Chapter One

You can never predict what your life will be like. Some people's lives are completely ordinary. Ordinary is just another way of saying that they are normal and ignorant. Ignorance is bliss. What you don't know can't hurt you. When you do know, that's when things get complicated. When you have witnessed something wrong and you do nothing, you should be held accountable for the victim. Unfortunately, most people turn a blind eye to the evil in the world, in the hopes of remaining ignorant. For me it was no different, people have been turning a blind eye to me my entire life. At school, I was the new kid in old clothes. I didn't have a home because I was bounced around from family to family that I would always be an outsider to. I couldn't bring Macie, but she couldn't keep up. She was only human.

"I'm leaving Macie," I whispered to her as I hugged her on the rooftop.

"What?" She replied disbelieving, her green eyes tearing up.

"I hope you never know why I have to go, but you are going to be okay," I promised.

"But Daddy will be angry if you leave," She shuddered.

"He will," I admitted, "But he's your daddy, not mine."

"Is that where you're going?"

I wish that was where I was going, but I didn't have parents.

I couldn't think about that right now so I shook the thought away and looked around.

I was finally free. After months of just surviving, I had escaped.

My feet couldn't move fast enough as I raced to the edge of the woods. The tree line was just out of reach. The sirens and flashing lights were getting closer, and my backpack bounced against my back like a bag of rocks. I dove into the dark safety of the forest. My heart continued to race and I didn't slow down until I couldn't hear the sirens anymore. They were long gone now. I had lost track of time, and the coverage of the trees allowed me to feel some sort of safety. My body collapsed in fatigue. How long had I been running? Did I run far enough? Will they find me?

I looked around me and to my left was a clump of bushes. I crawled underneath them easily, which allowed me to be completely hidden. Even if a spotlight from a helicopter came out this far to find me, they wouldn't be able to; it was the perfect place to sleep. I allowed my eyes to finally close even though my mind continued to run. I was finally free from them. Those evil people that claimed to be loving "parents," were nothing more than slavers. I am a foster child. My real parents disappeared when I was a baby without a trace. From what I understood the authorities were never able to find any leads as to what had happened. All I know is that there was no forced entry into the house, but there was a struggle. It was someone they knew. I was a baby at the time, and the fight had ensued in front of my crib. Blood was found on the floor, but it had been animal blood. The lab techs couldn't identify what kind of animal had been in the house.

When I turned sixteen, I learned what it must have been. I was at my nineteenth foster home and I had actually liked it there. When I changed for the first time I was in my bedroom. Sherry was watching over me closely because I had been running a fever for days, sometimes my body temperature would skyrocket to one-hundred and eight, but she blamed it on a faulty thermometer because I was feeling fine, no hallucinations, nothing unusual to a human temperature of around one-hundred degrees. Then I started getting angry about everything. I wanted Sherry to just leave me alone, I didn't realize why, but it was my wolf. I shifted into a black wolf. Solid black with no markings, the only thing that wasn't black were my ice blue eyes. Sherry had been in the room when it started. I had busted out the window and raced into the woods behind her house. When I was able to shift back after killing a deer, I found her in the bedroom cleaning up the broken glass. She was rambling to herself.

The next day, Tina, my social worker that handled my case came and collected me. Sherry never said another word to me, but she didn't tell anyone what she had seen. A week later, I saw in the paper that she had disappeared as well, not a trace of her left. Same MO, no forced entry, but a struggle was obvious. I learned quickly how to hide what I was. Then by the time I got to the Madigan family, I was almost seventeen and I was an expert at concealing my wolf.

The Madigans seem nice enough on the outside, just a husband and wife that had kids that are in college, decided to open up their home and provide a temporary family to needy children, girls in particular. On the outside it seems completely legitimate, but on the inside, Mr. Madigan (you never call him Jerry) was a predator. He liked it when the foster kids they got were teenage girls especially if they were shifters. Mrs. Madigan was a hermit, she knew what he was doing to the girls, but she never said a word, sometimes she would leave, but she never reported him. If she ever got the nerve to say something about it, the next day she would have fresh bruises on her arms and face. She wouldn't leave the house until they healed so no one would suspect.

