Book 1: The Alpha Who Saved Me

Chapter 1: The Beginning

My mom said instead of a big wedding her and our dad eloped.
Ran off to Las Vegas a week after they meet. " The moment we met I just knew he was the one." She would always tell my sister and I.
And with the money my mom's parents had saved up for her wedding.
My dad and my mom took and were able to buy about 60 acres of land for dirty cheap. The land was just outside of our small town. It backed up to a natural conservation area. I was 3 when my family moved to the farm. But if you asked me about where I grew up. The farm is all I remember. Even though my parents had me two and 1/2 years before we got the farm. And use to tell me all the time about, how we lived in a couple different houses before we settled in at the farm. I still don't remember anything before the farm. To tell you the truth I don't remember much before my baby sister was born. Joan was born on the farm, 3 days before my 3rd birthday.
Our childhood consisted of climbing trees in the front yard and running through the tall grass as cattle grazed.
Dad started small with just a few cattle. And every two years or so, dad would bringing in five new heads of cattle. Currently we had about 30 heads in the herd this year. But the cattle, that is not what brought home the money.
What really kept the farm a float was our prized horses. We had six in total. My job after school was to come home and tend to them. You know brush them, feed them, wash and braid their manes, and keep them show ready. We entered the horses in shows all over Oklahoma and Texas.
That afternoon in late July is when everything went wrong. I came from school to do just that, tend to the horses.

Now call it a woman's intuition. But all week long my mom had been having this bad feeling. She kept saying things like she couldn't quite put her finger on it. But something was off. After not being able to shake this bad feeling all day. She made us promise to lock up and come in early for the night.

After school I asked my little sister Joan to come with me. And help tend to the fields and help with the horses. Because anyone who has ever worked or lived on a farm know that, chores still needed to be done regardless of an early night or not.

Man it was so hot that afternoon. The air felt like it was barely moving. I felt like I was suffocating even in the barn in the shade.
Joan had grabbed Buttercup, our cream colored mare. She had washed and braided her. And was in the process of putting her away when we heard a bang! It rang out so loud it echoed in the barn.
Startling the horses.

I turned around just in time to see a large black wolf stalking towards my dad as he shot off another round from his shotgun. Bang! Blood still dripping off my dad's face from shooting another wolf in close range. I wanted to rush over and help but my feet felt like lead. I couldn't bring myself to move. Like I was stuck frozen in place.

I watched in horror as two more guys shape-shifted back into human form and grab my mom. Strapping her down to a chair on the front porch. One guy punched her in the face.
Crying she turned to me and mouthed RUN.

That snapped me out of my daze. Quickly I slid out of slight.

Creeping along the barn wall. I reach out of the shadows and grab my sister covering her mouth with my hand. Right before she screamed. "Ssshhhh!" I whispered. "We have to go!"

Although Midnight is the youngest horse we have. He is by far the fastest. I grabbed him. Knowing he is our best chance at escaping. Just outside the barn I heard foot steps approaching and know we had to get out of here before it's to late.

I motion for my sister to grab the emergency bags my parents always keep in the barn. We mounted Midnight, first starting out in a slow trot as we come around from the back of the barn.

Trying not to draw any attention to ourselves. I try not to cry out as I watch the black wolf circling my dad. Swiping at his stomach, and spilling his guts.
The hairs on my arm stick straight up as my mom screams out in fear. My sister stiffened. Burying her silent tears into the back of my shirt. My dad is too weak to shift. He sinks to his knees. I glance back one last time. And see him smiling at the sight of us high tailing it across the field unnoticed.
Taking his last breath, as we disappear into the trees.

I remember the escape route my parents made us practice over and over again for years. Their reasoning was always in case of emergency.

Soon after their untimely deaths, rumors started flying about my parents, they were murdered for debts owed. And betrayal.
Now I know it's because my mom ran away from her pack to be with my dad.
She was betrothed to the pack's Alpha. Before she was mated to the pack's leader. She met my dad her true mate.
It's rumored that two nights before her Luna ceremony she rejected Alpha Kyle, and he went crazy. Killing half their pack. The ones who survived the massacre, pledged loyalty to him and swore revenge.

Years later revenge came if the form of Marcus Blackrock, an old pack member. He saw my mother at a local fair. He put the word out that Lily Deer, my mother was to be watched. It's been said that they stalked my family for weeks. With the plan to slay us all. What Blackrock had not been informed of was that my dad and mom had two daughters.

Being mistaken for farm hands saved our lives that day. Well if you call camping in the woods and caves for months as saved. I followed the waters in Oklahoma that lead to the Saluda River. Following the rivers East to South Carolina. Once in the South Carolina mountains. My mother always told us to lay low for few days, then head north into Canada.

The first night camping out. It was warm enough we didn't need a fire. Joan cried herself to sleep but I could barely sleep a wink. I gathered up our backpacks and split the 4 packs contents up so that they would fit into 2. There was enough food to last us 3 months if we were careful. Mom had stashed prepaid credit cards totally $12,000. And about $800 in cash. We had two sets of passports.
Yes I said two.
One set with our real names. And the other set with fake names just in case we were being followed.
It took us several long weeks to get to South Carolina. Most of the time we spent hiding out in the mountains. But as the season turned to fall. It started to get cold at night.
So we ended up in Landrum. It's a beautiful town just at the base of the mountains in South Carolina.

Joan had started coughing about a week ago. So we set up camp. We had been in the woods for two weeks outside of town. When I went into town to grab medicine. After locating the drug store. I went in right before it closed down one night. The lady behind the counter kept asking if I was ok. I told her yes and grab some snacks on my way out. But it rained 3 nights later. It poured so hard that everything go soaked. And Joan caught a fever. So I knew we needed to clean up and find a place to stay.
We back tracked two towns and sold Midnight to a farmer. Got another $10,000 to add to the bank. Now we had a descent amount of cash to maintain us til I could find a job. Wherever we got settled.

Hiking back to Landrum along the highway we stopped at the first diner we saw.
Harvest House, it reminded me of home. Picture this. It's like pulling up to your grandma's house for Sunday dinner. It's warm and cozy. And smells of home cooked food.
Before we went in I tell Joan. "Go straight to the bathroom and clean up. I will grab us a table and follow up shortly."
I can tell she wasn't feeling well because she didn't protest like she would have normally done. Goddess keep us safe.

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