Chapter 1

It was pouring. 

Heavily. 

Her peach colored dress was soaked and her phone continued to vibrate in her pockets. 

Twenty years old Ava watched from afar as the blood of her parents mixed with the rainwater that now filled the streets. Her eyes moved to the car that was still opened. She could see the hand of her mother limp on the side. She walked towards the car which was a bit far from her without moving so close and mumbling beneath her breath, "Mom, mommy, are you...are you okay ?"

 "Her fathers lifeless body laid flat on the floor, eyes still wide with shock as the blood from his detached head continued to ooze out." Still terrified and unable to shift into her wolf form she kept mumbling the word "Daddy, dad...please wake up! Mom! Don't leave me please! Anybody, help! Somebody, anybody!"

Avas heart was calm, her body numb from every emotion as she blinked twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Maybe her imagination was playing a heavy trick on her. The popcorn she held had long gone wet, she was sure the paper had started to melt with the snack. Dipping her hand inside the wet container, she brought a handful of wet popcorn into her mouth and swallowed it. 

Bitter.

The exact description of what her future now looked like. 

"Mom…Dad, why aren't you coming over?" Her voice softly coraked, a sharp pain piercing her heart for some seconds. 

Ava wondered in a small part of her mind if she felt numb at the moment because she didn't love them or if she felt numb because she was scared the pain would be too much for her to handle since she had watched everything happen. The way a wolf bared into her fathers neck and tore his head from its neck. To sniffing the car as if in search of something. 

It had been a family rule to go to the movies every Saturday. A quick flash back to an hour ago. Ava can be seen beautifully dressed in her short off shoulder black gown and smiling sheepishly with her mom making her blond hair in a pony tail, while she stared at herself in the mirror. 

"Mommy," She called.

"Yes honey, her mom answered."

"Do you think I'll be able to find myself a mate, just like you and dad?" She said looking cute and still staring at herself in the mirror.

Her mother laughed and planted a kiss on her forehead before answering her. 

"Of course sweetie, you will. You are mommy and daddy's little princess and you are a beautiful gem baby, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Thanks mommy." she said blushing. 

"You are welcome honey. Now let's get going before dad gets upset."

 The movie was a tradition they had never missed except for today. A tradition she was now starting to hate. 

She couldn't even tell how she got to the hospital. She just knew she stood there long enough for her body to go numb from the feel of rain hitting it. The sloppy voice of her aunt "Doc, doc please save her, she's all I've got." and the red lights of the ambulance was the last she remembered before she finally lost consciousness. 

When she woke up three hours later, she met her aunt in the hospital room silently weeping in a corner of the room. Her body curled into a ball as she softly patted her chest. 

It made everything begin to come back to her. From the beginning to the end. In precise details. It felt like a movie was being replayed for her. 

"Ahhhh…" she screams jumping off the bed and removing the drip that was connected to her hand. 

Her aunt quickly rushed to her side and tried to hug her. To soothe her pain and share it with her but Ava pushed her away and continued to scream. They were dead. Dead and gone and she would never see them again. 

"Bring them back…bring them back to me." She screamed till her voice began to go hoarse. 

The doctors and nurses rushed into the room and tried to calm her down but she threw everything her hands could land on at them.

She was furious."Don't touch me! Bring them back! I want my momma back." Her wolf was seething and threatening to escape from her leash. Maybe if she had had a smooth first transition, she would have let her do as she wanted. 

Let her tear down heads like it was done to her father. To have people feel the kind of pain that was rushing through her veins.

"Bring them…" Ava stopped when she felt something prick her left arm. She didn't get to see the face of the doctor properly before her consciousness slowly drifted from her. All she remembered was being laid back in bed and the doctors slurred words to her aunt. 

"She is too shocked to accept what has happened. She might need to get help." 

Two months later.

Moving on from a grief as painful as losing loved ones was not something that could be done with magic. 

If it was, Ava would have opted for the magical option.

As she crossed the street to their house, she wiped her nose and hugged the coat to her body. In the past two months, she had been seeing a therapist to help her cope with accepting her loss. It hasn't been easy but it has been extremely helpful. 

"Aunt?" She calls as soon as she enters the house. Smelling something delicious coming from the kitchen, she walks towards the origin and finds her aunt messing around with the oven. "What magical portions are you making?" 

"Just cake. I found this amazing recipe online and wanted to try it." She finally turned her gaze towards her niece. "How was it?" Her tone was filled with concern. 

Faking a smile, Ava gave her a positive nod. "Absolutely working. You were right, therapy does help." 

"Good. That is a great improvement." She comments. "Go change into something more comfortable and come help." 

