Chapter 1 One

Eudora’s pov

"Princess Eudora, come with me or you'll die."

The screams of my people as they were killed mercilessly pierced through the heavy oak door, jolting me from my spot; where my feet had been planted on the cold ground after hearing the bad news from Jamar, my guard.

"I saw my father moments ago!" I screamed, pulling my hand from my guard's grip to glare at him, hot tears filling my eyes. "We all just had dinner. How can you possibly make me believe they're all dead!"

Jamar sighed as he grabbed hold of me again. I understood he was trying to protect me, but what was the use anymore?

In the distance, above the background of people being slaughtered like dogs, a woman screamed, and in a matter of seconds, it stopped after the sickening sound of a claw slicing her. I couldn't see it, but I could feel my heart sink to the bottom of my stomach.

"Your Highness!" Again, I was pulled from my reverie by his much more firmer voice. "We must go! You're in danger!"

Before I could protest, he yanked me from the room and dragged me towards the door. For some reason, I dreaded having to step out of my room- having to see the blood bath waiting outside.

The hallway we stepped out in was in chaos. Flames licked the walls, smoke curling in the air, eliciting a thick, pungent air that was hard to breath in.

As Jamar pulled me towards the exit of the palace, I felt the tears in my eyes roll down my cheeks watching the bodies of my pack memebers- both shifted and unshifted- littered on the floor like flies. Some were still fighting, their snarls and cries echoing off the stone walls.

Moments ago, the pack had been peaceful and serene as it had always been. My father was the Alpha King, but he was someone wise enough to keep a clean record to avoid making enemies during his reign.

Who could have despised him so much to not only kill him and the rest of my family members but take down the pack too?

I stumbled, still lost in thoughts again, but mostly because my vision was blurry with my tears, and my heart felt like it was being wrung like a sponge. I couldn't breathe.

Mum. My brothers, Diego, Daniel... My sisters, Esther, Eunice, Elizabeth. They were all gone.

Suddenly, a body dropped with a sickening thud by my side, and a scream was stuck to my throat when I realized Jamar had killed him

"Keep moving, Your Highness!" He barked, pulling me tighter.

My breath hitched as I stared at the corpse of the man, taking note of the crest sealed onto his neck like it had been burned in there- and my blood ran cold on recognizing who the crest belonged to.

My knees buckled, and I would have collapsed If Jamar hadn't held me upright.

"You have to focus," he urged, dragging me along still. "They're hunting you now. You're the last hope for your bloodline."

Soon, we burst out of the pack palace, the night air heavy with smoke and ash. My stomach churned as the metallic scent of blood filled my nostrils.

I couldn't remember how long we ran for, but by the time we reached the forest, the dense trees swallowing our prescence whole, Jamar finally let go of me.

Falling on my knees, I finally sat back, eyes trained in no where particular as I comprehended the reality of the situation.

"So what do we do now," I hated the tremble in my voice, I hated that I was weak. I hated that I had to live. Because now, I have to feel a sense of vengeance for my family, but what could I even do? If it had been one of my warrior sisters, or my brother's left alive, they would have sprung into action immediately. They would know what to do.

And here I was.

Suddenly, I watched Jamar approach me and noted something he had grabbed in his fists. Mud.

"Your hair," he looked sympathetic. "If we're going to survive, you have to conceal it. It's a dead give away to who you are."

I wasn't sure if I complied or just numbly nodded, feeling a lodge stuck in my throat, either way, he carefully dressed the mud through my silver-white hair, dulling its shine

When he was done, he tore a strip of cloth from his tunic and bent down to my level on the floor.

"I'm going to have to ask you to put this on around your eyes. You can see through it, but we might encounter some rogues on the way or any werewolf on the hunt for you."

Tears filled my eyes again as I collected it, wrapping it around my eyes. The fabric, truly, was thin enough for me to see through it, though it concealed my distinct purple irises.

I thought we were going crash here for the night, and things could progress smoothly from here on.

But I was wrong.

