Buildings crumbled into themselves all around me. Sheer terror and thick smoke constricted my throat while I ran through the streets of the pack's village where I had lived my entire life. The screams of my pack members rang in my ears— they hadn't stopped since we all felt the life force of our Alpha, my father, end abruptly. Tears stung my eyes and my heart clenched, still reeling from the loss.

What felt like mere minutes ago I had been a mostly normal teenage girl, mostly normal because the firstborn child of the Alpha is groomed their entire life to succeed their father or mother. My upbringing was very different from a regular werewolf pup. Always training. Always studying.

I was in a sparring lesson at the edge of the forest. We were just finishing as dusk turned into night on the horizon. Suddenly, my father's Beta, or second in command, had linked me through the pack bond in a panic. 'Eris, we're under attack. You need to return to the packhouse and find your mother.' The warrior I was training with had received a similar message and we sprinted back towards home together.

Just before we crested the small hill into the valley where our pack lived, I smelled the smoke. My mother's soothing voice linked me, 'Eris, your sister is at Holly's, please find her and return to me.'

I picked up my pace. Holly was a girl the same age as my sister Enid. The warrior peeled away towards the West forest where most of the fighting must've been happening. The fight against who or what I did not yet understand. I also did not understand how the entire town seemed to already be engulfed in flames. How was everything set on fire so quickly? I entered the chaos and tried to sniff through the smoke. Confusingly, I did not smell or see any rogue wolves. Who was attacking us?

I attempted to link Holly's mother but received no reply. Enid was still a young pup, only eleven years old, and would not be able to mind-link until she was fifteen. I turned down the street to Holly's home and gasped in horror when I saw the building completely engulfed in flame. I squinted through the smoke and saw a small figure standing at the front gate. Enid.

I ran to my sister, "Where is Holly?!"

Her eyes were wide as saucers as she pointed a shaking finger at the wreckage behind me. I turned and felt an intense heatwave as the roof caved in and crashed through both levels of the home. No one could've survived. I grabbed Enid's hand and started to run again towards the pack house, dragging her roughly behind me.

Suddenly, a pain ripped through my chest and I howled, dropping to my knees. The wolves around me all stopped their mad scurry and did the same, howling and wailing in agony. My sister sobbed loudly and cried for our mother.

Next to us a woman cried out, "The Alpha is dead! Moon Goddess help us all!"

No—it wasn't possible. I felt for my father through the pack bond and found a black void where his energy should be. I was trying to compose myself and remain calm when the screams around me turned from agony to fear and horror. At the same moment, the metallic scent of blood invaded my nostrils accompanied by the smell of rot and decay. I turned to look down the street and from the direction I had just travelled, I finally saw our attackers.

I'd never actually been in their presence, but I immediately recognized them as vampires. Besides their pallid skin and elongated claws they did not look very different from a werewolf in human form. They snarled and ripped at the throats of those around them, drinking and laughing giddily in the bloodbath. In a one-on-one battle, a vampire could not stand against even the most average werewolf. But this was a hoard, crawling and clawing over each other to get to the murdered wolves and fight for even a small drink of blood. Inhuman strength and agility allowed some of them to crawl like insects along the sides of any buildings that weren't on fire.

Panic rose in my chest and I scooped my sister into my arms and ran, but I already knew we weren't going to make it. We would not escape the hoard descending upon us. I wished I could shift to my wolf, but I still had two months until my eighteenth birthday when I would mature into an adult. A sob finally escaped my stubborn lips as I felt the others running close to us being pulled back and the subsequent sounds of the slaughter behind me. I braced myself for the fiends to grab me, but the hands never came. Instead, a vicious growl sounded and a large dark brown wolf leapt into the fray. It was Thad, my mother's personal guard. He was a fierce warrior and had been a constant in my life since I was a little girl. Mother must have sent him to aid our escape.

He turned and his eyes locked with mine. 'Run little wolf', he linked me before throwing back his giant head and howling. Other adults, although not warriors, rallied to his call and shifted into their wolves. They began to battle the hoard, tearing limbs and heads off of the vampires. Despite their bravery, I could see that they would all be killed; the disparity in numbers was too great.

'RUN!' Thad linked again, more urgently this time. I spun on my heel and did as I was told. My throat was tight with the grief and the awareness that he was dying for our chance to survive.

I could see the pack house just ahead and focused on it, running as fast as my legs would carry. Enid's weight tested my strength, but I refused to stop or put her down. I clutched her tightly and she buried her sobbing face into my chest.