"Will be back in a minute." 

Aunt Janet has been an amazing help since she lost her parents. From staying with her at the hospital, to helping her through nights of despair and introducing her to therapy, she did the best she could and Ava was extremely grateful for it. But none of it seem to help. 

It did help her build a facade though. One she wore for her aunt and therapist. 

On her way to her room, she passed her fathers study and couldn't resist going in. Aunt Janet had been keeping the whole place clean, so it didn't seem like the owner had been dead. She walked towards the huge desk and trails her hands across the papers on the table. 

Her father was a journalist and her mother had poor health, so she always stayed at home. Her eyes landed on a brown journal and it made Ava remember the way her father would keep himself busy with it. 

Smiling, she picked the journal and began to glance through it. As a journalist, he simply recorded hints from his previous works. Some she couldn't understand and some she did. Her fingers stopped flipping when she came upon a page. The word Lyconia was written and circled on the page. Along with a string of missing person reports and 'unnatural deaths'. Her father concluded at the bottom of the page that there were definitely more werewolves in the city than they knew.  

Seeing the book reminded Ava of the stories about Lyconia she always heard from her parents. According to her father, (a quick flash back) Ava could be seen with her father in the living room and as a curious girl who has always seen her father write about places like Lyconia in his journal she decided to ask, 

"Daddy, can i ask you something?"

"Sure sweetheart." He said stroking her head gently.

"I do see a city with the name Lyconia in your journal. Can you tell me what it is about? Daddy?" She said hugging him tightly and placing her head on his laps.

"Sweetheart, it's just a town not a city. And your mom and I lived there before we settle here when your mom got pregnant, cause we want to give you a good life honey." Her father said with a broad smile on his face.

She raised up her head and held on to her dad's hands "but daddy I..." And before she could finish he hijacked the words.

"No more baby, daddy's tired and we'll talk about this some other time, let's go to bed honey." I could see my mom coming from the bedroom in her nughties just to plant a kiss on my head and my Dad's.

"Let's all go to bed now sweethearts." And so we all went to our rooms. Flashback fades.

 Lyconia was their origin before they decided to settle in Alabama. Her father used to be an Alpha and the Town Lyconia was home to four werewolf packs who lived together in harmony. 

A rough yet stupid idea came to her and she hurriedly closed the journal and dropped it in her bag. If Lyconia was her father's origin then she would have to visit. What greater therapy would it be for her if not to hear other werewolves tell her how great her parents were. 

Not to say, she was determined to get to the bottom of their death and Lyconia might house someone who has hints. 

She thought to tell her aunt but knew the woman would never be an accomplice in her visiting a strange town. After dinner, Ava pretended to go to bed and sneaked out of the house through the back door with the few necessities she had packed. 

Five hours later, the train stopped at Lyconia and her heart began to race. This was where her father came from. She began to feel a sense of belonging and excitement rushed through her wolf at the mere thought of being welcomed. After all, she was the daughter of a man who used to be Alpha. 

Ava opened the journal and checked the page again. According to her father, they belonged to a pack called the Clawcrest Pack. Excited, she picked up a map of the town to check and found a place named Clawcrest on it. 

With the help of public transport which was quite amazing, she soon got to Clawcrest ville. 

Ava stood at the sign and walked towards the first person she saw. 

"Good morning." She greeted giving her best fake smile to the first man she saw. 

The man scrutinized her appearance. Taking in her slender figure, her long blonde hair, the deep green eyes she had and her tiny nose which she scrunched as she got hit by a cold. "And you are?" 

"Ava. Ava Goldington. My father used to be Alpha here." 

The man frowned. Sure, she was a gorgeous young lady but if she turns out to be one of those women who heard rumors and came here to ask and plead to be turned into a werewolf, he wouldn't hesitate to have her for lunch. "Yo, Matthew!" He loudly called and a bulky looking man appeared from the house. "We have another one." 

"Who is she?" 

"Goldington something. Says her father used to be Alpha here." 

Matthew had a frown on his face as he walked closer. He lowered his head and sniffed Ava. "Definitely one of us. Although, her scent isn't strong enough." 

Ava took a step back and thought to explain that she wasn't in control of her wolf yet but later decided to keep it to herself. "Can I meet the Alpba?" 

"Definitely." Matthew responded. 

"Hey…just like that." 

He patted the back of his friend as he signaled for Ava to follow him. He gestures for her to get in the car before telling the other man. "There is no harm in seeing the Alpha is there?" 

Although this Matthew guy was acting nice, she still felt like something was off about the surroundings. Did she step into doomland on her own?