Prologue

The wind brushed past my skin like blades.

Kristen, my best friend, and I  were running frantically through the thorny briar.

Kristen was exhausted. But we could not stop!

I had to get her out of the forest. We must not die at the hands of the Rogues.

Rogues’ howls and their footsteps were close behind, making my heartbeat

pumping in my ears.

I saw my mother waving at me from the forest's periphery. She was Gamma. She would put down the Rogues for sure.

Kristen stumbled all of a sudden.

“Help me! Help me!”

My best friend, Kristen, grabbed the hem of my shirt, crying desperately for help.

I fell to the ground. My legs were hot and in pain as the withered branches scraped against them. I tried hard to get up, but I couldn’t because she was holding me back. My mother was less than a mile away from me. We were so close to safety! The unpleasant smells on the Rogues were getting closer, but there was nothing I could do.

Those unfamiliar, hideous faces were magnified abruptly in my pupils.

Suddenly, a muffled sound rang out–

Wolf claws pierced my heart.

The Rogues’ breaths, mixed with a strong smell of blood, engulfed me.

I felt my blood freeze as my eyes snapped open. My heartbeat was beating in my ears, and the stench of blood was lingering inside my throat as if I was still running wild in the forest.

The moon was shielded by the dark clouds as tree leaves rustled in the cold wind.

Just as I heaved a sigh of relief, I suddenly remembered that I was really being hunted.

After a baseball game this afternoon, my best friend, Kristen, and I were assaulted by a gang of Rogues as soon as we left the school.

I had never met the Rogues before. Our pack had always been prosperous, quiet, and peaceful. I did not know how to deal with such a situation because of the extremely comfortable environment.

All I could do was resist and protect Kristen as best as I could.

She was my best friend and the sister of our Alpha, so it was my duty to protect her as Gamma’s daughter.

Although I was quick and good at fighting, my legs became sore, and my arms felt weak as time passed. My body was drained. I kept coughing blood and felt hard to breathe.

Those Rogues had strong limbs and muscular bodies with deadly moves. I was no match for them at all.

So we ran. I took Kristen with me and fled all the way to the pack border.  

Kristen and I crossed the border in panic, triggering Alpha’s border ban.

A powerful mindpower knocked me down.

Kristen shook my arm and tried to wake me up before I fell completely unconscious.

Was I dead now?

I felt light-headed.

A few vague figures were looking at me from above.

I could not see their faces clearly, but they seemed dangerous.

Were they Rogues?

I thought, frightened.

My vision became clearer as the dizziness cleared.

I heaved a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, it was the Alpha, Tyler, and his warriors.

I was still alive! That was great!

They must have rescued Kristen and me.

I wound down, trying to sit up with my sore and numb body.

However...

Something was clutching my right hand.

When I looked, a pale face suddenly appeared in my eyes.

Was that... Kristen?

The girl’s eyes clamped shut, and her face looked pale. She was lying quietly on the ground as if she was asleep.

Shocked, I took a deep breath and finally understood where the blood smell in the dream came from.

Kristen’s white tracksuit was already soaked with blood. A fist-sized hole in her chest.  

A beating heart was there once, but now, it was crushed into the mud of blood.

I clamped my mouth in horror and almost screamed.

The strong smell of blood turned my stomach.

My gray-blue eyes were filled with disbelief as I looked at my hands and clothes.

How could there be so much blood?

“She...”

I turned my head and looked at the Alpha, trying to ask him why Kristen was dead. Did they come late? Or, did they just rescue me in time?

However, the Alpha’s face was cold as ice.

I even felt that he hated me to the core in that instant.

He had never looked at me that way. He was always kind to me as far as I could remember.

I was shocked when I looked at the eyes of the people around me.

Did these people think I killed Kristen?

No! NO WAY!

Kristen was my best friend, and I had no reason to harm her. They would definitely believe me.

“Alpha—”

Before I could finish my sentence, a guard suddenly lifted me with one hand and tossed me in front of the Alpha.

A cold voice rang in my ears.

“Lindsay Blackwood, Gamma Jen’s daughter, brutally murdered my sister, Kristen. Is there anything else you want to say before the judgment is served?”