Prologue

Alone in his room, dead to the world, Kaynon slept peacefully in his oversized four post bed fit for a king. His subconscious registered a small noise coming from the back side of his home though his brain was too groggy to wake up fully and understand what was happening. He rolled over and fell deeper into his slumber, writing the noise off as nothing more than a certain set of twins up for a bottle.

The sound of an alarm blared through his closed door, he woke fully, choking from the dark smoke creeping from beneath his bedroom door. Without thinking, he jumped to his feet, running to his door to jerk it away from the wall. More smoke poured in thickly. He grabbed the closest shirt off his floor to cover his face with, ignoring the musty odor of his gym tank, before darting down the hall. His family at the forefront of his mind.

Red and orange flames licked up the paneling walls as he exited his room. The smoke choking him as it made it's way through the thin fabric of his shirt even as he tightened his grip on the thing, though it helped little to aid him in trying to reach his sister, her mate, and his twin nephews at the opposite end of his two story home. He was greeted by a wall of searing heat as his path was suddenly blocked by the collapsing floor above him. Forced out of his house through his bedroom window, he quickly sprinted around to his sister's room window to see that the fire had already engulfed the whole backside of the house.

"Maria! Tanner!" He called to them before he began to climb the chimney stack that was on the backside of the house.

Ignoring the blazing heat from the flames mere feet away, he leaped towards his sister's window. The sill nearly crumbled under his weight. Pulling himself up just enough to peer through the flames that has already engulfed the room, he fell inside. He first ran to the babies cribs, finding them empty and nearly ash. He turned towards his sister's bed, his heart dropped. One lump was still laying across the king size mattress. Coughing, he quickly crossed the room to check the body for a pulse and to see who it was. His brother in-law, no pulse. Kaynon hung his head before turning away to look for his sister and the boys. He ran towards the open door.

"Maria! Maria where are you!" He called but got no response.

Continuingdown the hall, he had to jump over a hole in the floor before he hit the stairs on the other side. He found his sister collapsed at the bottom of the staircase, holding her babies tightly in her arms. He quickly scooped the trio up and ran as fast as he could out of the burning house.

Laying them down carefully on the soft grass he checked the children first, no pulse. He tried doing CPR on them both at the same time, doing compressions. One... Two... Three... breath. One... Two... Three... breath.

"Please little man, come back to uncle Kay." He breathed into the first ones lungs, still nothing, he breathed into the second's, nothing, his eyes began to water.

His eyes shifted to his sister, lying limp beside him. She was a nurse in the pack. He began doing compressions on her. If he could get her breathing she could help with the babies. Her heart never uttered a beat.

"Please Maria, I need you! Your sons need you! Come back, Maria! Come back!" He screamed his frustration to the moon above.

"Why? Moon goddess, what have I done for you to forsake me and my pack?" He received no answer to his plea.

Kaynon fell to his knees, knowing he was too late to save the last of his family. Guilt laced his body, if only he would have gotten up like he normally would at any sound around the house to check even the smallest of nothings for the safety of his family, his sister, his brother in-law, his nephew would probably still be alive. But, because of him, he would not be able to watch his nephews grow up. Because of him, he would not see his sister blossom into a wonderful mother of two football stars he just knew they would be. Because of him, he no longer had a damn good drinking buddy on the weekends. All because of him. Kaynon hung his head and let the tears fall over his families dead bodies.

Turning away from his blood and rubble of a house, he looked towards the small pack village he'd called home all his life, and protected from rogues as Alpha for the last seven years, now up in flames. Howling screams and cries of pain echoed through the night to the stars as hues of yellow, orange, and red turned the night into day. He hurried towards the village, hoping he could save any of his pack members, as all great alpha's would.

Coming up to the first house, it was completely burned to the ground, a body ly over the threshold of the front door, now black as coal. He checked for a pulse anyway, werewolves being able to survive and endure much, but with no luck. He ran to the next, run through finding no one alive. He continued through each home, calling to every member of his pack. No one still breathing anywhere.

Returning to his own family, he hugged their limp bodies to him tightly as if he could share his life force with them before he began digging their graves in the family cemetery. Right beside his mother, he lay his sister down and lay each baby boy in either of her arms. Hesitating before covering them up, hoping beyond anything that all of them, one of them would start breathing. He waited a moment more, and finally began to cover their bodies.

His eyes watered over as his rage began to take hold of him. He knew who was responsible for this massacre. Making a silent vow to his pack to avenge their deaths, he shifted. Turning his nose to the wind, he caught the scent of his enemy. Kicking up chunks of ash and grass, he began his quest. Not only would he destroy the clan that took his pack, but also rebuild his pack, larger and stronger to not only keep his pack safe but to keep all of his kind safe from the undead vermin.