A New Meaning to the Night

Prologue

A/N: Hello everyone and thank you so much for taking a chance on this book. A New Meaning to the Night was originally something that I had attempted to self-publish about six years ago, but I wasn't able to market it the way that it deserved. Since then, I have removed it everywhere but here and I'm hoping to breathe some new life into it. I look forward to everyone's feedback and suggestions. If you enjoy my work, please consider voting.

There was never a good way to die. That was a fairly concrete fact of life, but all things considered, Derek would have to wager that being torn apart was one of the more painful. The wolves surrounding him, growling and snapping their jaws, would be merciless. His green eyes glowed unnaturally bright, and he lifted his upper lip in a snarl, but there was no denying he was greatly outnumbered. The wolves moved in closer, forming a tighter circle around their prey. The forest around them was silent. There wasn't another creature for miles to hear him if he tried to call out for help. Even if someone were to hear his cries, they certainly wouldn't be of much use to him now.

Jacob was behind this; he could see his name written all over it, the self-serving bastard. He thought about his wife and their unborn child. They wouldn't stand a chance in a place like this without him. Thank god they'd only told one other of her condition. Henry would get her out of harm's way. Derek could only pray to a god who had long ago forsaken him that spilling his blood would be enough.

"Take Henry with you," Kaitlyn begged, touching his upper arm gently. "You shouldn't be going out alone right now. You know what they've been saying. Derek, please."

He ran a strand of her golden brown hair through his fingers and smiled, looking down into her brown eyes. "You worry too much, sweetheart. I can take care of myself, don't you know that about me yet?"

Annoyance flickered across her face, and her mouth formed a firm, thin line for a second before she forced a smile and responded, "Yes, that's not in question, but what I'm asking—"

"You're asking me to hide like a coward. What if I were to ask the same of you?" It was a fair question, one they both knew the answer to.

Kaitlyn narrowed her eyes briefly in irritation before turning away. "Fine, do what you want."

"Hey," Derek caught her arm before she would've stormed away, and kissed her forehead gently. "I love you, and I'll be back before you know it."

"You'll all lose your lives for this," he said, his pupils becoming catlike slits. "Your king will never tolerate such a blatant and deliberate act of war."

One of the wolves turned, becoming a man before his eyes. The man stared at him with open disgust, his gray eyes sharp and violent. His entire body was a wall of muscle. "He will never find out."

"About you playing puppet to a sniveling, power-hungry coward like Jacob? He's going to find out, and he's going to kill all of you," Derek said with a mocking laugh, straightening from his tense stance to stand leisurely before the other man. "It's a pity I'll miss the execution. I never grow bored of seeing rabid dogs being put down."

All at once they began howling, pawing at the ground. They were growing restless and uneasy. He didn't have much time left. "Our king will be pleased to be rid of another one of your kind."

"Your king is a mutt, but even he is smarter than that."

Howls of rage rang out as the man changed once again. The pack lunged as one.

***

The city was in chaos. Kaitlyn crept by the people without being seen, hurrying as quickly as she could to get to the forest at the far end of the city. Tears were streaming down her face, and she wanted so badly to stay and fight for the man that she'd just lost. She hadn't even been given time to mourn, but staying wasn't an option. It wasn't just her life she'd be risking if she didn't survive, and surviving wasn't very likely given the current circumstances.

When she finally reached the trees, a man there waiting for her; though at first she wasn't visible, the problem was quickly rectified. He stood straight, with his arms held behind his back, like the soldier he was. "I am truly sorry for all that you have lost in this," he said solemnly.

On a sob, she flung herself at him, locking her arms around his neck. "He was supposed to come back," she said. "Henry, he said he'd be back."

Henry placed a comforting arm around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her head. "He had every intention of coming back. You know he did."

Pulling away, she looked up at him with such desperation in her eyes; his heart would've broken for her if he had one. "There wasn't a body; no one would've been able to find a body because—well, how do we know it was him? How do we really know?" she persisted.

He sighed and shook his head, "Kaitlyn, it was him. We felt it, every single one of us could no longer feel his presence...he's not coming back. You need to leave. It isn't safe for you to be here anymore."

Kaitlyn glanced over her shoulder, seeing part of the palace's walls from where they stood. She could see the place where the man who'd wanted her husband dead for so long would now sleep. And she wanted him to burn. Even as she thought it, fire exploded out of one of the topmost palace windows. Henry jerked her back around and shook her once. "Kaitlyn, get out of here."

Touching a hand to her stomach, she took a step deeper into the woods, closer to the portal. She looked into Henry's pale blue eyes one last time and touched his hand briefly in a sort of farewell. "He won't get away with this. This isn't over."

"Go," he urged. And she went without another word. She ran as if the hounds of hell itself were on her tail.