Prologue

Afghanistan, six years ago

"There is only one thing you are able to rely on finding in this country and that's dirt." Lance-Corporal Jake Mulligan preached to the new privates as the Ridgeback patrol vehicle bounced along the pot-holed dirt track towards a village not far from the base. "By the end of this week you will have dirt in your clothes, in your boots, in your hair, in your bed in your arse---"

"Hey Mully, are you ever going to shut up?"

"Only once I've finished the induction training, Lieutenant Kade, Sir!" Mulligan smirked before turning back to carry on his sermon about dirt and all the places the men were going to find it.

William Kade (better known as just Kade) turned back in his seat, drowning out the noise in the back of the armoured vehicle as he trained silver eyes on the expanse of arid desert terrain ahead of them. The temperature was pushing 40 degrees Celsius outside and yet a thin veil of grey cloud stretched across the skies like a blanket. It had to be the first day in months where they weren't being blinded by the unrelenting sunlight and yet the air felt thicker as if they were in an oven constantly. Despite the insufferable heat and Mulligan carrying on like his life depended on it, nothing was going to ruin Kade's mood.

In just two weeks time he was going home and leaving the royal marines for good. An old friend and pack member had contacted him with an offer he couldn't refuse.

"Bikes, booze and women." Daniel Wolfe had chuckled. "All the things a beta could dream of."

Naturally there was a price that came with such a tempting offer, but it wasn't the first time Kade had made a deal with the devil, and it wouldn't be the last.

Kade could almost smell the familiar air of the forest after a night of heavy rain, the cold humidity clinging to his skin. It was as close to home as the young werewolf was ever going to get. He just needed to get through the next fourteen days and then he was free. No more uniforms, no more shitty mess food, no more sunburn and no more dirt!

"Sir?" The driver spoke up, a corporal by the name of James Smith who, despite being out here under scorching temperatures and trying conditions, had never browned beyond a sickly cream colour nor gained any muscle.

"Corporal?" Kade answered back.

"ETA is five minutes."

Kade nodded, silver eyes still watching the barren road as he picked up the radio handset.

"This is alpha leader to all scouts. ETA less than five minutes. Man the scopes and keep your eyes out for any bogies, over."

A chorus of 'copy' was returned quickly, the lieutenant putting the receiver back into the cradle before banging his fist on the roof of the armoured patrol vehicle.

With the vehicle lurching and bouncing over the worn out road, Mulligan and two more soldiers moved to man the guns situated on the tops and back of the vehicles. It was a dance they had done hundreds of times before to the point it had become instinct. No words needed to be exchanged as the four Ridgeback armoured patrols trundled along the desert while soldiers armed the assault weapons attached to the hulking vehicles.

The whole atmosphere changed on a dime from observant and relaxed to taut and silent. Around the convoy, sand and dirt thrown up into the air as swirling clouds, hitting the sides of the vehicles like rain, obscuring the landscape. The small town appeared out from the clouds of earth like a mirage, shimmering in the heat. It wasn't particularly big with square and rectangle buildings the same beige colour as the sand clustered together around weathered and neglected roads. A few chickens scratched and pecked at the dehydrated earth while a white and tabby cat with a scabby nose lazed on its side under and old truck.

The small settlement was unusually quiet. Kade had been here enough times now to know who lived where and who to find where at this time of the day. Usually there were a handful of kids playing with an old football under the watchful eye of their mothers or older siblings but even they were nowhere to be seen; the battered old football abandoned in the dirt.

"Is it me or does it seem a tad quiet today?" Kade asked James as they dropped to a cautious crawl.

"It is unusually quiet, sir." James agreed.

Frowning, Kade honed in on his sense of hearing. There were a lot of perks to being a werewolf, especially in the military. Fast reflexes, heightened senses and strength had kept Kade and his men alive this long. Now was no different as he listened for anything to hint at what was going on. At first there was nothing except the low growl of the engines and the clucking and crooning of the chickens.

Then he heard it.

It was faint at first, like the soft flutter of bird wings but the more Kade focused on it, the stronger the fast rhythm became. Heartbeats echoed across the air, fast and heavy like the steps of a runner. They were almost in sync at times like some strange primal tune before collapsing into dozens of thumps and patters with no discernible chorus.

