~Ellie's Point of View~ I had been running for so long my lungs felt like they were on fire. My throat burned and my legs stung with an intense aching. I had been running now for two and a half days, stopping only at a couple streams to drink water and look for berries. I was on high alert, running from those who would be tracking me down. I did everything possible to run in weird patterns that made no sense, running in all directions. I had no clue where I was going, and I didn’t care, as long as it was away from them. I didn’t want my scent to be in any one spot, I tried to spread it out. The Alpha had skilled trackers, and I was probably a fool to think I could trick them, but I had to try. It was getting really cold at night and I wasn’t sure how much further I could go. But I had no choice, there was no going back. I was promised to the Alpha’s son ... a blood pact I was forced to make at only eight years old. My supposed “mate,” Tyson, was obsessed with me, he rarely let

~Ellie's Point of View~ I desperately wanted to ask where he was sending them, but I didn’t think he would tell me anyhow. He said it could be anywhere from a few hours to three days before they could send a response. I shuddered at that, hoping that I was wrong, hoping that I was just being dramatic. However, the look on Beta Hank’s face told me he not only believed me, but he believed it was likely. I was also curious what exactly a “response” was, who it was. Would we have vampires here, witches? What would they do exactly? The obvious answer was that they would kill everyone, but that only made me terrified that innocents could be slaughtered. The Alpha and Beta immediately began barking orders to every single pack member, directing them where to hide the rations and how to board up their homes. One of the biggest fears with any invasion … is fire. It is the easiest thing for the enemy to do … burn down everyone’s homes. And well, Gunner was known for leaving nothing in his w

~Hunter’s Point of View~ I was enjoying my nice, quiet day off soaking in my huge tub. It had been a long week and my brothers and I rotated being on active duty and on call. I was aching for my week off. They were few and far between anymore since it seemed like everyday someone else was being a menace, being difficult. My brothers and I were Shadow Warriors, a coalition of various supernatural beings that keep the peace between each other and between our own kind. It’s a damn hard job, but someone has to do it. I had the little apartment at headquarters to myself since Skyler was out on patrol and it was River’s week to be on assignment. We all traveled constantly, but since our work took us to all corners of the world, usually a vampire would either fly us there, or a witch would teleport us. Getting along and having all these crazy egos around was a constant battle, but we were all dedicated to the big picture and had to remember that. I finished off a nice cold beer, crawled

~Hunter’s Point of View~ He raised his eyebrow and I knew that he knew. I shifted my gaze back to my mate. “Pat and Angel, please leave us,” he said, calmly. Pat opened her mouth to protest, but no one outranked Godfrey in this house. She looked at my mate one more time and dropped her hands to her side, then turned and hooked arms with Angel, leaving the room. “It’s very hard to tell her age, she’s very small, maybe 14, 15? I don’t really know, it’s not like I see human children … well really I haven’t seen an actual child in centuries…” He said that because there were vampires and other creatures that looked like children, kind of frozen in time. I estimated that Godfrey was about forty in human years when he was turned. Godfrey looked at her, curiously. It is very hard for a vampire to control themselves in the presence of a child, especially a virgin with pure blood. I knew if he tried to do anything, there would be no way I could fight him. My wolf didn't think rationally

~Hunter’s Point of View~ Skyler and I sat in the hallway outside Ellie’s room, listening to her story and getting increasingly restless, desperate to be by her side, to comfort her. Godfrey insisted we wait outside while they gathered information, convinced we would be a distraction. He made Angel put a quick spell on us to temporarily block our scents, much to my chagrin. Ellie … my mate was Ellie. Everyone in my family mostly had some type of nature related name, so I always assumed our mate would. But … that just seemed so insignificant now. Ellie ... her name was Ellie, and she was ours. We had no idea if she knew I was her mate, we did share a brief moment before she passed out, and I just felt she had to know. She hadn’t yet had her first shift, and it was quite possible she didn’t know. Blocking your scent was pretty common for Shadows, especially when we would be in battle. The last thing you wanted was for an enemy to know your scent and remember it if they lived. I list