Chapter 1

Five-year-old Keyah Wilson tiptoed to her first floor bedroom window and prised it open. Her brows knitted, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated really hard on not making any noise. The window opened with a ‘clang’ that sounded too loud to her ears in the quietness of the night.

Holding her breath, she listened. Her heart was beating like a drum inside her chest. If Mama caught her, she would be grounded for ten thousand years. When she didn’t hear anything, a huge grin split her face as a large bubble of happiness grew bigger and bigger inside her.

She was going to see Daddy!

Earlier in the day, Mama had scolded her something fierce and ‘forbidden’ her from ever going up the mountain by herself. Keyah had only been half-paying attention to her mama’s words as she’d stood there in front of her mama and traced the cartoon animals on her pajamas with her fingers, wondering if all those animals could turn into humans, just like she could turn into a wolf at will. Mama scolded her quite often, but then, Keyah supposed she disobeyed Mama quite often too.

Although she did not know what ‘forbidden’ meant, she was pretty sure Mama wouldn’t approve of what she was about to do.

But Daddy was coming home, and she didn’t want him to be lonely when he walked down the mountain. She had gone up to meet him many, many times before. One more time couldn’t hurt. Not if Mama never came to know.

Keyah hated it that Daddy often had to go away and live on the mountain with the pack; she wished they could go with Daddy too, but Mama hated living on the mountain. Daddy had promised her that on her thirteenth birthday, he would take her up the mountain to meet the pack. But until then, she could never ever go beyond the large boulder on the very top of the mountain.

Daddy had shown her pictures of her nana and papa and her uncle and her cousins, but she couldn’t wait for the day when she’d get to meet them all whenever she pleased. It was not fair! Her thirteenth birthday was five thousand years away! She wasn’t sure she could wait that long.

Without a sound, she climbed out of the window and jumped on the branch that almost touched her bedroom wall, landing on all fours. For just a brief moment, anyone could have easily mistaken her for a small animal, especially as the full moon was hidden behind dark clouds. Quickly and noiselessly, she climbed down the tree and looked up at the mountain jutting beyond the backyard of their new home. She knew it was called the Boulder Mountain because of the large boulder on the very top.

A giggle escaped her lips as she looked at the funny, dark shape of the mountain. To her eyes, it looked like an oddly-shaped tall man with a really large, round head. If she told this to Mama, she would flick Keyah’s nose and pull a face saying she had an overactive imagination. But if she told the same thing to Daddy, he would make the shape out to be something even funnier.

She couldn’t wait to see Daddy. Jumping down the tree, she made her way toward the path leading to the mountain. She wasn’t wearing any shoes but the mud, sticks and pebbles hardly bothered her as she steadily made her way up, often climbing on all fours, reaching the top in no time at all. From her previous visits, she knew Daddy would emerge from the bushes on the far side of the clearing.

She had often climbed up the mountain to wait for him, but never before at night. Every time he saw her waiting, his face would break into a broad grin, but he would put his finger to his lips, urging her to be quiet, and even though she wanted to run down the path into his arms, she would silently wave to him and wait till he reached the boulder. He would lift her up and toss her into the air, making her giggle with delight.

While she waited, she picked up a stick, sat down cross-legged, leaning against the boulder and began practicing her letters in the fine, sandy white dirt. Perhaps Mama wouldn’t be very angry if she practiced her alphabet, she thought as she sang the alphabet song under her breath, trying to remember how to write ‘G’.

She finished practicing her letters and even her numbers but there was no sign of Daddy. Why was he taking so long? Her brows furrowed as she stood up and peeked at the bushes from behind the boulder. She always knew when Daddy was coming home, always knew when to go up the mountain and wait for him from the funny little tingle she felt in her gut.

As she peered into the darkness, her blood thrummed and her senses became sharper, becoming one with the night. Even in the darkness, she saw the rustling of the bushes. In the distance, she heard the excited cries of men and sounds made by running feet. A moment before her dad galloped out of the bushes, she knew something was wrong, terribly wrong. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she could only watch wide-eyed as he ran away from his pursuers, a magnificent wolf with a pelt of pure silver. She wanted to shout, to cry for help when the men carrying large guns ran out of the bushes, but no words would come out. They were shooting at him, but so far, none of the bullets had found their mark. If he made it to the boulder, she knew he would be safe.

He was tearing down the path, frothing at the mouth from exertion, but not daring to stop even for a moment. He was going to make it! He was going to be safe! Her face broke into a grin even as tears of relief ran down her dirt-stained cheeks. Only a few more feet and he would be shielded by the boulder. In her eagerness to meet him, she left the safety of her hiding spot and stood next to the boulder with her arms outstretched.

He was one jump away from safety when a bullet caught him right in the chest and he fell to the ground with a mighty thud.

“No! Daddy!” She couldn’t help the cry as she rushed forward to where he had fallen.

“Go... back... darling.” He had shifted as he had fallen, a huge, muscular man with his torso drenched in blood.

“No! Daddy! No!” She sobbed as she hugged him tightly.

“Listen... Keyah... Go... Please...” His words were raspy and Keyah was hardly able to make sense of them, but the clouds parted and the full moon emerged from behind them, bathing the barren mountain top in silver.

She knew her dad was going to shift back to his wolf form and she must do the same. Nobody but her mama and daddy knew she could already shift into her wolf form. She wasn’t allowed to shapeshift yet, but even at five-years-old, she knew that she had to shift now. For one last time, she hugged him tightly as sobs racked her body and her pajamas were soaked with his blood. Footsteps of the hunters were getting closer and closer.

“Love... you... tell Ma... love... her. Go...” he gasped as he closed his eyes and shifted back with the last reserves of his energy, keeping the secret of the Silver Wolves safe. He would never open his eyes again.

She knew she had to get away. Some primal instinct took over as she began running down the mountain, the blood soaked pajamas tearing to bits as she shifted. When she reached the top of the path, she couldn’t help herself as she paused and turned back to look at her dad one last time. They would reach him any minute now. Rage warred with fear as her heart thudded inside her chest when she saw them get nearer and nearer to his still, lifeless form.

But she saw something else too far away in the bushes. What she saw didn’t make sense to her, but the tingly feeling in her stomach told her that her daddy had been betrayed.