Kadelyn Leanne Summers is my full and only name. A name scarred and tainted by my older, ridiculous, brother. Well... not my first and middle name, but the last name. Summers.

"Ah... another Summers. I have my eye on you. The other eye is on you, Miss. Hedgewood." Mr. Banks looked down his attendance list during the first day of second semester. We were halfway through the year, the time when students stopped caring and teacher's switched up their classes. "I've had a good year so far, and I'm not letting a Summers and a Hedgewood ruin it."

I looked at Vix and my face fell as soon as hers did. Our brothers were known for many things. Parties, and for being the reason most people showed up to school with a massive hang over were their golden achievements however. The teachers hated them and the kids praised them.

But they're gone now, and it's just us. And we don't host parties or get kids drunk, nope not us. We learned at a young age that making teachers mad is not the way to go.

"I'm nothing like my brother, Mr. Banks." Vix said, shaking her head. She was always the one to argue, the one to say her mind.

"Raise your hand, Miss. Hedgewood." Mr. Banks said, glaring at Vix.

He continued going down the list. "Heather Valley... you're in this class also?" He asked, regretting all his life choices at that moment.

Heather sighed. Vix and I didn't like her, but she's in the same position we're in. She was judged by her older siblings too. It seemed like everyone in this class is. Everyone in the school, probably. We lived in a small town. A tiny town. We go to an even smaller school. We all get judged by who our older siblings are, no matter how many times teachers say they won't be bias.

"Yes, sir." Heather replies.

He sighs with the rest of us.

The door opens and a tall, pretty girl enters in with a bruise forming on her jawline.

She comes in and greets us. I remember her being a senior last year.

"Ah. My teacher aid for the year, Everly Dawn. Everyone say hello to Miss. Dawn." He announces, smiling brightly. Everly got the good end of the stick with her siblings going to school before her. Because her siblings were smart, and hot, and all the teachers seemed to love them. Everly was pretty, yeah, and she was decently smart, but I'm pretty sure she didn't live up to the teacher's expectations. I'd rather take that than what I had though.

Everyone greeted Everly and some of her friends actually run up to hug her, she hugs them back and asks for them to go back and sit down. She goes to sit at an empty desk at the end of the front row as Mr. Banks continues role call.

At the end of it he looks at Everly. "What happened to your jaw, if you don't mind me by asking."

It looks like someone punched her.

"Oh, no, it's fine. My brother hit me in the face with the car door on accident this morning when we dropped him off for his first day of work. Don't worry, I slapped him back." She smiled at Mr. Banks, winking.

He nods back. "Sounds like Dallas." He said, chuckling to himself.

She shrugged. "What can I say?"

Like I said earlier. Everyone knows everyone, especially the teachers.

***

I walked into the cafeteria, tired from my last class and running on a small breakfast. I spotted Vix sitting down and I ran up to her, grabbing her sides while laughing. I knew she hated that.

"Whoa!" She spun around, her dark hair hitting my face lightly. She was glaring until she realized it was me. "I hate you," She giggled as she pushed me lightly. "Don't you know never to touch my sides?" She asked.

I nodded, smiling back at her. "Yes. That's why I did it, duh?" I took a seat next to her as she rolled her eyes. She was annoyed, but could she really stay mad at me?

"I had an amazing idea." I said, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

She hit my shoulder and gave me a pointed look. "You really do have a death wish today, don't you?"

After she heard what I had in mind, she'd bury me ten feet under. I didn't have to steal her food or poke her sides. "Basically. Wait till you hear this. So every time a teacher says our names they get mad at the world right? No matter what we do, we'll always get in trouble, right?"

Vix gave me an odd and confused look. She put her hand on my forehead, pretending to check my temperature. "Well, you don't have a fever... are you mental?"

I shook my head. "No, listen Vix. If we are going to get in trouble for not doing anything, we might as well get in trouble for doing something." I pointed out.

She cocks her head to the side before forming an O with her mouth and leaning back. "Like, pulling a prank on Thomas?" Thomas was Vix's best friend, a guy I had never taken the time to get to know. Then again, I never focused my time on a guy.

I look back at Thomas, who was currently getting lunch, and shake my head. "No. That's not what I meant. We should throw a party. Tonight." I say, surprising her.

At the sound of party, it seems like the whole cafeteria died down.

"What!? Are you mad? My parents would kill me!" We all know that her house was party central and mine was the beer dealer. I put my hand over her mouth and she licks it off. She rolls her eyes and in a quieter voice she whispers, "Are you mad?"

