***picture of Layla***
Chapter 1:
Layla was staring at the dark ceiling in her room, desperately trying to fall asleep. Her mind was racing. She was frustrated, angry, and hurt. So many thoughts were running through her head, and she felt as if she was on an emotional roller coaster. How could Shawn do that? How could he flirt with that girl? Especially a mere one-skinner! We are supposed to be a couple! I want to just tear the both of them to shreds. How could my father expect me to make Shawn my mate? These thoughts had been haunting her all day, never missing a minute to creep into her mind.
The pack's alphas were her parents. That meant that someday Layla would become the alpha female, so of course her father wanted her to have a suitable mate to become the alpha male. Her father chose Shawn Feldman, a boy who had no problem being a flirt. Most girls in their town were very jealous of Layla, wishing that they were the ones that got to be his mate. Layla did have to admit, he was pretty dreamy. One flash of his smile or a glimpse of those dimples was all it would take to make a girl's heart flutter.
One-skinners are what they call humans that do not have the ability to shift into wolf form, and it is frowned upon for someone in their pack to be with one. Those relationships never end well. Also, it would cause there to be less numbers in their pack.
The fact that Shawn would flirt with one made Layla's skin crawl. Surely, she had to be a better option than one of them. Just thinking about him made Layla furious now. Clenching her fists into balls and slamming them down on her full size bed, she wished she could take her anger out on something before she blew a gasket.
Adrenaline rushed through her veins, and the wolf inside of her pawed at her mind. It was begging to come out and show her dominance. The light of the moon that was flooding her room only increased her natural desires. The shadows that danced across the pale green walls taunted her focus.
She was beginning to give a low growl, when all of a sudden her room lit up with a bright orange light shining in through her window. Snapping up out of her bed, she sprinted towards her window to see what could possibly be happening this late at night.
The entire sky was filled with an orange hue, and clouds of smoke were starting to form. Flames licked at the trees in the distance. A line of wolves stood just at the edge of the forest, lifting their heads to howl. Layla had never seen them before, but she could see that their fur was a bold mixture of orange and red. Familiarity dawned on her, as well as fear.
Her heart leapt to her throat, and she instantly knew what was going on....they were under attack.
Rushing out of her room, she didn't even bother to change out of her pajamas. The scent of smoke and ashes had already started to fill up her nose. There were shouts and screaming coming from outside.
As she was running down the narrow hallway, she was stopped in her tracks by a tight grip on her forearm. Already getting ready to defend herself, she whipped her head around. Her body was tense and on high alert, but then she saw her mother's dark green eyes staring back at her.
"Hurry Layla, your father is already outside. We need to gather up all of the women and children and head to the shelter now!" her mother, Selena, shouted as she roughly pulled Layla towards the door.
As soon as the door opened, Selena shifted to her wolf form and took off to go through the eastern houses. Glancing around at all of the chaos forming in front of her, Layla could feel her feet beginning to get weighed down by her anxiety. She was in shock, but she had to remain calm. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the west before transforming into that four-legged creature that had begged to come alive just moments beforehand. There were many houses that needed to be cleared, so she wasted no time running over to get a start on the small western houses.
She ran up to the first house and scratched persistently at the oak door. "Is anyone in there? We need to leave, now!" she directed her wolf link at the house.
"Yes, we are coming," responded a voice Layla recognized as her best friend, Jasmine Cain.
Jasmine burst through the front door holding a young child in each of her arms, and a woman ran out behind her carrying an infant. Quickly shifting back to her now naked human form, Layla rushed over to help.
"Do you have a cart?" she urgently asked the woman.
The short woman nodded nervously, and pointed to the side of the house. There were tears streaming down her face, and her body trembled as if she was barely forcing herself to stand. Layla rounded the corner of the house and grabbed the harnessed cart before rushing back. Children did not get their wolf form until about two years before they hit puberty, so many mothers had to have a cart that they could harness to their backs to be able to haul their young children in when they were running as a wolf.
