I wake to the frantic shouting of voices. Footsteps sound through the house, both heavy and light. Snarls and growls come from my open window, cries and calls of our fighters drowned out by the furious growling of werewolves.
"Alpha! We're being attacked on the Northern side!" I recognise the sound of Charles, my dad's best friend. Attacked? The blaring of our sirens cut into my ears harshly and I cover them with my hands. What's happening?I curl up under my covers, stuffing my face in the pillow. "Mommy!" I scream, too scared and confused to move; I can hear the crying of my baby sister, Theresa, mixed the calling of my big brother as he yells for Dad. "Mommy!"My door suddenly bursts open and my mother stands there, a frantic look on her face. The sirens are still going off and other cries of other women are filling the house. "Cecily, I'm here." My mother is the most beautiful person I have ever seen: she has gorgeous blue eyes, bright and always shone of life, her luscious brown hair is thick and I always like to curl it around my fingers. I can see the worry and the fear she has on her face but she still smiles at me, instantly making it better. "Come on, baby. Hurry now."She grabs my hand and pulls me from my bed. "Luke!" She yells through the house and I turn to the frantic footsteps of my older brother. He's slightly taller than me with the same coloured hair but has green eyes, like Dad. "Take Tessa, Sam and Alec to your father's office. I need to help the others," Mom says, pushing Sam and Alec into my chest. They've only just started to walk, Sam being two and Alec one and a half. Tessa is only a baby and she screams in Luke's arms."Mom, I don't want you to go," I beg her, eyes filling with tears as she kneels down in front of me, cupping my cheeks with her hands."Cecily, I have to help the others; I'm Luna. Don't worry, I'll be back. I promise." She says softly but even over the siren I can hear her clearly. "I need you to be brave for me, okay, baby?" I nod my head frantically before turning and struggling to pick up Alec."Come on, C," Luke says and I follow him to Dad's office. Sam stubbles on the step and begins to bubble in pain. I drop down next to my little brother, putting my arm around him as best I can."Sam, come on. We need to hurry. Mommy will be back," I promise him softly and his crying eases a little. Eventually we burst through the doors and into Dad's office. It's quite small but I don't take long to look around it. There's a chair next to the door, where I've sat and read so many times. Luke places Tessa on the chair and begins to try and stop her crying while Sam stands flush against my side, gripping me tightly and Alec gurgles fearfully against my shoulder.I place the one year old next to our baby sister, sitting him up against the arm and attempt to calm Sam down. Tessa finally seems to quieten and I see Luke placing a dummy in her mouth. I tap his shoulder, remembering that he's deaf.'Why are they attacking us?' I use my hands to speak to him. It's hard for a six year old to learn sign language but I manage well enough to talk to him.'I don't know.' He replies, shaking his head along with his sign.'Where's Dad?' I ask, wondering why he didn't help Mum. Luke frowns at me, shaking his head at me. I must've signed wrong. I screw my face up in concentration as I slow my hands.'Fighting the borders. He's the Alpha.' What does that mean? At my questioning look, Luke continues. 'He's in charge of everyone here. Uncle Lewis and Uncle Charles are his second and third in command so they have to help him.''What about Mom?' The doors suddenly open fully, bashing against the wall and Tessa jolts, beginning to cry once more. I go to her as Luke rushes to close the door. She begins to suck my thumb as I coo to her, her small fingers gripping my hand. Alec whimpers, cuddling into my shoulder as I stand next to them.
