CHAPTER ONE: ERICA

Erica and Boyd walked through the woods in silence. The forest was all foggy and cold, which made Erica rub her shoulders until Boyd raised his hand for her to stop. He looked around, and Erica did the same anxiously. It had been a few hours since they left Derek's pack. They were both pretty much lone wolves, roaming through the lonely woods without an Alpha, nothing but the chatter of their teeth and heavy breathing to accompany them.

"Did you hear that?" Boyd asked. Erica bit her lip and looked around—nothing.

"No" she said in a small voice, trying not to sound terrified in front of Boyd. She had a bad-ass-she-wolf reputation going on, and she didn't want to seem weak in front of him—she hated feeling weak.

There was a silence for a while, and they didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but they decided that they should press on.

A sudden howl echoed through the woods. It was strong and loud, it rang in their ears. But then they realized it was not one howl, but several, perhaps six.

Alphas, Erica thought, her eyes wide when she realized. Both Erica and Boyd exchanged looks of panic before darting north, running away from the noise. But with every step they took, the howl became louder, as if it was following them.

Don't look back, she told herself, forcing herself forward. She ran as quickly as her legs could carry her, and as fast as her wolf enhancement could take her. Look back and you die; look back and your days are done. Look back and you aren't strong enough to push forward. You are strong, Erica, stronger than before, stronger than anyone else. Just...run. And never ever look back.

Erica knew she was bat-shit crazy right now, running away from not just one Alpha, but a pack. She shook away the thoughts, and kept running until she heard a thump and the sound of Boyd crying out, swearing in the process.

She had to look back, she needed someone, and she couldn't leave him behind, so she stopped. She ran towards him to grab him but she saw that his ankle was twisted, stuck in a complicated mess of tree roots.

"Fucking hell, Boyd" she muttered. Boyd bit his lip and whimpered, forcing himself to not cry out and draw attention to themselves.

Erica heard the sounds of crunching leaves. She looked up and started walking backwards but she tripped over another root. Erica landed on her wrists, she winced but watched helplessly as six or seven black shadows crept closer, their eyes glowing red. Alphas...

One of them made a tsk tsk sound and said, "What do we have here?" The shadows walked closer, and Erica slowly backed away, the moon now illuminating their faces.

"Hasn't anyone told you that the woods are a dangerous place for a pretty girl like you?" One said.

"Lone wolves," one with a thick Texan accent observed, "Should we kill 'em now, or injure them a little and make 'em suffer here?"

"You idiot!" A female voice spat, "They're wolves, so they can heal. God, how can you be so stupid and be an Alpha at the same time?!"

"You wanna go, bitch?" the Texan man threatened, walking towards her.

The middle Alpha—perhaps the 'Lead Alpha'—put his hand up to him and bellowed, "Enough!"

The Texan man stepped down and mumbled under his breath, "Yael started it, Will, it's all her fault" but it was loud enough for the middle Alpha to hear. He quickly stepped towards the Texan man until he was touching his nose.

"...And I'm ending it, Kayne"

Erica was so confused and fascinated at what she was seeing that she forgot to run away. But the thought of leaving Boyd behind for the Alphas made her feel sick and guilty.

"What's wrong with you, little man?" Will, the middle Alpha, said, frowning. Boyd just started at him, biting his lip, "You're stuck! Oh, you poor baby. Do you want help?"

Before Boyd could refuse—or accept—Will clicked his fingers and the Alphas pounced on Boyd, tearing and feeding while Boyd screamed. Erica couldn't see anything but her eyes filled with tears, her stomach wanted to scream, but she got up anyway, planning to dart away.

But before she could even try to run, Yael, the she wolf, pounced on her. Everyone else was focusing on Boyd, so Erica had it easier. The she wolf pinned Erica to the ground, straddling her while she tried to scratch and bite Erica.

A horrible burning sensation caused Erica to cry out and she pushed the she wolf off. She swiftly stood up, running away. She couldn't believe how fast she was going, it felt like it was beyond anything her wolf reflexes could do, she wanted to throw up, and sleep, and throw up a little more.

She heard faint talking behind her, which were probably the Alphas.

"She got away, Will" the she wolf said, and Will growled in anger.

"Stupid! Stupid, the lot of you!" he said.

"Sorry, Will" Kayne said.

"Sorry isn't good enough, is it?" Will said in a relaxed, yet terrifying voice, "She got away"

"We can find her later" another wolf said. Erica was pretty far away, but she could still hear everything. She hid behind a tree for a second to catch her breath.

She heard a loud groaning, and choking sound, followed by a dark chuckle, "—And they can find you later" Will said before she heard a loud crunching sound.

"You killed him!" The she wolf yelled.

"—and you'll be next, now shut up and let's go"

Erica had finally caught her breath. It was difficult to, though. She watched her best friend getting torn apart, and she heard someone's back breaking—what a day.

Erica couldn't hold it anymore; she hunched over and started to throw up. It was violent and terrifying—nothing like she had experienced before, this was a million times worse—she couldn't breathe, her lungs yearned for oxygen, her body pulled in several directions, she could feel her lungs scratch for sweet oxygen but not getting any, the burning sensation became more intense.

Finally, the vomiting stopped, and she was finally able to breathe. Erica leaned against the thin tree and slouched down to the forest floor, slipping into a haunting, and restless sleep.

Erica woke to the sound of her name; she clutched her stomach and groaned in pain. She lifted her red shirt up a little and saw a long, bleeding gash on her stomach. Erica gulped and saw a black figure standing there, far enough that she couldn't see his or hers face. Erica thought it was another Alpha, but the eyes weren't the usual glowing blood red, it was all black.

She tried to make out the shape, but their outline was softened and odd from the thick grey fog.

"Erica!" the voice cried—Stiles, she thought, please be Stiles.

She thought it was some sort of delusion, her mind tricking her into believing that she's seeing the one person she needed and wanted to see.

The figure ran towards her, even if it was someone dangerous she wouldn't be able to stand; her legs ached, her head throbbed, and her stomach burnt. At this point, death was welcomed, she was sick of trying. The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.

The figure came closer and she could finally see the face—it was Stiles.

Stiles' face was badly scratched and he had a few bruises on his face. It made her anxious, was he attacked by wolves? No, he wouldn't have survived a wolf attack, was it something else? She weakly lifted her hand to touch his giant bruise, but he gently grabbed it and lowered it, squeezing ever so gently.

"What happened to you? I was so worried, I couldn't find you," His voice cracked a little, his eyes filled with water and he bit his lip, "I thought you were dead, Erica"

Erica forced herself to smile before weakly saying, "I didn't die, Stiles, I couldn't die. I'm the bad-ass-she-wolf, remember?"

That made him chuckle a little. He put his arms under her and lifted her up, carrying her bridal style to his Jeep.

He opened the door and gently put her in the back seat, "Just relax, Erica," he said softly before closing the door and getting into the driver's seat, turning the car on, "You'll be better soon, I promise"