-Alexandra-

I woke up gasping for air. Images of the fiery dream I just awoke from explode in my head. I look over at my clock and see that it's 5:53 am. Ugh.

I roll out of bed, trying to avoid the terrible thoughts of the dreams that have filled my sleep. Lately I've gone to sleep and I've seen things... Bad things. I see a shadow of a man when I close my eyes. He stalks me through the woods with a thick fog surrounding him. I have had the same dream for an entire week now. I brush the thoughts away as I travel to the bathroom to wash my face and brush the morning breath away. I tie my messy dark curls into a sloppy ponytail and head to the kitchen; my favorite room.

Today is a Tuesday so I have to do some training and I might get assigned stupid border patrol. I didn't mind the training. They were trying to get my pack to become stronger because of the recent pack that was searching the valley, taking over weak packs. Ever since then, our training has been more difficult.

It's almost like they know when we are going to be attacked. My pack was strong though. We have survived many attacks from rogue packs before. Something inside me tells me not to worry.

Our pack is like a family. We take care of each other and we really try to be there for each other. Most pack members here find their mates within this pack too. I haven't found mine yet, but I'm hopeful that maybe one day I will. But a mate isn't something I need, it would just be nice.

I blend myself a quick protein smoothie and change into some workout pants and a cute tank top before heading out of the front door to get a quick morning run before training at 7:30. Usually my morning runs are done in human form. I run in wolf form too but I like to mix it up. I love running. I feel free and it's just a good time to sort through my jumbled thoughts.

.

.

I send a swift round kick, slamming him in the side with all of my power. He winces but then grabs my leg and twists it around before throwing me to the mat with a slam.

"Come on Alex! I feel like you're just getting worse at your fighting." Jason says with a laugh as he extends me a hand. I take It and he yanks me back to my feet. I can't fight. Something about my size and weight just doesn't allow me to do much damage.

"One day, Jase. One day I will kick your ass." I joke as I walked off the mat. I make my way to a bench and grab my water. I take a long swig of fresh clear water before closing the lid and picking up my towel.

Jason and I have known each other since we were both young. He and I have been sparring partners ever since he taught me how to throw a proper punch in the sixth grade. I wouldn't have minded if the moon goddess had made him my mate. He was sweet and was close to the Beta.

I glance around and saw Addison approaching.

"Hey." She rings as she prances over. She has light wavy blonde hair that comes down to the middle of her back and she's two inches taller than me. She has slim shoulders and strong legs. She has been my best friend since we were both pups. Her parents took me in when mine died and ever since they have been there for me. Addison is like a sister to me.

"You're in a good mood." I notice as she gleams at me. She laughs and whips her perfect hair over her shoulder.

"Well, ya girl got a date tonight." She exclaims as she points at herself.

"That's great! With who?" I smile at her. Finding love in this pack was the best. My pack was so accepting and all of the males were cute. I glance over to Jason one last time.

"Martin!" She glowed.

"Martin? Oh my gosh I'm so happy for you! He is so sweet!" I nod my head in approval. She has had a crush on Martin since last year and she always talks about him after training. They were really good friends and I guess he finally decided to ask her out.

"I know right!" She squeals, "He may not be my mate, but he is worth a try! Speaking of, we need to find your mate. You're twenty years old!" she nudges my shoulder.

"It's not like I can just follow a trail of M&Ms and my soulmate will appear." I brush a piece of hair behind my ear.

"Well that would be a lot easier than sitting around waiting." She gives me a look that says, you need to get out more, and then grabs her bag.

"I have to go and pick out a dress. Martin is taking me to the gardens." She wiggles her eyebrows as she sees my face light up.

"Wrap it up!" I yell as she walks away.

The rest of my day was spent at the pack house. I spend most of my time there with my friends Hannah and Emory. We're all so close and I love them so much. We watched lots of horror films and got drunk off of old beer that we found in the back of the fridge. We finally got in trouble for being loud. The beta broke up our party, sending us all home.

I made my way to my lonely dark house and got ready for bed before crashing. I lived alone in a nice house. I moved out of Addi's house when I was 18, so about 2 years ago. It was small, but it was close enough to the border that it felt secluded.

