Prologue

Third Person POV

-13 years ago-

Towering trees with bare spindly branches that reached for the starry sky above blurred by in Chrysanthemum's peripheral vision, sight that was being impaired by the unrelenting tears brimming in her eyes that had yet to spill over. Dead leaves crunched beneath her swiftly moving feet as she sprinted ahead of her parents who moved silently and less clumsily than herself. They weren't too far behind; in fact, she was certain they were purposely slowing their pace to stay with her which only spurred her to drive her exhausted body harder in order to go faster. She didn't want to be the reason they got caught tonight.

"Hurry, Chryssy!" her mom's urgent raspy voice shouted on her left. "We're almost there, and once we get there they can't touch us and we'll be safe." The young girl cast a fleeting glance at her mother in hopes of seeing a reassuring expression. It was difficult for her to see the woman in the near nonexistent light of the night, but one thing she could see clearly were her cobalt tinted wolf eyes that glowed the same hue as her father's.

Her dad, who was to her right, growled abruptly and snapped, "Stop scaring her, Carina. You know they won't touch her!" The bitter truth in Smith's statement made his daughter gulp. It's true, they weren't supposed to hurt her according to their code, but what if they broke it this time? And, even if they didn't, she couldn't become an orphan. How would she survive on her own? Simple: she wouldn't...

Chrysanthemum tried to block out the thundering sounds that the people chasing them were making from her mind so she could focus on fleeing. Particularly she was attempting to ignore how the footsteps were gaining on them, and she was also trying to forget about her profusely bleeding arm that she had tightly cradled to her chest which was heaving with labored breaths. Panting, she pressed on, sprinting blindly through the forest and desperately wishing she had the same nightvision as her parents.

She was doing astonishingly well dodging trees and leaping over rocks considering her lack of powers, but her luck soon ran out. A boulder protruding from the ground sent her sailing through the air and she landed with an extremely painful thud that knocked the wind out of her. The real damage was in her cracking right shoulder which took the brunt force of the unfortunate tumble.

"Chryssy!" Smith bellowed. She could no longer stop the tears from streaming down her face and fear seized her as she laid writhing in the dirt unable to catch her breath. Both Carina and Smith hurried over to assist their child, Carina standing over her tiny body while Smith kneeled preparing to carefully scoop her up in his embrace.

Grabbing his shoulder to stop him, Carina brought his attention to her by hissing in a hurried but hushed whisper, "What're you doing? You said it yourself, they won't hurt her, but they'll hurt us. They will kill us." To muffle her wailing, Smith gently covered Chrysanthemum's mouth with his hand as he listened intently to his mate. "She's slowing us down! She'll get to the house and we'll come back for her when it's safe. You know it's the smart thing to do," she strived to appeal to his rationality.

Sighing, Smith hefted up the frail body of his daughter and stood by Carina. "You're crazy, we can't leave her! The Hunters will use her to get to us and you know it. This is the nerves talking, not you because the you I love wouldn't even entertain the idea of leaving our daughter. We're going to make it out of this, we just have to keep moving," he countered thoughtfully, bringing his wife back down to her usual calm.

"Chryssy," he began, lowering his voice, "it'll be okay. You're gonna be fine, I swear." She clutched his shirt, whimpering as he wrapped a hand around her arm and shifted her in his grip. Immediately, the agonizing pangs wracking her entire body ebbed away as he absorbed them with a discomforted grunt and she took a sigh of relief while they picked up their pace again, but they weren't going quite as quick as before which made her distress rear it's head.

After a few more minutes passed, the yells of the group of Hunters were alarmingly near. "How much further?!" Carina demanded to know through gritted teeth.

"We just have to get through the clearing and up the hill and then we're free," he confidently informed her slowing his gait marginally as they neared the opening of the clearing. "How're you doing sweetie?" he inquired, gazing down adoringly at his one and only child.

She peered back up at him, her chin trembling and her face streaked with stains from all the tears she had shed. "I'm afraid," she admitted in the smallest voice so her mom wouldn't hear her and start lecturing her about weakness. All Smith did in response was affectionately squeeze her tighter to his solid chest.

They stopped at the entrance of the clearing and Carina exchanged a meaningful look with her husband. Nodding at each other, she watched as he pressed a lingering kiss to their Chryssy's forehead before handing her off to Carina. Chrysanthemum was about to say something in protest, but both of her parents shushed her. What she didn't understand was that this was the most dangerous part of their trek through the woods.

The clearing was less than a quarter mile long, but it was potentially treacherous. There could be traps, Hunters lying in wait, and, even if there weren't, the Hunters could catch up and there wouldn't be anywhere to hide. Smith crept forward with intentions to check it out and make sure the passage wouldn't get them killed, but Carina knew they didn't have time to waste. She figured letting him scout ahead wasn't going to help anyone in her panicked mind, so she rapidly darted around him and shot forward, no longer holding herself back.

