One Fateful Night
Chapter 3

A few hours later, I snapped awake and looked around my surroundings. I had a horrible feeling that something was wrong, but I was safe. I stood to my feet and looked at the water. I should probably head back home, I thought to myself as I took a few steps toward my home. However, those few steps were all I needed to take to hear the blood-curdling screams in the distance.

“Get home to Mate NOW!” Garnet yelled in my head, and I began to sprint to the pack house instead. Once the lights in the distance began to get closer, I noticed what was possibly smoke in that direction. As I studied the smoke to determine whether it was the bonfire or much worse, I fell to the ground. My foot got lodged under something, and it caused me to trip and fall on my face.

“Graceful Emily,” I said to no one as I rolled my eyes and turned to see what I had tripped on. Fear overwhelmed me when I realized it was a man. This man was dead and reeked of Rogue.

Rogues are attacking! Was the first thing that came to mind when I began to look around for anything I could use to defend myself. My eyes landed on the daggers the dead Rogue had on his belt, and I immediately grabbed them. Now armed, I picked myself up on the ground and sprinted faster toward the pack house. Once I arrived, the overwhelming stench of Rogues and death infested my nose, making me want to gag. I then focused on our burning pack house and the Blood Moon troops fighting for their lives from the Rogues who were coming out of the forest in huge numbers.

Unable to move from shock, I looked at the hundreds of corpses on the ground, some of them Rogue, but most were my unaware pack members. A large growl rumbled in my stomach as rage overtook me. Then, I noticed the Rogue sprint toward me with murderous intent. He finally reached me and pulled back to throw a punch toward my face. Thanks to our earlier lesson, the punch was easily blocked, and I roughly swung the dagger in my left hand. The dagger connected with the Rogue’s face and left a long gash; he jumped back in surprise and growled at me in pure hatred for injuring his face. I knew his Werewolf healing would soon kick in and heal him, so I settled into an offensive position. I started with a right hook. Even though he quickly blocked it, it gave me an opening to send a powerful kick to his stomach. Groaning, he bent over to ease the pain as I sent a roundhouse kick to his face, which caused him to jerk back. This move left me an opening to slash my dagger across his throat.

One Rogue down, many more to go.

I continued to assess the situation, I felt someone sneaking up on me, and I braced myself. I noticed the arm reach across my shoulder, and I intercepted it before it managed to reach my throat. With a firm grip on the Rogues arm, I flipped him over my back. Once he hit the ground, I plunged my dagger into his heart. I stood back to my feet and noticed a Rogue running towards me. With my trust dagger, I adjusted my grip and threw it toward the sprinting Rogue. The man collapsed to the ground dead as the dagger landed in his chest. I looked around for my next victim when suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head and quickly surrendered to the darkness.

“EMILY, WAKE UP!”

Garnet screamed in my head as I groaned, attempting to open my eyes. Finally, I got my eyes open and managed to sit up, and then I concentrated on focusing my eyes on my surroundings. It was eerily quiet, with no screaming leaving me to guess the battle must be over. I looked through the smoke and ash at the damage done when I finally came to grips with the horrid scene around me. The dead bodies of my pack mates and the Rogues littered the ground, and no one was alive except me. I sat on the ground in shock, and I just couldn’t fathom why the Rogues attacked us and how many there were. Finally, I got to my feet and attempted to look around for any survivors. Panic engulfed me as I began to limp home, praying to the Moon Goddess that my parents were still alive.

“MOM!!! DAD!! WHERE ARE YOU?!” I scream as I get to the front porch and rush in.

The house is silent, and my parent’s smell is so faint it must have been hours since they have been here. I ran up the steps and into their room, not seeing them there. I collapsed to the bed, and then all of the emotions Garnet and I were holding in escaped into a scream followed by a house-shaking growl. I lay on the bed and cried until I had no more tears left to fall. One evening, I lost my family, pack, best friend, and mate. After a few hours, the realization had set in that it was too dangerous to stay in Blood Moon. Hurriedly, I went into my room and changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I grabbed my hiking boots, grabbed a bag, and threw it on the bed. I filled the bag with necessities, clothes, my wallet, my phone, and some extra cash Dad kept in his safe. When I was confident I didn’t need anything else, I walked downstairs, grabbed a few snacks and a picture of our family, and left the house for the last time.

A wave of dread filled me as I had no idea where to go. My closest family is a few days’ walk to the south. I couldn’t just drive out of the pack; hundreds of Rogues still have to be around. I’d never make it. I decided to walk towards my Uncle John’s pack towards the south. With a sigh, I slung the bag over my shoulder and began my trek. The further to the south I went I felt my pack link getting weaker and weaker. Eventually, it completely broke once I hit neutral territory. With the link being this weak, the Alpha and Luna must have been killed in the battle, and I couldn’t feel Matthew either.

The tears filled my eyes as I remembered my friends and family. The memories continued to fill my head as the sun peeked over the horizon. I walked through the afternoon and eventually stopped at a small river to eat and rest. “What are we going to do, Garnet?” I asked in defeat; for the first time in my life, I was petrified of the present and the future. The thought of continuing without my family, Josh, and even my mate continued to weigh in, causing the tears to swell in my eyes. As the tears fell, I realized I truly was alone.