Chapter 1

On a cold dark night in New Orleans, Jessie fox walks into her daughter's room at a fast pace, shaking her to wake up. 

"Libby!, Libby wake up" i open my eyes to my mother who has been shaking me awake, i look up at her and i see there is panic in her eyes which i find odd because my mother is the type to not worry or be afraid of anything she's always shown how strong she was, so when i see her looking so frightened i start to get worried knowing something must be really wrong.

"Mom,what's going on?" I ask her, I sit up on my bed confused as to why she seems to be so scared. She looks down at me with her bright blue eyes and her curly hair covering half her face but not even that could hide the panic I saw in her eyes.

"Libby get up we don't have much time" she tells me walking out of my bedroom and heading to hers, i throw my bed covers off me and jump out of the bed in my fluffy penguin pj's and follow her trying to get answers on what the hell is going on, as i reach her room i watch her tear open her drawers and throw things everywhere as if she was looking for something, i see there's a black bag packed on her bed with a few things inside.

Where are we going?.

"Mom what's going on,what's happening!" I ask, watching her find the small key that unlocks her safe that she has hidden in her closet. Not many people know about it, just me and my aunt Jenny who also lives with us. "Are we going somewhere?" I asked, looking at the clock on my mothers nightstand beside her bed to see what time it was because when I looked out the window I saw that it was still dark outside, it was just after twelve.

Where could we be going at midnight?.

"Mom, where's Derek?" I asked when I noticed Derek was nowhere to be seen. He was supposed to be back at this time.

My mother turned to me and was about to answer all the questions i threw at her, when we heard someone running really fast getting closer and closer to my mother's bedroom. When they reached the doorway. I saw it was my aunt Jenny. She comes running into the room with her long black curly hair bouncing around. She and my mother are very similar as if they were twins. People say I look just like my mother when she was my age with her long curly hair and blue eyes, but my mother says I have my fathers devilness.

I look at my aunt for answers but I see she's just as scared as my mother is. What has got them so scared I wonder.

"Jessie there here "she tells my mother.

Who's here! 

My mother panics more as if she's running out of time on whatever she needs to do before the monsters find us. She runs to her closet,opens her safe and takes something out. She walks over to my aunt and hands her a small dagger with a black handle and a long silver blade.

"You know what to do '' my aunt nods, turning back towards the door and disappearing from it. My mother heads over to the bed, picking up the black bag putting it over her shoulder heading towards me with another dagger in her hand, and putting it into in my hand I look down at it and I see that it's similar to the one she handed to my aunt but my one has a crystal handle and a silver sharp blade.

"Who's here mom!" I ask more eagerly, wanting the answers I've been looking for. Finally I see she's about to tell me.

"I took these daggers from some very dangerous people but there's no time to explain, Derek will tell you, I never wanted you to find out, I wanted you to have a normal life please remember that "she tells me her face looking apologetic. 

What? from who? I try to make sense of all this and of what I heard last night but all I can think of is that all this is madness.

"Why,from who, mom I'm scared "she brings me into a tight hug. I hug her back feeling like this will be the last time I will ever see her.

She whispers in my ear "Everything will be okay. I know none of this makes sense right now but it will eventually I promise and when it comes you need to embrace it don't fight it okay" she tells me kissing my forehead and takes the black bag off her shoulder and puts it over my own.

"When what comes! what will happen to me"I cry wanting to know everything now.

 "The things in that bag will tell you everything you need to know and our history, your history, don't trust anyone but Derek, he will help you understand and answer all your questions" she tells me fixing the hair from my face.

" I love you, Libby, always remember that and never be afraid and never show weakness. You will be okay. I know you will lead us all to peace "I let tears fall, none of what she said made sense,i felt my body shaking as I heard things breaking down the stairs knowing the monsters are now in my home.

"Go to Derek, he's still at his office and tell him they found me, he'll know what that means, Stay with him at all times and do everything he says he'll keep you safe'' my mother says as we hear things being smashed and the monsters yelling my mothers name, getting closer and closer to finding us.

 "They're getting closer. I need you to go now. I won't let them get you to, climb out the window, go Libby!" she cries and I shake my head.

"What about you, what are you going to do?" I cry, scared that I'll never see her again. She takes my hands in hers. I look at her as she gives me a sweet smile.