The first time he ever came for me, he didn't expect me to be able to fight him off. Since I had first shifted, I was able to run faster, lift more, and every sense had heightened. I noticed my body's temperature ran at around one-hundred and two normally, and I never got sick. I remember how he looked at me…but that was behind me now. Now I was safe. Now I could rest.

I pulled a ratted old blanket from my bag and fingered the lettering. It was the only thing I had held onto from my parents. When Social Services took me, I was wrapped in my baby blanket. The name on it was the only clue I had to my real name and my real parents. Lenuta, was all that was written on the side in elegantly stitched script. I didn't know where a name like Lenuta came from but I was pretty sure it wasn't a very common name. I had googled the name a hundred times before I went through the change. Now, I am pretty sure that even if I had a last name or even my parents' names I would most likely not find anything on google.

I could live out in the woods, living off of the local game, and make my way toward a new life. Finally my mind agreed with my body that we needed rest and let my mind go blank.

"Don't leave me here, please." Macie begged. Her small hands wrapped around my arm in desperation.

"I'll come back, I can't take it anymore," I pleaded with her to understand.

"Don't leave me alone," She started to cry. My heart broke to see those tears.

"You aren't like me Macie, he won't do anything to you like what he did to me," I reassured.

"How can you be so sure?" She asked, her innocent blue eyes ripped through my conscience and nearly made me change my mind.

"You have to trust me," I said, "I will save you," I vowed.

I hugged her quickly and tore out of her grasp, then flung myself from the roof of the school. I landed on the edge of campus and leaped over the ten foot fence as if I'd had a pole vault. Without a glance back or a second thought I had abandoned her.

I awoke startled and swallowed my tears, Macie would be fine, she was not a wolf and Madigan would have no interest in her. She was also his adopted daughter, legally. I don't know what interest he had in her, but the mad man did hit her when she didn't do as she was told. He never took a whip to her like me, but he did hit her. It was never a beating, just a hard smack here or there when he felt it was necessary. Macie was a sweet child, she didn't deserve it, but she was strong enough to survive it. She didn't know it yet, but I could tell that she was. My wolf told me that she would be okay. It didn't change the fact that I had left her, but I had to. I had finally been let out of the cage after the summer of hell and he was required by law to send me to school. So he sent me to the most secure school he could find, but it couldn't hold me. Maybe he thought he had beaten the rebellion out of me by that point.

"You will do as I say," he growled and the whip came across my back.

I hissed in pain, it was unavoidable, but I refused to let him hear me scream.

The whip came down four more times and it left me grunting and gripping the chains that held me upright. I knew I was losing blood by how lightheaded I was getting and I sagged in the chains. That just made him crank them up higher and my feet dangled uselessly, the circulation cut off to my arms and numbed them.

"Just say I'm your master and you can end this," he cooed as he struck me again. His voice was soft and persuading, like he was talking to a baby. Paired with the strikes of the whip it was the most macabre combination I had ever imagined. It was a lie, his actions did not match the softness of his voice.

"Never," I growled.

"My little wolf, you will regret those words," He roared and continued to mutilate my back.

I got up from my spot and grabbed my bag. I couldn't fall back asleep just yet so I may as well keep moving. The moon was almost full so there was plenty of light for me to see without a flashlight. Not to mention that with my wolf senses, it could have been midday and I would be able to see just as well. I ran at a steady pace that I could keep up for a while without getting winded, but not so fast that I couldn't think.

I wondered how I could possibly keep my promise. I couldn't just kidnap her. That would create so much attention; I don't think I could keep my identity as a shifter a secret from her or the rest of the world. I could call in anonymous tips to CPS, but that had been done before and he blamed it on me when it was a teacher of Macie's that saw her bruised stomach after he had kicked her for not calling him Sir. He had locked me in the storm shelter/ prison while the social worker investigated the home, and accepted the excuse that she had gotten the bruise from the handle bars of her bike when she ran it into the tree the month before. After the social worker had left, he locked her in her room for three days, only letting her out to use the bathroom twice a day. I couldn't call CPS.

My biggest fear was that I could do nothing. She was a scared little girl with no one to turn to. Her mother is a silent puppet that does exactly as she is told since being beat into submission some time ago. By the time I had gotten there she was like a happy little robot with dead eyes. It was sad and creepy to see her in the house. She made everything look like normal, but I never understood how she could not know what her husband was like. Then I realized something scarier, was that she did know what was going on, but chose to do nothing about it, for her fear of her sadistic bastard husband or perhaps the intense delusion that she let herself retreat to so she didn't have to think about it.

