Prologue

I hope you enjoy it...

I loved running. Since I had shifted about two years ago all I could do was run. Every chance I got I was out in the forest, either running laps around the border or chasing small bunnies for some entertainment, I just couldn’t get enough. It helped to clear my head, whenever I started to feel suffocated at home or had another argument with my dad I came out here and I ran.

I was currently out here and running laps because my dad and I had got into another mega fight, about me not taking my Beta position seriously. I honestly don’t understand what the big fuss was about though, I mean yes at one point the pack was going to have to rely on me a little more than they do now as I’d be second in command but it wasn’t like I was Jax or anything. He was the one who always had to act responsible and take things seriously, not me.

I internally rolled my eyes again as my dads words floated through my head. He had caught me with another of the pack girls sneaking out of my room after a drunken night out. Safe to say he wasn’t amused. I could feel my mum poking around in my head still, trying to open the mind link up so that she could talk to me about it, but I just blocked her out and focused on my run.

I loved my mum, deeply, but sometimes she could be a bit much. She was the peacekeeper between my dad and me, she never took sides and she never yelled, but you could always tell that there was so much she wanted to say. She wasn’t one to step on toes though and so just stood beside the two of us as we yelled in each others faces, acting more as a referee than a mother and wife.

It wasn’t like I didn’t get along with my dad, he was probably one of my best friends, it was more the fact that we were just to similar. We both always had to be right and we both hated being wrong. We had some good times though. Being so similar to each other also meant that we had the same hobbies. We both loved to practise our fighting techniques, we both loved to watch and play football and we both enjoyed camping. Every year my whole family, my sister Louise included, would head out into another packs territory and spend a week camping. Of course we’d ask the Alpha’s permission first and we never interfered with their packs life, but we always enjoyed our quiet time together. With dad working so much with Alpha Jackson and mum keeping Luna Emily company as the Beta female it was rare that the family had more than one night uninterrupted, but when we did, it was amazing.

We hadn’t gone on our annual holiday yet this year, but we were looking to leave in the next few weeks. The place we usually stayed at was having issues with rogues and so didn’t feel comfortable with four relative strangers staying on their land. Not that I blamed the Alpha, rogues meant serious business.

I smiled at the memories and sighed as I felt the wind ruffle my fur. I couldn’t wait until we were out there, away from the pack for a while and away from the distractions. My pack was my home, and I knew that, but it was nice to get away for a while and just let your hair down.

I couldn’t wait to go fishing in the lake with dad, usually unsuccessfully, as we spoke about the recent football games. Laugh at Louise as I watched her eat her sixth toasted marshmallow dipped in chocolate sauce, the sauce dripping down her chin as she tried to shove the huge chocolate treat into her mouth in one go. Smile as I watched my parents, still as in love as ever, dance in the light of the fire, dancing to some music that was obviously going on silently in their heads. It was bliss.

I hated my family sometimes, but damn did I love them.

Just then I heard a snap of a swig not too far behind me on my left hand side. I instantly froze and went into a slight crouched position, the training I had recently done with my dad surfacing into the forefront of my mind, until it was all I could think about. I was unfortunately up wind and so couldn’t get a smell on the wolf but if it was crouching and not announcing itself, it must be bad news.

I bided my time, waiting until it got a little closer to me, and right when it was about to break through a nearby hedge and pounce I made my move. I pounced in the air and landed on the wolf’s back intent on sinking my claws and teeth into its neck, but when I finally got a look at the jet black wolf that was now under me I sighed and stood up.

‘Jesus Jax I nearly took your head off’ I laughed as I rolled my eyes at him. Only he would find it hilarious to sneak up on someone who was doing border patrol.

‘In your dreams Xavier, there is no chance in hell that you could take me on and win’ he laughed as he shook out his fur, dislodging the few leaves that had tangled their way into his fur after being on the ground. ‘What are you doing out here anyway? It’s not your turn to patrol’ he asked as he came and stood next to me.

I waited until he had sorted himself out before turning around and carried on running, I was the only one on patrol as I sent the other guy home and so I couldn’t just sit and chat and leave the rest of the border unguarded.

‘I wanted to go for a run, clear my head a little, and I thought what better way than to do something useful’.

‘What happened this time?’ Jax laughed as he easily kept up with my pace, not that it was hard to as I was only doing a light jog.

I stayed silent, hoping that he would just drop the subject if I showed no interest of carrying it on, but unfortunately that seemed to just spur him on more.

‘Let me guess’ he laughed ‘you went out to that party last night, got steaming drunk and came home with some random girl, and then got caught by either your mum or dad as they saw her sneak out of the house this morning?’