"I'm gonna do what I've done since the day you were born,keep you safe now go!" I stand there for a few minutes more but finally i do what she says and climb out the window that I've climbed out of a million times before, jumping off just near the end and running further and further away from my home into the darkness and i headed straight for Derek's office like my mother told me to.

Once I reach Derek's work place I walk straight in the door, turning a few corners till I finally reach his office. Standing outside his door I raised my hand and was about to knock but I stopped when I heard voices on the other side of the door so instead I decided to listen and what I hear only breaks my heart.

10 hours earlier….

Getting to spend a full day with my mother in our beautiful home town in New Orleans, a town of music, art and people dancing around was so fun and relaxing. We went shopping all day and now sit in a cafe, getting off our sore feet from walking around all day, putting down our shopping bags beside us and ordering two cups of tea and two blueberry muffins.

"Its a lovely day out isn't it Libby it's so warm" my mother says looking up at the blue sky watching the birds fly around taking in the warm sun, we have been shopping all day buying new clothes and shoes and a few other things my mother needed, she treats me every time we go out together and i love days like this when i get to spend time with my her i cherish every moment. 

 I don't get to spend much time with her since she works all the time, she works at a bank and it has long nights. I would be asleep by the time she would get home and would be gone when I wake so really the only time I see her is on her day off. My mother was my best friend not that I have many friends but I do have one and she was my best friend.

Her name is Rea Thornhill that's my nickname for her its short for Andrea,i bumped into her accidentally one day in the school library when we both dropped our books and bending down to pick them back up she noticed a book i was reading it was called 'two hearts' it was a dramatic love story and Rea said it was her favourite book, that was the day we started talking, finding out we had so much in common, Rea has long red hair and bright green eyes she wears glasses and wears funky clothes but that's how she likes her style and i love when she lets nothing get to her.

I see her for being brave because she doesn't care what other people think about her. She's actually really nice and funny too, reading and writing is something she loves to do just like me. That's what we most bonded over our love and passion for reading and writing. She also does poetry and she reads some on poetry night at the cafe. The cafe hosts them for entertainment for the people. You would be surprised by how many people actually love poetry.

I'm not too bad at it but Rea is like a pro. The people in the cafe would sit in silence and would listen to her all night reading the poetry she wrote, they were always so thought through you would know as you listen to her read them. People would clap when she finished and they would come up to her telling her how much they loved her poetry and that she had a gift.

We decided to go to the same college because we both liked reading and writing. We have some classes together in college so it's fun when i get to sit with her in class, we often made plans to meet up she would invite me to the nights she reads her poetry in the cafe or we would meet at the cafe chatting, ordering coffees or a nice cup of tea with a donut or a muffin and we work on our writing helping each other with our projects we both are working on for college as you can tell the cafe was our go to spot.

"Yes it is a lovely day" I answered my mother as we sat outside the cafe drinking our tea's and eating our blueberry muffins watching all the people walking past, some dancing some painting in the streets that was the beauty of New Orleans it was a very artistic city so many people were so creative, so full of life.

 "So what time is Derek done work? I thought we could have a movie night since we haven't done it in awhile" i ask which is true we haven't had a family night in two years since both my mother and Derek got promoted in their jobs and that meant more money but longer nights so now it's just me and my aunt jenny watching movies at night she tries to make it fun but it's just not the same then with everyone there.

My aunt Jenny works too but I'm not really sure what she does. She says it's just like my mom and Derek's jobs, just a whole lot of paperwork but unlike my mother and Derek she doesn't have long nights so i do get to see her every night which i love.

Derek was my mothers boyfriend .They met one day in the same cafe I'm always at, the blue cafe. I guess we could call it the cafe of dreams since so many amazing things happened there. Derek was tall with black hair and brown eyes, he had a few muscles and he was also funny and a nice guy. They have been together since I was 2 years old. He was kinda like a father figure to me since my dad died before I was born, he did everything a father would have done for his child,making them feel safe and spending time with them creating a bond. Derek did so much for me and my mother over the years like paying for my school trips and he does the cooking and cleaning when he's off work so my mother can relax when she comes home.

Since I love to read and write, when I told my mother I wanted to go to a writing college Derek told her not to worry and took care of it. He paid for me to get into the college, for the books, for anything I needed. I was grateful for Derek. He's a very successful business man so he gets good money.