On somber notes like that I found another spot to rest and soon found myself asleep with no more dreams.

I woke with the smell of morning dew, wet grass, and dirt; the smell of freedom. My lips couldn't keep from smiling. I loved it in the woods. The trees, the animals, the smells, the safety all called out to me when I was away, as if the sanctuary it gave me could beg me to return. I rose from my sleeping spot feeling stiff from sleeping in my human form on the hard ground, but I would loosen up once I shifted. My wolf was begging to be let out.

I stripped my clothes and put them in my backpack before I shifted. I stretched out my legs and slid the bag onto my back to allow my mouth to be free while I ran. My feet itched to grip the ground in a full out run. I didn't take time for breakfast, I'd hunt later.

As I ran the forest came alive. I had memorized this landscape a hundred times over on my midnight runs in the past. I could tell you exactly where I was compared to where I used to live. I could easily navigate through without looking at maps. I had about ten miles before I got into uncharted territory. I had never had enough time in the night to go that far, and usually when I had went this far I didn't even sleep. I had to be back at the Madigan's by five in the morning to avoid getting caught.

After a few miles, I came to a small town and changed back behind a convenience store. I could get some food here and see just what kind of news had traveled since last night. Just to be safe, I put on a ball cap just in case they had security cameras. The door dinged merrily as I walked in. The cashier didn't even bother to look up. There was a small outdated fuzzy T.V. in the corner showing the morning news.

I went to the back of the store and grabbed some protein bars and a couple bottles of water. I checked the labels for any chocolate and put the ones back that had it. Wolves are allergic to chocolate. It wasn't that bad if I wasn't planning on changing soon but it would make me sick.

As I was reading labels, my name came through the speakers of the old T.V. I shoved the bars in my bag along with the water and went into the bathroom. I could hear the breaking news story just as easily in here. The cashier still hadn't moved or noticed. I could hear the anchor talking about the search party out looking for me as dogs had tracked me to the national forest, but were having no luck in finding a reliable trail. Most likely, the dogs wouldn't track my wolf because the scent wasn't the same and dogs naturally cower from us. The anchor gave my picture and a phone number. I had heard enough, now to get out of here without being seen.

Luckily there was a window just big enough to squeeze through. I doubted that the cashier had seen me, but I couldn't take the chance now. I tossed the bag through the window and easily dove through it, changing in the air before I touched back down, picking my bag up in my jaws and raced to the safety of the woods.

At my supernatural speed I was maybe forty miles into the wilderness, and as far as I knew this particular section was privately owned. I expected that it was someone who bought the large amount of woodland with the intention of selling the timber to a logging company, then selling it off to a developer. Land was always a good investment. I didn't expect that anyone lived this far out in the middle of nowhere.

I started my journey through the uncharted and started to feel a familiar rumble in my belly telling me that I needed to eat something. I put my nose to the air, and instead of smelling game, I smelled something more shocking. Wolves . My wolf whispered to me. If I were in human form my face would convey shock, but in my wolf form I had no idea how I must have looked, probably pretty comical. Regardless of my appearance, I had heard that pack wolves are incredibly territorial by instinct on account that it's just safer that way. Could there be a pack way out here? Would they try to kill me? Technically, I guess I would be considered rouge since I didn't belong to a pack. There was never one around where I was sent to foster homes.

I knew about shifter culture thanks to a wolf I met hunting. Jason was rogue, and he was passing through town. We just happened to cross paths in the same woods, stalking the same herd of deer. Jason almost killed me, charging at me thinking I was a pack wolf that would kill him for being in the territory.

He crouched down and started circling me, I only looked at him confused that he was there. Up until that point I had always wondered if there were others like me. When he realized that I wasn't trying to kill him he shifted to his human form. I remember how embarrassed I was to see him standing there naked, with his business all out on display made me blush. I ran into the bushes and shifted, luckily they were tall enough I could stand there, see Jason, and not be exposed. He didn't seem to mind or care one bit that everything was visible. I, on the other hand, well not so much now, didn't act quite so cavalier about nudity.

