Ariyan could vividly remember the night he'd lost his innocence. It was summer then. When the trees were still lush and green, and the grass swayed gently under purple splattered skies. When the crickets in the thickets still called out to one another, and the moon beams danced over the canopies, only to fan out over the open fields. That was before ice was all he knew. When he could still stare over the vast fields of wildflowers, and think of his life in years instead of precious minutes and seconds. Before his virginity was washed away like a pebble on the shoreline. When he was betrothed to his father's betas son. A runt of a man who, for all Ariyan knew, didn't know or care for him. He could remember consoling himself with the thought that he would give birth to children who would love him, and of course, he had his mother, brother and his sisters. In his mind’s eye, he had his entire life ahead of him. It was a naïveté that he could afford even amid war. A gift even. One that he’d always taken for granted. For turmoil had never reached their fertile lands. Wars were fought on the front lines, hundreds of miles away, not in tiny villages like the one he lived in. Back then Ariyan thought calamity had limits, hatred had absolutes, and that love between mates was inconsequential. One needn't be in love or lust to find true happiness...or so he once thought… how very wrong Ariyan McAllister was…

                                                                    ***

“Ariyan!” the frantic voice jerked him from his sleep, and Ariyan’s eyes shot open, searching for the source of the disturbance. He barely had time to sit up before his mother dragged him from the bed, throwing a hand full of robes at his chest. “Hurry and dress! Quickly! We must go!”

Ariyan jumped from the bed, pulling off the comforter he wrapped himself in and pulling on his robes instead. A screeching yell came from outside before he heard one of the windows of the pack house shatter. Ariyan’s eyes widened before he raced to his armoire and began ripping clothes to pack.

“No time!” his mother yelled.

“But Mama, I need to-”

“No time!” she repeated, this time dragging his wrist along. Ariyan just managed to nick the ring his great grandfather had given him before he was rushed out of the room. Of course, he understood the severity of the situation. Often his father would anger the outlanders who lived on the borders of their land, bringing their wrath and thirst for recompense. It was only a matter of moving to the safe house some yards away, letting them eat whatever they could manage while squatting, and looting whatever their hearts desired. For Ariyan, it often resulted in a thorough ransacking of his clothes and handmade jewelry. Gifts for their mates, trinkets for their offspring. Things easily replaced. His most precious belongings were /always/ kept hidden though; fine jewels, scented soaps, aromatic spices, medicinal herbs, and other delicacies the outlanders couldn’t fathom or afford.

Still, the entire spectacle was troublesome. More often than not, half the things they didn’t steal were ruined in their rush and would need to be thrown away. It would take months to replenish his wardrobe.

The screams from outside grew sharper, and there was a large cloud of smoke now filtering in through the broken window on the first level of their home. He covered his face as he passed through the living area, instructing his younger sisters to do the same as they rushed toward the safe house some meters away.

Ariyan’s heart sped as they met his older brother Austin at the door of the safe house. They rushed in, slamming the door behind them and racing to the kitchens, the smallest, but most impervious part of the small house. His brother had a heinous gash on his face, clutching a sword steady in his bloody hands.

“You’re hurt!” Ariyan ran to him immediately, patting his chest and abdomen for unseen wounds.

“This blood is not my own,” Austin answered back gravely. “We’re under attack.”

"Attack?" Ariyan's eyes widened. "Attack from who, Austin? Where's father?!"

Something banged against the heavy front door, causing the hinges to shake and the door knob to rattle. It was reinforced with steel, but the sound still made Ariyan flinch.

“You can’t hide forever!” Another loud bang before Ariyan heard several of windows shatter in the living area. His sisters, Aria, Ava, Ali, and Aja, screamed before they nestled up against one another, tears streaming down their pale faces. Their mother tried to calm them, but Ariyan only grew fearful as more men pummeled against the door.

Ariyan ripped at the sleeve of his brother’s robe before he growled angrily, “give them what they want!” he commanded, unfazed by his brother’s height and status. He was an omega, but he was also the son of the alpha, and what he lacked in height he more than made up for in cleverness. "Give them what they want so that they will leave us in peace!”

“They want us,” Austin said, his voice and expression void of any emotion. Austin stared at the front door as the men continue to pound against it.

“What do you mean…?” Ariyan swallowed down the apprehension making his voice shake. "Where are the guards?!" Ariyan demanded. "Why did they not come for us? Why are they not here now? Fighting! Protecting us!"

“The guards are gone." Austin turned to Ariyan with his jaw clenched. The alpha’s eyes were as green as his own, yet they were filled with unshed tears. "They're dead."

Ariyan gasped before he shook his head slowly.

"Oliver?"

"He's gone," Austin answered quietly. "I saw him slain myself." Oliver was his brother’s unofficial lover. He was the head guard of the McAllister family most likely would have been Austin's second in command once he took over for their father. "We tried to make it back to the pack house, but by then, the guards were surrounded. I knew you all would come here, so I headed this way. But Oliver refused to leave his post guarding the pack house. I tried to convince him, but he was..." Austin swallowed holding back his tears. "He was cut down by the enemy."

