Prologue
Cyrus screeched and ran to hide behind their mother’s legs.
“Asher, if you don’t stop chasing him around, we’re going to be here all day.”
Asher skidded to a stop, sent his brother a look of retribution, and then shrugged and went to find his dad. He stopped at the top of the hill and watched that girl going into the trees. Glancing back at his mom, he debated whether he should follow. If he did, there was no doubt in his mind that he’d be in trouble—again. Sighing, he turned and started going back in the other direction.
Someone screamed, and he froze, wondering if it was a game he wanted to get in on.
“Asher.”
He jerked his head around and looked at his mom.
“Run.” She grabbed Cyrus and started in his direction.
Asher knew not to ask. Her tone told her just to do what she said. He turned around and ran as fast as he could into the trees, not even stopping when they scraped along his arms or his face. He twisted his ankle when he tripped on something but kept going. Should he wait for her? Deciding not, he kept going until he reached that big hollow tree. Ducking down, he rolled into it and lay there on his side, panting and trying to catch his breath.
He thought he heard screaming, but it was hard to know because his heartbeat was in his head right now. Two rabbits darted by the tree, and they were moving fast. Asher couldn’t wait until he was old enough to shift. He’d show those critters was real speed was.
A bird squawked and startled him. On his hands and knees, he crawled to the edge of the opening and looked out. Where had his mom and Cyrus run to? He checked the other direction again and then crawled out and stood up. He turned around, he couldn’t hear anyone now. Pulling the stick out of his hair, he started walking back to the hills.
He paused to look in each bush he went by, searching for his mom, dad, and brother. He wanted to know what the screaming was and why he had to run. If it was a trick, he was going to be very unhappy with his mom for doing it.
He heard voices as he climbed the hill and paused to kick a flower. They were all up there. He walked up the fallen tree, losing his footing just as he reached the top. Hitting the ground, he hissed out a breath. Hopefully, no one saw that.
Getting to his knees, he looked under it to check. There were men walking around up there. He had no idea who they were. A wolf came running over from the other side of the hill. It had blood all over its face. What was going on? As he started to stand up, someone grabbed him from behind and put their hand over his mouth. Asher struggled. When he got free, he was going to…
“Asher. Stay quiet.”
He froze. It was Alpha Cain. He had no choice but to listen. He wasn’t getting yelled at by his dad again for mouthing off to the Alpha. The chores were endless after the last time.
Two other clan men came over, staying close to the ground. One of them nodded. The Alpha hiked Asher up into his arms and stood up. All he could think about was that, his Alpha was a tall man—the ground was far away. They weren’t walking to the others. He turned his head, and that’s when he saw Jag walking along the top and looking down. Straightening, he tried to see before the Alpha went down the hill. There were bodies on the ground and blood. So much blood. As Alpha Cain turned to go down the trail, Asher saw his mother’s pale hair. She was lying on the ground, Cyrus still in her arms. Neither of them was moving.
He struggled to get out of the Alpha’s hold.
“You don’t need to see that, Asher. Settle down.”
Journee stopped and looked back at her sister. She was supposed to stay with her, but she was with her little friends now examining an ant hill, which was boring. Putting her backpack on, she kept walking. If she got up in a tree, she could still watch her. That counted, right? She knew just the tree. There was one with an abandoned nest in it, and she wanted to look at it and see how it was made. How did they get it to stay together? Her teacher explained it to the class, but she wanted to see it for herself.
It took her a few minutes to remember where the exact tree was, but that was okay; she wasn’t in a hurry. Her family would spend most of the day picking berries and talking with the other parents. None of it interested her.
Her backpack got caught twice, and she almost fell out of the tree. When she was one branch away from being able to see in the nest, she heard a scream and then yelling. Hanging on tight, she leaned around and looked back. Asher’s mom grabbed his little brother and told him to run. The breath froze in her chest. Something was wrong. She searched for her mom and couldn’t see her.
She went down to the fatter branch and tried to see what was happening. There were men and two wolves down there. What were wolves doing here? She almost let go of the tree when the one grabbed her father. Her dad could take care of a wolf, she didn’t doubt that. Emi. She needed to find her sister. She was going to be in so much trouble.
There wasn’t as much yelling when she got on the ground again. She thought of turning around and going back up, but if there had been a scare, her mom would give her heck for not being with her sister. Running along the trees, she tried to think of the best way to get to her sister without her mom seeing her. Her mom saw everything.
Sneaking along the berry shrubs, she moved as quietly as she could until there was space she could look through. When she did, she almost cried out. Slapping her hand over her mouth, she watched with wide eyes as the wolf ran over to a man she didn’t know. He had blood all over him. She stood up, making sure to keep behind the thorned branches. There was someone covered in blood at their feet. Journee’s eyes watered. Where was Emi? Had she hidden?
She could hear crying. It didn’t sound like Emi, but she needed to check on her. Moving quickly along the berry patch, she followed the direction it came from. The men walked by, and she stopped, holding her breath. They kept going. She hurried to hide behind a big tree and peeked around it. Other men had Emi and some of the other kids.
Journee looked back to where the adults were.
“Let’s get them in the van.”
She looked back. She didn’t have time to run back for help. She had to stay with Emi. Ducking around the tree, she stayed in the darkness of the trees so the men wouldn’t see her. The two wolves caught up.
“You better get back to your clan before they notice you missing.” The tall man with red hair said. One of the wolves started running and went into the trees. The others started walking again. One of them was carrying Emi like she was a sack of potatoes. Journee was going to kick him hard when she caught up to them.
Journee ran to keep up. Emi was crying so hard it made her eyes fill with tears too. She didn’t know how she would get her away from the man, but she was making sure she could always see her. She looked behind her. If any of the adults were going to come and get them, they needed to hurry.
She skidded to a stop when the trees ended. There was a blue van. They were putting them in the van. The wolf stopped in front of it and shifted back into a man. She stared at his face because he was so naked it made her want to close her eyes.
“Hurry up and get dressed.” The other men were getting into the van.
Darting over to the other side of the path, she stopped and held her breath. No one had seen her. All she had to do was sneak up behind the van, open the door, and then she could get her sister out of it.
Her whole body was shaking as she reached it. Climbing on the bumper, she pulled on the handle. It didn’t open. She heard a door close and flattened herself against the cool metal, holding the handle as tight as she could. She would have to stay here until they stopped again, so she could get Emi out of there.
When the van started moving, she looked back, watching for some of the adults from her clan to come running after them. When they did, she had to tell them everything.
