1 Prologue

I don't know what comes over me, but I just can't find it in me to stop. Every day for almost a year, I've had to sit back and witness my dad beating my mother. No matter how many times I told her to leave him, she just ignored me. She kept using the excuse that I didn't understand the relationship between mates because I hadn't found mine yet. She refused to leave him. She claims that she can't live without him, but that makes no sense seeing as it's her mate, the man she claims to not be able to live without, slowly killing her.

I hear a scream rip through the house, so instinctively I jump out of bed on a run toward the stairs as quickly as I can. I know what is going on down there and I can't just continue to lie upstairs and pretend that it isn't happening. My mom doesn't deserve this and will be damned if I stand by and watch it happen any longer. When I finally reach the bottom, I'm shocked to see him straddling her small waist and his fist pounding away at her face. She isn't moving and I can't even tell who she is anymore. Fear for my mother fills my body as I stare at the scene in front of me. All I can see is her blood pouring out of the cuts surrounding her face, nose, and lips. As I take in the scene before me, my fear quickly turns into anger. My vision turns red and I can feel my wolf beginning to surface.

"Stop!" I yell as I race forward to push my father off her limp body. He hadn't been expecting me to interrupt his activities so the force I hit him with was enough for him to be thrown off balance. He slides across the living room floor before he jumps up and glares at me. I turn my attention to my mother, too busy trying to make sure that she's breathing to pay attention to what he's doing behind me. Big mistake on my part. He darts over and grabs a handful of my red hair in his big fist and yanks me up to my feet. I reach up in an attempt to get him to release his hold, but he doesn't budge.

"You stay out of this, pup! What I do with my mate is strictly my business and you better just stay out of the way!" he spits in my face before tossing me aside like I'm nothing. He starts heading back toward my mom's body without even sparing me a second glance. I can see my mom starting to wake up due to the accelerated healing we all have. How could he do this to her? He's supposed to protect and love her. He's her mate. The bond that is between the two of them is supposed to be unlike anything else in this world. He isn't supposed to beat her like this… it just isn't right. My mom lifts her hand up when he approaches her to try and fend him off with what little strength she has left, but when his fist connects with her face again, I snap.

I sprint forward and with all the strength I have in me, I throw my father off her body again. Before he has a chance to do anything, I crawl on top of him trying my best to hold him in place. I reach down and grab a handful of hair in both hands. He struggles beneath my hold, but I lift his head off the ground and slam it back down onto the floor. I can see that the blow has dazed him. I know that if I let him get the upper hand, then he won't hesitate to use his strength against me. He's the Beta – the second in charge of our pack – which means he's extremely strong. Seeing as I'm the child of a Beta, I'm stronger than most wolves my age, but he's bigger, older, and stronger. So, if I let him, he will most likely kill me.

I pull one hand back and throw my fist against his face, successfully connecting with his nose. I feel the sickening crack sound throughout the house, but I can't stop. I just keep hitting him for every time he hit my mom. For every time he's yelled at me to leave it alone and to mind my own business. I reach down and grab his head again before banging it against the floor repeatedly. I can see what I'm doing, but nothing I do to stop myself works. All I can see is red and I know my wolf is mostly in control right now. She's getting her own revenge for all the times our father beat our mother. All the times that she could have died because of what he's been doing.

"Alaina, stop!" I hear my mom yell from behind me. I feel someone grab at my arms to try to pull me away from his limp body, but it's no use. I'm too far gone. I continue to bash his head against the tiles and bash my knuckles into his face until I can't even recognize him anymore. The sickening feeling of satisfaction that he's having to endure exactly what he's been putting his own mate through fills me. "Alaina!"

Something in my mother's voice pulls me out of my trance and I stop beating him and stare down at what I've done. Someone rushes into the room and grabs hold of my shoulders. It takes more effort than he thought, but after a minute he manages to pull me off my father's body and throw me across the room. I land with a soft thump against the wall, but it doesn't hurt. I can't feel anything. I can't see anything except my mother crying as she holds her mate in her arms and his unrecognizable body lying in her lap.

"Someone go call the pack doctor now!" the guy yells to nobody in particular. Neither I nor my mother moves from our spots. When he realizes we aren't going to move, he shoots up from his spot next to my father and sprints towards the door. I catch a glimpse of his eyes, glazed over in concentration, no doubt mind-linking with the Alpha and other members of our pack. I look back at my mother as her wailing increases as my father's breathing begins making a gurgling sound in his throat.

"Mom?" I ask with a shaky voice. I didn't mean for that to happen. I just couldn't stop. He was hurting her, and I couldn't just let him kill her like that. I'd reached my limit. Why hadn't she?

"Don't you talk to me," she sneers at me, hate filling her eyes as she looks at me. "You hurt my mate like this. You almost killed him! The man that raised you and you almost killed him! You are no daughter of mine! I raised you better than this, we both did! Get out of my sight! I never want to see you again!" she yells. It doesn't take anything else for me to jump to my feet and run out of the house.

I don't know where I'm going to go, but I know I can't stay here anymore. I have to leave the pack and go find a new home. I know that they will be after me for what I've done and that I will be considered a traitor. They will want me to stand trial to determine what will happen to me, but I can't do that. This pack has always been tough on every member. Being the daughter of the Beta never got me out of trouble, so beating the Beta will definitely not go well. The trial will be a farce, and I will be killed. I'm going to have to become a Rogue and just stay on the run until I find somewhere safe to stay. If there even is a place that will be safe for me after this.

I run into the woods and keep running. Not after ten minutes of running, I can hear men yelling for me to stop, but I don't. I can't. I want to shift into my wolf, but I don't have enough time and since I had to leave without any of my things, this is my only source of clothing and I can't risk them tearing. I have to get as far away from all of this as I can.

I have to run for my life.