As I have gotten older, I haven't cared as much for having company over. I mostly spend my time watching television in the evening or reading.

I crash into bed and immediately fall asleep. Tonight I am visited again with vivid dreams of panic and horror. This time though, I dream of the SilverMoon pack. They are a legendary feared pack. They have ruled for thousands of years and are said to be deadly. They have been taking over small packs lately, forcing them to join or die; so the rumors say. I heard two wolves talking about how they were inching closer to our territory and that they would take us over soon. They said that was the real reason we were training so hard, not the rogues.

The SilverMoon pack has been around longer than my own pack. The entire werewolf grid has been unstable lately. There are seven major packs that have been fighting to control everybody. The SilverMoon pack is the last strong-standing pack that holds a majority of the werewolves that don't belong to the seven packs. Smaller packs, like mine, have been fighting to stay away from the conformity required by any of them.

One day this pack could be taken over, but it is unlikely to happen in my lifetime since my alpha is hard headed in his own ways.

In this dream, the SilverMoon pack took over my own pack and they were chasing me through the forest. They finally caught up to me and killed me, waking me from my dream. I once again came back to consciousness gasping for oxygen that never left my lungs. This time I try to return to my precious sleep only to fail. I flop around in my bed like a fish as I try to get comfortable.

At this point my brain is in full speed, thinking too loudly for me to possibly get any more shut eye. I glance at the clock and see it flashing a red 4:45. Like every morning, I make my way to my bathroom where I brush my teeth.

As I am brushing my teeth, I hear a loud, harsh banging on my front door. I spit out the foamy toothpaste and cautiously walk to my door, opening it only slightly. Who could be at my door? My thoughts of worry are quickly relieved when I see who is at the door.

"Alex! We need to talk." My best friend stands at my door with a very strange look on her face. She looks behind her making sure nobody is watching and slips through the door.

"Addison? It's so early, what can be that important?" I say scratching my head with a sleepy yawn. "Did your date go bad last night?" I begin to worry.

"It's about your parents..." She quickly says, sitting me down on my soft white couch in the living room. Addison is very pretty.

"What about my parents?" I am confused. My parents had died a long time ago when I was a pup. "Do I have some long lost sister or something?" I half joke. Her reaction shows no joking mood as she locks eye contact.

"I know how they really died and you're not going to like it." She said softly. Confusion covered my face. How did they really die? Was there something nobody ever told me?

"What do you mean?" I said standing up, "They died in battle. A noble death," I paced, "What could be different from that?" I sat once again eagerly awaiting her answer to my question. This didn't make sense. Why would the pack lie to me about my parents? They were warriors. They fought many battles until one day, they both perished.

"I was with Martin tonight and his parents stopped by. They were talking about how they liked me a lot because I was a good and honest person. They even brought up that one time in grade school when I tried to cheat on a test but couldn't because I felt like it was wrong and it was actually really sweet and then we we-" She rambles but I cut her off by raising my hand.

"Addison what are you getting at? Do you know something that I don't?" I furrow my eyebrows as her face drops.

"Alex, they didn't die like you thought... Your Father, He wasn't a purebred werewolf..." Her wide eyes scan my face for a reaction.

"No. You're kidding. He was part human?" I ask, shocked. Humans weren't common around these parts. If my mom mated with a human, then that would mean that I myself wasn't fully wolf. Am I weaker? Is this why I can't fight?

"No." Addison says softly. It seemed like she was choking on what she was going to say next, "Your father was a vampire, Alex." Addison finally whispers, her eyes dropping to her hands.

"No," my hand covers to my mouth. Vampires were hated by Werewolves. I cannot possibly be part vampire. My mind swirls as I recall all of the terrible stories I had heard of the vicious bloodsuckers. They are deadly creatures that were sworn enemies to werewolves and humans.

"How could that even happen? Vampires and werewolves don't mix."

"Your mom and your dad fell in love... Well, he loved her and then they mated. When your mom realized she was pregnant she ran from your Dad because he didn't want to keep you."