I never knew anything about my father. My mother told me he died before I was born. She said he died saving an old lady. I kinda looked up to my dad even if I didn't know him but what I do know is he gave his life to save another. That's bravery I knew then. My father was like my mother, a strong person who feared nothing. She has no pictures of him though so i don't really know what he looks like either, i find it odd that there's not one single picture of him but i think maybe he was just the type who didn't like pictures. 

When I ask about him trying to get any information on him, what he looked like, what he did in his life, anything at all,my mother would cut me off and tell me not to ask about him. She says it's too upsetting to even think about my father so I didn't really bring him up after that.

"Well, he said he's finished at six o'clock but he has to head back into the office at nine because he has so much paperwork to get done at the office. Jenny is passed out in her bedroom. She said she was so tired from work and all the paperwork fried her brain that she's just gonna sleep till she has to get back up at six for work tomorrow morning" my mother gives a little laugh at my dramatic aunt. "So it will just be the three of us tonight" I smile at the fact I will get to spend time with the two people I love most.

Derek works a lot just like my mother so I don't see him too much either. But he still makes time for us in between his busy schedule which I make the most of before he heads back to work. "That's perfect, I think we should get some sweets for the movie tonight before we head home"my mother smiles at me while picking up her cup of tea and taking a sip from it and placing it back on the table.

"I think that's a great idea Libby" she tells me, we finish off our tea and muffins, she pays the bill and we head off to the shop around the corner just from the cafe. Picking up a few sweets for tonight and we head back home, getting straight into our comfy pj's the minute we get in the door. Mine were fluffy white ones with little penguins on the pants and one big penguin head on my top ,my mothers were just plain black silk. We picked a movie to watch, and we decided on a horror movie. I started making popcorn and my mother was lighting some candles and setting the sweets we bought on the table.

Just as the microwave dings telling me the popcorn was done. Derek walks in the front door in one of his fancy grey suits he has to wear for work to make him look presentable like a real business man. He drops his keys into the bowl by the door and I smile as he walks into the kitchen where me and my mother are. I look at the clock on our wall and I see it just turned six. He's right on time while the popcorn is still hot.

"Just in time the popcorn is done" I say, taking it out of the microwave. He smiles looking over at me as he gives my mother a sweet hello kiss just before she walks into the sitting room with her glass of wine she has on an occasional night.

"I wondered what smelt so sweet when I walked in the door. '' He says, taking off his jacket and hanging it over the chair,walking further into the kitchen he bends down, opens one of the bottom presses, pulls out a big bowl and hands it to me.

 I Thank him and take it pouring the bag of popcorn into it, Derek fills two glasses of 7up picking them up after putting the 7up bottle back into the fridge and brings the two glasses into the sitting room and i follow behind him with the bowl of popcorn in my hand and sit down on our couch while Derek sets the drinks on the table beside all the sweets then takes a seat in between me and my mother.

"So what movie are we watching?"he asks, getting comfy on the couch throwing a blanket over us that hangs on the couch behind his head.

"We have decided to pick a horror movie "my mother tells him as she picks up the remote to turn on the movie. I see Derek's head turning to me with a creepy smile at the corner of my eye and I look back at him. 

"Are you sure you will be able to sleep tonight Libby, do you need me to check your closet or under your bed for monsters before you head to bed later? '' he laughs

He did this every time we used to watch a horror movie. I threw a piece of popcorn at him. I was scared of horror movies when I was a little girl and wouldn't go to bed without Derek looking in my closet and under my bed for monsters. Derek always made me feel safe and he always told me not to be afraid of anything that nothing could hurt me and when Derek was around I felt like nothing could hurt me. He always gave me a sense of safety and security. 

I give Derek a sarcastic laugh "you're so funny, plus i was ten back then i'm now eighteen i'm not scared of anything like you told me i have nothing to fear" i tell him picking up some popcorn and eating it. I always took in Derek's words when he told me I have nothing to fear in this world. I knew he did not fear anything nor did my mother so I don't see why I should either. We hear my mother laugh and we both turn to look at her with confused faces on what she could be laughing at.

"Ye both are like children" she laughs.

"Says the one who won't take a shower unless i get rid of the spiders" Derek throws a comment and I nearly choke on a popcorn trying to hide my smile and control my laughter. My mother is afraid of spiders i never would have thought.

