Chapter 1
In the vast thicket of trees, my despair rolled off of me as my wolf and I ran through them in need of a safe place to mourn to cry for what our life had become. My name is Ember and I am from the moon mountain pack hidden in the deep depths of the tree’s, our pack is small with only 250 members, but we all operate as one big family, unless you are me, I was the exception to this rule since our new Alpha took his place as our leader. I was only accepted by the few growing up, one of the few was my stepfather a good man and the former of Beta of our pack, my mother was drunk when she fell into bed with someone other than her mate creating me, from the beginning he never blamed me for existing but my mother and their twins’ sons have always hated me and when he was not around, they were always making that clear.
Today was one of my worst days in existence, it started off with my stepfather being busy in the pack house leaving me to the horrors of my mother, although beautiful she is cruel and heartless, it only took seconds for her to turn on me blaming me for the smallest of things and the silver whip was brought out. My brothers although older were just as cruel, swayed by my mother’s need to rid the truth of her betrayal. I had woken up late, meaning I had missed breakfast clean up, furious with me she had my brothers hold me down as she reigned blow after blows down upon my back, blood seeped down as the skin burned and tore open leaving me a bloody mess upon our small cabins floor.
Tears had leaked down my face as I begged and pleaded for her to stop, for her to forgive me but as per usual it had fallen on deaf ears, normally I would be able to report the abuse but I couldn’t betray my step father, so over the years I kept my mouth shut, with our new Alpha Chris Peter’s I knew it would be useless as he was best friends with my brothers and shared the same amount of disgust for me as they had. My wolf Amber is a kind soul and my best friend, although we are one, she is the only one who understood the amount of pain and despair I felt.
After my mother’s lashings it took me forever to move, my hands trembling, my arms shaking threatening to give out as I tried to get up from the floor where I was left alone, the siren of the pack alerting danger sounded and desperation was clawing at me as I tried to move faster hissing as my wounds were pulled from my fast actions.
Shakily moving to the front door, I force my body to move stumbling as I fall through the front door to be met with utter chaos, pack members running for cover as anyone who could fight shifts from human form to wolf form, bones cracking as grunts came from the warriors, howls of agony made my ears ring as my blurred vision was making it hard for me to concentrate on the madness that was taking over the pack.
My legs shaking as they struggled to hold me up, I scan the chaos of the pack, looking for my step father amongst them, I spot him in his large wolf form fighting two rogues ferociously, his movements quick and intimidating as he leaves no openings for the rogues to be able to get the upper hand, the former Alpha a kind man by his side fighting back just as imposing and strong as his aura rolled off him in deadly waves.
Pushing my body forward, I head towards the fight my wolf Amber is strong and can fight but with us injured it is risky, just as I was about to shift my eyes landed on a rogue who had his nose in the air, seemingly scenting something, as his body turned rigid and his eyes seemed to be scanning the battle field, a gush of wind washed over me carrying the most delicious scent, my mouth watered and tears of happiness welled up in my eyes, my mate was here somewhere, our eyes locked with the rogue and my world came to a stop, curiosity, wonder, happiness rolled off of me for a split moment before panic set in, as I watched horrified as my two older brothers came up behind my mate pinning him down.
Moving fast I cry out through the pack link for them to spare him, to leave him alone as our new Alpha Chris peters advanced on him snarling, teeth snapping ferociously as my mate struggled against their hold, his eyes falling to me with worry, as I ran fast with everything, I had in me, I ignore everything else all that mattered was saving my mate. My step father tried to mind-link me, worry lacing his voice as he feels through our family bond my distress ringing loud and clear, as I shook to core as my eyes widened as the Alpha tore into my mate leaving him barely alive as I fell to my knees next to his body, his strength leaving him as he turns back to his human form, his skin paling as his eyes watered and his shaky hand reached for me as he whispers “I am sorry my love, I will be with you always. Stay safe, run my love the rogues plan to destroy this pack your current Alpha has angered them”, his voice barely audible as I feel are bond slipping away.
