"Mommy." A small sob escaped her.

Amelia whipped around to face her daughter. She could hear the commotion downstairs getting louder, closer. She smoothed her daughter's hair down, cupping her face in her hands. "You are brave and strong. You are the daughter of Alphas. I promise you, I will find you, but right now I need you to run." She kissed her forehead softly. "If I don't get there in 2 hours you have to go on without me."

Amelia double checked that the book bag was indeed on her daughters back before roughly pushing her away. "Now go."

Emery turned away from her mother and raced to the heavy oak bookcases. She pulled on the two books that would release the latch, swinging the hidden door open. She caught one last look at her mother, nails turned to claws, ready to attack.

She quickly closed the bookcase, giving her a satisfying click as the latch caught. A thunderous boom of wood breaking could be heard, screams echoing off the stone walls. She pushed through the panic that threatened to swallow her and ran through the hidden tunnels. The estate was ancient and contained many secret passages that were hidden to most. It was the fastest way out of the house and hopefully undetected.

Emery held tighter onto the straps of her backpack as she made sickening twists and turns, the stone floor slanting down at a sinking rate. She was nearing the edge of the property now. She slowed her pace as she felt the dewy fresh air touch her face. Right now she was grateful for London's contrast drizzle. It would help mask her scent and keep trackers from following her.

She threw her hood up over her head, stopping at the end of the tunnel. She listened intently waiting for sounds of the intruders. Her wolf hearing caught sound of the water dripping off the trees, the wind brushing through the leaves, but no sign of lurking wolves. She pushed through the tall bushes and stepped out of cover. She stood in a thickly dense wood, the trees providing cover from the constant wet that was London.

She knew these grounds. Her mother made sure she practiced their escape plan hundreds of times. Always planning for the worst, always prepared. She knew the ground was boggy and where the weak points in the ground were. She ran through the forest, the ground perfectly mapped out in her head. There was a howl in the distance, her heart hammered in her chest. They caught her scent. How the hell did that happen?

Emery pushed her legs harder, the forest around her speeding by in a blur. Her wolf wanted to take over, to shift and let her take the lead but she knew that would only make her scent stronger. She had to stay human. There were three wolves catching up to her. In wolf form they were faster, but she was smarter. She zigzagged through the bog, waiting for one of them to slip up. She heard a wolf cry behind her. He must have fallen into a mud pit.

She didn't slow her pace as she charged through the woods. Now there were two left. She stopped short, drawing out two silver daggers from her jacket and threw them with precision. She knew they hit their mark when she heard the ear piercing cry of two wolves that had silver burning in their flesh. She kept running through the woods, knowing she was nearing the road that snaked through the trees.

As her feet struck pavement, she caught sight of her bike hiding at the edge of the tree line just a few yards from where she stood. She raced to it, threw her key in the ignition and kick started the bike. It was quiet for a crotch rocket. She made sure it was modified to run quietly, perfect for sneaking up on someone or a quick getaway. She gave the bike sufficient thrust, leaning down into the metal as it propelled forward into the moonless night.

Emery could feel that the connection to her mother was still closed off. At least she wasn't dead. She was still alive, she would know if she wasn't. She pushed the bike further into the night, weaving through twists and turns until finally she came up on the city, gas lamps lining the streets, the sky lit with artificial lighting.

Turning the bike, she steered herself into an empty parking garage, driving up the ramps like a demon being chased by holy water. Finally reaching the fourth level, she pulled into parking spot number 28. Kicking down the kickstand, she turned the bike off, throwing her leg over the side and stood up. She quickly stretched out her limbs, stiff from crouching over the bike the whole way there. Glancing around, using her extra keen senses, she could neither hear nor see anyone in the garage that might be a threat.

Looking up at the thick, cement support beam, six feet above her head, she jumped up, pushing off the ground hard. Her fingers managed to grab onto the smooth cement, giving her enough leverage to pull her full body weight up and on top of the support beam. The beam was wide enough to conceal her entire body from anyone below. She shimmied her way down the beam to the nearest support column. Just behind the column she could make out a dark, lumpy shadow.

Emery grabbed the shadow that turned out to be a solid black book bag her mother had stashed there the moment they moved to town. She zipped open the bag, checking its contents, ensuring no one had disturbed the bag since it was placed there two years ago. Inside, the bag contained stacks of money in various currencies, passports with assumed aliases, and matching fake IDs. This set said her name was Shannon Dirk, daughter of Jenna Dirk.

What kind of a name was Dirk?

Emery's ears perked, the sound of tires squealing three levels below made her heart freeze, her stomach turned to acid. She zipped the bag shut, tucking herself against the beam, lying as flat as was humanly possible.

Someone pulled their vehicle up beside her bike. A car door slammed, heavy boots walked across the pavement, moving in her direction. They shouldn't be able to see her, but if they were werewolves, they could smell her. She closed her eyes reaching out to her wolf, masking both of their scents from anyone with sensitivity to smell.

The garage was silent. The footsteps had stopped. The only thing she could hear was her own breathing that she was struggling to calm down. When someone jumped, a face appeared right before her, she screamed.

"Mom!" Emery shrieked, in both fright and relief. Her mother was holding herself up just as she had done, close enough to make out the cuts along her face and the bruise forming along her jaw.

Amelia dropped back down to the floor, her hands out for the bag that her daughter threw down to her. She zipped open the pack to check the contents before zipping it closed and throwing it over her shoulder.

"You took too long to mask your own scent and screaming like that would not save you." Amelia said flippantly, disappointment clear in her voice.

Emery landed on her feet in front of her mother, standing up straight. "I know, I'm sorry." She knew she did it all wrong. That's not what she was trained to do. "Why didn't you let me know you were coming?"

"I couldn't risk them sensing me using my powers. Besides, it's getting increasingly difficult for me." Amelia said, glancing away, her eyes distant and cold.

Emery stared at her mother, wondering for the millionth time what her mother must have been like before her birth. The only mother she had ever known was hard, determined, overprotective, and demanding. They were always training, always on the run, always preparing for every scenario. She was tired but also extremely grateful. Her mother had given up everything to keep her safe, she wouldn't let it be for nothing.

"Where to now momma?"

"Home. We're going home."