Chapter 1: Emery's POV

Just this time last week I was living a life that seemed so unreal yet brought me so much happiness. I got engaged to the type of man I loved after dating for two years and nothing could’ve made me happier at that point. A week later here I am running far away from the life I once thought was too perfect to be true.

How much longer, Mom?” Leo’s questions brought me back from my trip down memory lane. “Another ten, fifteen minutes,” I said as the West Virginia wilderness breezed by on either side of the highway.

“Great,” he said, his voice laced with as much sarcasm only a thirteen-year-old boy could come up with.

“You might really like it,” I said. “You never know.”

Instead of answering, he sighed, and put on his headphones listening to whatever it is a boy of his age enjoys.

A minute later I heard “Oh my god, Mom, don’t they have internet in West Virginia?” he asked, freeing his ears from the headphones. "This place at least has cell service and Wi-Fi, right?” He looked eagerly at me. “I don’t know that I can survive otherwise.”

Reaching over with my free hand, I ruffled his hair and made a pouty face. "Aww, is my baby going to die without his social media?” Laughing, he swatted my hand away. “Maybe. I want to be able to text my guys.” It had been a while since he’d laughed, and hearing it now warmed my heart.

There hadn’t been much laughter after what happened a few days ago. The bruise on my cheek and Leo’s black eye were fading, but they were still stark reminders of what went down. As his eyes slipped down to my cheek, his smile faded, and he turned to gaze out the window. I never thought it would come to this. Never, in a million years, would I have believed I’d be going back to Moonridge but Briar had made damn sure I had no other option. 

I could still see it, like it was happening that very moment. Leo was supposed to play a hockey game, and I’d told my fiancé Briar we’d be back in three hours since the team was going for pizza after the game. He’d kissed me goodbye, and all had been well. Little did I know thirty minutes later, my whole life would go down the drain. Halfway to the field, Leo’s coach called to let us know that both referees assigned to the game had come down with a flu, so the game was rescheduled. The news had disappointed us both—Jaxon really wanted to play, and I loved seeing him happy but we made the best of it and picked up Thai food, then went home to surprise my fiancé, little did I know I would be the surprised one.

I’d heard the moaning and panting the second I stepped into the house. Before it had even registered what I was hearing, my stomach sank, and the food tumbled from my hand as I rounded the foyer to find my soon-to-be husband and Leo's soon-to-be stepfather balls-deep in our next-doorn neighbor, Marina. She saw me first, shrieking in surprise as she threw an arm across her breasts.

“What the hell are you doing home?” Briar demanded, hastily pulling his pants back up.

“Excuse me? What do you think you’re doing, Briar? Jesus fucking Christ.”

Marina, having managed to get fully dressed in record time, sprinted out of the house, rushing past the widely opened eyes of Leo.

“Don’t you raise your goddamn voice to me!”. Briar bellowed, pointing a finger at me, looking as though he’d caught me cheating on him with someone else instead of the other way around.

“We are done, Briar,” I said, tears filling my eyes. All the things I’d hoped for were suddenly slipping away.“Who are you talking to right now, I'm sure it's not me?” he hissed, grabbing my arm and digging his fingers into the soft flesh until I squealed in pain. “You don’t talk to me like that.” His free hand swung forward, crashing into my cheek. Hot, searing pain burst across my face. My lower lip split, and a high-pitched whine began in my ear as I fell to the ground, clutching my cheek and gasping in pain. He had always had a temper, that I knew but I never thought he was capable of violence. Not like this.

“Hey, asshole!” my baby cried, lunging forward. “Don’t you dare touch my mum!” Before I could do anything, my son’s fist swung forward, hitting Briar dead-on in the nose. The strength and anger of a fourteen-year-old was usually nothing against the rage and belligerence of a burly thirty seven-year-old man. But Leo wasn’t a human boy. He was a shifter and had just hit puberty. His full strength hadn’t come in yet, but he was much stronger than any human kid his age.

His fist struck Briar right in the face, and the older and larger man rocked back on his heels with blood gushing out from his nostrils. He lost his footing slightly and staggered back. Briar rounded on Leo, fire in his eyes. “Little shit! how dare you touch me?” “Think you’re a big man now, don't ya? Huh? Come on, then. Hit me again, you prick.” Then, without warning, he backhanded my son. Leo’s head snapped around, and an angry red welt formed almost immediately below his eye. He stumbled backward, putting a hand to his face, and the anger in his eyes filled me with terror and I knew right there and then that if we didn’t get out of there, things would get much worse.

“Enough!” I scrambled to my feet and pulled Leo back. “No, Mom,” my sweet son said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. “This guy hit you and that’s not cool.” “It’s fine, baby,” I said, tugging him toward the door, though it was anything but fine. “Let’s go.” “Go on, then,” Briar said, waving at the door. “Get out. I don’t need you. Get the fuck out of my house, you stupid slut. We’re done! You hear me?” “Your house?” I asked, gaping at him in shock. “Last time I checked, it’s my name on the mortgage, not yours. But you know what?” “You stay. I don’t want to spend another second here.” Briar waved a hand at me, “Whatever, you dumb bitch.” I struggled to drag my son out of the house, and we spent that night at a hotel. I was unable to sleep, and had lain in bed for hours, thinking of where to go from that point.