Prologue

Summertime. The age of carefree. A nightmare not yet seen.

I was all of seven that fateful summer day. Spending the day with mommy was more than I could ask for. We spent the day walking around the pack grounds while daddy and Jonathan spent the day training. Daddy had said that I wasn't allowed to train until I was older. I didn't find that fair as I was older than Jonathan by five whole minutes, which I told my father while adamantly holding up my hand to show him my five fingers.

Mommy told me how mates worked; the more she talked, the more I found it gross. Why would some guy fall in love with me because of a shock between us? And wouldn't it just be static? I listened intently, or as intently as I could muster, while these questions ran through my mind. I just wanted to play or do whatever Jonathan was getting to do. I bet he was playing with Jasper Willows, the alpha's son.

As we made our way back to our house, I looked up at my mother; she was beautiful and graceful with long hair pulled back in a braid with a few free strains escaping the confines of her braid and blowing around in the wind. Her hair was a dark brown, like chocolate, with green eyes, like mine. After staring at her for a moment, I tug on her dress and look around at the space between us and the house.

"Mommy, can I go to Sara's house today?" I questioned softly as she looked at me.

She looked a little pained as she looked back up at our house and walked. "You can't today, my angel. Sara is out of town with her aunt. She'll be back in a week, and you can play with her then." After a moment, she spoke again. "Come on, let's have a tea party and sit on the back porch."

I didn't argue, but I did pout at her. How could this be? Sara didn't mention going to her aunts' to me. But then again, she could have forgotten. When mommy spoke again, I smiled and ran ahead of her to get my tea set and take it outback. I loved playing tea with mommy; it was a lot of fun.

Once at the house, I ran inside and up to my room. I grabbed my little picnic basket with my tea set and ran back downstairs. Once I was downstairs, mommy walked in the door with a beautiful smile. Without stopping, I ran into the kitchen and got in the fridge to get us some snacks. Mommy came into the kitchen and helped me pack our snacks before walking outside.

Once outside, we talked about everything and pretended to drink tea while eating our snacks. Mommy laughed at something I said, and I grinned goofily at her. I don't know how long we were out there, but mommy and I eventually fell into a comfortable silence. All our snacks were gone, and we were content to sit there.

I don't know how long we sat in that silence, but I clearly remember the loud snap from the woods behind our house. I watched my mother tense and sniffed the air. It wasn't just a wild animal in the woods that made a sound like that, and my mother knew something was wrong.

As she stood up, I moved to follow, and she shook her head at me. "Shhh, stay here. You'll be safe here. I'm going to make sure it's nothing to worry about, okay?" Her voice was no louder than a whisper.

Nodding at her, I watched as she descended the stairs, into the yard, and then into the woods. I noticed she was stiff as she ran. Something was wrong, and she didn't tell me what it was. I don't know how long I waited for something, but I waited like I was told. It wasn't until I heard her scream that I bolted off the chair. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could. I knew I didn't have my wolf yet, and there wasn't a lot I could do, but I wanted my mommy.

I tried sniffing the air for her scent, anything that would lead me to her, but my senses were normal, unaffected by a wolf, so less superior to the adult wolves. I searched and searched the woods until I found her, but what I saw scared me more than her scream. She was lying against a tree, naked as if she had shifted, and there was so much blood that even I could smell the iron in it.

Her long hair was a mess and no longer neatly tied back in a braid, her eyes were closed in pain, and she had a hand covering her side, but I could see the blood seeping between her fingers. I saw her take a deep, ragged breath, and then her eyes shot open, and she shook her head.

"No, no, no, no." She was barely audible as she spoke and reached her other hand out to me; it was also covered in blood. "Run, angel, run. I don't know what he wants, run..." Her eyes were full of fear, and she looked horrible, but I did as I was told and started running towards home, I hoped.

I ran for a long time before I tripped on a root and started crying harder. I didn't even realize I was crying until I hit the forest floor around me. As I pushed myself up, I heard a twig break behind me and tried to start running again. As I did, I felt a hand grip my arm, and I screamed out in sheer terror. When I turned around, I saw a large man with evil-looking eyes watching me as I cried.

He yanked me closer to him with a mischievous grin on his face, and I whimpered. Continuing to cry, I felt him use his free hand to brush the hair out of my face and off my shoulder. I closed my eyes, so I didn't have to look at him, but what he did next would change my life forever.

"Mine," I heard him say before I felt a sharp pain where my neck met my shoulder.

Crying out in pain, I feel the forest floor catch me as I fall, and it is then that I hear the howls in the distance. my last thought before I passed out was, "They're coming to save us. Please save us."