Hello! A few years ago, when I started this story, I said, "Kick off to another story! I hope you enjoy it." I now look back at those sentences alone and facepalm, so I will be editing everything in this book and hopefully make it smoother than before!

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Hyourinmaru, there lived a great king with his merciful queen and their 4-year-old son. Their kingdom people loved the family. The princes had a promising future as a future king until one night when an intruder snuck into the castle and kidnapped the little boy.

~8 Years Later~

In a dark building on the kingdom's outskirts, very few people traveled sat a creaky cement building. A little boy sat in the corner with his knees tucked to his chest in the fetal position. The room was pitch black and had been for the last couple of days. The only time the boy saw a glimpse of light was when his captures brought him food, water, or wanted to abuse him. As he thought about the abuses, his head started to throb as the memories came back from the last 8 years. Unfortunately, he didn't remember anything further than the dark corners of the abuses, but he did know before his memories he lived in a place where he was loved. He yearned to return to those days and often spent time daydreaming about what he thought his parents looked like and their embraces. He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard the creak of the gate opening up, alerting him that his captures were coming. As the light started to stream in it, it lit up his dirty white hair and highlighted his teal eyes. He wanted to be brave and fight his captures off to escape, but his spirit for that had been broken long ago when he first learned their rules.

"Oh Shiro," called a man's voice. It echoed off the walls as the man came down the flight of stairs where the boy was huddled up. The voice made the boy shiver as he kept his eyes on the last step. The man slowly walked up to the boy before ruffly grabbing his chin and forcing him to look up. "It's time," was the last words the white-haired boy heard before he felt a sharp prick to his side, and his vision went dark. Self consciously, he could feel himself being dragged across the floor, but his body wouldn't obey his orders.

When he finally came too and attempted to move his limbs around, he was met with restraints on his wrist and ankles. He was on a cold flat slate that was cement; he could tell it was a table. His gaze looked across the room, taking in the equipment laid out on a stool beside him. His eyes widened, seeing the different knives as he struggled more against the restraints.

"P-please don't," he pleaded, his captures only causing them to laugh at him. As the male that had original dragged him to where he was stepped up,

"Oh Shiro, pleading will only make it much, much worse," he hissed before he took a knife and slowly cut across the boy's right side down his ribs. He wanted to yell out but bit back his tongue, knowing it would only cause them to be angry and inflict more damage to him. His captures didn't taunt him too much before they had covered his whole body in decent depth cuts. As Shiro looked up at the grey ceiling, he could see his vision going blurry and felt more tired. He figured it was from all the blood loose that caused it. He could hear them chuckling before they went silent for a moment. He thought he had lost his hearing but was clarified when he felt a knife stab through his stomach and heard them running out the back way, leaving him where he was wondering what could have caused them to leave so abruptly. His question was answered as he heard growls and the sound of claws coming down the stairs. Three massive white wolves appeared in the staircase entrance of the room. The largest of the three had what looked like a young girl on it's back with long straight raven black hair. She wore a mask that looked like a wolf hiding any other feature that could have helped someone identify her. He watched her as she jumped from the back of the wolf onto the table.

"Kana, I think he's still alive," her small voice echoed in the room. There was a brief pause as if the two were having a conversation before the girl jumped off the table. Shiro could hear the girl shuffling things around on the ground before she jumped back up going to his restraints; she unlocked them, releasing him. Shiro rolled to his right side, holding himself, trying to soothe the pain throughout his body. "Come on," the girl urged him up. Grimly he sat up, the girl having to hold him up. Sighing, she pulled him onto her back before carrying him to one of the wolves that were waiting. Maneuvering his body, she carefully placed him so that he wouldn't fall off and moved his hand so that it would grip their fur. "You need to hold on," she instructed before going to the largest wolf identified as Kana and hopping on her back. The pack ran into the woods, having the undergrowth as cover from anyone that might have been looking for them. As they ran, Shiro floated in and out of consciousness until they arrived at an old cabin. The last thing he remembered before going completely dark was an old woman walking towards them and the girl exchanging some words that he couldn't hear.

Shiro groggily woke up a few days later, he had expected to have died or at least to have pain across his body, but when he moved his limbs, he didn't feel anything but a tiny sting and some tenderness. Looking down, he could see his legs and arms were wrapped up in white bandages. He let his gaze drift across the room until it fell upon the old woman by the fireplace with a pot.

"I'm glad you're finally awake; you've been asleep for nearly a week," the old woman said as she stirred what was in the pot.

"How did you know I was even awake? You didn't turn around?" he asked curiously. The woman smirked as she poured some soup from the pot in a bowl before walking over to him with it.

"It's something I picked up from living with the wolves for so long," she answered as she handed him the bowl. Shiro looked between the bowl and her weighing his option before hearing his stomach growl, "it will help you feel better," the old lady pointed out before he nodded and gulped the soup down.

"Can I have some more?" he asked eagerly, causing the old lady to laugh before nodding,

"Of course, there is plenty," she agreed before getting him some more. The two talked a little bit longer before their conversation was interrupted bowl a series of howls; they both turned towards the window to see the pack of wolves gathering.

"What is going on?" he asked, looking at the woman,

"Karin and Kana went to town to see if there were any missing children as well as to see how far the kingdom has made it into the woods," she answered, studying the pack, "they are nervous,"

"Who is Karin and Kana? Are they checking missing children for me? Why is the kingdom coming into the woods?" he asked the series of questions.

"Karin is the young girl that saved you and brought you here, while Kana is the leader of the pack, and she's Karin's adopted mother, and yes, they went looking to see if any missing child matches your description. Finally, the kingdom years ago lost their young princes, and the king and queen are at least hoping to recover their son's body," she explained as Karin and Kana arrived at a clearing and climbed on a big rock that allowed them to look down at the pack that was gathered. Shiro watched the raven girl, fascinated by her.

"Why is she with the wolf pack and not in the kingdom? And when she saved me earlier, she looked at Kana like she was talking to them. Can she understand what they are saying?" he asked, pressing for as much information the old woman was willing to give.

"That story is not for me to tell; as for your second question, she can; it's like us learning English; we grew up around it, so it's the language we learned. Karin grew up with the wolves, so it's kind of like her native tongue. It wasn't until Kana brought Karin to me where she learned English." the women explained before they turned their attention to the wolves meeting outside the window.

"What are they saying?" he asked curiously after several minutes had passed.

"Kana says the kingdom will be here at this cabin in the next four years, so when I'm guessing you 16 and Karin is 14, at that point, they'll have to move their territory and challenge another pack; therefore, they have to start scouting now to decide which pack to challenge," she explained. Shiro nodded, taking in all the information that he could. Karin and the pack had piqued his interest, and for the next four years, he would study and watch them. As well as become friends with Karin would teach him all that she knew, including how to speak with the wolves.

That's the first chapter redone! I hope you enjoyed it and that it makes more sense.

As always, like, follow, comment, favorite, vote, and review. I would love to know your thoughts and feelings towards this book!

Until Next Time

~FoxFlame864~