Prologue
Sophie
10 Years Ago
“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy…can I go to the park? Pretty please with sugar and cherries and whipped cream on top!” I asked my mommy while running into her office and jumping up and down in front of her.
“I don’t know sweetie, your daddy and I are busy working and can’t take you right now, and your grandpa still isn’t back from his trip,” she replied to me.
“But Mommy…pleeeeeeease?”
“Well, is Ben going with you?” she asked me, looking over at Ben’s daddy, Paul. Paul works with my mommy and daddy; he is their second in command. This means Ben and I have always been together.
“Of course Ben is going, he’s my bestest friend, Mommy. The park wouldn’t be any fun without him,” I beamed up at her. Mommy and Daddy can never tell me no. I’m their little princess, so I’m sure she’ll let me go.
“Benjamin, are you outside the door? Come in here,” Ben’s daddy sternly said. Whoopsie, I may be able to get away with stuff, but for some reason Ben can’t. I was hoping they wouldn’t notice him.
Ben slowly walked into the room with his head down. “Yes sir?” he questioned his daddy.
“You know it is your job to guard the princess, not assist with her escapades,” Ben’s daddy said, while Ben looked down.
“Daddy said I’m a big, strong girl now, sir. That means I don’t need to be guarded anymore,” I confidently stated to Ben’s daddy.
“Josh, I need you to get in here, now,” Mommy calmly said, shortly followed by Daddy walking in.
“Daddy!” I exclaimed, as I ran into his arms for a hug.
“My little princess!” he happily said, before looking at my mommy’s face. “What’s going on, my love?”
“Sophie said you told her she is a big, strong girl, so she believes she and Ben should be able to go to the park alone,” Mommy told Daddy.
“Sophie, baby, you are a big strong girl, but you are still only eight,” Daddy began.
“Yeah, Daddy, but Ben is ten, so he’s even bigger and stronger! He’ll always protect me, so we’ll be super duper safe! I promise! PLEEEEEEASE!” I could see Daddy starting to crack. If he gives in, I’m sure Ben’s daddy will let him go too, because he has to protect me.
“Sir, the park is only down the street, and there are always lots of guards nearby. On top of that, this area is completely safe. There have been no hunter sightings or supernatural attacks in years,” Ben tried to convince my daddy.
“What do you think, Paul?” Daddy asked.
“I think they are both pretty good manipulators, but Ben is correct about the location’s safety. Other than falling and getting hurt, there isn’t much around here that could hurt them.” Oh, I think they might let us go! I can almost feel myself shaking with excitement.
“I guess if you two seem ok with it, then I’m fine with it,” Mommy added.
“YAY!” I happily squealed, hugging Mommy and Daddy.
“Be home by four,” Daddy said, as I grabbed Ben’s hand and ran out of the room, pulling him behind me.
“Ben, come push me please?” I asked, as I ran to the open swing and jumped on.
“You’re such a little kid, Soph,” Ben laughed, as he walked up to push me.
“Nu-uh. I’m a big kid and you better be nice to me, I’m gonna be your queen someday,” I confidently told him.
“Yeah, but even when you are my queen, I’m still going to be the big strong one protecting you.”
“Promise you’ll always be my friend and always protect me?” I asked him.
“Of course, silly. You are the most important person in the world to me,” he told me.
“Ben, will you be my mate when we get older? That way you’ll always be most important to me and I’ll always be most important to you!” I decided my plan was perfect. I never want to be away from Ben.
“Soph, I would love to be your mate, but I think that decision is up to the Moon Goddess, not us,” Ben logically replied to me.
“But that’s not fair! I want you,” I pouted.
“Hey, no pouting or being sad. Oh, I know what will cheer you up. Wanna play hide and seek?” I know Ben was trying to distract me, but I really love hiding.
“YEAH!!! I wanna hide first, you count!” I exclaimed, while Ben laughed at me. As soon as he started counting, I ran off to hide in the woods by the park. I am the best hider ever; he’ll never find me!
I quickly found the tallest tree around and climbed high up into its branches, out of site. My mommy said she was a really good tree climber and taught me how, so I’m the best now. From my hiding spot, I could see Ben walking about looking for me. It was so hard not to laugh at the frustrated look on his face when he continued to walk by and not see me.
After about ten minutes of hiding, I noticed Ben wasn’t coming by anymore. I wonder if he gave up. It was around that time that I started to hear screaming. Oh, it sounds like someone is playing a really fun game! I wonder if it’s tag, I love tag. Maybe I’ll come down and play too, since I’m getting bored sitting in the tree. I gave Ben about five more minutes to find me, but the screaming wasn’t stopping. I really wanna go play with them. I guess Ben will have to forfeit; game over, it’s tag time.
