Prologue

Moonlight shone down, touching lightly the branches of the snow-laden trees and frozen lake like silver fingers. The sky was clear, the winter air seeming to place everything in sharp relief, the stars twinkling brightly. Somewhere, a rabbit stirred deep in its burrow, and a small bird twittered out a sleepy grumble in its sleep, ruffling its feathers and warming itself further. The wolf, calm, sat quietly on her haunches, much larger than a wild wolf, but much smaller than her male counterpart, who lay beside her, his muzzle on his paws. The cold did not bother them.

Lifting his head momentarily, the male stared at the female for a moment, then turned his great head in the direction of a scuffle that human ears wouldn't have picked up. Ears perked, he made a noise in his throat, a yip that signaled "stay here". The female obeyed, watching her mate stalk off into the trees. Her yellowed eyes, peculiar only because of their seemingly human glint, returned to the face of the full moon. She sat quietly, content to watch the night sky.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out. The female jerked onto all fours, ears flat on her head and lips pulled back to display glistening white teeth. Her eyes were sharp, peering into the surrounding forest with slight fear, her fur bristling. A series of barks and yips, translated into "Go! Run!" reached her ears, and immediately, she turned, crashing into the trees and hearing her mate not far behind. His pants were loud in her ears, but even louder were the rushed footsteps of the men chasing them. Werewolf hunters.

Biting and snapping at her heels, her mate urged her on, growling, "Go faster! Faster, Robyn, faster!" She whined her reply, telling him that she was trying. The men seemed to be getting closer.

Bounding with ease through high mounds of snow and panting loudly, the two werewolves ran on, hoping that the humans would tire before them and give up the chase. Robyn whined loudly as a bullet whizzed over their heads. More followed, and the werewolves began to weave through the frosty trees, making it more difficult for the hunters to get a lock on them. Bark went flying, and Robyn darted back and forth, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she began to tire. Had it not been for Liam's gentle urging, his barks and whines of urgency, she would have stopped.

A few more shots rang out, and Robyn heard a distinctive howl of pain. It had not come from her. Sensing - knowing - that her mate was hurt, she made a sharp turn and quickly ran back to him, finding him sprawled out in the snow, blood flecked in the snow around him. She whined loudly, nudging him with her muzzle and begging for him to stand. The footsteps of the men came closer, and Liam too whined, struggling get to his feet. Continuing to whine and gently nudge him, Robyn panted into his fur, licking at the bullet wounds in his leg and side, nervously circling around him. He stood with effort after a few more moments of struggling, and Robyn began to trot slowly ahead of him. He yelped and fell once more, and she went back to him, knowing that they were going to be killed if she did not help.

Working together, they managed to stagger a few steps forward before Liam fell again. He lay limp, not fighting anymore. Robyn growled at him, licking his muzzle and beginning to whine urgently when the men came closer, combing through the trees for any sign of their prey. Robyn quieted her breathing, crouching down beside her mate and waiting... waiting... waiting...

At the first indication that a human was near, she growled loudly and lunged, despite Liam's warning grumble, her jaws clamping around the neck of the man. He gurgled a cry, and she bit down hard, snapping his neck and killing him instantly. Her blonde-brown muzzle stained with blood, she quietly stalked back to Paul's side, grinning almost triumphantly at him before returning her attention to the surrounding forest, ears perked and eyes alert.

The humans were stupid. They had split up in an effort to find Robyn and Liam quicker, leaving them as vulnerable as possible, scattered nearby. Robyn quickly pin-pointed the closer man, and stalked off towards him, belly touching the ground and ears flat. Her breathing was quiet, not that a human would have heard her even if she had been loud, and her eyes found the man with ease. Immediately, her lip curled back, and she lunged, growling loudly just before her teeth clamped down over the human's jugular vein. The taste of his blood in her mouth was revolting, but she kept holding onto him, strangling him even as he fumbled weakly for his gun, which he had dropped. It was no use.

