Chapter 1

Isla's POV

“Mom! Dad! I’m pregnant! With Adrian’s kid!” Rushing into the living room, I couldn’t wait to share the good news with my parents.

“Shit,”my mom muttered. Both of my parents froze, their faces tightening with something that wasn’t joy.

This was not what I expected.

Just a minute ago, when I had been in my bathroom watching as the two pink lines on the pregnancy test appeared, I believed my pregnancy would bring happiness to everyone in my pack.

After all, as the daughter of the pack's Beta werewolf, I had known the Alpha's son Adrian since we were children. And when we finally became lovers, everyone called us the perfect match.

Already in our quiet moments, we had whispered promises of forever to one another. I couldn’t imagine a future that didn’t include him and me.

I thought everyone else could see that same future for us.

So why did my parents look like the world had ended? Were they just shocked?

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Glancing around, I realized that there were multiple suitcases in the living room. “What are these for…?” I asked, dread rising from a pit inside of my stomach.

"I was about to tell you...we have to go," Mom said. Approaching me, she grabbed my hand.

"Why? What's happening?" I asked, my fear making my voice tight. I fought loosely against my mom, not wanting to go anywhere without an explanation.

"Alpha Leonard and Adrian want us dead, Isla," Mom said. "We have to go. Now."

"What?” I couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. “That can't be. Adrian would never hurt me. And why would his father kill his loyal Beta?”

Suddenly, the sound of a loud explosion came from outside. Fear rushed through my veins.

Pushing away from my mom, I ran outside, where I heard the sounds of battle in a distance.

Werewolves fought against werewolves. Roars and whines and howls shook the usually quiet neighborhood. Alongside the scent of smoke in the air was the scent of blood.

There had to be an attack or something.

Brave and loyal as he was, Adrian would be in the frontlines, leading the battle with his father.

I had to be with him.

"Adrian –!" I called for him as I ran towards the direction of the worst of the sounds.

My mom caught me before I could get too far. Like her patience had gone, she snatched my wrist and dragged me to the open backseat of the car. There, she tried to shove me into it.

"Wait!” I said, panicked. “I can’t leave Adrian like this!”

"Forget him," Dad said. "We're leaving."

My parents left no more room for argument. One minute we were pushing against each other – I wasn't going to leave without Adrian – and in the next, a needle pierced my skin.

My dad was holding a needle and a vial. I couldn't read what it said, my vision darkening.

As everything went dark, I slumped into the backseat of the car and passed out.

When I blinked my eyes open again, I was staring at an unknown celling.

My hands immediately went to my stomach. My baby.

But there was no pain there. Other than a throbbing headache, I seemed unharmed.

As I pushed myself up on the couch I was on, I could see I was in a living room of a house I had never been before. I didn't have a clue where we were.

My dad was standing near the window, with my mom nearby pacing behind the couch. Neither of them seemed to pay me much attention, as they seemed nervous.

"Do you think they followed us?" Mom asked Dad.

"Impossible," Dad said. "We should be far enough from town that they won't be able to find us."

"We have to go back," I said at once. "We can't stay here."

"We aren't going back," Dad said gruffly.

"But Adrian –"

"Adrian is likely dead, Isla," Mom said. "And even if he did survive, he will only hate you now. Just put him out of your mind."

My blood ran cold. Adrian was dead? How could that be? I had just seen him yesterday, when he had kissed me and told me we'd always be together.

"We'll stay here tonight," Dad said. "But only for tonight. We will move to the next safehouse tomorrow."

I still didn't understand. "If we could just talk about this…"

"We'll talk when we're out of this mess," Dad snapped, turning to me and away from the window. "You need to stay quiet, Isla, and trust us to –"

At that very moment, the front door flew open, kicked in by a snarling man covered in blood.

I recognized the shape of Adrian at once. Tall and broad shouldered, he had held me in those muscled arms many days and nights.

His typically blue eyes usually looked at me with love.

Right now, he glared at me with eyes tinted red from hatred and fury.

His clothes were torn, his skin bruised. Blood splattered and covered him, mostly on his hands. While some of that blood might have been his, the majority smelled different.

My parents froze, their eyes wide with fear.

"How did he find us?" Dad gasped.

Adrian reached into his pocket and lifted his phone. On the screen was my own phone's location. We'd turned on shared location long ago as a sign of love and trust.

"Isla, you fool," Mom whispered.

"Adrian," I said, worry rising within me, swirling with the confusion and fear. He was someone I had always felt safe with, someone I loved and trusted. I stumbled toward him, desiring that feeling again. "What's going on? Are you hurt? I don't know what's –"

"Stop pretending," Adrian snarled at me with such venom that I took a step back on startled instinct. "You knew all the time. You had to. Your family betrayed my whole pack."

"What?" I gasped.

"Your parents are Lycans." Adrian spit out the word, and for good reason.

Lycans were extremists within the werewolf realm, who didn't believe that werewolves should be kept secret from the human world.

Right now, we werewolves hid ourselves in plain sight, typically in our own small towns off the popular roads.

Instead, Lycans wanted us to use our enhanced strength and healing to conquer the world and make humans our slaves.

I struggled to believe Adrian's words, but he's never lied to me before.

Unsure, I glanced back at my parents. They were the pack Betas, high ranking members, and they had each joined the pack as teenagers. Had they been faking their loyalty this whole time?

"Because of your treachery, many of our warriors, women… children… are dead," Adrian growled. "And so are my parents."

"This can't be true," I said to Mom, to Dad. "Say it isn't true!"

They remained silent.

"Don't pretend you didn't know, Isla," Adrian said, his voice twisted with hate. "You used my trust to extract information from me."

"No!" I said, turning back to him. "Adrian, I would never –"

"I don't want to hear any more lies!" he roared.

"I'm not –"

"Quiet, Isla," Dad said. He and Mom hurried forward. Pushing me behind them, they dropped to their knees in front of Adrian. "Please, Adrian. Do what you will to us, but do not harm Isla. She really had no idea about everything."

"Please," Mom cried. "Spare her…"

Before my mom could finish her words, Adrian slashed his hand, his fingers turning to claws, and tore out my father's throat.

My father dropped at once, lifeless, face first down onto the ground.

And my entire heart shattered.