Phoenix Rising

Chapter One

It's the same thing every day.

I arrive at the Slave house at 8 a.m. off of my rotating night patrol. A plate from the previous night's feast in the main hall sets on an old wooden table in the kitchen waiting for me.

One of the Omegas is always tasked with taking the scraps from other warrior wolves' plates to bring back for me. I scarf down whatever small amount of stale food is on the plate within seconds- shoveling it in my mouth like a rabid animal.

The Slave guards and commanders always stare in disgust, but when your fed one child-sized meal in a twenty-four-hour period hunger takes control.

Well, unless there are no leftovers. Some of the warriors that figured out who the plate of their scraps went to began eating absolutely everything.

The result being I was forced to go without food on days the shifters were in a bad mood and needed someone to take it out on.

I tried to eat grass near the border once because my stomach felt as if it was tearing my insides apart. For reference, grass tastes awful.

After I eat I always immediately walk down the stairs to the basement and sprawl out on my palette of tattered quilts that used to be my mother's. Between my jumpsuit and those I usually stayed pretty warm during the harsh winters.

Most days I tossed and turned trying to find a little peace in sleep but usually, it never came. Not unless my body was utterly exhausted. Only then would I finally taste the sweet escape of a deep, dreamless sleep.

Like clockwork at 5 p.m I left the Slave house and traveled down to the edge of the forest. I checked in with Beta Gander at the main gate before heading to one of my three designated spots.

Same as any other normal day I climbed up a pine tree and hid away as my eyes scanned over the forest.

Around midnight though, as a twig snapped un-naturally ten feet away from my concealed position, I realized that was about to change.

I squinted my eyes slowly sitting from my reclined position on the branch willing myself to see through the night as any average shifter could. I wasn't a shifter though, and I couldn't quite see anything that would have been hiding in the dark areas between the trees and overgrowth.

At least not until a rather large wolf's paw stepped out of the darkness onto the forest floor.

I pulled my legs up carefully in a crouched position on the branch as I analyzed the large grey wolf creeping into view under the moonlight. It had its' nose turned up to the sky sniffing heavily as if it already knew someone else was here. That someone being me.

The beast looked up at the tree it was standing under to make sure someone wasn't going to jump down and attack. Of course, that would have been a smart move had I been in that tree.

However, I was perched ready to pounce in the tree next to it.

With a deep breath, I pushed off the tree branch that had been supporting me and dove right at it. Pulling out the silver blade that was strapped to my thigh I stuck it right in the side of the beast while landing on its' back.

A loud whine echoed through the air as the blade sunk in deep sending the wolf thrashing underneath my malnourished weight.

I was slung off its' back abruptly as a result and into the base of the tree beside us.

The wolf turned and let out a vicious snarl my way as it zoned its' black eyes in on my slumped form. Quickly I jumped to my feet ready for its attack, but neither of us made any sudden movements.

Instead, we stood glaring at one another for a few odd moments. What finally broke our intense staredown was the sound of frightened screams rattling the night.

My head whipped to the direction of where they were coming from- the village.

It dawned on me at that moment I had no link to the pack with no wolf inside. No one could mind link me to warn if an attack was happening on the tribe.

I turned back to the wolf fueled with rage that surfaced at the thought of someone trying to take my home from me again.

No matter how much I hated the Alpha and warriors here, this was all I had left. I couldn't let anyone take that from me.

Did I have the strength and courage to do it though? To really fight to the death.

I decided the answer was yes as I leaped forward with my blade in hand and swung at its' throat.

The wolf was quicker as it dodged my attack swiftly. Only a slight gash along its jugular appeared under the moonlight.

The wolf only continued to avoid each advancement I made with minimal injury. A few gashes here and there but none fatal blows.

Was he stalling me? I hadn't a clue. There wasn't any other logical reason I could think of as to why he wouldn't fight back.

With that thought in mind I took off running to the village. Abandoning the one-sided fight I fled to find Alpha Jack. No matter how much I hated him years of training under him conditioned my body so that my core instinct was to protect him during times of war.

I was in a similar boat as Lily it seemed. Hating a man so much you wanted to kill him but simultaneously having this urgent need to protect our Alpha anyways.

Speaking of, I needed to find her too. I prayed to the moon that she was utilizing what she learned from the few midnight training sessions I'd given her.

Jumping over tree roots, branches, ditches, and holes in the ground with my heart racing in my chest the wolf continued chasing after me. We neared the clearing to the village, yet he still hadn't attacked me. Odd.

Wolves scattered across the clearing all the way to the houses of the village came into view as I crossed the threshold.

