Prologue

I ran towards the bow and single unbroken arrow on the grass and grabbed it with a large exhalation of breath. He won't get to me this time, I thought bitterly. Yet my heart was aching for what I was about to do. For what I had to do.

"Baby, please. I know you can't hurt me. You can't kill me. You are mine!" he declared ferociously while running swiftly towards me.

Damn, I thought. I won't be able to shoot the arrow at him in time!

He reached me just as I knocked the arrow onto the bow. He snatched the only weapon I had and threw it aside with a growl. Then he clutched my wrists to his chest. I looked away defiantly.

"How dare you! You killed all those people! You slaughtered them! Don't you dare touch me!" I screamed into his face and felt even wearier when he flinched back.

He shook his head and looked into my eyes with his own hypnotic ones. "Antoanetta," he whispered. Hearing my full name come from his mouth made shivers run through my body.

"Don't," I whispered back, feeling a physical sickness come over me as the adrenaline slowly left my body.

He shook me with a growl and I felt my head whip back. "How can you even think of hurting me? How can you not understand the pain I've been through for you?!" I felt my heart break with his voice.

"You can't do this. I can't live like this. I can't live knowing what you've done to those poor people." I pushed away from him with all my strength. "I will kill you! I have to." I leapt towards the bow and arrow once more but he caught me from behind. I fought back but to no avail. He had me in his grasp.

He turned me around to face him and I brought my fist back but he caught it an inch from his face. Forcing my arms down by my sides, he brought his face unbearably close to mine.

"Was there not a time when you once told me you would die for me? That you loved me?" his voice rasped into my ear.

I looked at his short hair being carried back by the wind, at his strong hands now holding my arms down, at his muscled chest that held the heart I had once vowed to protect with my life. At the face that had betrayed me.

I slumped down against his chest and he held me before pulling me back to look at me. His eyes seemed hopeful yet the rest of his face was twitching with anger. I nodded.

"Yes, there was once a time I said I loved you. Once a time when I truly meant it with all my being. Where I would've gone to the ends of hell and back for you. Where I would've killed for you."

He smiled gently at my admittance. He brought his lips closer to mine so our faces were mere inches apart.

"I love you, Antoanetta," he declared fiercely. I felt a tear slip down my face. My vision blurred and I nodded once more.

"I know," I whispered ever so softly before extending my fangs and biting down on his neck.

Chapter 1

"Netta? What are you doing? Did I not specifically tell you to go practice your archery? Stop daydreaming, girl!" Master Tensei yelled from behind the screen. I rolled my eyes but got on my feet regardless. There would be no point in fighting it. Better to just get the three hours of practice out of the way now rather than be stuck outside in the dark while he ate all the food.

"Yes, Master. I'm going," I replied with a sigh and picked up my bow and arrows that Master hand carved for me.

As I reached the practice field, I felt a shift in the winds and ducked as an arrow shot through where my head was a second ago. I sprang out of my crouch and turned to face the archer with my hands formed into fists.

"Calin! Do you have any idea how much trouble you'll be in when I tell Master you tried to shoot an arrow through my head?!" I yell in his direction. He keeps standing there with his bow poised and ready with another arrow. He flicks his blonde hair away from his face before pulling his hand back, letting the arrow fly. This time I don't duck and it passes right above my head, close enough to whip my long red hair up into a frenzy.

"Antoanetta? Don't you ever learn? Never walk onto the field when I am practicing," he yells back at me. He seems pretty angry. Then again, he was that close to sticking an arrow through my face.

I walk up to him and growl at his stupid little smirk. I know that Master agreed to train us both because we'd both been orphaned at birth but I hated growing up with him and his all-knowing attitude. I could be a way better archer than him if I simply practiced as much as he did but I have no patience for it. It's boring.

"Wipe that stupid smile off your face, moron. Master told me to practice." I sighed heavily. Calin shook his head and I frowned at him.

"You should've come with me an hour ago when I told you Master would find out and punish you. But do you listen? Do you EVER listen? No! I feel like I'm always talking to myself because it—"

I start zoning out. Calin can get pretty boring after a while of blah blah blah talking all the time. Usually it's just about himself. I can handle it sometimes but I've been pretty out of it today.

"—never listen to me. Netta? Damn it! See what I mean?!" he yells and flings his bow onto the dirt ground beneath us. I frown and pick it back up.

"No. I have no idea what you're talking about. Honestly, Calin, maybe you should spend less time talking and more time practicing if you ever hope to beat me any time in the future." I grin widely and he replies by snatching his bow out of my hand and shooting three arrows in quick succession towards the dummies we have filled with hay about half a mile away. Calin always did have impressive distance skills. However, once the arrow hit its mark it didn't end up doing much damage.

I aimed at the same dummy and shot a single arrow. While his arrows had all ended up sticking out of the dummy's middle, mine hit it straight in the head and I know he saw the dummy shake from the arrow's impact and the hay that flew out of it.

Calin sighed and sat down on the ground. I took a seat beside him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. He brushed it off and scooted farther away.

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a baby. You have skills I don't! I have no idea how you manage to rig the traps for the enemy. It's a great skill and I'm…I'm proud of you for it," I told him reluctantly. I had admired his trap-setting skills for a while now and had never had the guts to tell him lest he get a big head about it. Yet he brushed it away with a wave of his hand and sighed again.

"It's not that," he mumbled before looking off into the distance. I followed his gaze towards town and nodded. I knew what was bothering him. It wasn't that hard to guess.

"Is it Jessie?" I ask knowingly. Calin and his girlfriend had been fighting a little too much recently and I worried they might break up soon. Knowing Jessie, I hoped not. Jessie had come to be one of my closest friends and I wouldn't be able to stand it if they broke up.

He nods and looks at me. I can tell how troubled his soul is through the depths of his sky blue eyes. "She said she needed time to think. To 'reassess' our relationship. As if it's a math problem." I looked down to see him clutching his bow with a quiet intensity. His knuckles turned white and I swear I heard the wood start to splinter. Resting my hand on his, I felt his body humming with restless energy.

"I think she's just confused. In a sense we're all confused. None of us want to be fighting in this senseless war that our ancestors started hundreds of years ago. None of us want to be in danger of losing our lives," I whispered as the wind swept through my hair and carried my voice away.

I imagined what death would be like every time I inhaled a breath of air. Every time I closed my eyes, I would see it behind my lids. Whenever sleep overtook me my dreams would turn into nightmares. Flashes of different scenes. Death was on my tail wherever I went. It had claimed all of us fighters in the war and it was our future, our destiny.

I watched the flag with our sign flap in the breeze on the path to the town. It had a dark blue background with a full white moon and a black wolf howling in front. The flag of the Werewolf Clan.

**My third story. Please review if you like/don't like/love/hate/whatever :D My other stories are Back to Nowhere and Say My Name**