Prologue

The sounds of my thumping heart and my stumbling footsteps were the only noises distinguishable against the roaring fire behind me. Tears streaked my face as I cradled my arm, covered in fresh burn marks. I coughed raggedly as my smoke-tinted lungs cried for air. My wolf whimpered in the recesses of my mind. Her newfound strength was stunted by the wolfsbane injected into my veins. I ran into my pack's shadows, avoiding anyone I could as I sought my only help. He has to help her. My visions began to blur as the distant fire danced higher in the sky. I pressed my cracked lips together and blew a sharp, distinct whistle. My legs crumbled beneath me, and I fell to the ground hard, knocking my head against a flat rock. I whistled a few more times as I began to crawl, chipping my brittle, bloody nails.

"Help her...Noah," I croaked out from the dirt as my mind began to fog.

A unique whistle came from my right as I struggled on the ground, my clothes soaking further in fresh, crimson blood.

"Cal," someone called out nearby, but my senses were too clouded to discern the distance.

I weakly whistled in response as I crawled toward the sound.

"Calista, wher—oh my goddess," he shouted as he ran towards me.

He gingerly rolled me over and cupped my face.

"What happened?" he asked urgently as his amber eyes looked over my wounds.

"Please...my mom...fire," I urged as my voice cracked, my throat burning with no reprieve.

"Shit," he cursed as he looked around.

He hastily picked me up as I bit my lip to prevent my screams from giving our location. He ran as carefully as possible as the smell of smoke began to fill my nose once again. He gently laid me in the shadows of a nearby house before running into my burning home. I prayed for her survival as my wolf howled mournfully in the shadows of my mind. The edges of my sight began to darken as my breathing began to rattle my chest.

"Mom," I called out in a broken voice, muted by the crackling of the flames.

After a few moments, I heard the grass rustle as someone ran towards me.

"We have to go," Noah said as he gently picked me up.

"Mom," I said as my voice cracked, and I reached out behind him with a trembling, bloody hand.

"I'm sorry."

I tried my best to fight him so that I could go and look for her in the fire myself, but my strength was failing me.

"There is nothing here for us anymore," he said as he ran towards the forest.

Through the distortion of my vision, I watched the flames destroying the only thing that made life worth living. My heart broke as my consciousness failed, and I plummeted into the darkness, relishing a break from hell.