Liam's reaction was instant, his eyes glazing over as he mind-linked the rest of the pack. I couldn't hear his words, as I had yet to complete the ceremony that made me an official member. Liam and I had talked it over many times, putting it off until after my Tournament. It seems we waited just a moment too late.  The crowd erupted in panic, parents grabbing children left and right as they raced as far away from the rogues as they could get. Blood already began to stain the grass, and I felt my limbs threaten to lock up in fear.  Not this time, I told myself. I forced myself to look at every child, parent, and grand-parent. It wasn't myself I was fighting for, it was them. I had two choices. I could run and seek safety--completely throwing away all of the progress I had made. Or I could fight, I could release the anger I had been feeling for so long--since before my Mom died. The anger that blistered through me the day Atlas rejected me. &nb

Nicki was one of the lucky ones during the battle. Her car was parked far enough down the block that it hadn't received a single scratch from the fight. Those who parked their cars closer to the park were unfortunate. Some had minor scratches and dents, while others had shattered windshields and missing doors. Nicki let out a long sigh of relief as she spotted her car untouched and without damage.  "Thank the Goddess." Nicki groaned, patting the hood of her car. "Mom and Dad would have killed me if anything happened to this car." Nicki and Dustin's parents were also trainers, but they often traveled to other packs to offer assistance on training troops. They came home every so often, but even I had only spotted them once since living here. The three of us hopped into Nicki's car and peeled off down the road, the scent of burning bodies fading as we drifted farther and farther from the center of town. Nicki and Dustin lived in a newly devel

As it turns out, there wasn't much to be briefed on as Liam pretty much covered the basics. The Northern Star pack takes up most of Washington state, and suffered an attack a few weeks ago by a nameless beast. Nicki had little detail on the beast itself, but told me at least ten lives were lost in the fight. Liam had sent two warriors into the pack to aid with training, but their Alpha had requested a few more for defensive purposes.  I rested my head against the cool window of the Ford Explorer Dustin was driving and fought against the remaining thud of my earlier headache. Nicki sat in the back seat, a pair of headphones on as she bounced around to some song I couldn't hear. If I closed my eyes long enough, I could pretend we weren't wedged in between two identical Ford Explorer's, and that this mission made some sense.  I still couldn't fathom why Liam would send me of all people. He had been raised in this pack, surely, he could have sent Kris

One Week Later Three Weeks Until the Advanced Tournament I glared at the note as it sat on my bedside table, hating it--hating myself for ruining my one chance at reading it. It was clear my Mom had written it before leaving the house to help against the rogue attack. In my blind rage that day, I knocked over a number of half-full coffee cups, soaking the note I had completely overlooked. It sat on the floor of the house for nearly a month, as it had taken me over a month to gather enough courage--or desperation, to finally visit. I wanted to scream, at my Mom and at myself. She always had a habit of leaving half-full coffee cups around the house, making a new one before she finished the first. The dark ink on the thin sheet of paper had ran, and long ago dried into a sticky, fragile mess. I could only make out a handful of words on the paper, none of which made any sense. It was clear she left the note in case something had happened to her, bu

Nothing had changed during my time away from my old pack. Everything about me was different, but the large town I stood in remained the same. The large, southern houses hadn't changed, with their long porches and creaking rocking chairs. The grass surrounding the houses was clipped short, a brilliant shade of emerald under the blistering sun. Kids screamed and laughed as they ran through a sprinkler in one of the front yards, and I remembered how Alyssa and I had once done the same. Dragonflies darted around, their slender bodies whizzing past my face. I stood in front of my old house, looking up at the freshly painted porch. On a rather boring day where the grief of losing my Dad had become too strong, Mom had insisted we repaint the porch. She let me pick any color I wanted, and grinned as I picked a light shade of lavender. I wasn't sure why the newly painted porch sent a shiver of pain down my spine. Part of me expected it to remain the same, that light shade of lavender.