"Jasmine, she's too scared to be able to do this on her own. We need to strap this to your back so you can run with the children and she can follow," Layla said as she started grabbing the crying children to buckle them into the cart.
"But I want to help you," Jasmine pleaded.
"You would be helping me more this way. Then you would also be there to calm everyone down until me and my mother can get there,"
Jasmine glanced at the shaking woman next to her and sighed. She knew Layla was right and that there was no other choice. Handing Layla the other child that was in her arms, Jasmine quickly shifted to get strapped to the little wooden cart.
As soon as Layla was finished tightening the harness on Jasmine's back, she grabbed the infant from the woman and ordered her to shift as well. After the woman obeyed, she placed the infant in between the other two children in the cart and buckled him in tight before morphing once again.
"GO!" Layla shouted loudly through her link at Jasmine.
As soon as the group started to run towards the mountains, she turned away from them and hurried to check out the rest of the houses. As quickly and calmly as she could, she tried to reassure the rest of the women and children that she had found and sent everyone on their way to the secret protected shelter.
When she got to the end, though, she noticed that the battle was getting much closer. Flames were starting to spread to the houses on the eastern side, and the other pack was pushing their way through the men that were fighting them. Starting to get worried for her mother's safety, she looked around for signs of her. There was no trace of Selena, but what caught her eyes horrified her even more. There was a large dark wolf being thrown in the air. Recognizing him as her father, Layla stopped in her tracks. A red-tinted wolf caught her father by his neck and flung him to the ground. One yelp and a thrashing movement from the other wolf, and her father's body lay lifeless.
A piercing howl escaped from her throat, and she started bolting towards the other wolf. The sound of her howl had drawn his attention, and he swung his head to the side to glare at her. He then glanced at others in his pack who had also moved their gaze to her. Turning his body to face Layla straight on, he braced himself firmly in the ground and began to snarl as some of the other wolves joined by his side.
All Layla could focus on was her father, who still hadn't moved. The smoldering ashes falling from the sky didn't even faze her. Wolves from her pack were racing passed her in retreat, but she barely even noticed. She could feel her eyes burning the closer she got to the smoke and flames, but she wanted revenge.
There had been rumors of the Hadan pack attacking other packs to steal some of their women and children, and she knew that now that she has been spotted there was no turning back. It was either die or be taken, but damned if she wasn't going to take the bastard down with her that had killed her father.
She was nearly to the group of wolves that had formed. There were flames encircling their paws and black smoke puffed out from their nostrils as they hunched up their backs preparing for her. The Hadan pack had the affinity for fire, whereas the Nuna pack that Layla was from had the affinity for earth. Layla could feel the ground starting to rumble beneath her and she willed some nearby rocks to fling at the wolves in her view. A couple of yelps shot out, and she was able to knock one of them to the ground.
That only pissed the others off more, making them snarl rabidly. Blood-red eyes gleamed brighter with anger, and sharp teeth poked out from their mouths. The fire roared, and the heat intensified as the flames snaked their way even closed to Layla's path. Leaping into the air, she barely managed to avoid a large burning branch that had fallen in front of her.
Suddenly, Layla felt a sharp pain in her side, and she went spiraling through the thick, smoky air. Her head collided with the ground, and her vision became blurry. Trying hard to focus, she could faintly make out a large tan and red wolf standing over her growling.
"Don't move. I'll keep you safe," a male voice spoke in her head.
Her ability to speak escaped her, leaving her unable to reply. Tingles ran through her body, and her eyelids felt as if they weighed a ton. The sounds around her were becoming quieter and indistinguishable, and then everything went black.
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did writing it :) Please vote if you did like it...
I would love to hear what everyone thinks! Continue reading to find out what happens to Layla and who this guy is that said he will protect her.
Also, I am dedicating this chapter to Next_JK_Rowling for helping me with such great advice. Check out her story "Errand Runners." It is definitely an intriguing story and well worth reading :)