I had just climbed down from the tree when I started to hear loud growls and howls, along with the screams. I don’t think their game sounds so fun anymore, it sounds a little scary. I think I want to go home now.
“BEN!” I yelled really loud. “Where are you?”
“Sophie! RUN!” I heard Ben yell back to me.
“I don’t wanna run. I want to go home. Ben, I’m getting scared. Where are you?” I yelled back, fighting to keep the tears from coming out.
Just then, I felt someone tightly grab me from behind. “BEEEEEEEEEEN! HEEEEELP!” I screamed, just as I felt a sharp stinging in my neck, and everything went dark.
Ben
I don’t really want to go to the park, I’m ten now and the park is for babies. I am definitely not a baby! I’m training to be the next Royal Beta. I am big and strong and an awesome fighter. I can do anything…except go against Sophie. Even though she is two years younger than me, she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen and my best friend. I would do anything to make her smile, including help coerce our parents into letting us go to the park.
When we got to the park, Sophie excitedly ran to the swings and asked me to push her. I knew she was going to do this, since she always has me push her, but I don’t mind. It makes her happy. While I was pushing her, she asked me to be her mate when we got older. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt as happy as I did at that moment. It would be a dream come true to be her mate, to be the only one that gets to love and protect her like that. Sadly, however, that isn’t how mates work. We don’t pick our own mates. I knew I made her sad when I pointed that out but could never lie to her.
I quickly decided to cheer her up by distracting her with hide and seek. I absolutely hate playing hide and seek with her, she is way too good. I’ve never once been able to find her, she is like a freaky ninja or something. I generally try to avoid playing at all, so I knew suggesting it would make her happy, and I was right. I laughed to myself as she quickly ran away to hide, while I started counting.
After I got to twenty, I started to try and find her. I may have peaked a little when she went to hide, so I knew she went towards the woods. In my defense, I was supposed to be guarding her, so I had to know the general area she was in…at least that is my excuse. Even knowing the general area she was in, I still couldn’t find her. I once complained to my mom about Sophie’s hiding skills, but she just laughed and said it was in her blood. I don’t really understand what that means, we are both werewolves, so shouldn’t I have the same hiding skills then?
After searching for several minutes, I decided to go check the playground area again, maybe she ran back that way to hide. When I got back to the playground, I noticed that something felt off. Dad has been training me for a few years, so I knew to trust my instincts. I casually looked around for threats, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. That’s when I saw something flash in the trees on the far side of the playground. I may be panicking a bit, but that sure looked like silver. I quickly pushed a button on the side of my watch that should call guards over to me. Dad had me wear the watch, since I am too young to mindlink. Now I understand why. Man, I hope those guards hurry, as I saw more glimmers of light coming from different sides of the playground. I think we are surrounded.
Just as I had that thought, I heard a gut-wrenching scream come from the side of the playground. I looked over and saw a big man grabbing a small little girl with pigtails, holding a silver knife to her throat. That must have been some sort of signal, because at that moment, all hell broke loose. I saw at least fifteen men flood out of the forest on all sides, each running to grab a different child, all little girls. I assume, based on the silver weapons, that they must be hunters, but they didn’t seem to be killing anyone, just grabbing them.
Either way, I knew I had to act fast. I grabbed the knives out of my boots and ran up to the closest man, stabbing him in the arm then his throat so that he dropped the little girl he was holding. She instantly fell to the ground crying. I quickly pulled her up and told her to run towards town, to safety. I saw her leaving as I turned back around to attack the next hunter.
I had managed to kill four of the hunters, saving the girls they were holding, before three royal guards finally showed up. Once they arrived, they started to attack the remaining hunters, and we were quickly down to just the five strongest hunters remaining. I thought they were going to turn and run, when I heard something that stopped my breath.
“BEN! Where are you?”
Oh no…no, no, no. Soph, why did you pick right now to yell. You were safely hidden.
The lead hunter instantly got an evil glint in his eyes and took off running towards Sophie’s voice.
“Sophie! RUN!” I yelled back to her, panic clear in my voice. Please Soph, run, please!
“I don’t wanna run. I want to go home. Ben, I’m getting scared. Where are you?” I heard her reply, but it sounded like she was about to cry. Shoot, I have to help her, but there are still four strong hunters and only four on our side to fight them, if you count me, which I do. As I was contemplating how to get past these hunters, I heard something that would haunt me for years to come.
“BEEEEEEEEEEN! HEEEEELP!”
