Chapter 1

Elizabeth was playing with her friends when the horn sounded. It seemed to shake the very

ground they stood on, and immediately they stopped what they were doing and started running

towards the tents.

As far back as she could remember, her parents had made her understand that at the sound of

the horn, they were to run towards the tents for safety as fast as possible.

She reached the tents to see her Father standing outside scanning the surroundings. Their eyes

met and he stretched his hands towards her.

"Come on Beth, your mother has been searching for you." He leads her into their tent and

Elizabeth finds the tent in utter disarray. Her mother is in at one end stuffing clothes into a bag.

"Beth, where have you been?" she says the moment she sees them. "Quick, put on your sandals.

and your coat we're leaving."

"But why," she replied to her mother, "I want to go with daddy."

"There's no time for this, move your little behind and get ready for us to leave this instant." Her

mother says, frowning as she adds another thick coat to the bag of clothes she was holding and

closes it.

"No, I'm not going to go." Her little voice screamed back at her mother. Just as she turned ready

to bolt out of the tent, her father's voice brought her to a stop.

"Elizabeth go with your mother." He shouted at her as he picked up his spear from the floor. He

walks towards her, gets on his knees and strokes her cheek using his big thumb to wipe the

tears from her eyes.

"I love you very much Firecracker, never forget that," he says, his voice now gentle and calm.

Elizabeth wipes her eyes with her hands and hugs him tightly. When he finally pulls her back

she sees his own eyes shining with tears.

He tapped her head gently and turned to her mother. "Take her as far away from here as you

can. Jacob already has a horse waiting for you outside once I leave."

"When will I see you again?" Her mom asks him tears flowing freely from her eyes. "Why don't

you come with us? The ritual has already begun. You cannot shapeshift, so there's no way you

can win against them."

Her father's face suddenly became clouded in anger.

"And abandon my men, my clan, your people? Never. I will never do that. As the Alpha I stand,

fight, and die with my pack if I have to."

"Then what of us? We are not just a part of the pack, we are your family." Her mother screams

back at him.

"Are we not supposed to be your number one priority? How are we supposed to survive on our

own out there" she says as she bursts out into tears now crying uncontrollably.

"You know what happens to lone wolves out there… they… they… don't survive…" She falls on

her knees unable to continue.

Elizabeth sat there shaking in fright as she watched her father enclose her mom in his arms as

she cried uncontrollably. After a while when she had calmed down, he spoke, his voice calm and

soothing.

"Martha, you have to be strong. Promise me, promise me that you'll do all you can to ensure

that Beth survives this. She is our future."

"I… I promise you."

"Good," he kisses her on the forehead, and after giving her a little smile, he leaves the tent.

Elizabeth watched her Mom continue to stare at the opening of the tent for a while and then

suddenly she turned to face her.

"Let's go." She watched her mother organize a few of their clothes into a saddle bag and soon they were

standing outside the tent ready to leave.

Other women were around them doing the same thing her mom was doing. Angel couldn't understand why

they were all so afraid. The fathers go out hunting all the time and they do not behave like this.

Why was this time so different? Why was her mother crying like something bad was going to

happen to her father? Just as she summoned enough courage to ask her mother who had just

put her on top of Felicity what was going on, a loud shout arose from the far side of their camp.

It was like all hell was let loose. People suddenly started screaming from the far end of their

camp. Her mother immediately climbed behind her jerking Felicity's reigns hard so she could

start moving immediately.

It was like Felicity too knew something was not right because she took off with So much pace

that Elizabeth had to shut her eyes to stop them from watering so much because of the wind.

The howling of wolves could be heard from different ends of the camp as they continued moving

as fast as possible.

It was late in the evening before her mother finally stopped so they could camp. They had found

a cave between the rocks. After putting their things inside they both huddled together in one part

of the cave.

"Mom," Elizabeth spoke breaking the silence that had stretched between them since they left

their village.

"What is it, sweetheart," Martha replied her voice filled with sorrow.

"Is Dad coming to meet us here?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Why? What If they come back from hunting and we are not in the village? How will they know

how to find us?" Elizabeth continued her questions.

Martha took in too deep breath and turned her daughter around so they were lying face to face.

"Listen to me very carefully Beth. I want you to never forget what I'm about to tell you right now."

She says her voice coming out as whispers now.

"Our village was attacked by another clan. They would have destroyed everything and everyone

we left behind, inclu… includin… including your father."

"That's a lie," Elizabeth says fiercely shaking her head from side to side. "Daddy's the Alpha, no

one can defeat Daddy. He is the most powerful of all the others in the village."

"Elizabeth,"

"No."

"Elizabeth." Her mother says again this time shaking her body violently, until her teeth rattled in

her mouth.

She becomes quiet immediately. Tears flowed out of her eyes.

"Listen to me. Our village is very special, we possess abilities that surpass the strength of the

other clans, and we are meant to lead and guide them. As a result of our strength and superior

abilities to theirs, they became very jealous of us."

"We were attacked by the most ruthless of all the other clans today, the Racci. Once after every

thousand years, a day comes when we in our clan become unable to use our abilities. We

become mere humans for that day."

"This day was a blessing from the moon goddess to allow us to experience what it means to be

humans and so through that experience know how to engage with them."

"But this same blessing has become our curse and undoing because the other clans now look

forward to this day as a chance to take over the position of the head clan from us. As a result

the exact day of the moon festival has been our greatest secret for thousands of years."

"Somehow the other clan discovered this day and so we were attacked and our village was

destroyed by them."

"So," Elizabeth cut in "does this mean we'll never see Dad again?"

Her mother pulls her close before she speaks again. "No, it doesn't. We'll see you Dad and all

live together as a family again in the moon. I promise you that."

They both sob gently holding on to each other for a while. And just as Elizabeth dries her eyes,

her mother's voice cuts through the darkness.

"Remember this beth, Our superior abilities and powers are supposed to pass on to the clan

that kills our Alpha. But as long as anyone from our clan survives this day, our power and

abilities do not pass on to that clan."

"Instead they remain with that person and settle in the clan that the person decides to become a

part of."

Turning her face so that they were face to face with each other, her mother continued. "You Beth

are the future of our clan, don't ever forget that. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Mother, I won't." She replies calmly.

"Now go to sleep firecracker we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."