Gabriel [Alpha of Wolves]

|PROLOGUE|

☀

I compel myself to push faster, harder even though I know that they are much quicker than me.

The unnaturals.

Werewolves.

I think that he might have succeeded. I know it won't be long until they catch up to me until they kill me. I'm surprised I've made it this long. Werewolves are incredibly fast, swift. I'm no match for them.

I feel myself losing traction, losing energy. I hadn't been running long but it felt like I had been running for days.

The air is so cold, I taste blood, and it feels like my lungs are bleeding. I feel the rush of moisture and the wind hits me. I'm at a cliff. I can hear the waves crashing against the rock and smell the sweet ocean air. I look up to the sky knowing I'm surrounded. Freezing rain pelts my face, blinding me. I feel something deep inside me moving, something that shouldn't be there. I can't explain the feelings overwhelming me, pushing me to fight. I want to ignore them; I want to give up. My father raised me to be fearless and strong, but he had implemented that there must come a time when to give up when you have passed the point of no return. He said it was better to die with pride, at your strongest, then begging for your life – weak. He was right.

I turned to face my killers, knowing my father would avenge my death. I swallow hard and meet their eyes. I feel something fierce slice through me. A knife? A sword? I realize quickly that I have not been wounded, but something is fighting through me from the inside out. His eyes. They're startling – brilliant, and they're eating away at my soul. The swirling depths hold secrets, pain, visions of light and the sun. I feel warm suddenly. I am no longer standing at the edge of a cliff ready to jump, but I am in the arms of a stranger. He smiles down at me, his eyes the most beautiful shade of green. They're so familiar I feel safe suddenly. I feel – I feel loved. If I would live I would never be the same, staring into the eyes had awakened something inside of me, something desperate and unforgiving.

Suddenly I'm hurdling back into reality and backward. I slip over the edge, welcoming death. I didn't want to know what it was, what had just transcribed between me and the beautiful werewolf. It would rip through my very existence; I could feel it in my bones. I closed my eyes as I fell, finding the darkness before I even hit the water.