Light tingles remained where his hand had touched my cheek, tears trailed down endlessly as I trembled as I reached to stop the bleeding hoping to save him as I shook my head refusing to accept what we already knew, our mate was going to die and we were not going to be able to save him. Amber’s whimpers filled my head she mournfully cried for our mate as his eyes rolled and the piercing feeling of my heart being torn from my body had a loud cry to fall from my lips freezing everyone to the spot as my wolf shifts instantly, enraged, angered at the rogues, our pack, our family, the moon goddess everyone. Amber’s eyes had blazed with outrage as she single handedly ripped through the rest of the rogues putting an end to the battle that had fallen silent, horror took over my fellow pack members faces as they watched on. Amber lifts her muzzle up to the sky and howls mournfully, her grief shaking the pack with the pain filling our aura washed over them, gasps barely making it to our ears as my eyes landed on my smirking brothers as they say “Sister, sister he was nothing more than a rogue, he may have been your mate but shameful beings like yourself and him don’t deserve a mate”, their voices amused and taunting had our blood boiling as I struggled to control Amber, her need to rip them to pieces was nearly all in compassing.
The few members who cared for me had paled hearing my brothers taunts, my step father looked horrified as I tore off from their watchful eyes and ran into the woods, our paws barely hitting the ground as we leaped and bound over fallen logs, the crunch of leaves and sticks beneath our paws being the only sound we heard as Amber shut off our mind-link, her grief becoming too much to handle as her rage, anger, despair and heartache rolled off us as our muscles rippled and ached as we just kept running for our peaceful spot, our hidden place we would come to when we needed an escape.
This is the story of mine, why I was filled with despair, why hope left Amber and I, our usual fighting spirit determined to survive our mothers torment and the packs left us as we whizzed through the trees, the memory of our mate being ripped from us playing over and over in our head as her whimpers left her muzzle, running until we had nothing left in us, running until our legs couldn’t hold us up, running until we were hidden from the rest of the world wishing we could disappear, our reason to live had been taken from us both, we no longer had any hope of escaping the life that destiny gave us.
The scent of the forest that once brought comfort brought nothing, the despair of losing our mate leaving a hole in our heart as we fall to the ground tired, our adrenaline gone leaving us a trembling mess against forest ground as bark, sticks and moss dug into our underbelly, Amber lays her head down too tired to move, to care about anything around us as our eyes aimlessly peer at the water rushing in front of us.
Our eyes unseeing as we fall into our pit of despair, our head throbbed as we feel the former Alpha’s Presence, our current Alphas, our mothers, brother’s and step fathers’ presence pushing to connect, but our walls were up, our heart was numb, we no longer cared if we got punished as we had nothing to fight for, unlike before.
Night fell leaving nothing but the moonlight to shine down upon us, the sky now dark with stars twinkling down upon our unmoving body as Amber lay’s there upon the embankment crying for our mate, crying for us, her grief feeding into my own as I stay in the background of my own mind crying silently as I curled up feeling numb but cold, as pure misery weighed us both down, as we curled up in our spot knowing no-one would find us here, not unless our step father brings them here but we knew he wouldn’t he would wait for us to return, but returning meant death for us Amber and I, as our pack fears us both, our family will find a way to have our new Alpha Chris peters punish us, or charge us with treason, one or the other, my mother after all had attempted killing us more than once already.
Lost amongst our despair, I barely noticed the cold that was now seeping into our fur from the cold ground of the forest. Amber’s eyes looked to the water in front of us, her whimpers falling from her lips as our soul felt crushed as the memory of our mate’s eyes as his life as taken from him replayed over and over again. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t be able to forget the fear, panic and worry that swirled in them, I didn’t even get to know his name before he was ripped from us. The water before us flowed effortlessly past the embankment, the sound of the wind whistled in our ears as our fur got ruffled by the gusts of wind that were just starting to pick up, Amber and I both decided to just give up, to join our mate and the goddess when a crunch of twigs and leaves came from behind me and our step father appeared hurt shimmering in his eyes as his wolf stood majestically blocking us from getting to the water’s edge, Anger and pity swirling in his eyes as Amber and I retreated back feeling ashamed that we had been caught.
Amber turns our eyes to the forest floor, unable to meet our step fathers eyes, unable to face him after everything, he had always told us to be strong my day to rise would come but now emptiness and coldness surrounded us both, neither with the will to live, our mate was gone and it was rare for their to be a second, I couldn’t bare the thought of our pack or the thought of us never having what the rest of our pack has.