'Mom's Luna- the female Alpha. She looks after the women and children.' Luke continues once the others have calmed down. He lifts Sam to his chest, wrapping the two year old in his arms. We huddle together at the chair, slightly hidden from the doorway in case anyone comes in. I don't know how long we stand here but I begin to tremble.What's taking her so long? I wonder to myself. Tessa has managed to fall asleep again; the sirens no longer blaring. The office door creaks open someone stumbles inside. I let out a scream as Luke yells in shock."Mom!" I scream upon seeing her. She's now covered in blood, her face smeared with it and she's got a cut on her side which is leaking as she spies us out. "What happened to you?""There's no time to explain." Mom frantically begins to look around the office. She barely looks in our direction as she begins to sign. 'I need you to hide.'Luke rushes, still holding Sam, over to the stairs that wind up over behind Dad's desk. He points up, unable to manage any sign since he's holding a baby. Mom releases a breath, smiling gratefully at her eldest child before she rushes to Dad's desk, opens the top drawer to take out a small key and slams the drawers shut again. She grabs Alec from the chair and beckons me to follow. With baby Tessa in my arms, I run after Mom as she leads Luke and I to the small cabinet that holds Mom and Dad's wedding photo. The cabinet is fixed against the wall, only just taller than Luke. Mom inserts the key into the hole at the back of the cabinet and it then pulls it forward causing the cabinet to open like a door, revealing a hole in the wall.
"Go in." She waves towards the hole so Luke can understand; he ducks inside and I follow afterwards. Inside is a small cave type of room, a little cold but it has a table and two chairs in the middle. "Stay in here," Mom says after allowing me to take Alec from her."What about you?" I ask and she opens her mouth but there's suddenly a crash. I know it's the front doors opening forcefully."They've broken in." She whispers, turning back to me and Luke. 'Take care of each other. Don't come out until your dad comes back. Take this.' Mom hands Luke the key she had used and Luke wraps his fingers around it. 'I love you. Watch over each other, your baby brothers and sister needs you.'"Mommy? What's going on?" I ask, tears spilling down my cheeks. Mom kisses my head before straightening.
"Be brave, Cecily. Take care of your father for me." What did she mean?"Where are you, bitch?" An unfamiliar male voice shouts and I know it's no one we know. Mom gasps, closing the door as much as she can before rushing down the steps. There's a crack of light, which gives me enough gap to watch as Mom reaches the ground floor just as two men burst through the office doors. "There you are. Trying to call reinforcements?""Get out, filth. My mate will kill you swiftly," Mom says, her voice strengthening into something that makes the men shake slightly."We have some unfinished business, Luna. You left too early from our meeting in the courtyard," the other man says and Mom growls. "Hiding your little puppies?""Keep them out of this, filth." She replies, fists tightening. What's happening?"Cecily. Cecily, help me calm them down," Luke whispers, pulling me away from the door as our little brothers and sister begin to cry once more. We reach them just as growling and crashing is heard from the office. I look to Luke frantically, despite the fact he can't hear anything; the noises make my limbs tremble in fear.What are they doing to her?With Tessa and Alex finally silenced and Sam fixed with sucking his thumb, Luke and I race to the door again. Two wolves are attacking Mom fiercely, tearing and slicing at her flesh like rabid animals. Luke wraps his arms around my shoulders when I slam my hand to my mouth to snuffle my scream of horror. He holds me close, knowing we should move away but neither of us able to.One of them latches onto her legs, pulling them from beneath her. She cries out but no matter how much blood she spills onto the floor of the office, no matter how much pain she's in, Mom doesn't stop fighting. She doesn't shift but she uses her claws to cut open the wolves legs and sides. As one of them bites down on her thigh, Mom screams. My body tightens.No.Her blue eyes meet mine. The second wolf latches his jaws around her neck and rips it open. I cry out and Luke turns us away from the door.
She's dead. They killed her.I can hear the gruff breathing of the wolves as they begin to move around the office. What are they doing? Then I hear a heart-stopping howl; it's angry and heartbroken.