"Who are you?" Jason had asked, a smirk plastered across his tanned face.

"I-I'm Jez." I stammered.

"Short for Jezebel, I'd imagine." He chuckled.

"Yes, but I hate being called that." I said finding my voice at the use of my full name.

"I thought this was free land, if it's alright, I'll go ahead and head out of your hair before I lose my neck. I don't want to get caught up in pack politics." He said turning.

"What are you talking about? Why would someone want to kill you?" I had asked.

I remember how realization flashed across Jason's face when it came to him that I was rogue, and I didn't even know the meaning of it. We talked and talked that day. He told me that I wasn't a werewolf, but I was called a shifter by my own people. We had a lot of others in our species. Jason clued me in on how a pack works and the etiquette on what to do if I met a pack of wolves. I didn't particularly like the idea of being under an alpha. How he could tell you what to do, and there was nothing you could do about it. That didn't sound too appealing to me. The family part made sense. That's why people joined gangs; for the hopes of feeling cared for and loved, but they end up killing people.

Jason also told me about mates, but at this point in my life I didn't care if I found him or not. If I did, great, but if I didn't, it was okay. I needed to focus on getting safe and then I had to save Macie and only then would I think about settling. A mate would complicate my plans right now, and that's the last thing I needed.

The most important thing Jason taught me was how to disappear. The very next day after our talk, I went and bought a prepaid phone and started plotting my escape. I refused to keep fighting off Madman Madigan if there was another choice. Freedom was far more important than anything else when you feel imprisoned.

I inhaled deeply thinking to myself how sweet free air smells. A smirk remained on my wolf lips as I trotted stealthily forward. I kept my ears on high alert and decided to avoid any paths. The pack wolves tended to get testy when you came on their land without permission, but it would take me a week to go all the way around their land. I kept sniffing the air, waiting to catch the scent of another wolf, and my ears continued to twitch toward any sound.

I had gotten maybe two miles in at a slow pace when all the birds flew out of the trees and I felt the vibrations in the ground. My nose went wild with the smell of several different wolves. When I focused I could separate the scents. It was five males probably on a patrol. I backed up, and then when I realized they would catch my scent the direction they were going I started to run. They were still a ways off and I could make it through.

When I started to run, I didn't pay attention to my nose or ears, so when I ran right in front of another patrol group, I felt pretty stupid, and then I got scared. My heart was racing in my chest. Stop. My wolf said to me. My feet skidded to a halt. My breathing came in short gasps like I couldn't get enough air. The wolves surrounded me, which made any escape plan impossible. Then one of them came up and sniffed me. Too close. I growled. My message was clear, back off. I could tell by the amount of power radiating off of the male that he was of no rank and I knew if need be I could take him, but I knew I'd be pushing my limits if I tried to take on all ten wolves here. Some of them looked like they were itching to fight me, just because I was rogue.

The wolf growled back, warning me that I better not try anything. I snorted and just glared at him as he nudged me forward. As soon as he touched me I spun around and snapped at him. Don't touch me, was my response. I turned my back on him and started walking forward. The ten wolves started running, with me closed in at the middle so no matter what, I had to go the direction they were going. It will be okay. My wolf promised me as my heart started racing again. The sound of her voice in my head calmed me. I trusted my wolf. Every time I had ignored her, things had made a turn for the worst. So, I trusted her instincts more than I did mine.

The wolves led me toward what I assumed was the alpha's house. That's what every pack revolved around, the wishes of the alpha. When we got up to the door, the wolves in the back went around to the back of the house and we went inside. There were close to fifty or so shifters in the house and every single one of them looked at us curiously, then when they realized I was a stranger, the glares began. Jason had told me this would happen if I ran across a pack. They would consider me a threat, because some rogues weren't like Jason and I, some were humans who had been turned.

When humans get turned, their animalistic nature becomes their wolf, and they were not like being born with a wolf. Human shifters tended to go a bit crazy and blood thirsty. That's where all the lore about us being evil came from. Human shifters usually ended up killing people, and silver worked on them because it was a pure substance, and their dark side takes over them. Jason calls it a sin nature. Humans were consistently absorbed in selfishness and greed; born shifters aren't perfect, but we do tend to focus on survival first. Once we find our mates we focus on survival of them instead of ourselves.

