PROLOGUE

Dad, wait for me," Lara cried out. The little girl didn't know what was happening but she was scared. 

Wilbert turned to his daughter with tears in his eyes. He does not regret his decision but had to leave the pack for now. He bent down and opened his arms wide to hug his daughter for the last time. 

She ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. Lara is still a nine year old girl but she understood that her parents' lives were in danger.

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll come back for you," Wilbert told her. She shook her head, scared. 

"I don't believe you. Mum said the same thing and I have not seen her in over a week," Lara cried out. Her words stung Wilbert and he tried to stop the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. 

"Please, just stay here. You have Alpha Robert and a lot of children here to play with you. I'm going for a job and it'll be boring for you," he tried to convince her. 

Wilbert knew running away with his daughter could lead to her death which was why he wanted to leave her in the pack. He had betrayed his Alpha but knew that his Alpha would not kill Lara because she was still a member of his pack. 

"I'm nine years old, Dad. I'm not a child! I know you're running away. Can't you take me with you? I want to be with you, please," Lara pleaded with tears in her eyes.

She was scared of not seeing her father ever again. It's been a week since she saw her mum last and she was scared of what had happened. She didn't want to lose her Dad too. 

"I'll come back for you, I promise," he tightened his hold on her. 

Wilbert took one last sniff of his daughter's scent and tried to let go of her. She held tightly onto him, refusing to let go. She was crying silently on his shoulders. 

He patted her on the back, softly, knowing he might never see her again. After some minutes, she became quiet and finally retracted her arms from his shoulders. 

"I love you, sweetie. Take care of my tag for me," he placed an identity tag on her hands. 

She looked at it, not understanding why he was giving it to her in such circumstances. 

"Okay, you'll come back right?" 

"Yes, I'll be back for you," he kissed her cheeks and stood up. 

"Uncle, we need to leave," Max yelled, running towards them like someone possessed. Lara panicked as she saw him. 

"You're leaving too?" She asked him, with betrayal oozing from her voice. Max was her cousin. He was nine years older than her and had been living with them for years. He was the brother she never had.

He nodded his head distractedly. "The horses are ready. We need to leave now. They are on their way!" Max told his uncle, not caring about how he sounded. He was scared. He had heard the group of wolves coming from afar. 

Wilbert pushed Lara towards the house.

"Stay inside and keep my tag safe. Don't give it to anyone, no matter who it is!" he told her and turned around, running towards the direction of the stables. 

Lara stood still as she watched her father run away. She had a bad feeling in her stomach as she watched him leave. It wasn't something she could explain. She turned around and went into the house, placing the tag he had given her on her chest.

Ten minutes later, a group of men came knocking on the door. Lara stood up from the couch and went to open the door. Immediately she opened it, a hand pushed her aside, causing her to fall and hurt her knees. 

They entered the house and looked around. The men were led by the Alpha.

"Where is he?" Alpha Robert asked her. She closed her eyes and curled her body together, not saying anything. 

Alpha Robert looked at her with anger blazing through his eyes. "He is not here, go!" He yelled at the men. They ran out of the house. 

"So he abandoned you, huh? Did he think I'll spare you because you're just a child? It's good though. You'll pay for the sins of your parents!" He spat out angrily and marched out of the house. 

Lara opened her eyes and stood up with shaking legs. She felt a sharp pain in her knees and cried out. The tiny scratch was bleeding. The feeling of confusion embraced her.

"Hiya!" Wilbert yelled, urging the horse to go faster. He couldn't stay in the pack any longer. Especially after going against his Alpha. Robert would do anything to hunt him down once he found out. 

But it was too late. Robert had already found out and was looking for him. He had to forsake his daughter to save her life. As the horse galloped forward with extreme speed, Wilbert made a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess to save his daughter. 

"They've caught up on us!" Max yelled, causing Wilbert to glance backward. Indeed the men sent to kill them had found them. 

They were the best trackers after all. He had specifically chosen them a few weeks ago. It never occurred to him that they would be the ones sent to kill him. He smiled at the irony.

"We need to lose them. There's a river some miles ahead. When we get close, we'll have to shift and run from there," he told Max. 

"Okay, hiya!" Max yelled, hitting the horse on its butt. They ran as fast as they could. As soon as they got close to the woods Wilbert yelled, "Get down and run towards the stream as fast as you can!" And while the horses were still in motion, they jumped down and ran into the woods. 

They shifted into their wolves and started running towards the stream. 

"There are people by the stream waiting for us. Once we get there, we'll be able to escape," Wilbert told Max through their mind link. 

Suddenly they heard a gunshot. The sound of the gun sent shivers through Max and he increased his pace. Wilbert glanced back and saw two wolves behind them. Shit! They were getting closer.

"Keep going, I'll distract them," Wilbert told Max. 

"No, no, let's go together!" Max yelled.

"You can't take them. They are too strong. Just keep going. I'll meet you there," he said and changed direction. He knew these woods at the back of his hands. The two wolves followed him. 

Tears dropped down from Max's eyes as he ran to the river. He knew he would not be seeing his uncle ever again. 

Wilbert ran faster, running in circles just to confuse them. After a while, he glanced back. They were gone. He smiled thinking he had lost them and continued his journey to the river. 

As soon as he got close to the river, another gunshot was heard. Wilbert fell in shock. He had been shot. One of the men had been waiting for him to get close to the river and had shot him immediately after he got close. 

Max hid in the woods surrounding the river. A hand was above his mouth, silencing his scream as he watched his uncle fall. Wilbert had been a father to him. The two wolves came out to confirm if he was dead. 

They bit into his neck with their fangs, making sure their job was completed. After making sure he was dead, they withdrew their fangs and picked him by his limbs, pulling him away. 

Max watched with tears streaming down his face. The only parent he had was gone.

Lara woke up screaming. She ran out to the balcony, looking out at the field, and suddenly started crying.