Prologue

Prologue

Screams.

Screams of fear and rage echo through the ringing of my ears as I watch my whole clan be slaughtered in front of me.

The smell of death, mixed with the smell of smoke from the burning buildings, lodged itself down my throat and nose.

My eyes burned from the smoke. My fingers trembled as I gripped the frozen tree branch for dear life. The pine needles were thick enough to conceal me, a hand covering my mouth to stop me from crying out.

My was body too full of adrenaline and fear to feel the nip of the winter air against my rosy cheeks and exposed skin.

The night sky slowly started to fade, and with it, so did the screams of the dying.

I didn't move from that tree until the sun reached the centre of the sky until the fire died out and left only the ashes of my village in its wake.

I was numb to the feeling of the snow as it cut into my bare feet. Numb to the pain of my frostbitten fingertips and bloodied palms as I walked through the carnage of the place I once called home.  I walked until I spotted a familiar figure lying on the ground—blood staining the white snow around her, tainting it.

For the first time since escaping my home, I screamed and ran to my mother's body. Tears poured down my face as I collapsed on top of her. Her body was not entirely cold, her chest barely rising.

"Momma, momma," I cried, my voice broken and raspy.

"Momma, wake up, please. Momma," I pleaded. Her hand slightly twitched, a tiny whimper escaping her lips as she spoke her last words to me.

"You have to get up, momma. Everything will be okay if you just get up," I cried again. I nuzzled into the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent, the scent I had known my whole life, Cinnamon and ginger.

"Shh, my little wolf," My mother whispered, her breath gasping as she spoke. Struggling to take in the last bit of air.

"Momma, I need you. I need papa and Thomas. You can't leave me," I cried, my shoulders shaking with each breath.

"I'm sorry, I must go, but I will always be in your heart. Promise me-" She gasped, working so hard to take another breath.

"Promises me you will keep yourself shielded just as we practiced. Keep yourself safe. No one must ever know what or who you are," I shook my head, pulling back to stare into her sage-coloured eyes.

"Promise me, little wolf," My lips quivered as I forced myself to nod.

"I promise, momma," I hiccuped.

"I will always love you, my little wolf. I will always guide you from the stars," I watched as her eyes glazed over, her chest stopped moving, and her last breath escaped her lungs.

I cried, curling up against her, wrapping her arm around me as I cried myself to sleep. Too scared to be alone, too afraid to live without my family, my village. I let the cold consume me and pull me under until I was barely conscious. Until I was too numb even to scream as a shadow loomed over me and took me away from everything I knew, from everything I loved.

"Poor thing, we better get her back to the Packhouse immediately," They whispered before the darkness completely consumed me.