Chrysanthemum could hear the pounding strides of her father right behind them along with his cursing and realized that she was holding her breath; she also couldn't help but notice how quickly her heart was beating against her bruised ribcage. Her inner monologue was chanting, 'Almost there, almost there, almost there,' and, "Please let us make it'.

All three were almost through to the other side when a high pitched signal echoed throughout the clearing. It caused Smith and Carina to halt instantly in their tracks, both of them getting a tormented look on their faces. Chrysanthemum's features contorted in befuddlement because the sound was simply a distant annoying ringing to her because she had yet to develop her heightened werewolf senses. She couldn't understand what was happening to her parents.

No longer able to stand, Carina fell to her knees and her shaky arms dropped her daughter to the ground, the impact making her cringe. Smith followed not long after Carina, both of them clutching their heads between their hands and screaming through their suffering, a terrifying noise. However, it wasn't as frightening as the deafening sound of a single gunshot that whizzed by in their direction and hit a tree only a few feet away.

Whipping her head around as best as she could to locate the source, Chryssy squinted back in the direction they had just came to find a group of six Hunters all dressed head to toe in an ominous black. They were spearheaded by an older man and walking over at a leisurely pace through the eerie fog that was to rolling in.

Sprawled out on her stomach, she made a pass at wiggling closer to her mother which was extremely difficult considering how damaged one of her arms was. She tried to get Carina's attention by calling her name, but it just registered as dull noise to her mom as she rocked back and forth trying to cope with the excruciating agony thumping in her skull.

"Mom! Mama, we have to go. Please get up! Daddy, they're coming we have to get out of here," she pled in despair with a hoarse voice. As the Hunters closed in, the piercing signal faded away leaving Smith and Carina dazed and groggy though they were more coherent. However, they were inexplicably weakened. Smith's blurry vision was clearing to reveal his daughter frantically trying to rouse him and Carina from their incapacitated state.

Trying to get to his feet so he could defend his family, Smith rolled to his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows while getting up onto his knees, not paying heed to the anguish he was in due to whatever the Hunters had done to them. Carina was just able to lift her head and twitch her hands. "Chryssy?" he groaned, his gut wrenching because of what he knew he had to say next. "Run," he whispered, still working towards drawing himself up to a dignified stand.

Chryssy's face fell as she was about to scramble over to him and argue, but her mother caught her hand and peered up at her with a sweet smile. She gave a slight shake of her head and slipped off her wedding ring, pressing it into her child's palm. That was the sign, the sign she had always dreaded receiving. That meant it was over…

"We love you, Chrysanthemum. We both love you so much and that's why you have to go. Get to the house safe and as fast as you can. Don't watch what happens to us, promise me?" she requested in a quivering and uncharacteristically gentle voice, the voice of a woman who knew she was going to die and didn't want her daughter to see her gruesome fate. Carina didn't want her child's last memories of her to be tainted.

Feeling numb, all Chryssy could do in response was nod as she stood on trembling legs clenching the ring in her tiny fist. She stumbled backwards, unable to tear her watering eyes from her parents. Only when the Hunters got disturbingly imminent did she turn her back and muster the energy she had left to sprint away from the scene.

Seeing as how close they had been to being through the clearing, it didn't take long for her to dive back into the woods and get herself hidden from view. She remotely heard the harsh voice of a young woman vindictively shouting, "The little girl got away!" Her chest contracted in trepidation as she gulped heavily and ducked behind some nearby bushes. They wouldn't come after her would they?

"It doesn't matter, Kate. She's no threat to us, she's just a child," someone with a gruff tone retorted. Chrysanthemum's chin wobbled as she gathered her courage and got into a position where she could peek through the brush so she could see what was going on. She determined that the oldest man was the one who responded to the girl who was the only female with the group.

The six of them were circling around her parents with various weapons drawn. The girl in question wielded a lethally modified taser that dangled off of the wrist of one of her crossed arms. "Gerard, children grow up. She may not be a problem now, but that doesn't mean she won't be in the future. Why not just take care of-" The leader, Gerard it would seem his name was, held up a hand to stop Kate's quarreling. Though she seemed displeased, she followed the silent command and slumped in defeat as she tossed her wavy mane of dirty blonde hair over her shoulder, widening her stance to up her intimidation factor.

Four other imposing men surrounded Carina and Smith in stony silence, two with guns and the other two with crossbows, all trained on the pair of werewolves. Gerard was the only one without a weapon which Chryssy found odd considering he was the one leading the Hunt.

Her parents huddled closer together for protection, still crouched on the ground and glaring up at the Hunters with disgust. At this point their claws and fangs had come out and they were snarling as the band around them grew tighter, herding them together as if they were compliant sheep instead of ferocious wolves.

