Chapter 1
Five weeks for five years of pain and loneliness. Thorn narrowed his green eyes at the quiet town, the town that he hated. He hated going anywhere near it, but going inside it was even worse. The screams of his murdered pack roared to life then. Faint at first, but they gradually got louder the closer he got to town. It was as if they were trapped here, forced to relive their death forever.
"Your torment ends soon," he promised them and for a moment the screams quieted. Thorn averted his gaze from the sleeping town, the town that hadn't changed in five years. He missed the night life of the cities, it was their life blood. This town had none of that blood, it was nothing but a small country town full of farms and other quaint things. A tanned hand ran through his light brown hair, and Thorn leaned back against the tree that he was perched in. This cool autumn night reminded him of better times, but one event over shadowed them all.
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"But mom!" Thorn protested, "Why do I have to watch him!"
"Because your the older brother," his father warned, as his patience worn thin.
"Fine," Thorn mumbled. He hated baby sitting, he'd rather be in the middle of the excitment, but today was special. Today was his little brother's first full moon, and that made him more exitable. Narrowed green eyes watched his brother as he bounced from one wall to the other, causing the whole house to shake.
"Stop that!" Thorn yelled, "Do you want to give us away Eric!"
His younger brother howled in protest, and jumped onto the wall behind Thorn. "Lighten up bro!" he laughed, "You know I can't sit still!"
"So you do want all of us killed!"
"Awww....that's not it and you know it!" Eric whined as he landed in front of Thorn, "I'm just antsy! You know what I'm going through, so get your tail out of your ass!"
"I think you mean stick."
Eric grinned and tackled Thorn, the two of them wrestled on the floor, each trying to pin the other. A lone howl sounded in the distance, and the two of them froze. Soon more howls and yips joined in, and the two of them grinned.
"Party time," Thorn yipped happily.
"About time!" Eric squealed, "I can't wait to change!"
"Shh!" Thorn hissed, pressing a hand over his brother's mouth, "Not so loud!"
"S-sorry..." Eric whined as he pushed Thorn's hand away, "I'm just..."
"Excited I know," Thorn sighed, "But we can't let our guard down, especially not tonight. If the town finds out that our pack is here..."
"They'll kill us I know, I know." Eric moaned rolling his eyes, "Stop with the lecture Dad."
Thorn huffed, turned on his heel and headed towards the clearing. Tonight was a time to celebrate the younger members of the pack finally becoming adults. A time to celebrate their heritage. His mouth watered in anticipation of the coming feast and the taste of freshly roasted deer filled his mouth.
"Already there huh?" a voice said as a hand slapped him on the back.
"Huh? Oh hey Jace." Thorn laughed, "Guess so. Anyway, how's your sis?"
"Oh she's fine," Jason laughed, "Her and Eric are racing each other there."
Thorn groaned and ran after them, with Jason close behind. The trees whizzed past him in one gigantic blur, the tiny ball of light in front of him getting bigger and bigger with each burst of speed. In a flash of light, the clearing emerged in front of him. A giant bonfire lazily reached towards the sky, as its orange tendrils danced with each snap wood that burned in its heart. Orange sparks danced like fire flies as the drifted away, and Thorn grinned, tonight was the biggest celebration he had ever seen. And from the looks of things it was gonna be the best one yet.
The night whirled past him, and with it the partying and the merrymaking of the feast. The clouds rolled away, revealing a full moon and howls echoed in the clearing. The younger pack members gathered in a circle and waited to change. Thorn watched as his brother arched and twisted with pain as he started to change. It was a beautiful sight.
"Hey Jace, looks like your sister is second!" Thorn said excitedly. He turned towards his friend and saw him clutching his throat. Jason fell to the ground, his blood pooling around him and Thorn backed away.
"N-no," he stammered, "They couldn't have...."
Laughter and bullets flew through the air, cutting the party short. People ran towards the woods, only to fall dead, a few feet away. Voices flowed over him, and everything blurred together to form a nightmarish hell. Pain exploded in the back of his head, and everything went black.
Thorn woke hours later in a small pit, and slowly got to his feet. He rubbed the back of his head, and felt a stickiness there.
"Must be blood," he winced. Groggily he opened his eyes, and was greeted by a burning battle field. Wolves, people and the half changed bodies of the younger pack members were burning the bonfire that they had lit themselves.
"No!" he howled in disbelief, "No!" He sank to the ground and sobbed, his pack, his family was dead.
"They'll pay for this, those humans will pay for killing my family!" he vowed. He stood up, wiping away the tears that were flowing down his face, before walking away. Leaving the town behind him.
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Thorn shook his head, and looked back at the quiet town which was blissfully unaware of what was in store. The soft grating of gravel reached him as it drew closer and he looked at towards it.
"Still can't sneak up on you," Ace sighed. He looked up into the tree and watched Thorn roll his green eyes at him. Slightly tanned hands ran through red hair as they attempted to fix the unruly ponytail.
"Well, did you find them?"
"Of course I did!" Ace huffed, "There's four of them."
"There are only four kids?"
"The others caught the flu and died."
"Good, they had it coming."
Ace looked up at Thorn and wondered why he looked so happy to hear that. He sighed and kept his questions to himself, after all Thorn did not like talking about his past. "Ok, so now what do we do?"
"We watch and wait." Thorn replied as he jumped onto the ground next to Ace, "After that we plan."
"What are we planning for?"
Thorn glared at Ace briefly before looking at the moon. "We’re planning revenge of course."
"Ok...mind telling me why you want revenge."
"Maybe," Thorn growled, "We'll back here three days before the full moon, and don't be late."
"W-wouldn't dream of it," Ace gulped as he watched Thorn walk into the night and disappear, tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.
