**2 years ago**
‘*Let’s go down to the lake*,’ Enyo suggests. ‘That training kicked both our asses.’
“Dad! We’re gonna go down to the lake for a swim. I’ll see you later!” I yell to Dad, who is training with some young pups.
“Okay, sweet pea, I’ll see you for the afternoon run,” he yells back.
I run into the tree line and strip down, putting my clothes in the small tool shed we use to store our things when we shift so we don’t shred our clothes.
We quickly shift, and I let Enyo take control. She’s so graceful, considering her size. We run through the forest at full speed with little effort. Then, in no time at all, we’re jumping into the cool water of the lake.
Enyo swims to the edge of the lake, and we shift. I dive back into the water, and I float on my back, enjoying the cool of the water and the sun shining down on us.
‘*Do you think the training is going okay with the pups*?’ Enyo asks.
‘*If Dad needed us, he would have said so*.’
‘*I know, but he seems to be slowing down a bit*.’
‘*I’m sure he’s fine. Besides, it’s only the pups’ training. They just do self-defence stuff. And just think, in two more years, we will be Gamma*,’ I say excitedly.
I close my eyes, enjoying the peacefulness of the forest, when I suddenly hear screams coming from the direction of the pack buildings.
‘*What the hell was that*?’ Enyo asks.
Suddenly, my dad’s voice is in my head. ‘Athena! We’re under attack! We need you!’
“Oh, my Goddess,” I say quietly, unable to move.
‘*ATHENA! MOVE IT*!’ Enyo yells.
I snap out of it and quickly swim to the bank of the river, then we shift and run towards the screams. Enyo is on high alert, scanning the woods and trying to focus her hearing on the fight. Adrenaline pushes us faster and harder than we have ever run before. Finally, we come to the clearing near the training grounds, and there are lycans everywhere. I see my dad’s lycan, Constantine, trying to keep some wolves away from the young pups he was training when we left. Enyo runs in his direction and barrels into the side of one of the attacking wolves. She bites the side of the male’s neck as we roll, and we land on top of them, gaining us the advantage. She raises her paw and strikes it hard across the wolf’s face, cutting him deeply with her claws.
‘*Enyo! Get these pups into the gym and lock them in there where they’ll be safe*!’ Constantine orders us. Enyo nods her head, and she goes over to the kids who look terrified and are crying.
‘*Come with me, guys. We’re going to go inside where it’s safe*,’ she mind-links them.
They nod, and we race inside the gym. I shift, and I rush the children inside the back storage room of the gym. I kneel in front of them and try to soothe them. “It’s okay, guys. You will be safe here. All of our warriors are going to protect you. I promise you.” I scruff the hair of one of the boys, then I stand. “Someone will come for you soon, okay? Stay together, be as quiet as you can, and stay calm. Can you do that?” I ask them.
They nod, and I give them a smile, then I step out, and I lock the door. I run to the main gym doors and lock them, too. Then we shift back, and we head back out to the fight.
I freeze when we get back outside. The scene before us is pure chaos. The screams and yelps of humans and wolves being injured fill the air, and blood and bodies are covering over our once green field. The primal sounds of wolves fighting raises the fur on the back of my neck, and I start to panic.
‘*We can do this, Athena. This is what we have been training for our whole lives. We need to protect our pack*!’ Enyo’s voice awakens me from my trance, and we leap into action.
I hand over control to Enyo, who sprints towards a group of our pack members who are surrounded by four wolves. She gets rid of one with ease, grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and hurling it into a nearby tree, the loud snap of its spine causing it to yelp. The other three wolves turn their attention to Enyo, who lets out a menacing growl as she waits for one of them to make a move. They try to surround her, but she attacks the biggest one and knocks him to the ground before they can. She clamps her jaws around the male’s throat and looks at the other two wolves. She growls as a warning and then snaps the male’s neck with dominant force. The two other wolves yelp and flee into the woods.
‘*They’re coming down from the mountain! We need more warriors here*!’ Dad’s second in command, Alex, mind-links.
‘*Enyo! Take your squad and go help them*!’ Constantine commands.
Enyo howls loudly to summon her warrior squad to her, then sprints toward Alex at the base of Little Wolf Mountain. As she plows through the dense forest, the warriors under Enyo’s command catch up with us. Enyo looks to the left and sees Ryna, our best friend. His wolf, Alaster, is a lovely shade of grey, and just seeing him makes me feel better.
‘*What the hell is happening, Athena*?’ Ryna asks.
‘*I don’t know, Ry. But we need to get to Uncle Alex*,’ I say. Alaster nods, and we keep running.
