Chapter 1

"Arghhh" 

The air was heavy with acrid smoke and blood. Fire licked the sky, casting an unearthly glow upon the ruined clearing. Hazel stood rigid at the edge of what used to be her home, her eyes wide in disbelief.

She clutched at the edge of a tree, her nails digging into the bark trying her hardest not to scream, as shallow gasps escaped from her mouth. Among the carnage lay her parents lifeless bodies. 

Her father, the Alpha of Hibiscus Pack, had crumpled at the steps of the pack house, his powerful body drained of life, as his chest was slicken with crimson. The slight form of his wife, her mother was crumpled right beside him, sprawled so close to him in a way that even in death she had seemed to reach her husband's touch. 

As she stood behind the shadows watching as her pack burned, she saw her mother's head slightly move in her direction and her lips quivered as tears rolled down her eyes. "Mo..." Her words were caught off as she quickly understood what her mother was trying to say 

"Run!" the last words of a dying mother.

The dark hooded attackers moved with swift, deadly efficiency as their deadly growls were lost within the crackling wood and the wails of her pack mates trying their hardest to escape from the attack. Hazel felt her legs giving out as reality finally dawned on her.

Hibiscus Pack was no more.

The place she called home, her family, her friends, her whole world destroyed. Why? Was this really happening? In just a day, in a couple of minutes, she had lost everything, her parents... her parents were gone! 

A soft rustling of leaves and twigs jerked her out of her trance. She had to leave fast, if not she would be next, she jammed deeper into the shadows of the forest praying to the moon goddess that no one would see her. But it was too late for such futile prayers...

"She's out there, in the woods, I can smell her," growled a deep voice.

"Find her!!!" The voice yelled, colder and sharper, "she is the last one, the Alpha's daughter; we must not let her get away."

Her heart raced as she continued running for her dear life. They were looking for her. She didn’t need to think twice, and there was no need to look behind. Her survival instincts kicked in, and she began to move faster, faster than she had ever dared to run. She had to run, she had to live, she was the only survivor and she couldn't let herself get caught at all cost.

Carefully, she shifted her weight trying her best to be as light as the wind, her bare feet sliding silently over the forest floor. The undergrowth was dense, the leaves damp with evening dew. Yet, she stepped lightly, her movements careful and precise, until her foot accidentally snagged on a hidden root.

'Damn it' she whispered to herself as the root snapped loudly.

"Over there!" One of the men yelled. "Don't let her get away!"

Panic and fear washed over her as she bolted to run in the opposite direction, her strawberry-blonde hair whipped behind her. Her lungs burned with fear and tiredness as her body weaved through trees, and the screams from her pursuers continued ringing with alarm in her ears.

"She's going deep into the forest!" The man yelled again

"Cut her off!!!!"

The woods were like an interlocking maze of shadows, branches and whispers making it look like a thick big canopy of dark and scary trees. As her heart continued to thud loudly in her chest, she immediately bowed down underneath one of the low hanging dark branches as she tried her best to calm her raging heart else, they would be able to find her as her heart pounded louder than the root of the owls; undergrowth scratched against her arms and her legs. 

She just could not let them catch her, or else all that her parents fought for would be in vain and her mother would be disappointed in her for not being able to save herself.

She wanted to cry in pain and agony, but there was no time to do that. She had to survive first so she could cry properly, her eyes darted frantically as she quietly left the branch in search of a new well covered place to hide. Every step felt heavier as her limbs shook with exhaustion and fear.

Somewhere a bit far behind her, an angry voice barked, "Spread out! She can't have gone far!"

Her legs ached, he body felt as though it was in the edge of falling apart, and her bare feet were begging for rest as she continued running through jagged rock and gnarled root, but that wasn't enough reason to stop and be captured by those brutes who is bent over what they would do to her. 

She continued running, her legs pumping, until she sighted a safe haven and she quickly flung herself into the thick bush that closed over her head like a barrier. She crouched low, her chest heaving as she struggled for quieter breaths. The shouts slowly became a distant shout of pursuit, growing softer and farther away.

She had successfully evaded them and for the moment, she was safe.

But the safety that wrapped around her did little for the painful ache in her chest. As she crouched there, silent, trying her best to regain her lost strength, the images of the destruction of her pack, the fire, the screams, and her parents' lifeless bodies, her mother's last moments flashed through her mind. And she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth to smother the sobs as tears streamed down her face.

Why did they do that? Who could they be? The Hibiscus Pack wasn't a threat to anybody. They all lived together, kept in their territory, and never engaged in fights, they were so peaceful, so lovely. 

Her toes dug into the dirt as a wave of despair washed over her anew. She had been so unfortunate and yet so fortunate, to have gone into the city for supplies her mother had stressed her about. 

Normally, they had people who went to get the supplies and she couldn't understand why her mother was so eager that she be the one to go get it. If she hadn't, she would have been there when the attack started. She could have fought, she could have died with her family.

A strangled sob broke through from her lips. "It would have been better to have stayed, to fight, to die by your side, mother," she cried to herself.

The thought was cold and heavy, an anchor weighing down in her skull, but it was very rapidly replaced by another. "No! I cannot let this be my end. I'm the last of the Hibiscus Pack. The last hope. My mother saved me and I must save our legacy."

She quickly wiped her face with her shaky hands, as she forced herself to sit up straight. The surrounding forest was quiet; her pursuers must have been far gone. 

She had lost her pack, but she lived, she had to live. And so long as one's breath remained, so did hope for restoration and revenge on those who took her world away.

 She couldn’t afford to wallow. Not now.

She clenched her fists hard, her nails digging crescent moons into her palms.

“I’ll survive,” she whispered to herself. “For them. For my parents. For the pack.”

It was a resolve unfamiliar in her voice, but it steadied her. She would not let the Hibiscus name die, she would not let her parents legacy come to an end just like that.

As the leaves rustled around her in a sudden gust of wind, she straightened her body and her eyes scanned the shadows high on alert.

A twig snapped near. Her breath caught. "They found me," she muttered in fear, eyes darting around.

She scrambled to her feet and was instantly on her haunches, ready to take off running once more. 

The forest seemed to fold in around her, the darkness weighing on her like a living, breathing entity.

The noise came again, this time closer.

And then, a voice—low, threatening, and much too close.

"Did you think you could hide from us, little Alpha?!"