My lips part slightly. My own father didn't want me?

"She finally found this pack and gave birth to you... your dad soon caught up and killed her, but when he went to kill you, he was killed himself by our Beta." Addison swallows, her eyes meeting mine again. A tear fell from her bright green eyes.

We sit in silence for a moment. The story she just told replays in my head a few times. I then realized it might be true. I was significantly faster than the other wolves. Vampire speed... and my fangs. They were as sharp as knives.

That would mean I am a Hybrid. My parents weren't warriors. All my life, I had been lied to.

"It's okay Alex. It will be okay." Addison calmed me. "My parents had known from the beginning. They took you in. I didn't know either. Not until today..." She added. Silence filled my lonely living room as we sat.

"I can't believe I'm a hybri---"

I am cut off as somebody pounds on the door with a rock hard fist. I shoot to my feet to open the door and realize it is our beta, Carson.

"Carson?" I asked, confused as to why he had practically beat down my door. It is still pitch black outside.

He stands at the door very alert and out of breath. His dirty blonde hair hangs in his face.

"All alert. There are Vampires on the border." He yells looking behind him. He carries a gun with a long barrel.

There is no time to think, we move quickly. Addison and I run into the basement of my small house to arm ourselves. Everybody in this pack has a secret cellar for emergencies like this. Vampires have not attacked in years, but we always stay prepared for an attack like this.

Addison and I grab wooden arrows and wooden stakes.

There are two ways to kill a vampire: wooden stake to their unbeating black hearts, or decapitation.

Vampires are biologically superior to werewolves with their speed and agility. Becoming a vampire ensures immortality and some of the strongest vampires even are rumored to have mind controlling abilities. While werewolves have better strength, both bites can be lethal if it is intended by the individual.

"Shh," she hushes as she looks towards the door cautiously. We stand there in silence, watching the old wooden door at the top of the small staircase.

There is a creak in the floor boards upstairs. I suck in a breath and say a silent prayer. My fingers grip the arrow I am holding tighter.

In a flash there is a vampire standing in front of Addison. She bears her teeth at him, raising the wooden stake ready to strike. He knocks the stake away, pinning her to the wall.

Her eyes flicker gold as her wolf dares to come out. The vampire is quick to sink his teeth into her neck causing her to scream. I yank him off of her and stab him directly in the heart.

He falls to the ground dead. I look at Addison to see that she is bleeding heavily. The deep liquid gushes out of her neck as she leans against the basement wall for support.

"Addison!" I run to her as she slides down the wall. Putting my hand over hers, she grasps my own palm weakly. "It's going to be okay. You will be okay," I said, hot tears streaming down my red cheeks.

"Alex, I'm sorry." She sputters out. "Sorry you didn't find out sooner."

"Sorry? Addi, don't be sorry. You're going to be okay. Please be okay." I begin to sob as I squeeze her small hand.

She looked at me and put her hand to my cheek, wiping a tear from my puffy face. "I love you best friend," she choked out as she went limp. Her hand dropped from my face and she closes her eyes.

I needed to find someone to help. She can't die now. I jump to my feet and make a mad dash out of the house. I run as fast as I can towards the pack house, screaming for help.

I finally smell smoke as I reach the pack house. It is up in flames as I stop in my tracks. Horror covers my features as I watch the flames erupt into the sky.

Near the pack house was a group of bloody vampires. There are five of them trying to fight both the alpha and beta. At their feet are bodies. Bodies of my friends, of people I went to school with, trained with.

I watch one of the vampires roughly tear into the beta, Carson with his sharp fangs. He roars in pain, shoving the monster off of him. I pull out my bow and shoot one of the vampires in the arm.

This catches the attention of the alpha. His eyes burn into mine. The fear in his look pours into my soul. His brows furrow as he points and screams "You need to run!"

His words chill me to the bone. At that same moment, two of the vampires turn around and spot me. A chilling smile spreads onto one of their faces as he flashes me bloody fangs.

"Run Al!" The alpha roars again as he gets tackled.

So I ran.

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Updated chapter.

Bear with me, this is now under construction (for your benefit and my own sanity)