"Be Careful now honey or you might just wake with one crawling on your face" Derek went quite real fast after that. My mother smirks knowing she won, turning on the movie we bring our attention to the telly that now plays. 

Somewhere halfway through the movie I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up the movie was over. I was about to move from Derek's lap as this is where my head was resting but I heard my mother and Derek talking. It seemed intense so I decided to pretend like I was still asleep and listen to their conversation.

"When you are going to tell her, Jessie you can't keep it from her forever she will turn eventually and you know you can't control it. She needs to be prepared for this, she needs to know what to expect and how to control it" are they talking about me?. 

"She has shown no signs of turning. She turned eighteen four months ago and I've been watching her like a hawk, but she's the same. There's no change, maybe she isn't going to turn,maybe she's normal just like Jenny "I hear my mother say desperately. 

Like Jenny? What has she got to do with this?.

"Jessie you know that's not possible her father was an alpha and so were you she won't be like jenny it's not possible, she's the next in line to be an alpha to a pack you and Lewis swore to protect and now that Lewis is gone the pack needs a new alpha and that is Libby's place, there running out of hope, they think the hunters will find them they're scared Jessie they need a new alpha to give them hope again" Lewis that's my father,wait Derek knew my father.

"How can she lead a pack if she's not even one of them yet. They won't take her seriously because she's not ready. We don't even know if she will turn" I hear my mother say to Derek with a tone of anger.

"Yes, because you've kept it from her. Her entire life you've been lying to her when you should have been preparing her. Some are late bloomers; she just needs something that will draw it out of her.

Draw what out of me? What the hell am i?.

"The hunters are getting bigger and we are getting smaller. There have been five killed this week. They are getting sick of the hunters picking them off one by one. We are outnumbered with no alpha. We will lose the fight and we lose all that we build, all the Lewis build, how do you think Lewis would feel watching it all fall. "I start to feel angry at them for lying to me my whole life and the fact that Derek knew my father a lot more than he ever let on.

"Don't you dare bring Lewis into this he died protecting his family, he died a hero and i think he would agree with me about keeping all this from our daughter. He tried to make peace with the hunters but all they wanted was war and he died because of it!" my mother tells him in an angry hushed tone so she would not wake me.

"Don't you want to avenge him, he was my best friend i know I want revenge don't you"? There was only silence for a few minutes before my mother spoke again but this time in a sad voice almost as if she was about to cry. 

"I want revenge just as much as you do. But I also know he would want me to protect our daughter. I fear she will have the same fate as her father and i don't know if i can handle that Derek, i lost my husband i wont lose my only daughter so please ,let this go"she begged him and i hear Derek let out a sigh.

"Your right i'm sorry i wasn't being fair" I hear him give her a light kiss "I'll figure something out, there has to be more out there then just us" 

Now I'm confused. More of what?.

"I'm sure there could be but we have no idea yet there hasn't been a sign of another out there since ten years ago. Now we believe they could be extinct and were the only ones left alive "I hear my mother tell him.

"I don't believe that. If there was one discovered ten years ago maybe there's more all around but are just too afraid to come out,we will need them if we want to take on the hunters '' Derek says desperately.

"Derek, there's a reason they're hiding because maybe they just don't want to be killed, they could have their own families to protect now and not wanting to risk the hunters killing them" my mother says.

"Maybe, but we can't live in fear and have our children growing up and living in fear too. That's not a life to live, Jessie, we have to stand and fight, take back all that was taken from us and not let the ones who died be forgotten and maybe in the end we will finally live in peace "Derek says.

"The hunters will get what is coming to them and the ones who they killed, we will remind them of who they were but we have no plan and we need one or we will walk into a trap just like Lewis did. Right now they are too afraid to even step out of the shadows"I hear my mother say in a sad voice.

He looks down at his watch "I've to head back to the office, get that paperwork done before tomorrow. I should be back around midnight" he sighs then lifts my head from his lap. He stands up and then picks me up off the couch bringing me to my room. 

 I decided to bring all this up tomorrow and confront them both. He lays me down in my bed throwing the covers over me and leaving the room. Once he closes my door I open my eyes and I start to think about what to say to both of them tomorrow and prepare myself for the answers,only tomorrow never comes, only my life turning into my very own horror movie.