Chapter 1 One

A shrilling scream made the girl sit up on her bed, her eyes scanned around in the darkness of the room and her ears perked up in alert, listening, waiting to hear the sound again. The shrilling scream came once more and she jumped out of her bed, realizing that the scream was coming from her parents' room. What could have happened? She wondered as she dashed out of the room. On rushing up the stairs to her parents' room, she met her second brother bloodily wounded and crouching on the stairs. “Alister,” she screamed and rushed to him, holding him to keep him from falling on the floor. “What happened?” she asked. Alister spat out a mouthful of blood. He was so weak that the girl couldn’t hold him up and they both fell to the ground. “D-Dan…ambush.” He said and lost consciousness. The girl couldn’t believe what she heard. Dan was a friend of her brother, Alister, they had met during his mission to the Northern packs three months ago and just tonight, he had invited Dan to their home for dinner. Although Dan had visited the pack twice before, he had never spent a night in their place and tonight the offer was given. Unfortunately, she had left with her mother to the Moonstone pack to attend their Luna’s birthday party and only got back later in the night, so she didn’t even see Dan or any of her brothers because they were already asleep. She left Alister lying there and rushed to their parents' room. Her mother was screaming at the top of her voice, shaking and trying to wake her father who was lying lifeless on the bed with white foam on his mouth. She couldn’t believe the sight and rushed to help her mom. “What happened, Mom, what is going on?” “Alicia,” her mother looked at her with relief, “go and call your brothers, I don’t know what is wrong with your father. He just started screaming and foaming in the mouth and now he is not making any sound. Go call your brothers, hurry.” She pushed her towards the door. Alicia was still confused, what the fuck was happening, and why wasn’t her brothers here already despite their mother screaming so loud? As she rushed out of the room, she met the gamma wolf that often follows her brother along with two warrior wolves. “Alicia, what is happening?” The Gamma wolf called Leo, asked. “I don’t know, find the doctor for Alister, I need to call my brothers.” “I heard the Luna screaming, is everything okay?” Leo asked. “I don’t know Leo, just find the doctor,” Alicia screamed at him as she ran down the stairs to the hallway of her brothers’ rooms. She knocked violently on her first brother’s door, “Micah, something is wrong, dad is not breathing. Micah,” she knocked and called but no answer. Surprised, she stepped back and rushed towards the door, forcing it open with her shoulder. The room was dark and she could make out her brother’s form on the bed. “Micah,” she called and rushed to wake him up but to her surprise, her brother was in the same shape as her father. “What the hell?” Fear gripped her as she rushed out of the room to her third brother’s room, she didn’t bother knocking and just kicked open the door. However, just as her fear, her brother Tom was no different from the rest. “Wh-what is going on?” She couldn’t believe any single thing that she had witnessed that night. As if remembering something, she dashed out of the room to the guest room. She kicked open the door and everywhere was dark and silent. She glanced at the bed and there was no form to show a sleeping body. The window was open and the night breeze blew up the curtains. Shouldn’t Dan be sleeping here as an invited guest? At that moment, she thought of Alister’s words, Alister was the only one visibly wounded and she rushed to his room. On getting there, she noticed the room was trashed lightly, Alister’s favorite desk was broken and the broken pieces of the flower vase on the floor had stains of blood. She bent over and inspected it, it was obvious it was smashed on someone’s head and the ones with blood gave away that the blood dripped on them. Searching closely, she saw the pointed end that was covered in blood. Either it was what was used to hurt Alister or Alister had stabbed someone with it. “Alicia,” she heard and looked up just as Leo appeared at the doorway. “Oh my Goodness, what the fuck happened here.” Alicia got up with the bloodied broken piece. “Leo, did my family have a guest tonight?” “Yes, Dan. He had arrived with Alister a few hours after you left with the Luna. What happened?” “I’m not sure,” Alicia answered and glanced around the room, she tucked her snow-white hair behind her ear, “but judging from what I am seeing, I think my family was poisoned. Is the doctor here yet?” “Yes, he is attending to Alister. Do you think Dan did it?” “Look around, he is the only body not here.” She replied and left the room and Leo followed behind her. “But why would he? What is he hoping to achieve?” “Leo, you are the one that often follows Alister, when he meets with Dan what do they often talk about?” “Nothing out of the ordinary, girls, the ongoing war and how to each protect their packs.” Alicia nodded and went down the stairs to the living room. There she met the doctor trying to resuscitate her brother on the coffee table. Her mother was kneeling beside her father who was lying on the couch and crying, she didn’t need to be told that she had lost her father just like her two brothers so she turned her attention to her only brother with the chance of surviving. The doctor was working diligently, however after so many attempts on trying to resuscitate her brother, the man turned to her and shook his head. Alicia felt the pain shoot through her stomach to her heart. So, he is trying to tell her that under one night, she lost her father and three brothers? Just like that? “If it was just the wound, it would have been easier to treat him but he seemed to have consumed the very substance that the alpha did. I’m sorry, Luna,” the doctor turned to her mother and bowed softly. “There is nothing I can do now, we have lost them.” Alicia closed her eyes as her mother’s wail enveloped the whole house. More people started entering the house then and one of them was the Beta and his family. The beta’s wife rushed to hold her mother while the Beta met with Leo to fill him in on what was happening. Alicia could feel the pain and anger building in her heart but she didn’t know the best way to express it. She opened her eyes and her beautiful gray eyes were filled with tears. As she glanced at her mother, she was gripped with the wonder, if she hadn’t been away from home with her mother, would they have met the same fate as her father and brothers? Or was Dan’s mission just to rid the Blood Stone pack of their alpha and future alphas?