Nobody's POV: Sixteen Years Ago

Dakota woke up and rubbed her small blue eyes. Her light brown hair was carelessly brushed behind her back. She looked so fragile that anyone would be afraid she would be hurt if she was pushed as gently as possible. She had the most frightening dream that night, and needed to clear her disorganized head. She walked behind the tent and towards the river, about five yards away.

As she sat down by the riverbank, she noticed there was something in the water that resembled a hand. It was stuck on a low-hanging branch. Curious, Dakota pulled on it, and a head appeared above the water. It was a pale little girl that looked around her age. Her wet brown hair was plastered to her face, tangled and thick. She tried to help the girl out of the river and pulled hard enough to break the branch she was shackled to. Dakota sat there, breathing heavily. The girl she had just saved was starting to choke on the water. She sat up and shrieked something unintelligible.

Dakota quickly responded and ran to the girl's side. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking at the frightened girl. The two stared at each other until the girl nodded her head to say yes. "I'm Dakota. What's your name?" Dakota sat there with her arms wrapped around her knees.

The girl imitated her posture. "I'm not sure," she whispered. "But I always liked the name Maddie." Dakota put her hand out and smiled. Maddie shook her hand. She tried to smile but couldn't for life of her. She was lost, hurt and freezing. She shivered, her sadness in her eyes growing with each passing second.

"Stay right here. I'll be back soon," Dakota said, and ran off. She ran to the camp, she saw her parents standing there. "Mom! Dad!" Dakota ran to them and tapped their arms. Ashley and Yin looked at each other. Ashley was the first to respond. "What's wrong sweetie?"

"I have to show you. Hurry."

She led them to where Maddie was. Maddie was sitting with her knees up to her chest, her arms around me her knees. She was still shivering. She looked up when she heard footsteps. Dakota's parents were shocked. They stood there with their mouths open. Dakota was sitting beside Maddie. She looked at her parents. "Can you help her?"

"Dakota, where did you find this girl?" Ashley asked.

"She was in the river, I pulled her out. Can you please help her?" Ashley came over to Maddie and Dakota. She picked Dakota up, despite her protests. Then Yin came over and picked up Maddie. She was shivering too hard, she hardly seemed to notice that she had been saved.

•2 months later•

Dakota got up sometime late afternoon. The sun was shining on her small, innocent face. She sat up just as the sun went down. She probably shouldn't have stayed up with that book, but it was a two-year-old's duty to learn to read. She looked around and saw that Maddie was walking out of the tent. Dakota scratched her small head and yawned, then got up to go see where Maddie went. As she walked into the clearing, she noticed something was wrong. The pack was gone. Everyone was gone. All of the tents were gone except for Maddie's and Dakota's. The fire was still burning, but her parents were nowhere to be found. She did notice the smell of fresh meta-blood. She went to go find where the smell was coming from. As she wandered towards the river, she saw that the river was shockingly red. She recognized many of the bodies floating face down in the water, plumes of red surrounding them like scarlet smoke.

"Hi, sis!" Maddie crawled out of the river, a smirk on her face and a terrible look in her eyes. "Isn't it pretty?" Shock kept Dakota in place. Maddie turned back to the river and knelt down, putting her cupped hands in the river. She raised her hands to her lips and sipped the water, thick with blood. A five-year-old girl drinking werewolf blood.

A hybrid? Dakota thought to herself. Of what? She didn't remember anything.

Maddie got up and walked back towards Dakota. She took a step back. She thought to say something witty, maybe complain about personal space, but Maddie was a full two years older, and she didn't want to provoke her. Dakota looked nervously at the ground. Maddie stared at her. "So, are you amused?" she said, smiling at Dakota.

Dakota looked up, tears forming in her small blue eyes. "Why would you do this to them?" she said quietly. The better question is 'how?' Maddie noticed that Dakota's eyes were turning dark as the depths of the sea, her brown hair turning jet black. The sky was getting dark, and the rising moon was full tonight. Maddie suddenly looked scared and confused. She glanced at the moon and the sky then back at Dakota. By the time she looked at Dakota she had already transformed into a werewolf, her fur black as a raven, and her eyes cold and menacing. They were not the eyes that held so much emotion just seconds earlier.

Dakota threw her small, elegant head back and howled. Dakota's dark black eyes flickered, and it screamed death and hatred. No, these eyes held emotion, but they were bleak. She bared her large white fangs at a petrified Maddie, who had a scream clogging her throat. Dakota ran at Maddie with her powerful legs, her claws outstretched.

Dakota jumped at Maddie, and the girl fell to the ground. Dakota was turning into a real monster, just as she had planned, but now Maddie was in danger. Dakota looked eager to dig her claws into her flesh, but a large wind of air came at Dakota before she had the chance. A now human Dakota was laying on her side. She sat up and rubbed her temples. She looked up to see her mother holding Maddie, bridle style.

"I'm ashamed of you. Why would you dare hurt my daughter?" Ashley demanded.

There was something different about her mother, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "But...I'm your daughter," Dakota reminded her quietly.

Ashley sniffed disdainfully. "You were never my daughter."

Dakota got up on her feet. "Where's dad?" she asked despite the danger she was in.

Ashley laughed. "Yin? He's dead. I killed him myself. You should've seen the look in his eyes. No, what he said was even better. 'What happened to my Snow White wolf?' He's out of the way, now."

Ashley dropped Maddie and grabbed Dakota by the throat. She looked into Dakota's eyes. "I hope you rot in hell, you bastard." Dakota's eyes were bloodshot. She didn't struggle much more. Ashley tossed Dakota into the river. Dakota was moving in the water so fast, she couldn't tell which direction the surface was. She felt something hit her head, and she was out like a light.

A strong pair of arms picked her up from the water. Her held her close to her. "What happened to you?" Dakota slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at this strange man and then she was out again. He smiled at her. He walked back to his camp.

•One month later•

"I'm so happy you're in our pack now, Dakota." A little boy named Blake smiled at Dakota. He didn't seem to care how emotionless she was.

"Me, too." She looked away. She didn't remember anything about her life before she was found in the river. She would forget it when she got older, anyway. All she had on her mind was her name, and the phrase 'How ironic.'