The males led me to a room and walked in with me the door shut behind us. They formed a circle around me and turned their backs and started shifting, I took that as I was supposed to too. I knew that two of the wolves in the room were mated, you could tell by their scent. Mine would tell them I was unmated. So, I wasn't surprised when the unmated males snuck glances at me when I was throwing on sweats and a sports bra. With raised body temperatures of shifters, wearing t-shirts even got too hot. I had noticed that the females glaring at me in the other room were wearing either sports bras or mid-riff tops. I didn't dispute their choice.

"Follow us," One of the males said. He was mated and his eyes didn't linger on my body the way the other's eyes did.

"Yea, fine. Lead the way," I was thankful my voice didn't crack in nervousness. In fact I sounded rather annoyed and indifferent and not at all a fearful young female rogue.

I assumed we were going to talk to the alpha. He would decide to grant me to move through the territory, or escort me out, or he could even order my execution. I really hoped that I could be charismatic instead of my usual emotionally hardened and blunt self. I was never good at making friends.

When we stepped into the huge living room that everyone seemed to be hanging around in all conversations stopped and I was now the center of attention. Whispers began spreading through the room. I could have cared less what they thought. The only one whose thoughts mattered at this point were the alpha's. We walked to a room with double French doors leading into a study. A male shifter sat behind the desk on the phone.

"Yes alpha, they just brought her in." He said into the phone.

So the alpha isn't here right now. I thought.

"Yes, her," he chuckled.

Guess he was surprised I was rogue since I was female.

"Alright we will keep her here until you return." He said seriously.

I didn't let my anger show on my face. Just stood there, waiting to be addressed. I didn't have to wait long though.

"So what are you doing in the territory?" He asked, not looking at me, but shuffling through mundane paper work.

"Is it so beneath you to look me in the eye, Beta?"

That turned every head in the room toward me. The beta just raised an eyebrow and the side of his lip twitched, hinting at a smile.

"Fair enough," He looked me in the eye. "What are you doing in the territory?"

"I'm just trying to get away from Melbrooke." I said, my voice empty of emotion.

"What are you running from?" He said, expecting I was running form the law.

"I promise you, I am not guilty of any crime. Trust me when I say that I had to leave." I said calmly, not at all fazed by his assumption. In his position I would be cautious as well.

"Well, why don't I call the authorities at Melbrooke and ask them about what the deal is?" he said a bit flustered.

"If you want, just turn on the news. Calling the police will raise unwanted attention for you." I said calmly, trying my best to stay calm and just win in this battle of wits.

"I have my ways of sweet talking the authorities, and hiding what they may deem suspicious." He challenged.

"Good enough that you can keep them from noticing a wolf running through the middle of your yard."

"It's a rule that if any humans come around that every shifter is to stay indoors."

"You didn't account for me, I'll do it." I glared.

"I'll lock you in the cage in the basement while you're here." He growled.

"You don't order me around, you have no power over me. You might as well just kill me if you are going to send me back to hell!" I lost it. "Death would be whole hell of a lot better than going back to them!" I was screaming now.

"Going back to whom? The police?" he asked.

"You silly pack wolves, you are so unaware about what happens outside of your little pack lives," I griped. I turned around and lifted my hair.

A collective shock came through the room. I knew how bad it looked. My back was completely marred by scars from being whipped, there were fresher ones but I expected they were scabbed over by now. Shifters did heal faster than humans, but if the wounds were deep enough they would scar, especially if the wounds were ripped open again and again. I had grown my hair out for the purpose of covering the scars on my back it would take years for them to go away.

"So, if you are going to call the police and send me back, you might as well kill me." I said gravely. "Because if you don't I will kill myself before I go back there." I glared at him.

"I believe you." He said, looking at me with more respect.

Only then did I notice how utterly quiet it was in the house. Earlier I had been able to hear the chatter of everyone talking.

"Did they hear?" I asked.

"No, the room is sound-proofed, even from shifter hearing." He said, understanding that I wanted to have my past in confidence. I mean, I didn't exactly offer up that information.

"Good" was all I had to say, I didn't want to talk anymore.

"Where are my manners? My name is Erik." He said smiling and held his hand out.

"Jez," I said, but didn't shake his hand.