Chrysanthemum pressed a hand over her lips to quiet her uneven wheezing as she continued to watch, defying her mother's final wish. Her mind raced, trying to come up with some way to save them. Usually she was able to come up with plans in no time at all, but now she was coming up blank. This was different; there was too much on the line, too much pressure for her eight year old self to handle, and too much for her to fathom losing…

"You'll have to excuse my daughter. It's her first Hunt and she's rather eager, but don't worry about your girl. She's not the one we want. Not tonight anyways," he vaguely threatened with a mirthless chuckle. Rubbing his gloved hands together, Gerard smirked maliciously down at the two werewolves he had been seeking out for almost two years. "Smith and Carina Qynn...you are a tough couple to track down, you know that? No Pack, always moving from town to town, and never leaving much of a trace in your wake other than destruction," he began with an almost bemused tone.

He paused to remove his cap, passing it to one of his henchmen, and cracked his neck stoically. Carina, who was still unable to move much, had her plump lips pulled back in a menacing continuous growl while Smith was still working on getting to his feet. Gerard bent, putting his hands on his knees for support, and inspected the creatures with disgusted fascination.

He persisted with his speech, however his words were now murmured lowly through clenched teeth and drenched in venom. "Bet you didn't think that we would catch up to you, did you? Bet you never thought you'd ever have to answer for those three Hunters you killed on the night of that full moon, did you?" Instead of answering, Smith cast his glance away in shame and Carina defiantly dug her claws into the dirt. Tutting, Gerard drew back up to his full height and held out a hand to another henchmen who presented him with a sheathed broadsword.

Chrysanthemum bit down on her tongue to keep from screeching at all of them to stop because she knew what was coming. This is what always happened to Omegas eventually, it was their sealed fate. A lightheaded feeling washed over her accompanied by queasiness and she started to sweat through her torn clothes that were stained with blood and mud. Everything was going so wrong so fast and there was nothing she could do to change it. All she could do was pray for a goddamn miracle to spare her parents.

"Kate, the wolfsbane," Gerard commanded plainly, stepping back to unsheath his sword. She gave him a twisted grin and pulled out two syringes that were filled to the hilt with a familiar toxic purple liquid, a wicked gleam lighting her cruel azure eyes. When she snapped her fingers, the four men around her calculatingly restrained Carina and Smith, two on each of them.

Smith didn't really put up a fight, he didn't have much left in him and had accepted what was to happen. Carina on the other hand shouted to the heavens and lashed out with her feet and claws to the best of her ability while gnashing her sharpened canines at them, but it wasn't enough. They were both pinned down and had needles plunged into their necks within minutes. After that, they became still and docile, the concentrated plant putting them into a fugue like state.

From there, the men that had been restricting them hoisted them up as Kate fiddled with some ropes, securing them around a thick tree at the edge of the clearing with a disturbing grin. Their limp bodies were tied up at the wrists and raised off the ground where they'd been dumped so that they were dangling in the air awaiting their end.

Gerard approached them and everyone shuffled back out of his way. The pure silver of his sword glinted in the light of the crescent moon as he swung it back with steady hands wrapped around its grip. "Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent," were his final words before slicing through Smith and Carina in one smooth swift motion, hacking them clean in half.

Chryssy sat in a stunned silence, digging her nails into her palms and staving off yet another wave of tears. She felt like it was her that had been eviscerated as she watched the lower parts of their bodies fall to the ground followed by a river of blood and other bits unidentifiable to the untrained eye. Their upper halves were cut down shortly after and the four henchmen began the cleanup process while Gerard strode away unfazed by the horror he'd just committed with a smug Kate right on his heels.

Sitting back on her haunches, the young girl let her head drop to her hands as she attempted to process what had just happened. It didn't seem real to her, no it couldn't have been. She was convinced that this was some terrible nightmare and she'd wake up in her parents bed. The hollowness she was encountering right now would vanish when she awoke in their arms and they would go about their strange lives like any other day. Distantly she knew this wasn't the case. She knew she was alone now.

Chrysanthemum felt rage like she had never before experienced swell up inside of her. She was furious at the Hunters for obvious reasons, at her parents for getting themselves into this, but mostly she was angry with herself for being so helpless. If she couldn't save them how was she supposed to save herself? "The house...I have to get to the house," she told herself on the verge of hysteria, the anger disintegrating as abruptly as it had appeared but still resonating somewhere deep within her.

Even though she was emotionally drained and physically stretched to the limit, she managed to get to her feet and head up the path that would lead her over the hill to her destination. She was no longer even trying to be quiet, what was the point? If the Hunters had really wanted her they would have found her, but no, they let her live. However, that didn't mean she was letting her guard down. Hell, if anything it was built up. To her it was the quiet before the storm.

Finally, Chryssy crawled to the top of the hill and leered up at the grand manor before her. Having no time to stop and revel in its majesty, she rose once more to make one last run towards the front porch of the home. Lights were flickering on in the previously dark house as she reached the door and swayed on her feet. Incapable of supporting herself anymore, she collapsed and an odd peacefulness consumed her because she knew she was safe now.

Chrysanthemum wasn't worried about her injuries, the Hunters, or slipping into unconsciousness as she currently was anymore. None of that mattered because she had made it. She made it to the Hale house...