Several years ago...

Maple felt a shove against her legs. She quickly rolled over onto her side, letting a grunt escape as she tightened the covers of her bed around herself. The shoving continued.

A pair of hands suddenly infiltrated the sheets, fingers crawling up her sides. She began to giggle as the hands glided up and down. She heard laughing coming from behind her, and quickly turned to face the tickler.

Her mother was looking down at her, chuckling as Maple had tossed and turned. The sunlight was streaming through the windows behind her, making her hair glow like the halo of an angel. As she began unraveling herself from the covers her mother reached down and patted her on the head, "Come on dear, the day's already half over. You're father should be back from foraging by now as well."

Maple, finally freeing herself from the bedding, slid her legs over the edge of her bed and plopped down onto the floor. She drifted from her bedroom and into the kitchen area. Three plates had been sat on the kitchen table, and a small arrangement of vegetables were laid out across the table. It suddenly hit her as to why her mother had let her sleep so far into the day. It was her birthday.

She quickly passed the table and made her way outside. In the fenced in area that had been turned into a front yard, her father was sitting at the picnic table they had built, and was peeling what looked like to be some kind of roots. It wasn't the greatest tasting food in the world, but out in the secluded wilderness they lived in, there was plenty of it.

Her mother was sitting directly across, an old and worn book cradled in one of her hands. Whenever her father and mother would depart for the nearby town that had been abandoned, her mother would always return with a book. For her, it was an easy way to pass time and kept her mind from dulling. They would often bring Maple little trinkets they came across, hoping to keep her curious about her world without bringing too much danger in it.

"Come here kiddo. Have a seat next to your dad." Marcus was smiling, patting the spot next to him on the bench. Maple happily obliged, hopping into place and leaning up against Marcus to get a closer look at what he was peeling.

"Oh these? I wouldn't necessarily call these roots. They're actually called Carrots. They're a type of vegetable." To Maple, the orange color was odd and they almost looked disgusting to her. She had seen plenty of vegetables, but she hadn't seen one with such an odd shape.

"Don't worry, they're not bad. I'm sure you'll like them. Before that though, I think your mother has something to give you."

Maple's attention quickly shot to her mother who now had her hands hidden behind her back. "Now, I know it's not much considering it's your birthday, but when I saw it I knew you would love it."

Her mother brought her hands foward, a folded red cloth in her hands. Maple reached out and gently accepted it. As she picked it up, it began to unfold, revealing itself to be a bandana. she squealed in delight. Red was her favorite color after all.

As she turned it in her hands, she spotted the center piece. Part of the cloth was blocked out with a white square, and a leaf adorned the center of the design. It was the same shade of red as the rest, but Maple felt her eyes drawn to it.

"That's a Maple leaf dear. It has the same name as you. Do you like it?" Her mother was unsure if she would like it, but the smile across Maple's face erased her worry.

"I love it. Um, what do I do with it though?" Maple didn't want to make her mother feel bad, but she wasn't quite sure what the cloth was meant for.

"You wear it on your head sweetie. Just like your dad." It suddenly made sense to Maple. She stretched the cloth out and began fumbling around, trying to figure out how to tie it around her head.

"Ow. Mom, can you help." Maple had gotten her fingers caught in the cloth, and it was pulling at the fresh tissue that was trying to regrow on her hands. Marcus had been teaching her how to control her power, but she still hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. Whenever she let herself get too excited, her hands would often become engulfed in a flame, burning away at the tissue as long as it was active. If she hadn't been an Alpha herself, her skin wouldn't be able to handle such an ability.

Her mother raised herself from her seat and reached over the table, holding the cloth up and showing Maple how to properly tie it. Within a couple of minutes, Maple was able to tie it around her head herself. She rocked back and forth in her seat, content that she had figured it out so quickly.

A noise suddenly arose from overhead. It sounded like massive blades cleaving the air in two. Maple felt afraid, the noise wasn't something natural. She stopped rocking and watched as her parents rose to their feet. Marcus dropped the carrots and Helen threw her book down on the table.

"Dear, go get the car. Make sure Maple is buckled in." Maple felt her dad snatch her up in his arms and as her mother walked over to her. "Maple sweetie, Daddy's going to put you in the car ok? Make sure you don't leave and wait for us." Maple gently nodded as Marcus carried her to the rough looking four wheel drive car they kept stashed behind one of the shacks.

Marcus opened the back door and sat her inside, buckling her in safely in the process. "Maple, wait here for Mommy and me alright." Maple once again nodded her head, and Marcus quietly closed the door.

A few moments passed, and Maple heard the noise grow louder. After a few more seconds, she heard a loud eruption of gunfire break out. She raised up from her seat and peeked out the window. She saw Marcus come running to the vehicle, a rifle in his right hand. He came over to the drivers side and jumped in, starting the vehicle as quick as he could.

"Daddy, where's Mommy at?" Maple was concerned that the gunfire was still ongoing yet her mother still hadn't made her way to the vehicle. Marcus glanced back at her, "Don't worry Maple, Mommy's going to be leaving after us. She's just making sure we get started alright."

Marcus couldn't tell her that Helen had stood her ground to give them time to leave. He couldn't risk sending Maple into that kind of emotional state with her powers as they were. As they sped off from behind the shed and onto one of the rough offroad trails that led through the forest, he could only hope that Helen would find a window of time to make her escape...