Erik just dropped his hand awkwardly, "Would you like a drink?" He asked politely, not even acknowledging that I didn't shake his hand.

"Bourbon" I said looking him in the eye, letting my gratefulness show.

"You are braver than I am. I can hardly stomach that vile brown corn liquor." He chuckled.

I just smirked.

"Follow me," He said, brushing his hand on my shoulder purposely, I was guessing to see if I was his mate. I wasn't.

"Now that you have found out I'm not your mate, please don't touch me again. I don't trust you." I said bluntly.

Erik didn't say a word, just nodded his head. I could see myself becoming friends with Erik under different circumstances. He seemed okay. I just couldn't let myself get attached to the person who is going to be my warden for the next few days.

"So how long do I have to wait here?" I asked when we got to the bar on one side of the study.

"You guys can go," he told the other shifters in the room, "And what was said in this room stays here, I don't want any rumors spreading about Jez, she's been through enough."

"I'm not a charity case." I stated. "I don't care what they spread around; I'm not going to be here long enough to worry about it."

"You do care, or else you wouldn't have tried to hide your reason for running." He said easily. "All the same guys, not a word of what has been said here."

They nodded their heads and left.

"What did you ask?" he asked, turning to look me in the eye.

"How long will I be here?" I said.

"Well, Stefan should be back in the next couple days." He said pouring my drink and pouring himself a crown and coke. "You should be able to stay as long as you want after talking with him."

"I don't plan to stay long, I need distance from them."

"You do know you are at least a hundred miles from Melbrooke right? How long have you been running?" he asked.

"I escaped last night." I said.

His eyes about bugged out of his skull.

"What?"

"You were really moving." He said, surprise, shock, and a bit of awe was written across his face.

"Well I wasn't kidding when I said I was running." I smirked and finished off my bourbon in one swig.

"Obviously"

"Another?" I asked.

"Sure thing" He chuckled and poured another glass.

"Thanks," I looked down at my glass as he filled it, when he pulled his hand away I looked back up to his face. "So where am I staying tonight?"

"One of the guest rooms, I'll have Stella take you to where they put your bag." I nodded my head and tilted the glass against my lips, relishing in the warmth spreading in my chest.

"I haven't eaten all day, do you trust me to go hunt alone or do I need to bring someone with me?" I asked.

"Don't be silly, you'll have lunch with us, in fact it's almost noon now, and we have lunch at half past." He smiled. "It will be good for you to meet some of the pack, and good for them too."

"Erik, I don't know if that's such a good idea, I mean I'm rogue, and we get a pretty bad reputation because of some shifters that are crazy killers and bent on revenge." I said.

"That's true, and they need to learn that judging one person for the actions of another is wrong." He said simply.

"I can understand not trusting someone because of past experiences." I said. "That's why I wasn't offended when you didn't trust me."

"Your right, I didn't." Erik looked down, then back up to my eyes, "I apologize, I shouldn't have assumed anything about you." He was completely sincere.

"You have nothing to apologize for," I said. "In your position you can't afford to be idealistic, I was a threat until you could prove otherwise."

"You are incredibly wise for your age." Erik said, almost sadly.

"Some say wisdom, some say jaded, ignorance and naivety aren't really something I have left." I stated. "If you don't mind, I'd like to freshen up before we eat.

"Sure," he said stepping over to the phone. "Can you send Stella to the study please, thank you."

Stella was a sweet looking woman, who looked to be about in her thirties. By Shifter time, she was maybe in her seventies or even eighties. She had piercing green eyes, and had a plump figure. Laugh lines around her lips made it clear that she had a joyful spirit. Her eyes sparkled when she smiled at me.

"Hello dear," she said sweetly. "Follow me and I'll take you to your room."

She led me from the room. When we walked into the living room I felt every eye turn toward me and the conversations stopped. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't help but feel the back of my neck get heated. I spun around; sending a glare to the room as we started climbing the stairs. The house was huge and the stairs to the second story were on either side of the room which was open. The room had a high ceiling where you could stand at the railing of the second story and see down onto the little people. Every single pair of eyes that had been looking at me turned away from my gaze.

"Here's where you'll be staying." Stella said smiling at me.

"Thank you." I nodded to her and tried to smile back, but I was sure I failed to look grateful.