I nod. "Yes. A little bit. But think about it. We're going to get in trouble anyways, might as well be for a good reason."

Vix face-palms herself, knowing I'm right but not wanting to admit it to herself. We were in reverse roles right now, me having the dumb idea and her trying to talk me out of it. But.. something in my gut told me that having a party tonight was a good idea. "Okay... why tonight?"

I gave her an incredulous look. "Our brothers graduated last year. We're now eighteen in our senior year. We need to do something! Plus, our brothers ALWAYS did some kind of huge blowout every month."

She shrugged, biting her lip. She let out a huff and I nearly shrieked, knowing I had won. "Why the hell not. It's not like I want to keep my life or anything. It's not like I don't want my parents to be in jail for the murder of their daughter or anything like that. Who knows, maybe Zane will show up and help out."

Her brother, Zane, has been throwing parties since freshman year. As a freshman, that's a huge accomplishment.

"I can get Chance to get me beer. All I have to do is ask." I said, knowing my older brother will be delighted to known his little sister is finally living up to his legacy.

Vix pulls out her phone and texts everyone in her contact list, which granted who her brother was, was probably half the school.

My stomach was reeling, my hands were shaking. Something about tonight was going to be special, I wasn't sure why or how I knew, it was just a gut something. Like someone was pulling my hand towards an unknown utopia.

***

I throw on a random pair of jeans and a tank top before heading downstairs. "Chance!" I yelled, shoving my arms through a jacket. It was getting chillier outside in the state of Montana. November never was a warm month.

Chance came down the stairs, his girlfriend Layla right behind him. He stopped and gave me a confused look.

"You're still coming with me, right?" I asked, worried that he ditched our plans and I'd have to show up alone.

Chance looked between me and his girlfriend. "Uh, yeah. Definitely. Just let me get on a jacket. Layla, you wanna go?" She shrugged and grabbed her shoes from the stairs, sitting down.

Most girls my age would hate if their brother came with them to a party. But I loved my brother and him coming honestly made me happy. Plus, that meant if I couldn't find Vix I could just follow him like a lost puppy. It's not like he minded, we were actually pretty close for siblings. He was like a best friend.

"Zane's house?" He asked, tying his shoes.

I scoffed, putting my hands in my pocket and holding back a yawn. It was already ten and I was tired, the day taking its toll. "Where else?"

Layla smirked, grabbing his hand. "My house." I couldn't say I liked her, and I knew my brother could do better. With his bright blue eyes and his natural curious glint, he could easily capture any girl's attention. And his heart was straight and kind, for the most part. He also had the little devil on his shoulder saying, "Yes. It is a great idea to get people drunk."

He kissed her cheek. "Zane's house is so much bigger though, no offense Layla. We're driving, right?" He asked, looking at the car keys set on the nightstand.

We probably could walk but it was dark, and darkness when you live in the small town of Columbia Falls, Montana is darker than just about anywhere on the planet. It's pitch black. No light. No moon. Just darkness.

"Of course. I call driver's seat!" I grabbed the keys and shot out of the house, quick to take the driver's seat.

It was only a ten minutes drive, not even enough time to really think about how stupid of an idea this was. But for some reason, instead of the good feeling I had had all day, there was suddenly a pit in my stomach.

We pulled up to the loud noise of music and yelling teenagers, people already here since I was late. It seems like I'm always late to things like this.

Vix lived in a huge two story cabin, the driveway was half a mile long and it was tucked into the woods, perfect to have a party and never get busted.

We sat in the car for a little bit, waiting for Chance's contacts to show up. And by the time they finally do, it's nearly ten. Chance nods to the cases of beer, picking three up himself.

"Hey, help me carry these down to the house." He orders, and I run to grab a case. I start to walk up to the house when I realize that all the lights are shut off. "Where is everyone? I hear music. I hear talking."

Chance rolls his eyes. "Who parties inside the house? Mrs. Hedgewood would kill us." He points to the woods where light emanates. "That's where everyone is."

"Okay then." I say, and start down the steps to the clearing in the woods.

Vix runs up to me and smiles. "We should have done this sooner!" She yells and wraps her arm around my shoulder. "We should do this everyday." She leans against me and I almost loose my balance, the heavy case of beer not helping the situation.

"Take her somewhere. She's gunna like, puke everywhere." Zane walks up the steps to us and gives Chance a man hug. "There's more right?"

Him and Chance stray back up to car, eager to carry more than the other. Boys will be boys.

