PROLOGUE

Blood, he felt it sticky and thick on his fingers on his palm. He had seen it before, once when he had picked up a knife his mother had left on the kitchen table, it had been a sharp pain causing him to drop the knife and when he had looked at his hand, it had looked normal at first, then suddenly a red colour had flooded that area, it had been a small cut but the red colour had still peeked out of the opening, he'd tilted his hand downward and watched it flow to the edge of his palm, it had been slow and before it had grown large enough to drop to the kitchen floor, his mother had ran in screaming words he could not hear, he'd only heard the panic in her voice, she had picked up the knife grimacing as she did and he had wondered why. His father had later explained to him what the knife had been made of and why he had not healed as fast as he always did and he had nodded feigning interests when really he had just wanted to join his cousins' outside.

The memory seemed to replay across his mind now as he sat surrounded by the bodies of the men his mother had killed to protect him and she herself lay weak before him. He watched the red colour spread and colour her cream sweater, creating great contrast.

"mom" he said, shaking her as he did, her eyes seemed dazed and her lips moved saying his name as he felt her fingers brush against his cheeks but too weak, they fell back to her side.

This caused a sob to erupt from his lips and he wondered where his dad was, his father had promised to meet them, he had whispered for them to go ahead back at the house, he had told him to be brave and he had been despite his mother's sobs, but now he felt the exact opposite.

Pulling her body closer to himself, as much as a ten-year-old could an adult woman, he whispered her name once again and to this he was met by silence, a bird crowed somewhere causing him to turn startled towards the sound his heart rate increasing as he did. When no one appeared out of the darkness he allowed his eyes to skim across the bodies that surrounded him, they did not move either and he wondered who they were, why they had attacked his mother and if they were more, and if so he wondered if they would kill him.

He had begun his training at the age of seven, his parents had taught him the little things like were to throw punches at, weak spots, how to throw a punch but his mother had told him that for now his agility and small size were his strong suits and that at the first sign of danger he was to run, his father had familiarized him with the layout of their estate during morning runs were he unable to shift had rode on his back, clutching to his fur, he had been scared at first but soon he had learned to enjoy it.

The advanced portion of his training his dad had told him would begin after his first shift and he had looked forward to it, every time people had come visiting or they had gatherings he would watch the adults brawl and wish for nothing if not to grow up to fight like they did, the pride that came from being the victor, he had wanted that from his father.

As his eyes scanned the forest skittishly for signs of any danger he wished he knew more than how to run because then he could have fought, then his mother would not be like this and he would not be so afraid. He could hear his mother's breathing, it was growing fainter and fainter and that scared him, the red spot had stopped spreading but now it covered most of her sweater.

Fighting the urge to return his eyes back to his surroundings he looked at his mother, her eyes were closed now, her lips looked paler so did her cheeks she looked dead, he felt tears against his cheeks and he hugged her closer to his chest, his hand sought hers, the slight warmth from them assuaging his fears, she would heal and then she would take him home and they would meet his father, he would be angry at him for not coming like he said he would but his father would make it up to him and they would go to sleep hurdled together on their bed and then have breakfast the next day just like they had this morning.

He did not know for how long it had taken but slow mutterings had jolted him from his thinking and he had looked at his mother's face to find her eyes open and a slight colour to her cheeks

"Mom" he'd said

"hey" she had said back, her voice sounding cracked.

"I thought…..i thought" he could not bring himself to say the words as tears fell from his face to hers but she seemed to understand as she shushed him and wiped his tears with her palms, they were sticky against his face but he did not care.

She had smudged bits of blood against his face but she shelved that for later, the loss of her mate still clear in her mind, she had felt it when she had fought those men like a cord snapping leaving this empty sinking feeling behind, but right now she had to focus on her child and ensuring his safety, she could mourn later. She would not delude herself to the fantasy that these were the only men sent after them, attempting to stand she was met by a sharp pain in her chest causing her to gasp in pain closing her eyes and clenching her teeth through the pain she resisted the urge to scream so as not to draw attention, curling into herself and away from her son's body she discovered that her right leg was also injured causing her to groan

"mom" she could hear the worry in his voice but she did not have the strength to assure him, all she could think about now was getting him out of the open to a more secure location, till her mate's pack arrived, her mate had called them immediately the attack had begun but the pack was far and any help around, her brother in law would send would take time, she needed to stall for as long as it would take for help to come. The sound of distant footsteps caused her to forget her pain momentarily. Panicked she turned towards her son.