Just barely after I had wrapped the blindfold around my eyes, I heard the crunching of leaves and twigs behind us. We turned to meet a group of werewolves- rogues in particular, who emerged from the shadows, their eyes gleaming with malice.

There were three of them, their stance lazy and dangerous, their clothes reeking of alcohol and blood.

Jamar immediately stood before me, giving me time to get on my feet. From behind, I see him make a sign with his fingers, telling me to run. He's been my guard for as long as I could walk and talk, so we've practiced a lot of times- spent so much time together. He was like my big brother.

He was going to die. Jamar was strong, but facing off three drunk Rogues at the same time was clearly impossible.

'I've lost my family, please, I can't loose you too.’ I shook as tears ran down my cheeks, but I could do nothing but take a few steps back, eyes wide behind the blindfold.

"Well, what do we have here?" One of them slurred, his gaze going past Jamar to rake over me. Something about it caused chills to run down my spine.

"We're travellers. I'm just taking my blind sister to a neighborung pack so we could rest. We don't want any trouble." Jamar said, stepping forward again.

The largest of the rogues chuckled. "That so? Well, you can hand her over, and we can find a really nice place for her to rest."

At their disgusting remark, they burst out laughing like Hyenas, and it was at this moment Jamar signaled me to run and leave him behind, but it seemed as though my feet was planted froze to the ground.

"She's a kid."

I was 18. But even Jamar knew his pathetic excuse wasn't going to shake them.

"Suit yourself." With a shrug, the three men all pounced on Jamar, throwing me off guard and onto the ground.

Before I could even protest, whipping my head to the sound of crunching bones and snapping canines, the fight was over in moments.

Jamar had put up a valiant effort, but was outnumbered, and I was left on the ground to watch him, all shredded into pieces, fall heavily onto the ground. As he convulsed on the ground, blood spilling from his mouth, our gazes locked.

His eyes glistening with tears as he whispered, "I'm sorry, Your Highness," would scar me for eternity.

My chest heaved as I watched him die before me, his eyes still open- numb this time around.

It was at that moment, my adrenaline shot up, realizing the men were advancing towards me and I scrambled up from the floor, dashing into a run.

Braches reached out, tearing my skin and tussling my hair as I ran, hearing their footsteps coming after me, their hyena-like laughter cackling in the air.

But my body was too weak, my spirit was too broken, no matter how much I tried to run for long, I couldn't, and they caught me soon enough.

"Let go! Let go of me you bastards!" I gasped as I was slapped hard across the face before being shoved to the ground, their laughter grating in me.

"She's such a pretty little thing- very feisty too." One of them sneered, already pushing up my dress from behind, and his hand grabbing my upper thighs was the last straw for me. "Let's have some fun.”

Terror surged through me, and I summoned the last reserved of my strength, sinking my teeth into his arm. The moment he let out a guttural roar, I wrenched free and bolted further into the woods, hearing them curse as they came after me again.

Suddenly, my feet slipped on the muddy ground, just beside a river, and I tumbled into the rushing stream. The cold water soaked me through, almost choking and drowning me if I hadn't quickly grabbed hold of a mounted rock, coughing and gasping for air.

By the time I resurfaced, I watched the three men standing at the bank of the river, their expression morphed Into horror and amusement.

I frowned, wondering why they weren't coming after me, not until I saw my blind fold floating in the water before me, did I realize it had come off... And so had the mud on my hair- it had washed off.

No

"Well, well," one of them said, his voice filled with awe. "Look at that. The princess of the purplemoon pack." One of them had already started coming forward, walking past the current like it was nothing, and I only stood there, trying to keep myself up from drowning.

It was all I could do.

"Be careful with her now," One called from the bank, his grin widening. "She's worth a fortune. The Lycan will pay handsomely for her."

My blood ran cold. The Lycan- a ruthless vile bastard who spared no one in his quest for power. Who commanded fear and attention in every room he walked in. The definition and embodiment of cruel and evil. A man rumored to feed on Alphas like they were lambs.

The same man who slaughtered my family and was responsible for the destruction of my pack.

Oberon Thorne.