Dad.The wolves leave the office quickly but we don't move from our place in the cave room. I open the door slightly, revealing the mess of the office: Mom's motionless body lies in the centre, the wreckage of the chairs surrounding her pool of blood. Dad suddenly runs through the room, closely followed by Charles and Lewis. They all freeze upon seeing Mom's body."No!" Dad yells, dropping the ground next to her. Tessa begins to cry again, making our presence known. Dad looks up, meeting mine and Luke's stricken faces and his expression drops. He knows we saw the whole thing. Lewis and Charles race up to us, bundling up Tessa, Alec and Sam in their large arms before Lewis reaches to pick me up.They take us from our house and to the pack house where the pack members rush towards us from the bunkers. My friend, Oliver, beams towards seeing me, remaining clutched in his mother's grasp but I don't smile back. Lewis and Charles remain with the five of us, not letting anyone else come near us."Who were they?" I ask against Lewis' neck as he holds me tightly. Tessa is sleeping soundly in the crib that is kept for our family while Alec leans against Luke who is leaning against Charles. Sam is on Lewis' other side, sniffing his tears."A pack called Red Blood. They've wanted to overthrow our pack for years," Lewis answers."Lewis. They're just kids," Charles warns and Lewis looks down at my tearstained face."He's right. I shouldn't be telling you this," Lewis says, pulling me into his side more. I nod, letting the protectiveness of his hold comfort me. My tears still pour from my cheeks, matching the broken look on Luke's face.We'd just watched our mother be murdered in front of our eyes.Something inside me hardened. My grief turned to anger. Lewis said it was a pack called 'Red Blood'.I will get them for this.I know this path off the back of my hand: The Eastern trail, heading around the side of the pack territory towards the deepest part of the forest no one goes into. It merges with the Southern trail, heading towards the training ground.The training ground. Where I spend most of my time, where I've been training since I was six. No one tells me to, no one forced me into it, I wanted to. Since I was helpless to help my mother when the Red Blood Pack attacked us, I wanted to be ready for the next.Despite being six at the time, my father agreed and let me train; lightly at first with his Beta teaching me slowly. He occasionally trained me instead while the rest of the pack trained under Beta Stewart's order. They all thought after a year or two, I'd have enough and stop, being a true teenage girl but no. I wanted to intensify my training, surprising everyone, even my father. So instead of sitting around waiting for a mate, I train and I fight.And I'm damn good at it.My legs carry me at
It isn't fair. He did it to purposely throw me off. I frown just as he charges and his shoulder clips mine because my side step is slow."That's cheating. You mind-linked me before charging," I complain, climbing back to my feet. Dad places a hand on his chest, faking the hurt."I would do no such thing." He squawks. Then he charges but this time I'm ready. I duck, sticking my leg out and his ankle catches on mine making him stumble. He leans back against the elastic, bouncing back towards me and as he swings his arm out to catch my chest, I lean backwards so I'm almost doing the crab. When I straighten, Dad wraps his arms around my upper arms, holding me to his chest. I am hesitant to do it but it's training."You said I shouldn't go easy, right?" I look to Lewis and Charles, who both nod. "Just checking," so I won't get in trouble. I swing my head back, connecting to a nose. The arms slip slightly so I go forward, lifting my legs to kick my dad's chest. He falls onto his back with a
"Hey, sis!" Sam calls, rushing past me with a peck on the cheek."Bye, sis!" Alec calls, repeating the process but slower and he's not even three steps down when Dad calls my name from his office. "You're in trouble." He sings, following his dim-wit brother down stairs. They have always been a handful ever since they were younger, especially after Mom was killed. I walk into Dad's office, expecting the worst.The room's the darkest room despite having the biggest window with the desk near the far wall, leaving the floor with enough room to hold up to twenty people. There's a stair case winding up behind him with an overhanging balcony where the chest containing some of Mom and Dad's wedding things is standing.Exactly the way it's always been.As I look at Dad, he's on the phone with someone but he beckons me in with a finger and as I pass the photo of Mom, I press my fingers to my lips then to her face. You might think it's weird but it's the only thing I have left to show I love her
