Prologue

“Thank you, Miss Franklin. I’ll tell mom you need to talk to her,” I assured as I walked out of the general store.

Miss Franklin is the little grey-haired lady who owned the store. It was more than just a small grocery store to this little town. It was also the gas station, video rental, and a deli-style sandwich shop.

Besides the bait shop and canoe rental next to the river two miles away, it was the only business in our town.

Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas is a tiny town in neutral territory.

It’s a town that has a great sense of community and it’s very close-knit.

My parents always told me they didn’t like being in their old pack because the alpha didn’t pay the omegas for their work and treated them like dirt.

They always told me that if I ever wanted to join a pack, make sure to ask if the omegas are paid.

That was a good way to tell if it was a good pack.

My parents were loving and doted on me, as the only child, but they never spoiled me.

As unaffiliated wolves, they couldn’t afford to.

We lived in a small house in a small town. My dad worked at the bait shop and my mom cleaned other people’s houses.

I would go with her on weekends and she always made cleaning fun.

Each time I finished a chore, she would let me know how proud she was of me.

I was a happy child with wonderful parents until one day… I wasn’t.

I would never forget that day.

That day, as I walked home with the groceries my mom wanted, a siren sounded and people started running.  

I approached my house to find my mom standing on the porch yelling, “Zariah! Hide!”

“Mom,” I screamed. My hands involuntarily let go of the bag I was holding and the groceries spilled on the ground.

That was when a rogue jumped between my mother and me and my mom yelled, “Hey! You gotta go through me before you get to her!”

Another rogue stalked me beside the first one. I tried to hit him by throwing cans of ravioli at his head, but it only angered him.

When my mom yelled at them one more time, one of them turned and ran for her.

My mom started shifting, then my father’s black wolf tackled that wolf.

I was cheering for my dad until I saw an image that would haunt me for years.

I saw the rogue grab my father’s throat from underneath him and shake his head. He pulled back with a chunk of my dad’s throat in his mouth.

My dad fell to the ground, drowning in his own blood. He encouraged me through the family bond, “Zariah, go hide. I love you so much.”

I immediately heard my mom’s wolf howling in grief then the rogue ran at my mom.

I was frozen in fear as I watched the same rogue knock her to the ground, ripping down her stomach, disemboweling her.

“Never forget how much we loved you, baby girl.”

Those were the last words she said to me and words I would never forget.

Tears started falling down my cheeks.

Through my blurry vision, I could see the rogues approaching me.

As soon as they started growling, I found my footing and started running.

I ran to try to outrun my fear, my sadness and the horrid, stinking rogues who were covered in my parents’ blood.

Needless to say, my six-year-old legs didn’t get far before one caught up with me and knocked me to the ground.

He then ripped his claws across my stomach and down my chest. 

Excruciating pain ripped through me as I laid in the street in a growing pool of my own blood and passed out.

I couldn’t say how long I was stuck in nothing but darkness.

Through the haze, I could hear the paramedics working who were working on me, “We need to hurry. We could lose her any time,” and another paramedic sighed, “She’s too young to go through all this.”

Through the searing pain, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of loss. I honestly didn’t know if I wanted to live anymore.

After all, I was an orphan now.