Damn it he knew me so well. Lets just say this wasn’t the first time I had done something like this.

I sighed as I hung my head in shame slightly, was I really that obvious?

‘It’s all right man, we’ve all been there’ Jax muttered as he tried to make me feel better. He knew how painful it was for me the next morning, the guilt of sleeping with someone who wasn’t my mate. It was always the same, after I get a few drinks in me it was like the world is a better place and every girl I see is my mate, a potential person to help fill the void that ached in my chest.

‘You haven’t’ I grumbled, feeling a little annoyed at how much self control he had over himself. I mean sure he had caved once or twice, it was only natural to with the amount of hormones racing through a teenage wolfs blood, but he didn’t mess up nearly as much as me. ‘I just find it so hard sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I’m so lonely even though I’m surrounded by people. Then I look at my parents and the other mated coupled around the pack and I get so jealous I feel like I just have to fill the void with anything I can find... anybody I can find’. I know it sounded sad, and a little to soppy, but I was really struggling not having my mate by my side.

Being mateless can affect people in different ways. Some, like Jax, didn’t struggle with the separation at all. Sure he wished he had her by his side and was doing everything in his power to find her but he didn’t feel the gaping hole in his chest at not having her around like I did. Whereas for me, I was a rare case, a rare bond that wasn’t usually formed due to the side effects it could have on the wolf.

I had read in one of my mum’s old history books that a blood bond, even though it was extremely rare, could happen and I seemed to be one of the lucky few that suffered from an unlinked blood bond. No one was really sure why the Goddess chooses to make some suffer the blood bond whilst others can happily wait out until their mate turns up, but it was said that it was because the people who had them needed a strong link with their mate later in life. I don’t know what that meant for me but I always chose to just cross that bridge when I came to it.

’So was it your mum or your dad?′ Jax suddenly asked next to me and I frowned as I thought about his question. I think he realized that I had completely forgotten what we were talking about because he sighed before explaining. ‘That saw the girl leave your room, was it your mum or your dad?’

‘Oh, my dad’ I cringed, the argument we’d had earlier resurfacing in my mind once again.

’Ouch′ Jax cringed, knowing what my dad was like.

‘Tell me about it’ I grumbled. ’It not like he knew what it’s like to go without his mate, my mum was in the same pack as him. As soon as they both turned sixteen bam they were together’.

‘I hear you man, I can’t imagine what you must be feeling like when you have to watch mated couples all day but if it isn’t great for me it must be torture for you. If letting loose with a random girl keeps you sain then who am I to judge’ Jax replied.

And that is why he was my best friend.

‘I just hate the fact that he thinks I’m going to be a bad Beta because of it, just because I sleep with a girl every now and then doesn’t mean I’m bad at my job. It’s not like we’re taking over anytime soon anyway, we have a few years yet.’ We ran in silence after that, both of us just enjoying the others company as we let off some steam.

It wasn’t till about twenty minutes later when I picked the scent up, a scent that makes every wolf’s blood run cold with dread. Jax and I both looked at each other for a split second before we both unanimously said the dreaded word. ‘Rogue’.

Within a flash we both sprinted off to track the scent, making sure we didn’t lose the owner. This was it, this was my moment to shine and prove to my father that I could be trusted with the Beta position.

‘Jax’ I linked as we continued our pursuit, ‘what if we don’t tell your dad what we’ve just found and just dealt with it ourselves’ I muttered, hesitant with my idea as I didn’t know what he would think.

He surprised me though as he smiled a wolfish grin ‘way ahead of you’ he said as he picked up his speed, ‘you aren’t the only one who needs to prove themselves to their father’.

And with that we were off.

We followed the trail for a good five minutes, darting and weaving as we followed the scent of the lone rogue. I had to hand it to the wolf, this person could run.

We froze when we got to the clearing, both with our muscles coiled and ready for anything as we surveyed the area.

‘I don’t understand’ I muttered as we stood with out backs to each other, making sure nothing could jump out at us and catch us off guard. ‘The scent trail ends here, so where are they?’.

‘They must’ve shifted back into their human form to weaken their scent or something’ Jax replied as he continued to scout out the area.

We broke apart from our position and started sniffing around the place, hoping that we could maybe pick up the scent of the rogue who had passed through. ‘It just doesn’t make sense, why willingly enter a pack’s territory if you’re only going to shift out of your wolf and retreat. That is the least tactical thing you could do’.

‘Umm Xav... I think we should link our fathers now’ Jax linked as he continued to stare at something at his feet.

I frowned as I walked over to him and froze when I saw what he was staring at. It was a t-shirt, not one of ours, that had been soaked in animals blood. I leant down and took a sniff of the fabric and cringed as the smell of rust filled my nostrils, but it wasn’t just animals blood I had picked up, it was the stench of rogue.

