Chapter 1

Hazel's POV

"Hazel! Hazel! Run!" the distressed voice of my mother rang in my ears. I opened my eyes to see mom's face pale white; a restless expression spread across her face. 

"What's going on, mom?" She hurriedly put my clothes into a small bag. 

Why are we packing? 

“We have to go?“ She didn’t bother responding to my questions. 

“What about Dad?“ I asked, but no answer followed; she was so focused on packing our things as quickly as possible. 

I still found it difficult to process what was happening but joined her regardless. I have never seen her panic this way before, so it has to be urgent. 

Just as we were about to leave, a knock was heard from the front door. Mom’s face immediately went dead at the sound. 

“I know you’re in there, Rose; do yourself a favor and surrender,” the voice spoke.

Mom’s face searched the room before finally landing on the basement door. “Go in there, Hazel,” she said, pushing me. “Don’t open the door no matter what, okay?”

“What’s going on, mom?” I couldn’t just run and hide. “Tell me,“ a tear almost escapes my eyes. “Where’s Da—?”

Before I could say another word, the door flung open, revealing the large men. Mom immediately pushed me into the basement.

“Lock the door and stay quiet,” she whispered. 

The men with bared torsos and fierce faces had made their way into the room; I could hear father's voice pleading for mercy. 

“Do you really think you can run away? You'll have to pay the price in blood," the voice threatened. 

What was happening? What did they do? 

“I swear to God, we didn’t do anything,“ Father begged. I couldn’t see him, but I could already tell he was in tears. “Please spare my family,” he continued. 

"Shut it, you traitor; how dare you kill a member of the Golden Dawn Pack? The only thing you deserve is death. A cold one to send you off quickly,” a cold voice followed with a snort, his voice containing zero emotions.

I managed to see through a hole in the door, but the huge figure of the man blocked my view. There were two, but the other was shielded in the darkness, and all I could see was a scary silhouette holding a knife to my father's throat.

In a swift instant, he drew the knife through my father, and a loud scream escaped my mother’s lips. Without any remorse, he did the same to mom, like her life was worth nothing. 

They both fell lifeless on the ground; a pool of blood leaking from his body. 

I covered my lips when a scream threatened to escape. My father’s lifeless body stayed on the ground like it was rather useless. My heart was pounding in my chest. 

Were they going to kill me too? 

With a broken heart, I looked at my parent's lifeless bodies lying in a pool of blood, tears streaming down my face. 

My mother's life as a direct descendant of a reigning alpha was not so smooth, and she made a lot of enemies before she met my father. He changed her life, curbed her excesses, and they lived happily for some years before they had me.

When I was sure they were all gone, I stepped out of the closet. My heart is still pounding in my chest. I still couldn’t see what was happening. 

What did they do? 

Why was this happening? 

I screamed as tears gushed out of my eyes uncontrollably. I didn’t care that the men would hear. I just wanted answers. What was happening? 

Just then a rustle followed from outside. Were they still after me? 

I peeked through with my eyes, but they had long vanished.

"Where did they go?" I queried in my heart as I ran in the opposite direction. Regardless of what my mind kept beeping to me, I didn't pause in my steps.

Are they going to kill me as well? 

I ran as fast as I could, but the pain from last night’s training with the other pack members was dreadful. 

I ran away feeling so drained and helpless. After keeping a safe distance. I collapsed on the ground, the weight of reality finally dawning on me. 

*******

It was days later that I got to hear the gist from lips, which were generous enough to discuss the details with me. I was overwhelmed to find out that my parents had been caught in the act of treason against the superior pack—the Golden Dawn Pack.

From my memories, this pack was the strongest in the hierarchy of the wolves for several centuries now, their position remaining undefeated for years. 

The fact that my parents were involved in a treasonous act against such a behemoth existence proved why they were directly haunted to their deaths.

Living with the torturing thoughts of guilt and hate towards the incident with my parents, I managed to live past a week. But the new week was a sharp introduction to another moment of hell and daze for me.

I felt that the loss of my parents could bring me all the pain and trauma I needed in my life. But I faced crueler reality days after. I was still nursing in the pain of my parents' deaths when my fated mate, Francis, came to me three nights later.

"Hazel!" a voice barely above a whisper called in my ears that night.

Usually, I would be lain on my back and long asleep; however, it was a night of mourning my dead parents, so I was awake.

I walked to the door and carefully opened it with my sense of alertness at its peak. As I opened the door, my mate Francis was standing with half a life left.

His hair was distraught, and there were glaringly evident claw marks all over his body, and even his face had become swollen to a point that it was barely recognizable. 

He was covered in blood from head to toe, and he could only call my name one last time before he collapsed into my wide arms.