Anastasia

I watch in horror as the pack of rogues split up into two groups, standing in front of their leader, Luthor. The leader in his raven cloak commands them with curt nods and probably gives them instructions on what he wants them to do. I can't hear any of it - they're too far away, and telepathic communication doesn't reach the ears of those who aren't attached to a pack from this far.

I'm standing by the corner of the cottage where a few bricks have broken off, giving me a spot to peep from. My wolf shivers, the fur on my arms standing in attention. I'm not sure what's going on, but my nose perks up as if my wolf senses the impending danger.

I'm scared. Not for myself, and not for the Blood Moon Pack either. It's Jacob I fear for - his title as the Alpha making him a hot target for the rogues. His father, the Alpha before, lost his life at the hands of these very wolves, their treacherous goal seeking to take over packs as strong as ours.

Ours. I should watch my choice of words. I was never a part of this pack, not in the true sense anyway. And they always made me feel as if I didn't belong. I huff a breath through my nostrils, straining my ears for any sound that would indicate that the wolves were making their move. I'm only concerned about the life of one - the one who could care less about mine.

When one group begins marching off across the border, I lift my muzzle to the sky with pleading eyes set on the full moon, and the words 'The rogues just crossed our border!' is what I scream inside my head, hoping he's not too far away.

I can only pray that my warning message has reached the ears of the new Alpha. But when I look down and peep through the gap in the wall, I realize that the second group comes towards me.

They're careful enough to tread the outskirts of the border, but they're quickly closing in on the cottage. I'd never thought that living here, in the once dilapidated and abandoned cottage just on the brink of the Blood Moon border would be as dangerous as this.

I somehow felt safe here, at a distance. Safe from the abuse, the humiliation, with my heart saved from having to watch Jacob and Gisele as they slowly forgot about my existence.

Right now, I don't feel safe at all, fear coursing through my spine as the murky scent of the rogues infiltrate my nostrils, warning me that they're too close. Too close for me to run away now, leaving me with nothing but to step out from where I'm hiding and into the light the moon shines down like a spotlight on my life.

The joints in my limbs titter with panic I've never felt before as the smaller group stalks around me, circling my vicinity. Their leader stands at a distance, watching with his tongue lapping across his lips as he bares his teeth and snarls.

I suddenly feel the need to ask what they want with me - a lone wolf who's of no threat to them, and dubiously ask, 'What do you want?' I'm unsure if they can hear me at all.

He doesn't seem to hear me, or maybe the rogue leader decides not to entertain any form of small talk with a worthless wolf. He growls in my direction, prompting his henchmen to charge towards me.

Thinking about Jacob's words and how he could never love me and how he wished I was never born, I close my eyes and accept defeat. But like a punch to my gut, the voice inside my head reprimands me for wanting to give up so easily.

'Don't be an idiot, Anastasia! You're the daughter of an Alpha!'

My eyes snap open just in time to see the rugged head of a washed-out brown wolf grow larger as he comes closer.

A bald patch on his cheek makes visible a gleaming fresh scar, the blood crusted around the dent. It reminds me of my own scars, and all the suffering I've endured, but the voice inside my head takes over, allowing me to dodge the rogue's attack as I flash out of the way of his claw.

The rogue snarls, but instead of feeling weak and powerless, I am suddenly standing tall on the limbs of a wolf who is greater than the life I've lived. She is powerful in the knowledge of who she really is and finds the weakest link to bolt towards, knocking the rogue off its hind legs to escape the rest.

The rapid sound of running behind me fills my ears as I run away, but the strength of the Alpha blood inside me spreads through my limbs and carries me out faster. No. I can't go to the left, I think carefully. It would only lead them towards the den, and I wouldn't impose more danger on the rest.

I pass the path leading down to the den and witness the first group of rogues head through the clearing, and call out to the Alpha one last time to be safe, hoping he can hear me now.

I can't go to the right either, unsure if more rogues waited on the other side of the Blood Moon border. So I push forward, hoping that the edge of the cliff would catch them off-guard.

My paws take me as fast as they can, but I'm forced off-course when the scarred rogue rams into my side, sending me hurtling into a nearby tree.