We arrive at Alex’s location 15 minutes later, and there are bodies everywhere. Enyo charges straight into the fight and takes down a scraggly-looking wolf attacking one of our young warriors. She slams him to the ground, and he hits his head on a rock, killing him instantly.
‘*Enyo! Ajax is in trouble*!’ Alaster yells through the mind-link.
She whips her head around in search of Alex’s sandy wolf, Ajax, and sees him pinned down by a large warrior.
‘*Oh, Goddess! Ajax*!’ I yell, and Enyo runs towards them. Ajax yelps as the warrior slashes at his face. Enyo grabs him by the throat and violently pulls him off of Ajax just as the warrior is about to do it again. She then pins him down and rips his throat out before he can make another move.
I hear Ajax whimper on the ground, but his wounds are slowly healing. Enyo walks over and licks his face. ‘*Are you guys okay*?’ Enyo asks.
‘*You just saved our lives. We’re more than okay*,’ Ajax says and licks our face back.
We look around as the last of the wolves are taken care of, with no more coming down the mountain.
‘*Is it just me, or were some of these wolves too small to be warriors*?’ Enyo asks Ajax.
‘*They were definitely not all warriors. They were on the small side and looked unkempt*,’ Ajax responds.
‘*They might be from a low-ranking pack. But there’s definitely a lot of them, and they’re organized. So, we need to get back to the pack*,’ I tell them.
#
As we’re quickly organising for two of the younger warriors to drive our injured to the pack hospital, we all suddenly drop to our knees, and my heart feels like it’s being ripped from my chest as a piercing howl fills the air, coming from the direction of home. I try to catch my breath as Enyo paces in my mind, and I look around at the other warriors as they clutch their chests with panic in their eyes. When more howls fill the air, I realize that Alpha Niko has been killed.
We all let out a gut-wrenching howl, shift, and rush back home. The loss of our Alpha is excruciating. All I want to do is lie down and give up, but somehow, we push through it and when we get back to the training grounds, I panic. It’s a bloodbath. There are dead pack members all over the field, and I look around for Constantine but can’t find him anywhere.
‘*Do you see my dad, Ajax*?’ I ask as I scan the training fields. I can hear my heart beating in my ears as I try to find my dad in the carnage, but I can’t see his wolf, or him, anywhere.
‘*There*!’ Ajax yells, pointing with his paw.
I see Constantine taking down a small wolf across the field, and I sigh with relief that he’s okay. But it’s short-lived when I hear a loud boom, like a crack of thunder, and I watch as Constantine falls to the ground, shifting as he goes down.
‘*NO*!!’ Enyo and I scream at the same time and run to my dad. As we approach him, I shift and kneel beside him. I quickly look over him to see where he’s hurt, and I see that he’s bleeding from his chest from what appears to be a gunshot wound.
“Daddy! Daddy, what happened?” I ask, tears streaming down my face as I apply pressure to the wound. “WHY ISN’T HE HEALING?!” I scream at Alex, who has shifted and knelt beside me.
“I think I was shot. Why would they use guns?” My dad says with pain in his voice.
Alex bends down and sniffs the wound, then crinkles his nose. “It’s wolfsbane,” he says.
My dad starts coughing up blood. “It’s stopping me from turning… I can’t heal,” he says as he tries to gasp for air.
I start crying uncontrollably, “Daddy, no! WHERE ARE THE PACK DOCTORS?!” I scream, looking around for help.
“It’s too late, Athena. His heartbeat is slowing,” Alex says sadly as he puts his hand on my shoulder.
“NO! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! DO SOMETHING!” I scream at Alex.
Dad lifts his hand and cradles my cheek, “It’s okay, Athena. Shhhh, sweet pea, don’t cry.”
I place my head on his chest and sob. “You can’t leave me, daddy. I’m not ready.”
“You can be proud of her, my old friend. She saved my life,” Alex tells him.
I lift my head again to look at my dad, and he looks at me with pride. “You can do this, Athena. You have warrior blood in you. I’m so proud of you, my sweet girl.”
He coughs and splutters, choking on his own blood, and I sob as I watch him gasp for breath when he suddenly stills, and his face relaxes.
“DADDY! NO! PLEASE!! DON’T LEAVE ME!” I scream as I wake up.
Tears are streaming down my face as I look around in the dark, confused about where I am. I finally realize I’m in the room Beta Jason brought me to. I cry, burying my face in the pillow. The nightmare of Dad’s death seemed all too real. As though I was reliving it. I search my mind for Enyo, but she has blocked me out. I sob into the pillow until exhaustion sends me back to a fitful sleep.