Lifting her head, the female growled lightly, feeling a lust for blood boiling in her stomach, and along with the burning urge to protect her mate, it made her feral, dangerous. Instead of going back to Liam, as she had intended, she allowed her weak human side, the side she couldn't help but despise, to sink further into her body, the wolf surfacing a little more. She stalked off toward her next unlucky victim.

In a matter of minutes, she had disposed of all of the hunters but one. She had known from the beginning how many there were, and she knew that the final hunter was more than likely the leader. Robyn sniffed the air and her eyes widened as she darted back to where she had left Liam, jumping onto the back of the man who now knelt beside him, snapping at his neck as they fell into the snow.

Grunts and growls permeated the air, and Robyn tried desperately to bite the neck of the man underneath her, who had somehow managed to flip over onto his back, his crossed wrists keeping her from getting too close. He pushed against her throat, his gray eyes oddly calm as her gnashing teeth came within inches of his nose. With a grunt, he successfully managed to throw her away. She rolled in the snow and was back on her feet in a flash, lunging again at the man, who, faster than most humans she had seen, had struggled to his feet and was aiming a gun at her chest.

There was a sound like the crack of thunder, and Robyn went flying backwards, a burning in her left shoulder. Not giving up, she stood and growled loudly. The man chuckled.

"Feisty, are we?" he asked. Her growls became more pronounced, and her response seemed to amuse the man. He chuckled, and Robyn's eyes landed and locked onto the creamy skin of his throat, the vein pulsing there, holding his precious life's driving force. She took a step forward, then, abandoning all common sense, lunged at the man again.

Everything slowed down.

Robyn's growls sounded deeper in her ears, her limbs moving sluggishly and her jaws seeming to take a millennium to close and open again. The man grunted, and they fell again into the cold snow, dotted with Robyn's blood. She felt the pain in her shoulder, the burning of the silver bullet as it slowly ate away at her flesh, sending a lethal poison into her bloodstream. The edges of her vision were red, her anger driving her to ignore any and everything except the despicable human underneath her.

Quite suddenly, Robyn was thrown away, the man having slammed the butt of his gun into her injured shoulder, sending the pain to a whole new level. Yelping loudly, Robyn rolled once, twice, three times before she attempted to stand, hearing the man come closer to her. Yellow eyes locked immediately on gray ones, and Robyn never ceased her warning growls nor got rid of the menacing grimace on her face. The man's face was emotionless as he, knowing that she could not move due to her injury, cocked his gun and held it between her eyes.

The muscle in his trigger-finger had just began to move when a blur of dark brown shot past him, knocking the gun out of his hand, and, due to the force of the blow, his body also. Immediately, Robyn registered the roar of the gun, even as it flew from the hunter's hand, and her ears heard a loud whine that was not her own. Liam.

Jumping into action, Robyn limped quickly to her mate, knowing that she would have blanched had she been human at the moment.

Liam lay motionless, a steadily growing dot of blood over his heart, dripping down onto the pure snow underneath him. Robyn panted and whined, nudging him, licking his wound. His breathing became labored, and she barked,

"You idiot! You should have let me - "

His growl cut off her angry yips and barks, his brown eyes gently rebuking her for speaking to him in the way she had. Immediately, she calmed herself, licking his muzzle. There was silence as she rested her head upon his side, feeling his tongue as he licked her cheek, giving her one final kiss before his head returned to rest in the snow.

Robyn did not move from Liam's side even after the smell of Death began to waft from his skin, now losing its warmth. Something in her died, and she turned her head to the hunter, who, for some reason, had not attempted to attack her. She simply stared at him, her eyes blank, her muzzle resting on Liam's cold side, her breath stirring his fur. She did not move, did not make any noise, and did not even try to growl as the hunter began to step forward.

Robyn stared up at him from her spot on the ground, not moving, not showing any emotion. The two of them stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, and the hunter suddenly pushed his gun back into the holster on his hip, his gray eyes blank. Then he turned and walked away, leaving Robyn alone.

It was only when she did not hear his footsteps anymore that she howled her grievances to the Moon.