Chapter 1

• ~Francesca Wilder~
• Nineteen years ago, in the Redwood Forest…
• “Mommy! I’m scared!”
• My little one’s innocent mind can’t even truly comprehend what’s going on around us, and I know she’s terrified. I can understand, because so am I. I just watched an evil man murder my husband in cold blood and our fox community is all but dead. At all costs, I must save my little cub to the best of my ability, as I lost track of my other children in the smoke while we ran for cover. On the way, I felt my oldest daughter being yanked from my grip just moments ago as she ran alongside me. Her brother, a brave little fox, was fighting alongside his father when my husband was slain. This is a nightmare that I know I’ll never wake up from.
• Loud gun blasts and burning falling trees blocked my way to our safe zone that my husband had prepared for us in case something like this happened. The embers are burning my flesh, but I can’t even think about that now. Fire seems like it’s coming from all around, and the smoke is so heavy it’s hard to breathe, but we’re almost to the log near the old oak tree in the meadow by the brook. My heart is pounding in my ears and the fear is all-consuming, but I must keep my head together. My baby depends on me to stay strong.
• Covering my mouth and nose, I need to get my baby girl to someplace safe before we both die from smoke inhalation. Our safe log is in the thicket by the water’s edge, and the wet moss will keep the fire from consuming us. It’s our only chance of survival now.
• “I want my daddy,” my little one cries.
• Oh, baby. I want him, too. I want all my children safe, but I can’t find them. A group of men that I’d never seen before chased us, and I almost lost my way in the woods. My inner fox is trying to be brave, but even she can’t fathom what’s happened.
• Finally reaching the thicket, I tuck my baby girl into our log. It’s breaking my heart that she looks so scared, but we’re defenseless and I have nothing to protect us from these murderers. We were a peaceful pack who didn’t deserve such atrocious crimes against us. We should have never fought back against those monsters and just given in to their demands.
• I wish my husband was here, but it’s too late now. My loving spouse was lying on the ground when he told us to run, so I ran with little Francis in my arms and her sister by my side. I don’t often shift to my human state, but it was the only way we could fight those men off as we tried to retreat from the horrors surrounding us. They laughed and taunted me as they saw my naked body running through the forest, and they shot at me like wild game on a hunting expedition.
• Each evil shifter who ascended against the pack was killing every fox in our community with bare claws. The ones they didn’t get ahold of were murdered by human hunters. All of them are the same criminals who have been using our pack as slave labor. The last thing I heard was the leader of the human men saying he would use my husband’s head as a trophy on his wall. Sick bastards!
• “Daddy! I want my daddy!” Frances yelled, reaching back toward his lifeless body in the distance near our den.
• “Shh… Quiet, baby. Remember what I told you?”
• “Uh-huh, stay in the safe log.”
• “That’s right. Can you sing that song for me?”
• “No. No song.”
• “Shh… Sing with Mommy.”
• As I start to hum, I feel my body being dragged from the log.
• “Ahh, no! Help!” I yell, kicking for all my life. “Leave us alone!”
• “Shut up, whore. We warned you! Your people betrayed us by going to the feds and stopping our drug shipment. Now you’re going to pay, bitch!”
• As I see a group of shifter wolves rushing toward me, I feel a large claw swipe across my throat, and I fall to the ground with a hard thud. But this is not a wolf, it’s a human with a claw-like knife as if he thinks it’s some sort of ironic part of a game.
• The wolf shifters and human men, who were forcing our people to work for them, were making illegal drugs and moonshine, among other criminal activities. As a result of trying to defend our pack from their slavery, I’m going to be left for dead, right in front of my baby girl.
• When the men that were running toward us yelled for the man attacking me to stop, the man turned and ran off into the woods, leaving me bleeding out on the ground. He got away, but I hope not for long.
• God, please help us.
• I know these new wolves are here to help, but I don’t know who they are. I pray they can save my child because I don’t think I can hold on much longer.
• I turn my eyes to my baby as I grip my throat to stop the bleeding. I don’t want her to see this. Sadly, I watch Francis huddled in the corner of the log, hiding her eyes in her fluffy tail. My heart is breaking for the things she’s witnessed at the hands of these monsters and with her unique memory, she’ll never forget. No fox child should have to see the horrors she has on this night.
• “Franny, it’s okay. Mommy is going to be okay,” I say, trying to reassure my child, but I know it’s a lie. I’m getting closer to death with each labored breath.
• As I hear the evil men running away from the ones who arrived to help us, my little cub crawls from the log, resting her head against mine. Nudging me to keep me awake in her half-human-half-fox form, she whimpers for my comfort. She’s the cutest little fox shifter I’ve ever seen, despite her disability.
• “Mommy. Mommy, wake up.”
• Next to me, I watch a wolf shifter kneel beside me, dressed in shifter military gear. My precious Frances growls at him, thinking her tiny little self can protect her mommy. He must have not heard her because he doesn’t even so much as look her way.
• “Frances…” I barely get out.
• “It’s okay ma’am. We’re here to help. Just stay awake,” he says, as he cradles me in his arms. “I’m Damon, what’s your name?”
• “Francesca. My daughter…” I nod toward her.
• “We’ll get her somewhere safe. General! Over here!” he yells to someone deep in the fire-ridden woods. “We need to get these foxes out of here before the entire place goes up!”
• “Mommy…” my little one cries, snuggling up to me.
• “Hey, little foxy,” the man says, lifting her into his free arm. “I didn’t even see you there.”
• As he cradles her into the crook of his arm, I can feel the blood rush from my neck when he looks at me with pity, knowing I’m not going to make it.
• “Miss, just stay with us.”
• “I’m dying. Take her. Get my baby someplace safe.”
• Kneeling next to me, the army general takes his hand, covering mine, clearly showing he can’t even comfort us from the nightmare that went on in our beautiful woods. We both know the truth of this. The human community will never know what happened here. Very few of them even know we exist. The wolf clans will clean up any evidence of shifters who lived here, and our pack will fade away into fable or folklore. The realization of it makes a tear trail down my cheek and my heart ache. They will never know how bravely my husband and our people fought for the community.
• We were a proud pack. A loving one, infiltrated by monsters who used our innocence for their own selfish gains. I hope they rot in hell for what they’ve done.
• “You can’t let other shifters and humans know she’s a wild. They will use her like a sideshow freak. She’s too special. Please, take her. Save my baby.”
• “No. We’re getting you both out of here. Don’t you worry,” said the younger military man, trying to stay hopeful. I can see in his eyes he knows it’s too late for me.
• “I can’t hold on. Just…” I choke on the blood that’s risen in my throat, trying to get out my last words. “Her name is Frances. Frances Wilder. She can’t shift like others. You must protect her at all costs. Promise me.”
• The men looked between us as the older general took my baby into his arms, smiling with a hint of hope down at her big round eyes.
• “We will, Mrs. Wilder. I’ll give her a good home. I swear to you… Hello, little Foxy,” he said, nuzzling her with kind adoration. “I’ll protect you with my life, small one.”
• As I watch the man quickly bond with my daughter, I feel my life fading. Just before everything gets blurry, I watch as my little girl reaches and touches his cheek and I know she’s going to be okay.
• “I’ll love you forever, my little fox. Forever…” I say as my voice fades.
• And with those words, I turned to see my husband’s body in the distance. His lifeless eyes of his fox form fixed on us and a tear stain trailed down his matted fur. I don’t know what happened to the rest of my children, but wherever they are, I hope they are safe and away from the massacre that happened on this night in the Redwood Forest amongst the fox clan wilds.