"Looks empty." Smith muttered, his human ears not picking up on heartbeats like Kade's hearing could. "Maybe they left?"

"They're here." Kade replied. "Look sharp. It could be a trap, so I want everyone ready to engage if needs be."

Pushing the door open, Kade stepped out with the other soldiers, weapon at the ready as keen silver eyes scanned the scene around him, looking for any sign of life and more specifically insurgents. The heat of the midday sun was now pressing down on them, burning through the thin veil of cloud and bouncing off the windows of a few old trucks parked on the perimeter of one of the houses. The silence was unsettling. Usually there would be a group of boys charging over to meet them, asking questions in rapid succession but today there was nothing.

Kade leaned back into the transport and grabbed the radio, eyes still scanning for life as he contacted base. "Base this is alpha leader tango nine-nine uniform kilo, do you copy? Over."

"This is base to alpha leader. Receiving you loud and clear. Over."

"We have reached the target destination and the place appears to be abandoned. Over."

"Copy. There have been reports of insurgents in the area. Proceed with caution and be prepared to engage with hostiles. Over."

Slinging the radio back in its cradle, Kade's eyes switched to Smith who was waiting patiently for further instructions. Something didn't feel right and his wolf, Legion, sensed it too, the silver grey wolf was trying to push to the surface in agitation. Kade was able to control his wolf easily. It has taken years to learn to tame the volatile wolf but now it was like second nature. Still, if Legion felt unhappy about the situation, then Kade was going to listen.

"Alright, you heard the man." Kade sighed and checked his weapon was loaded. "Proceed but keep your eyes peeled for hostiles."

They fanned out in small groups, boots moving across the cracked earth silently as they began checking and clearing buildings and huts. They moved seamlessly like carrying out a choreographed dance and yet not one person spoke a word as guns remained poised and eyes remained sharp.

Kade had already decided to follow the sound of heartbeats.

Somewhere in the maze of alleys the people of this small town were hiding, and they were scared. Humans couldn’t pick up on it, but Kade could, the scent of fear was sitting in the air and bitter on this tip of the shifter’s tongue. Around him, his fellow soldiers moved to clear house after house finding no sign of the inhabitants or where they went. It was as if they had just disappeared leaving half eaten food on plates or washing half done. It was eerie and if Kade was a human he'd be convinced that the town had been deserted but he knew better.

The chaotic rhythm led him towards an old barn that had been left to fall into disrepair since the owner passed away and none of his family were interested in taking on the farm. Normally the old wooden doors were open, the planks sun-bleached and dry with chunks missing from where the dead wood had crumbled. But now they were closed and an old heavy chain with a padlock kept the doors together. It was hardly enough to keep a herd of goats in, but it wasn’t the padlock that was preventing the barn’s inhabitants from leaving.

It was fear.

Kade made quick work of getting the chain off before yanking the door open. The scent of dust and stale sweat hit him immediately as dozens of pairs of eyes stared out at him from the gloom trying to figure out if he was friend or foe.

“It’s okay,” He spoke up. “I’m not here to hurt you. Sadiqi. Sadiqi.”

Some of the boys who Kade had played football with in the past recognised the male, their eyes lighting up and quickly helped him translate to encourage the villagers to leave the barn.

“Hey,” Kade caught one of the boys by the arm gently. “What happened here?”

“Men came and took the girls and women but only the young ones.” The boy replied. “They threatened to shoot us all if we didn’t get in the barn.”

“Do you know how many men there were?”

“Ten maybe. They all had rifles and had their faces covered.”

“Go home.” Kade told the boy. “Lock the door and stay away from the windows. Tell as many people as you can.”

The boy nodded before taking off down the small street leaving Kade to figure out a plan.

But it was too late.

The rapid trill of shots being fired up ahead followed by screams cut Kade’s train of thought off. He cursed, setting off in the direction of the chaos as reports from other soldiers came in of unknown hostiles shooting at them. The scent of blood began to permeate the hot air before dark colour droplets marred the beige earth, growing in size until Kade spotted a man slumped against a wall, one hand clutching his opposite shoulder as blood from the gunshot stained his skin and clothes. Pain and fear contorted his features as if he was a wounded creature tapped and unsure what to do.