‘This must’ve been what we were tracking’ I growled as I kicked the top. ‘Whoever did this must’ve drowned the fabric in the blood to kill the scent after they lead us here’.

’But why did they lead us here?′ Jax asked as his eyes started to fog over.

I did the same, tapping into the packs link to try and contact anyone I could. What I got back though was just a shambles, it seemed that everyone was shouting through the link at once, asking for help and trying to find their loved ones.

One thing was clear though, we were under attack... and we had fallen right into their trap.

As if a gunshot had gone off signaling the start of a race, both Jax and I shot off into the forest, intent on getting to the centre of our pack as fast as possible. This could not be happening I muttered to myself in my head as I felt my muscles burn as I pushed them to run faster and faster. This could not be happening!

We made it to where most of the fight was taking place and I instantly got stuck in, killing rogues wherever I could and helping out pack members who needed it. There weren’t that many of them and with any luck we could make it through this attack without any casualties.

I spotted my dad in the distance, fighting a particularly strong looking rogue and I cringed as I saw its paw make contact with his head. The rogue didn’t draw blood but that definitely would have given him a headache.

’DAD!′ I shouted through the link as I made my way over to give him a hand, if something happened to him I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself.

‘I’m fine son, go to the house and protect your mother and sister’ he linked back, not breaking his focus from the rogue in front of him.

I nodded, even through he couldn’t see it and turned to make my way back to the house, whispering a quick ‘I’m sorry’ to him as I ran. I hope he knew I was saying sorry for more than just letting the rogue attack happen. I was saying sorry for everything that I had said to him today.

I didn’t turn around to see if he had gotten the message as I ran the short distance to my house, I had to make sure I was fully aware of my surroundings and that no one could surprise me.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the air started to clear of the stench of blood that was strong in the air. I had never liked the smell of blood before but the smell of rogue blood? That was even worse.

I took in another breath as I ran, liking how the cold air cleared my mind, but when I picked up on the scent of pack blood I froze. I knew that smell anywhere, it had been ingrained into my brain ever since Louise had fallen off a rope swing and broken her leg. Her bone had broken the skin and I had to carry her to the hospital as she cried in pain the whole way. Her blood had soaked through my shirt and it was a constant reminder of what had happened as I had sat in the waiting room for hours, waiting for her to get out of surgery.

What I smelt in that second was Louise’s blood.

If possible I ran even faster and what I saw when I rounded the corner would forever be burned into my skull. My sister, lifeless, with her throat ripped out and a rogue standing over her, her blood dripping down his face. He had shifted back into his human form and as he stared down at her, I saw a type of fire in his eyes that made my blood run cold.

My eyes were suddenly drawn to movement on the other side of the house, where a little alleyway lead to our back garden.

′MUM!′ I yelled as I ran towards her, hoping to get to her in time before the rogue holding her killed her too.

“Xavier get out of here!” My mum yelled back as she saw me running towards her, tears running down her face as her eyes clocked onto her cold and lifeless daughter. “Xavier please run” she begged but I ignored her, no way was I going to abandon my mother.

“Whos this little wolf?” The rogue holding my mother by the throat asked, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke.

I growled at how close he was to her but skipped to a halt when the other rogue blocked my path, blood dribbling down his chin and onto his chest as he grinned at me.

I crouched into a fighting stance as I opened the pack link up, hoping someone would see what was happening and come to help us. Please let someone come and help us.

“Here little puppy” the rogue in front of me mocked and with that I pounced.

The rogue quickly shifted as he dodged my claws, smirking at my attempt, toying with me. I growled as he danced from foot to foot, dodging left and right as I stood there and stared, one eye on the rogue in front of me and one on my mother. She was doing what she could to get out of the guys hold but with his claws digging into her neck, threatening to rip at any second, there was little she could do.

One thing dad had taught me how to do was assess your opponent, find out if they had any weak spots, and after a few seconds of watching this rogue dance from foot to foot I noticed something. It wasn’t much but he was favouring his front right leg ever so slightly, it wasn’t much but at least it was something.

With my focus zeroed in on the rogues leg I lunged, faking going right before quickly spinning and slamming my head into the rogues week upper leg. The rogue wet down with a whine as I heard a sickening snap and as I looked back I saw that the leg had been shattered, broken in two different places, making the limb look disfigured.

I quickly clamped my jaws around the wolf’s neck, ending its life, and when I was sure he was dead I rounded on the rogue holding my mother. She was staring at me wide eyed, her fear scenting the air, but I tried to ignore all of it as I focused in on the last rogue male.