"axel, baby I…..I need you to run uhmm I can hear people coming"

As she said this his head began to shake and more tears spilled down his face, "no" he continued to mutter, "I don't want to leave you"

"axel baby I don't want to leave you either but" she allowed her eyes to shift behind him in the direction of the fast approaching footsteps, "I don't, but'' she said hurriedly "I'll be right behind you, I promise"

But he wasn't falling for that again, his father had said those exact words, but he had not come. Shaking his head once again he said "no, dad said the same thing too, but...but he's not here".

His mother began to cry, there was no tears but it looked like there would be

"please axel, I promise that I will find you but you need to do this for me okay please" she said, pushing him

"please baby okay, you don't have to run too far just" her eyes skimmed around looking for where his little form could hide, sighting a familiar fallen tree she pointed in its direction, knowing the floor behind it dipped low enough to hide his form, "hide behind that and I'll come find you after okay"

He looked towards were his mother had pointed, then looked back at her eyes were pleading, nodding his head slowly, he stood, but a pull on his arm had caused him to turn and face his mom again

"quietly" she whispered "but fast, just like how I taught you okay", he nodded and obeyed.

She watched her son run to safety and allowed relief to spread across her chest, he was safe, the footsteps were louder now, breathing fast she lifted herself off the forest floor grimacing as she did, clenching her fist she readied herself for whomever might appear.

She was meet by hard green eyes and pepper red hair his companion spread at his side but she only gave them cursory glances, he was the one in charge, she knew it.

His eyes observed her, skimming from her feet till her face, her blue eyes as striking against her features as the first time he had seen her. She had no doubt she looked a sorry state but she did not care all she did not want him to see was how much hurt she was.

His lips quirked in amusement, this caused the animal within to surge forward in anger and as it did her senses heighten and a scent she hadn't been able to pick in her weakened state wafted towards her nose, her mates, his blood, a sorrowful whine escaped her lips but this caused the smirk on the man's face to widen. If the animal within her had been annoyed before it was livid now.

"Greta Winston, it's a pleasure" his gaze moved away from her and skimmed the area behind her, "where's the boy" taking a step forward and followed by his companions he continued "where's axel"

"do not mention my son's name from that foal mouth of yours" she said, her tone darkening into an animalistic one.

"I can smell his blood on you, you killed him" she choked out, tears streaming down her face.

His eyes narrowed at her, how she was still standing was beyond him, her wounds were mortal, shrugging, he allowed his animal within to surge forward taking in the different scents and comparing them to the scent he had gotten from the child's room he had been in earlier, the boy had been here and recent too, sending orders through the link to his men to find the boy he returned his attention back to the woman, for him to have the boy's complete allegiance or the animal within when the time came every form of parental linkage the child had had to be eliminated.

"yes and like your husband, you will have to die" stalking towards her he allowed his body to undergo a half shift, a show of intimidation but as he looked at her, the woman did not seem fazed, he continued to stalk towards her and to his surprise she did the same. He allowed his dominance to surge forward towards her.

Smirking, she pushed her animal forward, completely stepping back from her consciousness, she did not have to worry about control or directing her instincts, she knew they were all dead, she would avenge her mate and save her son even if that meant she could lose her humanity.

The man faltered a bit and she suspected so did his confidence and that was all she needed, running forward she was met instead by the resistance of one of his companions, grabbing him by the neck, she slammed him at the floor and bit into his neck, blood flooding into her mouth as she nicked his carotid, she deepened her bite and bit out a chunk of his flesh when she pulled her mouth of his neck, dropping his body, she laid waste to the rest that came at her.

He had underestimated her, when he had met her two years ago he had seen her as weak and thought that the boy's strength he had sensed had come from the boy's father but she had deceived him it seemed, her dominance had almost sent him to his knees, staggering back he watched her lay waste to his men knowing that soon she would do the same to him too.

