Prologue Talia (7 years old)

“Here we go Talia!” my dad tosses me in the air. I love it when he does this. I feel like I’m flying for a second before I am rushed back into his arms. We laugh and he hugs me tightly. My brother, who will be the next Alpha of the pack, tugs on daddy’s shirt. “Me next father, she has gotten it twice already!” He scowls at our father. Father laughs and sets me down and now I’m scowling because I want my daddy to throw me into the air again. “Alright Thallium, come here.” My brother jumps into daddy’s arms and gets tossed in to the air like I was. My brother and I are only a year apart. So, we fight for our parent’s attention all the time. I wanted to show that I was really upset, so while Daddy was tossing my brother in the air, I ran into the forest nearby our pack house.

As I find a place to hide from mommy and daddy, I hear a twig snap. I looked around to see if my parents had found me yet. It was only five minutes, I think. I hadn’t seen any signs of their wolves yet or the warriors nearby. So, I creep out from my hiding place to see. When something gets placed over my head. I scream, but it feels like something is holding my mouth closed. I can’t even move. “We got a she-pup Dillan.” I hear someone say. “She is a beauty. I wonder how much she wull cost us!” Someone else says. I’m thinking it’s this Dillan. I try to get out of whoever is holding me, but they are strong. “I love a feisty she-pup. I might have her first.” At this point they were moving. Where, I don’t know. I wish I hadn’t left daddy and mommy. I’m scared!

At the mention of them wanting me I start to panic, “NO!” I muffled scream, “PLEASE DON’T EAT ME!” Rogues eat pups and others. It is rear for them to be in a pack of their own, but it has been happening lately. At least I heard that from one of our omegas. I was afraid the rogue wolves was going to eat me. I hear them chuckling. “No silly pup. We want you for other reasons. Hey, Dillan, I really like her can I keep her instead of selling her?” I hear Dillan groan, “ Fine! But itull come out of your check. And keep her instead line!” I suddenly get placed on something hard. I wiggle to move out of my captors embrace, but to no avail. “Shh, shh pretty pup, I’m going to take this off now. Stay still, or I’ll hit you!” I freeze. The cover gets taken off me and I see it was just a blanket. I am in what looks to be a cave with a fire pit inside. It’s warm but also chilly. I’m sitting on a makeshift bed that seems to be made from heavy rocks and some leaves and branches. I look at my captor, and his eyes were crossed as he stared at me with a blackened mouth that seemed to be smiling. I shudder, “Hi, can you take me home now? I don’t want to be here.” I shakingly my whisper. “HA HA, no pup! Now be a good girl and lay down. Take your pants off as well, then I’ll take you home.” That’s an odd thing to say. I just want to go home, so I do.

That first night, I just cried and screamed. He promised to take me home and he didn’t. Why? I don’t want to be here anymore but if I leave he said he will kill my parents. He came back from hunting. It has been, I think, five days since I was taken. He gave me a piece of what he had haunted. I take it and nibble on it. One day I will escape.

***Talia (11 years old)***

I don’t know where I am. All I know is to run. Run and run until I need to sleep and hunt. Turner my captor, finally let me hunt with him. He thought I was being so good I can start to earn my share. I kept up with the days because he got me things by request. I only asked for a calendar. He thought I was stupid, but I was good at math. Three days ago I made my run while Turner and Dillan were selling the pups that they kept locked away in the back of the cave. They leave every month once they got about ten pups. On the last week on October, I knew I had to go.

I will be a week ahead before they get back. So, I should be home soon, I hope. I run past trees, and streams. I just keep running. By nightfall I look for a tree to burrow into till morning. I honestly, don’t know if I’m going in the right direction. I just needed to get out. My body is sore from “all the fun” Turner did to me. I finally find a tree that has a big enough hole for me to squeeze through. I look for things to hide the burrow so no one can find me. I place branches with leaves on them and some fresh cut grass on top to prevent the cool breeze. Something I learned from Turner when we moved to different caves.

Once I gather all my supplies, I start my hunt for food. I found some deer. But what I really wanted was something small. I didn’t want the fire I was going to build to be noticeable if I had a larger meal. They take too long to cook and the longer it cooks the longer the fire is on. I finally found a rat. I get it prepped. I start to build my fire when I hear a twig snap. I listen closely to see if it was just an animal. At 11 a pups sense of smell perks up due to potentially getting their wolf. I can smell something sweet, but forestry as well. It’s not my captors, but I don’t want to get caught again, so I move to find a hiding spot away from the potential fire pit.

I slowly walk back into the trees and watch where I once was. A man appears. He is wearing a dirty tank top with some sport shorts. He is beautiful to look at. Even strong like daddy. I watch him until he looks in my direction. “That’s not a meal for a growing pup like you. Why don’t you come out and my mate and I can make you a proper meal.” I keep slowly walking backwards, hoping he don’t see me even though he is looking this way. The trees cover me. I hope. He sighs. I see his eyes glaze over and I know he is with a pack. I stop moving to watch.

“My mates name is Luna Kesley. My name is Alpha John of the Shadows pack. I don’t like defiance from pups in my pack. Get out here now!” He uses his alpha aura. It don’t work on me because I have alpha blood, but I creep out slowly anyways because I can sense more people around me. I look up at him and then look around. Yep, I see the wolves eyes. “Sssorry Alpha. III didn’t know I crossed your pack border. I wwwas trying to get home.” I start to twiddle with my fingers. Daddy always told me to look people in the eyes. I hope this alpha don’t see this as a sign of disrespect. Some do. I learned that the hard way when I was four. “Shh pup. I know your not from my pack. What pack are you from?” Alpha John asks, looking at me with concern. “I’m from the Eeeeverst pack, Alpha. My father is Alp……” I start to say before Alpha John interrupts,” Alpha Coeus! What the fu…. I mean, how did you get this far from home?! I haven’t talked to your dad since he d…… Never mind. Let’s get you cleaned up, and back to your family.” He picks me up and takes me back to his pack house.

I learned a lot from him and his mate while they got my plane tickets in order. Apparently, my captors left me somewhere in Maine. My home is in Texas. My brother has been Alpha since I went missing. Apparently, my parents sent all the warriors out to find me. One day the pack was attacked by rogues and my parents died because they were the only ones protecting the pack. When Beta Conner and Gamma Riely returned with the warriors and saw the carnage and what was left of the pack, they began to train Thallium to become Alpha. I’m saddened that I won’t see my parents, but I’m happy I still have a home. I think.