I'm frozen in fear and horror and anger and so many emotions I can't begin to describe. I feel as if I've been paralyzed but fluid all at once and I want to scream, cry, kill. I don't even realize that I'm moving forward until I hear a twig snap under my paw. I stop, and two packs of aggressive eyes turn to me. Shit shit shit. I look up at Octavius, whose confusion turns to rage and disbelief.

"Shift." His voice is deep and furious, and I hesitate. "Now." He is growling now, barking at me in a violent Alpha tone. I shift immediately, standing naked in the snow, trying to cover myself up. I feel fur at my side and see a dark red wolf, with a large shirt in its mouth. I hurriedly cover myself with the fabric, still shivering as my bare feet fall on sharp twigs and leaves.

"Oh, Octavius." The cold sneer echoes in Titan's voice. Octavius turns back to him and I hold my breath. "Is this your little whore?"

I see Octavius' fists clench, blood dripping from his closed palms. His control is hanging by a thin hair.

"Don't look at her." He growls through bared teeth. But Titan's eyes never move from me, their blood red hue terrifying and mesmerizing all at once.

"I said," Octavius takes a step to the side, blocking my view of Titan. "Don't look at her."

Titan's harsh cackle stings my body, as if I have just entered a vat of ice water, frozen in fear. That cackle was the last thing I heard before my parents-

"It's amusing, son." Titan moves to the side, and I see both of their profiles. "How you think you can control my actions. You seem to have forgotten everything I taught you, everything I graced you with. You are a disgrace to me, you and your little slut. Really Octavius," He gestures towards me with a four-fingered hand. "Look at her, she's barely a pup. She's even uglier than your mother."

Octavius' jaw is clenched so hard it could snap any second, his control wavering. But he is silent.

"You're weak, Octavius. The one thing I taught you, the only thing that would determine your worth, and you've failed. You're no alpha, because you are ruled by a disgusting, grotesque, bitch."

And Octavius snaps.

He lunges towards Titan, and attempts to grab his throat, but Titan overpowers him, grabbing him by the hair and the neck, his claws elongated. I don't think, I just sprint.

I am running forward before my mind can catch up to my legs, and I am on top of Titan, grabbing at his back and clawing at his flesh. He growls and easily throws me off of him, and I land on the snow. He is still choking Octavius with one hand as he leers over me. I scramble back in the snow, the ice cutting at my exposed flesh.

"You are filth." He cursed down at me, his red eyes glowing embers. "And filth does not deserve the gift of life." He reaches down and swipes at me with his claws but I turn over, and his talons slice into my back, ripping flesh and fabric and the snow is turning red with my blood.

I am naked in the snow, and I can't move, and this is how I die. The man who killed my parents will kill me at last. I close my eyes and prepare for the darkness.

But the darkness never comes.

I open my eyes to see Octavius biting into Titan's arm, and rips his hand off, eliciting a ear-piercing howl from the beast. As Titan falls to the ground, Octavius grabs me and lifts me into his arms, wrapping me in his shirt.

"Blood Moon, retreat back to the boundary! That is an order!" He screams and he runs with me through the forest, the pack in tow, trees blurring past me. I can practically feel the blood flowing out of my body, and I close my eyes, falling into a pitch black void.