Emma

The knock came at 2 AM.

Not loud. Not urgent. Just three soft taps that somehow cut through my sleep like a blade.

I sat up in bed, heart already racing, knowing before my father spoke that everything was about to change.

"Emma." Dad's voice was low through the door. Controlled. The same tone he used when teaching me to fight. "Pack only what you can carry. We leave in twenty minutes."

My wolf stirred beneath my skin, sluggish and incomplete as always. She'd been getting weaker for months now, her presence dimming when other wolves my age were growing stronger. I pressed my hand to my chest, feeling that emptiness where her power should burn bright.

"Dad?" I whispered, but he was already gone.

I could hear Owen in his room next door, moving fast. No questions. No arguments. My brother had been preparing for this, I realized. The extra combat training. The way he'd been watching the tree line lately, jaw tight, hands flexed like he was ready to fight.

What did they know that I didn't?

I grabbed my duffel bag and started packing. Clothes. The photo of Mom. Her silver bracelet that I never wore because it made Dad's eyes go distant and painful. My fingers trembled as I shoved everything inside.

Through my window, Dark Moon Pack territory stretched out in darkness. Somewhere out there, Alpha Richard Stone was probably sleeping in his massive house, completely unaware we were running.

Or maybe he knew exactly what we were doing.

I thought about the way he'd looked at me last week during training. Not the way an Alpha watches a young wolf. Something different. Hungry. His fingers had lingered on my shoulder when he corrected my stance, and his voice had dropped to something almost intimate.

"Your mother had such strength, Emma. You carry her bloodline. Special. Rare." His breath had been warm against my ear. "When you're ready, we should discuss your future in this pack."

I'd felt sick. Owen had stepped between us, casual but deliberate, and Richard's eyes had flashed gold with irritation.

Now we were running.

I zipped my bag and headed downstairs. Dad was loading weapons into the truck, moving with the precision of the Head Warrior he used to be. Owen threw bags into the back seat, his face set in hard lines.

"Someone going to tell me what's happening?" I asked.

Dad looked at me, and I saw something I'd never seen before in his eyes. Fear.

"Get in the truck, baby girl."

"Dad"

"Now."

Owen grabbed my arm, gentle but firm. "Trust us, Em. Please."

I climbed into the back seat, and we pulled out of our driveway without headlights. No goodbyes. No looking back. Just the crunch of gravel and the weight of secrets pressing down on all of us.

We drove in silence for an hour. I watched Dad's eyes constantly checking the rearview mirror, watched Owen's hands flex and tighten on his knees. My wolf was so quiet I could barely feel her.

"It's Mom, isn't it?" I finally said. "Her death wasn't an accident."

The truck swerved slightly. Dad's knuckles went white on the steering wheel.

"Emma"

"Two years of you training us like soldiers. Two years of you watching me like I'm about to break. Two years of Alpha Richard suddenly caring about my 'potential.'" My voice cracked. "Mom didn't accidentally ingest wolfsbane at that gathering. Someone poisoned her."

Owen turned around, his eyes full of pain. "Em..."

"Who killed her?"

Silence. The kind that confirmed everything.

"We're going to Silver Ridge Pack," Dad said quietly. "Your grandparents are there. We'll be safe."

"Safe from who?"

"From the Alpha who wants to claim you before you understand what you really are."

Ice slid down my spine. "What am I really? I'm just a wolf. A weak one, apparently, since mine barely

"You're not weak." Owen's voice was fierce. "You're changing, Em. Becoming something more. And Richard knows it. He's been waiting for it."

"Waiting for what?"

Dad's jaw clenched. "For the blood moon. Six months from now. When your wolf finally completes her transformation.

A howl cut through the night. Close. Too close.

Dad slammed on the accelerator. "They found us."

I twisted around, seeing headlights behind us. Multiple vehicles. My heart hammered against my ribs.

"How many?" Owen asked, already pulling out a knife.

"Too many." Dad's voice was grim. "Hold on."

We drove down the mountain road, tires screaming on curves. The headlights behind us multiplied. Four trucks. Maybe five. I could hear wolves running through the trees, keeping pace.

"We're not going to make it to the border," Owen said.

"Yes, we are." Dad's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. "Emma, listen to me. No matter what happens, you run. You cross into Silver Ridge territory and you don't stop. You understand?"

"I'm not leaving you"

"You understand?"

Tears burned my eyes. "Yes."

We crested a hill, and suddenly there it was. The territorial border. A simple line of white stones, but it meant everything. Safety. Sanctuary. If we could cross in.

Something massive slammed into the side of the truck.

We spun, metal screaming, glass shattering. I heard Dad yelling, felt Owen grab me as we rolled. The world became chaos and pain and the smell of blood.

When we stopped, I was hanging upside down in my seatbelt, head ringing. Dad was crawling out of his broken window. Owen was already outside, shifting into his wolf.

"Run!" Dad roared.

I fumbled with my seatbelt, hands shaking. Through the shattered windshield, I could see them. Dark Moon warriors, at least twenty, are circling the truck. And standing in front of them all was Alpha Richard Stone.

He looked calm.

"David," he called out. "This is unnecessary. Send Emma out, and I'll let you all go home."

"She's not yours to claim!" Dad shifted, his wolf strong despite his age.

Richard's eyes glowed gold in the darkness. "She was always meant to be mine. Her mother knew it. Why do you think she ran?"

My heart stopped. Mom ran?

"She died protecting Emma from you," Dad snarled.

Richard smiled, cold and terrible. "She died because she refused to accept destiny. Don't make the same mistake."

I finally got my seatbelt undone and dropped to the roof of the overturned truck. My wolf was stirring now, frightened but present. I could feel her pushing against my skin, wanting to protect our family.

But she was so weak. So incomplete.

"Emma!" Owen's wolf form stood between me and the Dark Moon warriors. "Run! Cross the border!"

The white stones were fifty feet away. Might as well have been fifty miles.

Richard's warriors started moving forward.

And then I smelled it.

Wild honeysuckle. Stormy rain. Something ancient and powerful that made my wolf surge inside me for the first time in months.