Cowering behind the tree as his mother had told him too he pressed his hands against his mouth to cover up his reactions to the screams behind him, his breathing to him had never seemed too loud in his life, sparing a glance behind him he rested his hands against the moist surface of the tree to see what looked like his mother except he could not recognize her, her face was disfigured and blood there was so much, panicking he rested his face against the tree. A snap from behind him caused him to return to the position he had been before, his back against the tree. Yellow eyes looked back at him, the figure moved out from the dark to reveal a black coloured wolf, it stalked towards him, growling as it did, his breath forming vapours.

He watched her stalk towards him, she was in a half shift but she still wore a smirk, standing his ground he decided that he would not run, it would be the coward's way out and he was no coward. the sight of her wounds giving him courage, he mirrored her movements circling her as she did him. He made the first move, surging forward he clawed at her.

Keeping his eyes on the black coloured wolf, Axel scooted sideways from behind the tree with the wolf following his every move and moving forward too. The wolf's tongue slapped outwards licking at its fangs causing him to release a small sniffle, sparing a glance towards his mom as he was fully out from behind the cover of the tree, he hoped she was back to being his mother, she wasn't.

The wolf surged forward snapping at him and out of instinct he screamed for his mother, at the sound of his voice, his mother turned around distracted from the fight for that second and the man used this to his advantage, pushing his fist through her chest, a gasp escaped her lips as she looked at her son, tears pooling at her eyes, she had to save him.

She dropped face first and he allowed himself to take a deep breath. Noticing his wounds for the first time as pain spread through him but he stayed on his feet. She was still alive her hands pulling herself towards what he noticed her son.

He had wanted the boy to look up to him as a hero, he would have spun a hell of a story, using any means to cover his tracks, depicting himself the hero deceiving everyone including the council, but nothing had seemed to go according to the plan tonight. He had no idea when it had all started to unravel, but at one point it had, he had not wanted the boy around for any of this. He had hoped the boys parents would have spirited the boy off to safety, a safe room somewhere away from all the chaos and then they would have faced him alone, he had not only hoped on this but had known it to be fact, he prided himself in his ability to read people, it had never failed him but this time, it had. He had not had enough intel and somehow the woman had escaped with the child leaving her mate behind, he had not expected that, they had seemed to in love, he had seen her choose to stay with her mate despite tenuous circumstances but this time she had chosen not too. It rankled him that things had not gone exactly how he had planned that she had outsmarted him but there was nothing he could do now, if he couldn't have both the human and the wolf, he would have to settle for the wolf, there were ways he could condition the wolf to serve him.

Walking towards the woman he allowed his claws to extend, pulling her by the neck he raised her so her cheeks touched his, "and so it begins" he thought as he directed his gaze towards her son who was now facing them, he wasn't screaming or whining, quiet tears slid down his face, smirking he allowed his claws to pierce her skin, pulling violently he let her body drop to the ground and then he heard the boy scream. He was Alpha, the sooner the boy understood that fact, the better.

Turning his gaze towards the black wolf behind the boy, he ordered him to back off, and watched as the wolf retreated into the dark.

The boy's hands dug into the soil, grabbing at loose soil and grass, screaming as he did, he felt suffocated, like no matter how hard he cried he couldn't let it out, the feeling burning his heart and so he continued to scream, the burning feeling spreading all over him and soon it felt like the screaming was the only thing helping, his mother's death replayed over and over in his head and all he saw was blood, his gaze zeroing in on the man that had killed his mother, suddenly it felt like he was sinking, being pulled into his subconscious and all he felt was the painful snap of his ankle before everything went dark.

The man watched what he could clearly see as a shift which should not have been possible, he was not of age, it was happening too early, but the boy's bones continued to break and reform, he watched fur sprout from his skin, he was big, bigger than he should have been, staggering backwards he called to all his men through the link.

The shift had been fast, and the boys form had laid dormant for a while, all had been silent except for the footsteps of the men the man had called to his aid.

Rising to its full height the wolf stalked forward, it was dark brown and it's gaze was directed towards the man, its dominance seeping through the air, he watched his men form a barricade in front of him as he staggered backward. Turning around he sped forward allowing his men to carry out their duty, protecting their alpha.