Panic, anger, and fear instantly took over my body, I had to get to her NOW. I could feel myself starting to shake and lunged at the hunter that was between me and Sophie. By the time I got to the hunter to attack, it wasn’t hands and a knife that attacked, but rather claws and a wolf muzzle that ripped out the man’s throat. I let out a loud, powerful howl, and sprinted through the woods to save Sophie.
I spent hours running back and forth through the woods in my wolf form, searching for Sophie, but I couldn’t even pick up her scent. In my defense, I wasn’t trained to track, since you aren’t supposed to shift into your wolf form until you are 16.
“Ben, it’s time to go home now, it’s getting dark,” I heard my dad say in my mind. I guess getting my wolf early meant I could mindlink early, I would be excited about that if it weren’t for the hole in my chest from losing Sophie.
“I can’t, Dad, I have to find her,” I frantically linked him back.
“Son, it’s getting dark, she isn’t out here anymore, we need to head home,” he calmly replied.
I slowly followed Dad home to the castle. When we arrived, I saw Sophie’s parents and my mom waiting outside. I shifted back into my human form and ran into my mom’s arms, before bursting into tears. Sophie’s parents came up and gave me a hug, while crying as well. After a few minutes, we all went back to our rooms to go to bed. I laid in bed and cried myself to sleep, hoping that we would find Sophie tomorrow.
It’s been two months since Sophie was taken, two months since my life lost its purpose. I know, pretty dramatic for a ten-year-old, but Sophie really was my purpose, my sunshine, my everything. Without her, the world seems to have lost its color. She was the reason behind my smile, which hasn’t really been seen much since she disappeared.
I’m currently sitting in the small conference room, which has been turned into a base of operations to try and find her. Along with me are both of my parents, Sophie’s parents, grandparents, and a few of the top guards. Sophie’s grandfather has some big map laid out and is going on and on about different hunter camps, while marking them on the map. He seems to know a lot about hunters, I guess you need to learn that stuff if you are going to guard a princess. Maybe I should learn it, so that I can better protect her once we find her.
Normally, they wouldn’t let me in the meeting, but since I was the one that fought the hunters, shifted early, and am the next to be royal beta, they are letting me participate. It’s a good thing I can be a part of everything, I think my wolf would go on a rampage otherwise. He is just as upset over Sophie’s disappearance as I am. I guess he realizes we were supposed to protect her forever.
Just as Sophie’s grandfather begins to select places for us to search next, there comes a knock on the door.
“Enter,” Sophie’s dad called.
“Excuse me, your highnesses, but this urgent package was just delivered for you,” a guard said, while handing a padded envelope to Sophie’s dad.
“Thank you, you are dismissed.”
Sophie’s dad opened the envelope and flipped it over, and a small USB drive fell out and a note that said, “Play Me”.
“Do you think it is a ransom note?” Sophie’s mom’s voice broke as she asked.
“Only one way to find out,” her grandfather said, picking up the drive and walking over to the tv on the wall. As he did this, Sophie’s dad walked over to hold her mom, unsure what the video would show.
As soon as he hit play, we saw an image on the screen of Sophie tied to a chair in a dark room. She had tears streaming down her face, which was covered in bruises and blood. She also looked like she had lost a lot of weight and was very pale. Seeing her in this state was making my wolf howl in anger in my mind.
“You mutts think you are so superior to humankind, but look, even the royals of your species bleed.” A man on the screen said, as he sliced a silver knife down Sophie’s arm. She let out a blood curdling scream.
“Unfortunately, we can’t use this girl, since she brings too much attention with her. We know you are desperate to find us and get her back, but I can’t have that happening, now can I. Do you have any last words, mutt?” the man said, looking at Sophie in disgust.
“Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Ben, I love you all so much,” Sophie choked out between sobs.
“Now say goodbye like a good little wolf,” the man said.
“Goodbye,” Sophie cried, as the man walked up and slit her throat.
I barely registered Sophie’s mom screaming in the background, as I sat and stared at the tv, watching the life drain from Sophie’s eyes, before the screen went black. I wasn’t sure if I believed what I had just seen, Sophie couldn’t be gone, she just couldn’t. Surely, if she was gone, the world would stop turning. How can it continue moving without the sun to hold it in place and light each day? I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but mine stopped turning that day.
Six months later, I was awarded a medal of honor in a grand ceremony at the palace. I am the youngest to ever receive that, by at least 10 years, but what difference does it make. Why would anyone care about a medal? Yes, I may have saved 18 young kids that day in the park, but I lost the only person in the world that really mattered.
After the ceremony, many families came up to me and hugged me, thanking me for saving their kids. I gave them fake smiles, since it is what I am supposed to do as the future royal beta, but inside, I felt hollow. I don’t want thanks, I want Sophie. I’ll always want Sophie.
