister between them. I could hear her giggling from where I sat among the tall grass. The happy joyful face she'd make when she was enjoying life to the fullest. My mother and father were enjoying life as well, they had lots of kids and barely anything to worry about. Considering my father was the Alpha of the pack and my mother the Luna, they didn't use the titles as a way of power over the pack members. They used it to help them and others when they needed it. They would invite rouges to join the pack on occasion, and even set them up somewhere if it didn't work out within the pack ranks as well. My parents were saints, at least I thought so.

I knew that nobody could ever get as far as my parents did, with how much charity they both did. Especially my father. You would think that since he's Alpha, all he cares about is the pack and making sure that no human ever discovers our kind. He was never like that at all, add in the fact that my mother was human as well. My father is the kindest Alpha you'll ever meet, he even helps out local predators that lurk in the shadows. The ones who aren't shifters like us, like the actual wolves and bears and sometimes foxes. My father was like that, and many respected him as he was.

"Erin… Erin…"

"What??" I replied distracted.

"Erin, we were talking here. How could you get lost in thought?" Carson said.

"Oh… sorry brother. I was just thinking of our family is all." I said, looking down at my feet.

"Oh, sorry then. I'll leave you in peace with your thoughts. I'm going to join mom and dad down by the water, see you down there when you're ready." he said, getting up and walking towards our parents.

Suddenly there was screaming coming from somewhere, and I glanced towards where I recently just saw my family. My family wasn't there, terrified I got up quickly and started looking around for them. The screaming continued to go on, and I had no idea where it was coming from.

Until I realized that it was coming from me, I was the one screaming.

I woke up with a sheet of sweat on my skin, and a wandering thought as to where I was. I remembered where I was, I had been in the process of going home when a storm blew in and I had to take shelter in a cave nearby. Then I also remembered what the hell was going on too.

My family was completely gone from my life.