Chapter 2

[SYLVIE’s Point-of-View]

I had to go.

But where?

I tried to stay calm and collected as I closed the door and left my room. All my werewolf senses were on full alert, wary of anything hostile around me. I went through the hallways, past the people around the lobby, until I reached the parking area, where a thick, vast forest was just behind the five-star hotel where I stayed overnight.

I hadn’t reached the spot where I could call a taxi when someone grabbed one of my shoulders, forcing me to look them in the face.

“Sylvie Hall of Moonlight Pack?” growled one of them, who were both wearing black suits and shades.

Gamma hitmen from the Westridge Pack!

Perplexed, I grabbed the man’s huge hand and twisted it with a speed they didn’t anticipate. It was too late to call any vehicles when they were already after me. Afraid that fear would start to numb my senses, I ran outside the parking lot and went straight to the forest, hoping I could lose them there.

My heartbeat was past. Oxygen burned faster as my lungs worked hard to keep up with my speed. I jumped from bushes to bushes and ran in random directions, praying that they would just give up.

I didn’t know what happened, but my pack and the Westridge pack had been enemies for centuries because of territorial disputes. And because the land that they believed was theirs was inside my dad’s jurisdiction, my dad refused to bow down to the Alpha of the Westridge pack.

That was when the tension rose between the two packs. But never had I ever thought it would lead to such violence!

“No…dad…” I cried and panted as I glanced over my shoulders and still saw the two men chasing after me.

I was out of breath, but there was no way I would let them catch me alive! I tried to connect my mind to my dad but couldn’t reach him. His head was silent as a graveyard, and that’s when my tears started to stream down my face. They killed him! They killed my dad!

And they would kill me as well if I stopped running.

My body shuddered when I heard howlings not too far from me. I looked back, and the two men were still there. And that meant they were not the only ones who were after me! Shifters were behind them as well, eyes were locked on me as they ran past the two men in black suits.

“Fuck!” I screamed and tried to run under the huge trees and thick bushes. I would never make it easy for them! I was small, but my speed was twice that of a normal shifter, and that’s what I’d do. Shifting to my werewolf form would only lead to a fight I knew I had no advantage of.

Two shifters and two men wanted me dead. If I shift to my werewolf form and face them, it would be carnage. They will surely tear my body into ribbons, and I will never let that happen.

I had to survive. For the pack and my dad!

“Stop resisting, lady Hall! We are not going to hurt you!” said the man in the black suit.

I didn’t listen. They couldn’t deceive me with their words! Westridge packs are known as hostile packs among the packs in this region. But because of their wealth and huge influence, they always got away with their crimes and their brutal ways of handling people that went against their beliefs. People who didn’t tolerate their aggressiveness and bullying.

And that’s what happened to the Moonlight Pack. And as the Alpha of that pack, Dad paid the heaviest price to protect his people against those bastards.

I heard the sounds of waves crashing against rocks or something.

I glanced over my shoulders once again and saw that they were getting nearer and nearer, and I had no choice but to go straight to the precipice that was at the end of the forest. I was cornered! Trapped!

“There is nowhere for you to run now, Lady Hall! So please just go with us and accept your fate that your pack will not survive the attack.” One of them yelled at me, panting and angry as he pursed his lips against his teeth, showing how sharp they were.

I flinched. The wind was strong, whipping behind my back. The ocean waves were wild and huge underneath the precipice. My heart was pounding hard against my chest as I glared at them. I had no intention to surrender.

I looked at the abyss and swallowed hard. My face was cold, and my fingers shivered.

Then I remembered how he promised he would make me his Luna one day. Tears rolled down my face as I tasted the pain like a hot knife branding my skin.

He betrayed me. And I fell straight into his trap.

I closed my eyes and stepped back until I was on the edge and just accepted my fate, praying and hoping for the Moon Goddess that if I didn’t survive this, then maybe I could be given a life where I could be with my family and the man I loved with all my heart.

“NO! DON’T—”

The last thing I remembered was the violent crashing of my body against the raging ocean waves.

*****

[RAY Point-of-View]

The sky was gray, and the clouds were heavy. It was as if everything was black and white in my life as I stared down at a grave with an empty heart.

My throat was thick and sore and my eyes were puffy. The rest of the week, I stayed wasted and didn’t want to do anything with my life. As she lay six feet underneath, my heart was buried along with her cold and lifeless body. There was nothing left in me but the wonderful memories I had with her. Memories that will surely haunt me forever.

I gently placed a bouquet of white roses on her grave. I gazed at it for minutes until I shuddered from the cold wind that bruised against my exposed skin and thunder boomed on the afternoon sky, telling me it would be raining any time now.

But I remained standing and looking at the grave of the person I loved with all my everything. I bit my lower lip as I sniffed. My heart felt so big inside my ribcage that I was scared it would explode at any moment.

A tear ran down my face as I stared at the tombstone before I decided to leave.

“To My Dearest Mate.” was engraved on the tombstone.