I wasn't sure which tribe they belonged to. I hadn't been able to see the ear of the wolf trailing behind me.

Each wolf is branded on the back of the ear after their first transformation with the symbol of the tribe they belonged to. Our tribe's mark was of a crescent moon, but I of course didn't bear the sacred tribal marking- at least not on the right part of my body anyways.

I zoomed past beasts tearing into one another. Along the way, I finally caught sight of the symbol that was bestowed on one of the foreign wolves.

The Celtic Triad- The Shifter King's Royal Gaurd.

What in the bloody hell were the Royal Warriors doing here?

None of them seemed interested in attacking me either. Even as I neared the Alpha's residence six different wolves formed a line in front of me forming a barrier. Yet they still didn't attack.

The Gray beast that had chased me somehow managed to leap right over my head suddenly coming to stand a few feet in front of the other wolves.

Another warning growl came from the Grey wolf as I took a threatening step toward it. Seven versus one was in no way fair, but if it had to be that way then so be it. I needed to find the Alpha and Lily or die trying.

Despite the uneasiness inside, I took a challenging step closer to death.

In return, he snarled at me attempting to scare me into submission.

On any normal day I would have. I'd have bowed and obeyed the command of my superior shifter. An order from a Royal was like an order from the King himself which would normally far out weigh any allegiance a shifter would have to his Alpha. By the looks of the Grey wolf's size, I'm sure he was either the Royal Beta or Gamma.

However, today was not a normal day as a foreign wave of courage took over my being.

With the element of surprise I quickly lunged at the brown wolf next to the Grey beast. Blade in hand I struck deep in its' neck.

Yanking the blade out and spinning around as its' limp body fell to the ground I tossed the blade up slightly in the air to flip it around. As my hand latched back down on the handle I swung my arm back hard sending the blade right into the skull of the burgundy wolf I'd sensed behind me.

I ripped the blade free and hiked my leg up as the Grey wolf charged at me. The bottom of my boot connected forcefully with its' chest as I pushed with all the strength in my body effectively sending the wolf tumbling backwards.

I turned to the side swiftly as I heard a growl beside me and threw my fist out connecting it with a different brown wolf's nose. Its' head whipped to the side from the force, and I took the opportunity to try slicing its' neck with the silver blade.

Disappointingly it ducked back and I missed my mark.

The brown wolf took a few steps back as its' head raised up baring it's sharp teeth at me menacingly.

Another growl echoed in my ear to the left. Glancing over I found a black and white wolf also showing me its' teeth.

My eyes continued to dart around the newfound circle of wolves I was caged in by. I realized it was four against one now. The dark brown wolf, the black and white wolf, a tan golden wolf, and the grey beast.

I watched cautiously while they slowly began to move in a circular motion around me- watching and waiting for my next move.

Why hadn't they already mauled me?

Especially after killing two of the Royal Guards right in front of their eyes. That was a crime punishable by death, a long torturous death.

Was that why they were keeping me alive? So they could take me back to the kingdom's dungeon of pain. At least that's what I've heard they call it.

"I'd rather die than be taken as a prisoner." I spit out right before I lunged at the grey wolf.

Of course, he elegantly evaded my blade and continued circling me with the others. The grey wolf was clearly analyzing every move I made.

It looked me up and down slowly with curiosity as I gazed back with a similar expression. I don't know what it was with this Grey beast, or what about it, but I almost felt like the courage flowing into me was coming from it. It felt like it was agging me on, purposely, as if testing my character- Calculating my abilities.

"Fight me!" I shouted as I took a step closer to him.

Nothing.

The only noticeable change was the grey wolf's eyes clouding over as if he were speaking through their tribe's mind link.

The anger inside at their lack of response, or secretive mind conversations I wasn't able to hear, had me thinking a bit irrationally. The hothead tendencies I inherited from my mother would be the death of me- my father was right about that.

I once again threw my blade slightly up in the air and spun it around. This time I caught the handle with the blade outward as I hastily jerked my arm back.

The blade slipped from my hand as I forcefully threw it right at the tan wolf. It spared through the air with lightning speed and quickly buried itself deep within the heart of the beast.

A short whimper escaped its' snout before its' lifeless body ultimately fell to the hard ground.

"Fight me you asshole!" I shouted at the grey wolf once again.

Unaffected, it nudged the tan wolf out of the way to continue circling me with the last two left.

I had opened my mouth to yell more profanities, but a bone-chilling growl snapped my jaw shut instantly.

My head slowly turned to where the sound came from while goosebumps appeared along my skin, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.

What my eyes landed on sent fear rippling through my body. I was forever thankful for the moon that I hadn't drunk any water today, or I surely would have pissed myself.