Prologue

Josephine Cromwell- or Jossie for short was the most beautiful she-wolf in Rabidcrest pack.

Standing at about five eleven, she had the eyes of pearls and the hair of a raven's wing. Her hair touched her stomach in length. She was skinny. Clearly not fed right. That didn't stop her from her beauty. She had pale snow-white skin and plump nude-pink lips. They were kissable. She described them as so once in a mirror. Josephine's favorite color was black and that was all her wardrobe consisted of.

Except no one saw her for her beauty. Instead they saw her for her name. Particularly her last name, Cromwell. Everyone in Jossie's pack knew that the Cromwell bloodline descended from the dangerous rogue pack run by her great grandfather Marcus Cromwell.

And, Rogues were known to be terrifying night-stalking killers. They are werebeasts. Practically rabied infested. They were sociopaths.

But, Ms Cromwell wasn't anything like the rumors held her accountable for. She was shy. Timid. She didn't know how to react to her pack mates. She was bullied daily. Spat out when in public. She found life difficult. She sometimes wanted to run away. She was given a title of omega when she passed the age every wolf turned. For some reason Josephine didn't turn that year... or the following years after.

Everyone saw her as cursed. Wretched. The goddess wouldn't even bestow the gift of the wolf onto her. Even though her ancestors were pure-wolf blood.

Her mother HATED her. Her mother hated everyone. Her mother hates her father. Even if they were clearly soul mates. Her home life was up in flames.

The morning her life turned upside down was this particular morning. One where she found her father dead. It was little known to her but at the time... it was a blessing in disguise. Her father was the only nicest man she'd ever known. He cared for her deeply and in return she loved him with her whole heart. He was the only one keeping her in that wretch pack.

Her father. Standing at six-three, he was rather short for an alpha. But, in his height he made up for it in his strength. He was built wide and heavy with muscles. He was a good two-fifty. It would take a heavy-built man to take on Alpha Cromwell. He had night-shade black hair. Something his favorite daughter seemed to take after. And, his eyes were like the ocean's blue. Sadly, Josephine took after her mother's eyes.

She found him in the kitchen. Where a fight broke out. The kitchen's contents were destroyed with blood, claw marks, and glass from the glass cabinets were scattered amongst the tile.

Josephine didn't cry when she stepped over the glass to get to her father's body. Her eyes were blackening as she shouted for help. Her heart raced as she pulled out a kitchen knife that was directly in her father's chest. She threw it three feet away. And, that was where it all began.

Her mother found her first. She'd also be the first to accuse her. Moments later the whole pack would be there to see what the Cromwell daughter did to her OWN father.

Her father was also... the alpha of Rabidcrest pack. And, her mother who was the luna. Josephine was being set up for her father's murder.

Mrs. Rabidcrest didn't take up her mate's last name. As Luna of Rabidcrest pack she always thought it would be befitting to be married to the pack and not to a Cromwell. April was an older woman, yes. She was oval shaped from having twins in her early thirties. She never lost her baby weight. She was tall for a female. About five eleven. She had pearl eyes. A trait Jossie inherited. April had no spring traits... But, her name was chosen because of the month she was born. It didn't represent her. She was a cold-hearted woman. An ice queen, Jossie nicknamed her. April had the same shaded hair as the snow piled up in winter. The color of snow that was so deep it prevented you from going outside to play. And, as a child... Jossie was always kept inside.

"Execute her," Her own mother would say. Not that it mattered that Josephine was the pack's next heir. The alpha's luna would give the order. Her daughter was nothing to her. She never liked Josephine. Maybe it was because Josephine disappointed her. Her first born turned out to be a female. After her mother explained how she found her husband to her pack. Josephine would not be given a voice, a trial, or an ounce of pity from her pack mates. They only saw her as a dirty Cromwell. A dirty Cromwell, her mother made sure to remind them about.

Like all mob mentality she'd be dragged to the town square. A good mile down the street from her family home. Even though there was evidence... Josephine wasn't the killer... they believed she had something to do with it. They believed she was just as guilty by her name alone. Josephine cried in pain as her back was scraped up from the ground that they cold-heartedly dragged her over. Her scent would fill everyone with disgust in the pack. Because, they recognized her as 'just another fucked up Cromwell'. Or 'the woofless omega bitch'. Insults would be ridiculed throughout the mob gathering around the square.

It didn't matter to them that Josephine was her father's favorite daughter. They saw this girl as a curse.

"Momma... Please, I'm innocent," she would try to explain herself but be silenced by their insults. She was forced up into a stage pre-made for the arrival of the Lycan king. He wasn't expected into the territory for another week.

There, her mother would stand up on stage and circle her weak first-born, wolf-less, and shameful daughter. She'd cry softly as she dared not look into her mother's eyes. Her mother Mrs. April Rabidcrest would yank out a silver-bullet gun and point it close to her forehead then look at the crowd.

"Is this what you want?" She would ask and smirk as her pack would shout for her to do it. "To kill the last Cromwell?" Although... Jossie wasn't the last Cromwell. And, this wouldn't be her last day alive.

"Kill her."

"Kill her."

"Kill her."

The pack would continue to chant.

This is what the pack wanted. Her mother eagerly parted her lips in a smirk. She looked towards her first-born. Jossie's mother showed no sympathy towards her own daughter. That much was clear. She wanted to get rid of the last Cromwell. The Cromwells... that haunted her life since the beginning of her courtship with Alpha William Cromwell. Who could ever love that beast? Or any of his offspring?

How could this small girl... kill such a large man? A man she idolized her whole life? It just wasn't possible. Proof was covered up by her name alone. Because she was a Cromwell... she would only ever be seen as the main suspect. Even when the truth pointed her out as innocent.

Josephine... would have to find a way to escape. If she wanted to live, it would have to be within the next minutes slipping by right under her nose.