I wake up to the sound of knocking on my door. Yawning widely, I look up sleepily and call: "Come in," and a small head pokes in. It's an omega and she's pretty much been 'my omega' since I was twelve. "Hi, Ellie.""Morning, Cecily. Sorry to wake you but Alpha wishes to see you." Of course he does. Omegas act almost like servants within a pack because they help keep the Alpha's house tidy and the pack house too. Most packs mistreat their omegas due to them being the lowest rank of wolf- they don't have very big or strong wolves but not our pack. They are considered family among all of us, just the way my mother wanted it."Thanks, Ellie. I'll be right there." I yawn again, stretching my whole body as she closes the door behind her. My top lifts as I reach to my ceiling yet not matter how hard I try, I'm nowhere near reaching it but I try to every morning. When my back clicks nicely, I go to the bathroom and wash my face before hurrying downstairs, still only wearing shorts and a vest
"Whose Beta are you?" I demand and he stands to face me again. "Who's you're Alpha?" He snorts, shaking his head before launching himself at me but the two wolves behind me intercept the attack. They both barrel into his chest and his attack towards me is lessened as they crash to the floor in a bundle. The other three have the second wolf pinned to the floor, the three of them having to sit on him to keep him in place. When the Beta somehow manages to shake off my warriors, I take the chance to punch him hard on the head. He yelps, his head hitting the wall.Stand down. There are too many of them. Everyone is in the training ground; they've won. Luke's voice sounds in my head and I frown. Stand down? Why? Cecily, they're too strong. They want to speak to the Alpha but we are the only one's here.I'm not giving in to them, Luke. Are you insane? I argue mentally but everyone else is captured and he is clearly being told to tell me this. I don't hear his voice reply but I relax, sighing
They force me to Shift after half an hour of walking. I refuse, trying to push as many buttons as possible; it seems he's very temperamental, especially towards me when I refuse to follow his commands. I'm not his bitch."Why should I do anything you tell me to do?" I say, crossing my arms, refusing to take another step. I'm sitting at the base of a tree and my mate is standing in front of me, obviously trying to control his temper as he closes his eyes and mentally counts to ten. All the other men are standing to the side, looking away from us but I can tell they are trying not to laugh. "You're not my Alpha.""No but my father's the King." At that, my muscles tense. I'm mated to the Prince? Better yet, I slapped the Prince in front of hundreds of people. Oops. That explains the silver ringed irises- how could I not see it? I try my best not to blush at how ignorant I've been to his status but I hide it with a shrug."Then this must be the first time someone's said no to you. Better
I definitely like it here.Clyde, Clive and the Delta, David, don't mess around. They are serious when it comes to training. There's no messing about when it comes to these three. David nods his head respectfully to me when Clyde and Clive bring me to the training ground. It's not a building like back at home but it's a large field, with a single arena in the middle. And the field is huge- a mile all the way round.Clive asks for the honour of fighting me first."Last time didn't end well for you, Clive" I laugh, watching as he takes off his shirt. All three of the men are around forty six, possibly dipping to forty four but they certainly don't have any problems with looks. I would be surprised if neither of them have mates, apart from Clyde. He definitely has a mate."I wasn't ready last time or expecting you to be so violent" he snipes and I laugh. Clyde and David watch us, ready to observe. I feel like I'm being assessed. "Ladies first" he bows mockingly. I'm wearing my own traini
Austin's P.O.VI sit at the base of a tree with my wrists resting on my knees which are drawn partially to my chest. Ryan and Rick are sat either side of me, calmly observing the pack grounds. I've already chosen them as my Beta and Delta for when I'm Alpha. Everything's sorted and I feel ready.The only thing I haven't sorted is my Luna.She's the most annoying girl I've ever met and yet I can't stop the way she makes everything inside me jump with excitement. All I want to do is have her attention, touch her and just plain have her. I know I blew it when I snapped after she slapped me. I deserved it but I don't want her to know that.All week she's been off with other people, getting to know the pack. I should be the one doing that but I'm not. She knows exactly what to say to get me to snap. Her cockiness always manages to send my wolf crazy, in a war with himself. Sometimes he wants to show her that she can't treat us like this, other times he wants to crush her into him and say h