Chapter 1 Rogue Attack.

Diane's POV

I stared out across the vast terrain of nothingness, watching the sunset as the sky put on its final show for the day. Today was my only day off, and after I helped my parents at home, they allowed me to come hang out at my favorite spot behind our house at the top of the hills, which overlooked the Red Moon Pack border.

Our house is located at the far east end of the pack territory. People rarely come in this direction, so I usually hide here to avoid being bullied and spend some alone time with myself.

Ever since my sixteenth birthday, when it was confirmed that I was unable to shift, I have been living the life of a relegated person in the pack.

There has not been a single day when I have not been called weak, ugly, pathetic, a disgrace, a loser, and so many other hurtful words by my fellow pack members. I have lost all my friends and was even being bullied and abused by most of them, except for Josh and Jessie, Alpha Clinton's children. Aside from my parents, the both of them have been my rock through it all.

I sat on the ground, hugged my knees, and rested my chin on my forearm. I continued to stare off into space, wondering what my life would have been like if I had gotten my wolf two years ago. As I immersed myself in my thoughts, I noticed something running towards me. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, then I realized it looked to be some dog or coyote in the distance.

Although there were many of those in this area of the pack, at the rate that this one was moving, I knew it was a regular canine. Then the sudden smell of something rotten permeated my nostrils. I swallowed, feeling sick. We were taught from a very young age what that smell meant.

"Rogues!" I cried out.

I stumbled backwards, trying to get up as fast as I could. I forced myself to stand steady and started to run as fast as my legs could carry me, but without a wolf, there was a limit to how fast I could run. My legs burn as I push myself to run even faster, trying not to stumble over logs, holes in the ground, and large rocks. But unluckily my foot got stuck in a small hole.

I cried out as I looked back and noticed more swarms of rogues on the field. There were so many! I got my leg free and stumbled backwards. The sound of a threatening growl made me turn around slowly, and I came face to face with a massive rogue that smelt like sewage.

Drool was dropping from the rogue's lips. It reared back on its hind legs, ready to pounce on me, but right before it did, a huge brown wolf leapt over me and tackled the rogue. I felt my heart skip. I didn't know whose wolf that was, but I was glad it came on time. I stood up and started running towards our house.

Soon I could hear the snarls of the rogues gaining on me, so I headed for the pack house instead, knowing that the rogues would catch up with me if I should head home. "Rogues! Rogues!" I kept screaming as I continued running towards the pack house. Soon the alarm to signal an attack on the pack came on, and all pack warriors started coming out from the pack house.

I continued to run towards the pack house, hoping to get into one of the bunkers for safety, but in my attempt to get there, I was knocked over by a pack warrior who was transforming into wolf form. The force had me rolling on the ground. When I looked up, I saw the hordes of rogues coming in my direction, but before I could do anything, a wolf grabbed my hand and started dragging me away.

I turned to see a familiar black wolf dragging me away from the fight.

"Mom!" I cried out.

She shifted back to her human form. "Diane! You need to run," she said and started shoving me away.

"Mom! Where is Dad? And I need to go to the bunker."

"Honey your Dad is safe and fine, he's fighting with the other warriors to defend the pack. And you can't go to the pack house, it is under attack and no one is making it to the bunker."

"What are we going to do Mom?"

"You need to run Diane. You need to get as far away from here as you can."

"What about you, Mom? I can't leave you and Dad here. And it will only be a matter of time before they catch up with me since I can't shift into my wolf."

"You can't stay here with us, Diane. It's not safe here, okay. Now this is what we're going to do," she said, pulling me to a corner where she kept her bag.

"Diane! Go climb that tree now and stay up there," my mother said, trying her best to remain calm as she pointed towards a very tall tree that wasn't too far from the pack house. Then she pulled out an anti-scent spray from her bag and tossed it to me.

"Climb as far as you can, and make sure you're covered. Diane, promise me that when you climb up, you won't come down no matter what happens. Promise me, Diane." My mother said with a shaky voice and tears now forming in her eyes.

"Okay, Mom, I promise. But what about you? You can't stay here; we need to leave this place together, and you have to mind link Dad too." I said, still not wanting to leave my parents.

"Diane, your father has to stay and fight, and I need to make sure that you are not followed. I promise I'll be with you soon. Now go, Diane!" She yelled and pushed me away.

I move on autopilot, doing what she says. I spray myself with the anti-scent spray so they can't scent me near the tree, run to it, and climb up. I'm running on pure adrenaline. When I get up as far as my hands and legs would take me, I look down, trying to find a branch where I could get a general idea of what's going on while still staying hidden.

I wish I hadn't looked. When I looked down, I saw four rogues running right to where my mother's black wolf was hiding in the bushes close to the pack house. At that moment I wanted to send a mindlink to warn her, but I couldn't as I had no wolf. At that point, I felt totally useless.

At first, it seemed like my mother would be fine as she jumped out of the bush and attacked the first rogue that approached her, she was even able to beat the rogue. But my heart skipped when the three other rogues surrounded my mother. It all happened in slow motion as the three rogues jumped in sync on my mother, ripping and tearing her to pieces.

I'm frozen as I stare at the scattered pieces of my mother's body in horror. When I can't stand the sight anymore, I try to turn away without creating too much movement that might draw attention and silently sob to myself. My heart felt like it was burning alive in my chest, this despair would swallow me whole.

I stayed at the top of the tree sobbing my eyes out silently until it was midnight. Few of the rogues were leaving now, while some were still slaughtering any members of the pack they could find. The stench of blood and dead bodies is making me sick. All my family and friends are dead. I open my eyes and look down, I see movement from below the tree, I know I have to be quiet and stay still.

I wait for a while till I hear nothing below, then I climb down the tree, jump from the last branch, and land straight on my feet. I look around and walk over to the devastation of my pack. Without being told, I knew that our pack had been taken over by rogues, and either everyone was probably dead or very few were still alive and were hiding, but that wasn't my business anymore.

I need to get out of here so I don't end up like my parents. I couldn't let the sacrifices they made for me be in vain. I am now a rogue.