‘I’m coming Xavier, just hold him off for a little longer’ Jax yelled at me through the link and I sighed as I realized that help was coming.

“Stand down boy, you don’t know who you’re up against” the rogue warned as he shifted so that he’d put my mum in front of him, using her as a shield.

I just growled back in response, blood and saliva dripping from my teeth as my hackles rose.

“You’re going to pay for killing my brother, you hear me?!” The rogue suddenly yelled, sinking his extended claws into my mother’s neck.

I growled as I watched her blood trickle down his dirty fingers before dripping into the grass below.

I don’t remember what happened after that, I had somehow managed to seperate my mum from the rogue long enough for me to pounce on him and rip his throat out. He had never shifted back into his wolf and so it was fairly easy for me to tear into his delicate human skin and sever his carotid artery, ending his life.

I growled at him for a second longer as I watched the life drain out of his eyes, feeling no remorse at taking another wolf’s life. He had deserved it, they both did.

I turned around, intent on taking my mum in my arms and assess her injures, but when she wasn’t where I’d put her I panicked, had another rogue come and taken her?

I frowned when I noticed a blood trail lead out of the alleyway and towards our front garden and what I saw broke my heart. My mum had used the last of her energy to crawl towards her little girl and hold her in her arms and as she wept.

I sobbed as I walked over towards my sister and my mum, shifting in the process so that I could take both in my arms and cry for the loss of my baby sister. As I got closer though I noticed something, something that broke my heart further than it had ever been broken before.

My mum, with her dead daughter in her arms, had stopped breathing.

I screamed as I ran over to her, skidding to the floor as I took her in my arms and held my hand against her neck, hoping to stop the flow of blood from leaking out of her skin.

The rogue had done a lot more damage than I had originally thought, sinking deep enough to hit her vein and cause serious damage. I cried as I held firm on her neck with one hand whilst trying to perform CPR with my other, hoping and praying that my efforts would help in some way until the doctors could get here.

“Don’t leave me mum... please” I begged as I repeatedly pushed down on her chest, trying to keep her heart beating and oxygen going through her veins. My vision blurred until I could barely see anything but I carried on pushing, praying that a miracle would happen and her heart would magically start beating on its own.

Jax was still on the way, fighting his way through as best he could, but it seemed that whenever he was finished with one another would replace it. As if his black Alpha coat was a beacon to all that he was our future and he needed to be taken out.

As I performed CPR the best that I could I cried, staring into Louise’s lifeless eyes, as she stared back at me, empty and black. How could this of happened, just this morning the worst thing I was suffering with was a mild hangover and another pointless fight with my dad, now I had lost my mum and my sister all in the space of a hour.

My CPR attempts became weaker and weaker as my muscles grew shakey, I had been running for hours on patrol before any of this even started and with the attack and the strain of CPR they had finally given up.

I had failed them.

I collapsed into a heap on the floor, sweat beading on my forehead as it mingled with the countless amount of blood that coated my body. Some of it was the rogues, but most was my mothers and sisters. Their blood was literally on my hands and I would never forgive myself for it.

It felt like hours by the time someone had arrived at my house, the blood that soaked my skin now dry, causing my skin to feel tight and crack every time I moved. My tear had stopped as I held my mothers and sisters hands, refusing to let go. If I let go then they were gone, for real, and I don’t think I could survive if they were gone.

“Xavier I’m... I’m so sorry” I head someone sob as they came and sat in front of me, draping a blanket around my shivering form. I hadn’t even realised I was cold.

“I did this” I muttered to nobody in particular, not finding the strength to even raise my head and look at the people who stood in front of me. To worried to look up and see the disappointment that undoubtedly clouded my friends and packs members faces, too cowardly to look into my father’s face and see his broken expression as he looked down at his dead mate and daughter.

“You didn’t do this” the voice continued as she crouched down until she was eye level with me.

I looked up slightly and came face to face with Emily as she looked at me with tears in her own eyes. My mum was her best friend and to see her like this must be killing her.

“I did” I cried as I held on tight to my family’s hands. “I’m so sorry dad” I sobbed as I built up the courage to look up.

I noticed a lot of faces around me, all looking a bit worse for wear, but as I continued to look I noticed that one face wasn’t there, one that definitely should be.

“Where’s dad?” I asked no one in particular as I continued to take in the few faces around me. They all looked back at me with sympathetic eyes as they shared small glances with each other. I frowned as I continued to stare... something had happened.

“Where’s my father?” I asked a little more forcefully this time, and with one look at Emily who was still crouching in front of me, I knew. My dad was no longer with us.

With one simple mistake I had gone from having a happy family to becoming an orphan.