Chapter one

-HAILEE’s POV

I still remember the day my father died like it happened yesterday. . .

It was on a dark and starless sky. There was a disturbing silence in the pack house. The maids seemed to be gone. The guards seemed to be missing. It was obvious that someone had planned for the day to be that way.

Father pushed my room door open and peered inside. My room was dimly lit. This was because I had reduced the light of my bedside table but I could still see perfectly. Werewolves had keen eyesight.

 "I'm awake and I can see you," I called out. 

Father chuckled and brought himself in when he saw that he had been caught. He had dark wavy hair that was combed backward. He wore a cream loose blouse whose chest area was quite low. He wore dark pants that fit perfectly and dark boots to protect his legs. He was a handsome man.

I had overhead maids swooning over his beautiful smile and his ocean-blue eyes.  I had inherited his eye color as well as his hair. The rest of my features were derived from my mother. 

I was just ten at the time yet I was smarter than most kids my age. 

I was the only child and heir to his title. Mother had died right after having me and father never tried to remarry for my sake. It was not like he could get a second chance mate anyway if he wanted.

"My sweet little princess," he began. He walked up to my bed and sank in beside me. 

I sat up in a frown. "How many times have I told you to stop calling me princess? You make me sound girly. I can picture the pink dress and white shoes," I told my father.

"My apologies, what would you rather prefer?" Father used an accent to play along and bowed his head to me.

I giggled. "I'm a Warrior! I will one day become the Alpha of the Pixon Pack! I need to be strong enough to protect the entire pack!" I exclaimed and my father nodded his head thoughtfully.

"True, true. You have a point. Although you would not be required to go into battle. This is why we have many soldiers," Father explained.

I frowned at my father. He was trying to be protective of me again by stopping me from going into battle.

"Why do you follow your soldiers into battle then?" I demanded. "Shouldn't you stay behind and send them alone instead?" I pressed on.

Father widened his eyes as he had been caught. He searched around with his eyes for the right thing to say but I beat him to it.

"A great leader is not afraid of death. A great leader does not hide behind his warriors. Instead, he commands them into battle himself!" I spelled it out for him. "I want to be known as a great leader. The last thing I want is to be tagged as a cowardly leader. It does not help that I'm a girl already. I need to prove to them that gender does not stop me from being a great warrior and Alpha," I added.

My father stared at me with wide eyes. "How do you know all these things, Hailee? You're just ten!" He exclaimed.

I smiled at him. "I have a great and wise man for a father, did you expect less?" I asked him and put my hands out in the air.

He chuckled and wrapped me in a big hug. I rested my head ok his shoulders. Father was the only friend I had. We were so close. I took care of his needs already and he was always there for me at all the stages of my life.

"I love you, my little warrior," he breathed.

I hit his shoulder with a hard blow. "You're beginning to get on my nerves already. Why do you have to put little before warrior?" demanded.

I heard him laugh as he caressed my hair. "I have to because you're little. You're my little warrior," he breathed.

We both grew silent. I knew he was thinking about something or someone important and  I guessed he was thinking about my mother.

"Are you thinking about Mother?" I asked him. 

He stopped patting my back and released me from the hug so that he would look at me. His eyes had grown moist with tears. 

"You remind me a lot of her m. Her spirit was as strong as yours. She was the bully and I was the calm one. I wish she could have been here to see you grow. You would have complained a lot about your behavior, not knowing that you were her replica," he explained.

His tears started flowing freely out of his eyes. I brought my small hands to his face and slowly wiped away his tears. I gave him a warm smile.

"I miss her. I miss her a lot and it hurts me. Every day, it's pure torture to keep living. Do you know who makes life with living for me now?" he asked. I shook my head at him.

"You," he whispered and placed his hands on my cheeks as well. Then he planted a warm kiss on my forehead. "Don't ever lose your fire. Keep it within you and don't let anyone steal it from you. It's what makes you who you are," Father advised me.

I felt my tears coming too. It hurt me to watch my father cry. This made me understand that he was hitting inside. It was a very hard task surviving without one's mate. Most people lost their minds or went dark. To the extent that they had to be locked away. Yet my father was still sane and this was because he had me.

"Why are you crying?" Father asked me.

I wiped mine away. "Because you are," I answered.

Suddenly, someone walked into the room and interrupted our conversation with claps. This startled us both and we looked at my door.

Beta Riley stood in the doorway.

"I must say, I'm touched by this union you have. It had me close to tears. This is so beautiful," he exclaimed.

I sensed my father's mood suddenly change. Something was wrong. Lightning struck the sky and illuminated the entire room for some split seconds. That was when we saw the sword that was strapped to his waist.

"What are you doing here?" Father demanded as he got to his feet and stood before me protectively.

"You see, I love how you think your daughter will inherit your title but I have to break it to you myself. The world will not accept her. No one will allow her to rule. She'll be killed eventually," he stated.

"Leave it to the world to decide when she proves herself worthy. You do not need to be concerned about my daughter," Father started firmly.

Riley shrugged his hands. "I don't mean you any harm. I just have the best interest of the Pixon pack in mind," he explained and began to approach my father.

Father held a hand out to him to stop him from coming any further. Then father took three steps forward. 

"What is the meaning of this? What do you want?" my father demanded.

At this point, I got off my bed and watched them in fear. A bad feeling had developed in my heart. It made me nervous and uneasy. The sky had been without any activities a few minutes ago and now, a storm was threatening to hit us.

"I just— want to help," Riley breathed in a pleading voice. 

My father began to approach him. "Did you have something to drink? I don't think you're in your right senses," Father said as he reached him.

Riley suddenly broke into laughter. "You said you missed Sione, didn't you? Let me help you meet her now," he said and suddenly stabbed my father with a hidden dagger.

"No!" I screamed as I started back at him with wide eyes.

Father choked and trembled as he slowly dropped to the floor. I rushed to his side and tried to keep him awake.

"Father! Stay with me. You need a doctor," I cried.

Riley's laughter resonated throughout the room. Lightning flashed through the sky again and illuminated his face as he laughed away.

My father struggled to speak. He was more concerned about what he had to say than keeping his strength. He held my hand with his bloody hands. I brought my ears close to his lips.

"Run! Hailee, run! Don't let him take your fire! Run! My little warrior!" He ordered.

My entire body trembled as I stared at my father's dying body. I could not bring myself to look away but as a warrior, I had to be ready to leave people behind even if that person was my father.

I turned a dangerous glare at Riley. I would make him pay for what he had done to me but for today, I knew when to retreat. I scanned the room for my escape as tears flowed down my cheeks. 

"Little princess, don't tell me you're thinking of running," Riley pointed out.

I tried to run for the door but they blocked my escape in a flash and stabbed me too. I gasped and went down on my knees.

"The rightful owner of that title is me. Since I am next in line. I will become the new Alpha of the Pixon Pack!" he exclaimed and broke into laughter.

He believed that the one blow he had dealt me was enough to kill me but I refused to go down. My father had told me not to let anyone take my fire and I certainly was not going to let Antonio take it.

I struggled to my feet and started running out of the room. I staggered through the dark corridor and my blood left a trail behind. I heard Riley's laughter as it echoed through the empty house.

"You can't run from me. I will get you," he called out. "And if I don't, the poison in the blade will kill you," he added.

I kept going until I found a way out of the house. I entered the woods and continued running. I was beginning to feel my fire fading away when I ran into a pack of angry rogue wolves. I collapsed immediately and as my vision started to blur; I saw a man walk up to me and pick me up.

That was the last thing I remembered about the day my father died.