“Hey!” Kade rushed over, digging into one of the pockets of his jacket to pull out a small first aid kit. “Let me see.”

The man couldn’t be anymore than twenty with dark hair cropped short against honey brown skin and wide hazel eyes that screamed of his pain and fear. He’s tall and lanky, barely filling out the old worn out Real Madrid football shirt and khaki shorts clinging to his frame. He obediently but also hesitantly lifted his bloody hand away from his wounded shoulder to show off the gunshot wound. Luckily it wasn’t too close to the heart or lungs. It was flesh wound but still bleeding dramatically.

“Hold this over it.” Kade held up a wound packing gauze, pressing it carefully to the wound and waiting until the young man covered his hand over it. “Keep it there tightly but not so tight you hurt yourself. Understand?”

The man simply nodded, keeping his hand where it is, watching Kade cautiously as he radioed in for medical aid.

“Help is coming. Okay?” Kade assured the injured human. “Did you see where the shooter went.”

“Towards the mountain.” The man mumbled. “Please, you have to help my sister. The men took her and the others.”

“The others?” Kade frowned in confusion.

“They took all the girls.”

“What’s your sister’s name?” Kade asked.

“Laila.” The man replied. “She is only sixteen and she is all the family I have left. Please, you have to help me find her.”

“Okay, okay.” Kade calmed the man before he got too panicky and hurt himself more. “We will find her. Tell me your name.”

“Karim.”

“Okay well, Karim. I am going to find your sister but right now I need you to go with this man here…” Kade motioned to one of the medics coming his way. “Let him patch you up.”

Kade left Karim in the capable hands of the medic before pushing further down the street towards the outskirts of the small town. Everything was quiet, even the radio and Kade felt Legion stir within him once more. Just when he thought he was going the wrong way, he spotted movement between rows of sheets billowing in the hot wind. Towards the mountain, just on the outskirts of the town he saw men with guns pushing groups of girls towards a large lorry. It was in the complete opposite direction of where the convoy would travel, and it seemed the men knew exactly where to hide. However, for whatever reason, they had gotten their timings wrong and struck just as the patrols were rolling into town. Now they appeared to be rushing to get what they came for loaded and disappear.

“Units, I have eyes on hostiles towards the back of the market. I count ten men and at least twenty girls. Males are armed.” Kade murmured into his radio.

He used the flapping sheets as cover, making sure to keep his eyes on the scene ahead so he didn’t lose them. Just as he came to the end, a shadow darted through two rows of blankets, approaching Kade at speed. Without thinking he raised his weapon and pulled the trigger, a single bullet ripping through the smooth white sheet ahead of him and hitting the shadow.

It was a bad move. The sound of the shot caught the attention of the men who instantly began shooting towards the shifter causing him to duck down to try and avoid being hit. He could see his own target was moving and he scrambled to make it to the body in hopes of getting some information.

What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

On the ground, writhing and trying to breathe as blood spewed from his mouth was a boy no older than eight or nine.

“No. No. No. No…” Kade ran over, scooping the boy up, panic-stricken silver eyes meeting scared brown eyes. “Just hold on, okay? Just hold on!”

Bullets continued to fly by him, more of them coming as the patrol opened fire in return to try and stop the men from leaving with the girls. Kade was blind to it all though as he tried desperately to stem the bleeding from the wound in the young boy's chest. His t-shirt was now dark and saturated with blood and his eyes were glazing over, the light in them fading.

"Medics needed near the back end of the market! One civilian casualty! Gunshot to the---"

Kade felt the force of the explosion hit him like a freight train sending him flying back and sprawling into the earth, rubble exploding around him and crashing down. For a few moments the shifter lost his bearings, his ears ringing and eyes stinging from dirt in them. He could taste his blood in his mouth and a piercing pain ripped through his arms and back, but he pushed it down to try and move. However, just as he managed to turn onto his front, another explosion ripped through the street, the wall of the building beside him exploding from the impact. The wall groaned as it lost stability before falling forwards. The rubble collapsed onto the top of Kade, and everything went black.