"And what of father?" Ariyan whispered, his own eyes clouding with tears. He had known men of the guard. Men like Oliver. Good men; with mates and families. Those same men had died trying to protect them.

“I don’t know where father is, but I know they want us dead…” he whispered. He wiped the tears streaming down his cheeks. “All of us.”

Ariyan’s blood ran cold. His brother, heir to his father and a fearsome alpha, never cried. They were in terrible danger. What his brother was saying was true. All of it. Every word.

Another window shattered, and this time Ariyan heard his mother scream as a fire lit bottle shattered onto the kitchen floor. Several more bottles followed, crashing and breaking over the floors. The fire spread as the oil trickled out of the bottles, and caught onto the wooden furniture throughout the house.

The fire spread as the oil trickled out of the bottles, and caught onto the wooden furniture throughout the house.

Ariyan covered his face with his robe, gathering his sisters along with his mother toward the kitchen exit.

“Open the door, Austin!” he screamed through his robe's sleeve.

“No!” His brother shook his head. “They’ll kill you if we step foot outside!”

“We’ll die from the smoke if we stay in here!” Ariyan argued, shoving toward the door. He tried to undo the bolt, but the latch felt like it was nailed into the floor. The kitchens were enclosed with no windows to ventilate, and the smoke was beginning to ensnare his senses making him dizzy. The fire was spreading through the tiny house fast, and Ariyan could feel the heat on the back of his neck as the smoke swallowed them up.

"Now, Austin! We must!"

"Step back!" Austin used all his strength to rip the latch up open. Then he removed the bolt before he wrenched the steel door open and waving his mother and sisters in front of him. The smoke clouded above them like dispersing black fog. Ariyan coughed and wheezed, tears stinging his eyes as he tried to regain his breath.

By the time he stood upright they were surrounded. Rugged looking men with black pants, and worn boots. They instantly disarmed Austin, holding both of his arms before punching him hard in the gut. Austin didn’t cry out, but he let out a grunt and a cough as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Let my..." Austin wheezed, his pale face covered in soot and dried blood. "Let my mother and sisters go. You have no need of them." He shook his head. "They are not your enemies."

Someone punched Austin in the nose hard and his brother’s head twisted before it hung forward.

"We will decide what need we have of them!"

“Austin!” their mother screamed as a gush of blood dripped from Austin’s nose. She ran toward Austin and someone grabbed her. Several others grabbed Ariyan, and his sisters, holding them by their necks and wrist.

Ariyan listened as the men discussed what to do with them, deciding to take them back to the pack house to wait for their leader.

“Ooo…aren’t you a pretty one," the man who held him whispered as he sniffed his neck. He could feel the man’s wet lips brush his shoulder and Ariyan shuddered with disgust. “I’ll be sure to fuck your pretty little ass first.” Ariyan’s lip curled, but he held his tongue, unwilling to anger his captor before he could make his move.

Ali must have been dealing with her captors own choice words because Ariyan heard her suddenly begin to weep.

“Unhand them,” Austin grunted, still bleeding heavily. “Unhand them now or I'll-" Another punch, this time to Austin’s jaw. Aria cried out before the man that held her covered her mouth.

Austin peered up at him, his green eyes practically glowing with rage.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" The largest man sneered before he spat at Austin's feet. He raised a sword under Austin’s neck, pressing the blade against it.

"I could kill you right now..." he said with a grin. "Slit your treacherous neck like your pretty lover's and be done with it."

“Please!” Ariyan’s mother begged. “Please, don’t kill him!” Ariyan could see from the gleam in the man’s eyes that her begging was in vain. These men didn’t have any sympathies for the wails of women. They were blood hungry. Ready to kill any and everything that stood in their way.

“Oi!” Another man reached out, slapping the man’s shoulder to censure him. “Erik will want to make the kill,” he mumbled. The man clenched his jaw before he huffed and sheathed his sword.

“So be it. Grab the others and bring them around front.”

“No!” Aja screamed. Ariyan turned toward her as a man dragged her away. The man who held Ariyan tried to pull him along, but the moment his hold weakened around his neck, Ariyan slammed his head back into the man’s jaw.

“Agh! Son of a—!” Ariyan ripped from his hold, running as fast and far as his feet could carry him. He could hear boots pounding the dirt, and swords jangling against their decorated belts. Ariyan didn’t look back. He was faster than most, and his small stature gave him an advantage in hiding. When he reached the edge of the forest, he hunkered down in the brush, holding his breath as the men finally caught up to him. Their breathing was hard and choppy, cutting through the silence of the still trees all around them. One of the men stepped so close to him Ariyan had to slide his foot back. The man sniffed the air, his keen wolf eyes flashing in the darkness. Thankfully the forest had a poignant enough odor to mask his own. Still, the thought of these men finding him, half dressed and alone made Ariyan sick to his stomach. He had to cover his mouth to hold back any desire he had to whimper.

“What should we do?” the man said, breaking the other's concentration. “Scent him out?”

“No…” he shook his head. “Leave him.” He turned away from Ariyan and walked back toward the edge of the forest. “He’s a useless omega anyhow. We have the one Erik wants.”