If I didn't have that lecturing voice inside my head, I would have given up the moment I hear the shattering of my ribs when I hit the trunk of the willow tree. But it's that voice, that knowledge that I am meant for greater things than I have endured all my life, that springs me back onto my feet.

The time it takes me to gather myself gives the rogues some time to catch up, and with only a few feet away, I run further, not paying attention to where I was heading to.

The familiarity of the place halts my steps, and a stuttered breath burns down my throat along with the bile I try to push back.

No! Not here! Is everything meant to come full-circle like this?

It's as if my life flashes before my eyes - the memory of Gisele as she stumbled off the crumbling edge, how I was there, frozen as I watched gravity take over and she fell to the bottom. The nightmarish sound of her cries cuts through me like a blade, but this time the pain isn't welcome.

The edge of the ravine is not safe, but if I can somehow lure the rogues to the edge, I might be able to save myself.

But am I worth saving? Even if I'm doing the saving. All the memories come rushing back, flooding my mind with the daunting realization that I was never wanted at all. And the brutal reality is that I couldn't save Gisele, so why would I want to escape the same fate as hers?

'Because it was never your fault!'

That voice reminds me of a fact I never stopped to think about. I remember it now, how Gisele and I playfully ran up this way, and how I effortlessly leaped over the ravine and reached the other edge without falling.

'Of course, you can make it!' I encouraged Gisele, 'If a lowly Omega can do it, so can a Beta's daughter!'

The memory plays out in front of me from the projection of my mind, and there in front of me, I see myself beckoning to Gisele to make the jump. Her eyes are squinted in fear, but it's from my encouragement that she shakes her head and moves back far enough to gain enough speed to leap across as I did. But I was wrong.

It wasn't a lowly Omega that was able to cross the gorge. I just didn't know it then, but it was the Alpha blood in me - the blood I didn't know I had coursing through my veins - that allowed me to do something that was impossible for a lower-ranking wolf.

It amazes me that Gisele, who seemed so perfect all the time, was any lower than me. That, in retrospect, I should have been the one looking out for her. Protecting her. Giving her advice. But my mind was so different then. I thought of myself as a low wolf. So, I behaved like one.

And if I could do it then, call upon that Alpha energy, I can do it now. And if it's not to save myself, it's just to get rid of these thugs.

I ready my paws for the jump, when a set of sharp teeth clamps down on my hind leg, stopping me from moving. I yelp in pain as my back hits the ground, but the fighter inside me doesn't back down. I kick both legs, knocking the rogue in its face so he releases the grip on my ankle.

I stand up, numb to the pain as I always was whenever I tried to end things. But this time it's not my own life that needs ending - it's the life of these lowly wolves.

I feel powerful as I stand before them, coercing them to come for me with a low growl and my eyes squint with a challenging glint I see as a reflection in the glassy eyes of the first rogue that comes my way. He snaps his teeth, but with a solid strike, I send him flying through the air, mewling as his bones crack from the impact of hitting a rock.

I bare my teeth and growl again, and one by one they heed to the challenge. With all my might, I fight through them, knocking them unconscious. The strength I feel is addictive, and seeing their blood being spilled fills me up with a pleasure that soars across the heights of watching red paint my own arms.

The satisfying crack of ribs as the last of Luthor's minions joins his cronies on the ground. It's just Luthor and me now, and he shoots me a devious look of contempt before charging towards me.

'You're going to die now!' the warning fills my eardrums, and I realize that he could hear me all along. I stand my ground, his immense height towering above me as he comes closer, not feeling fearful at all. But his strength outmatches mine, and he drives his full force, knocking me over the edge.

I race to grab a hold on the edge, my large paws fragmenting pieces of the stony earth in my attempt to keep myself up. It doesn't help that my body dangles in the empty air, my back legs struggling to find a grip. My heart races as I find myself in the very same position Gisele was in just before falling to her end. I hear a familiar howl in the distance, and watch as Luthor snaps his head in the opposite direction and barks towards the clearing. Thinking he's done with me, he turns and readies himself for the Alpha of Blood Moon.