I set the case on the ground and put one of Vix's arms over my shoulder. "Please don't puke on me." I whisper as I set her down on a log. We were still in the middle of the woods and the dark night was starting to creep up on me.

Vix looked passed out, her eyes barely open. I guess we came too late. Even for me.

I think about how she got drunk in the first place considering that we just showed up with the beer. "How are you drunk?" I ask, shaking my head. "We just—"

A twig snaps behind me and I spin to see nobody there. I'm in the woods. Twigs are going to snap. Animals are going to make noises. I try to reassure myself, but half of me wants to leave Vix here and go find my brother.

Vix stirs in her unconscious state. "Where are we?"

I shake my head. "About two minutes from the party." I say.

She nods and sits up. She opens her mouth but instead of talking she just starts laughing. "Did you see that dog!" She says and points behind us.

I spin and see nothing there, just trees and bushes.

A nagging feeling hits my gut and I face Vix. "What dog? How are you—" I look at her and sigh. She probably hit her parent's liquor cabinet.

She nods. "Jaxon came."

Jaxon. Her long-lost crush that will never become anything.

I hear leaves crumple behind me and I spin so fast I fall onto my back. I get up faster than a blonde white girl in the movies and put two hands in front of me.

"Who's there? Chance?" It's funny how I laugh at the stupid scared girls in movies who ask who's there.It's not like anyone will respond. But it's the hope that maybe a familiar voice will come. But no voice came. "Hello?" I call again.

Vix points to a darker place in the woods. "There's a dog."

I look at her. "You don't own a dog! There is no dog!" I yell, panicking for some reason even though I had no need too. But my stomach was twisting at too many wrong angles. Something wasn't right.

"C'mon, Vix, we're leaving." I pick her up and walk further from the party. I could either walk away from the sound of twigs snapping and away from the party, or towards the sound of creepiness and towards the party.

I'm not taking chances.

More rustling noises come from behind me. I spin and then the noises are all around me, circling me like vultures.

"Who the hell is out there?" I yell, knowing somebody is there. Again, no response. "Chance!" I scream, scared beyond my wildest dreams. "Chance! Come quick!"

Suddenly, screams erupt from the party. People began yelling and shouting, the sound echoing in the sky like booms. I find myself screaming along.

Vix grabs my hand when I start going towards the screaming. "Vix! We have to go back! Our brothers!" I yell back at her, worried for the sake of my brother.

She shakes her head. "They'll be fine! We won't be if we stay here!"

I shake my head but follow Vix away from the party anyways.

Shouts and screams to get inside the house echo through the dead of night, birds chirping as they flew off. But one word among the chaos hits me like no other. Wolves. I don't know how to get away from wolves.

But I do remember being attacked by one when I was a little kid, it growling and snarling as it stalked up to me. I still have a scar across my chest from one.

I spot yellow eyes in the distance, and I hear a howl that's too close and getting closer.

"Tree! Climb a dam tree!" I yell at Vix, my heart racing and pounding, scratching too get out.

Her body becomes limp as I talk to her and I realize she passed out. I look around for anywhere to go, but there doesn't seem to be anything. I spot a rose bush and cringe.

"This is going to hurt." I push Vix into the bush and she wakes up, immediately.

"What the— agh!" Thorns cut her whenever she moves.

"Stand still." I realize I can't fit. "They don't want to be cut just like we don't want to be." I assure her, thinking that maybe the wolves will just give up on eating her if shes inaccessible.

Her eyes are filling up with tears and she's sobbing hysterically. "Why! Did you—" she's cut off with a low growl.

We stare at the big black wolf making it's way towards us.

The wolf looks at Vix first, gnawing his teeth. He lunges but backs away, humiliated, with thorns in his muzzle.

He whines and looks at me, anger clearly evident in his large dark eyes. It's almost as if he knows I did it, like a wolf can problem solve that well.

I take a slow step backward, placing my hands in front of me.

"Good puppy." I say, immediately feeling stupid after words.

He lunges but doesn't bite, he's toying with me.

Out of nowhere I hear a yell of anger, and Chance comes from the party with a crowbar. He slams it down hard, on the wolfs back, and looks from me to Vix.

"Vix! Stay there! You're fine!" Chance takes out the crowbar out from the wolf and looks at me.

"Chance!" I yell, but it's too late. Another wolf, a large grey one, comes from behind him and latches onto his ankle.

He falls down onto the ground, dropping the crowbar.

I pick it up and hit the wolf in the face, hard.

He whimpers and runs back.

I help Chance up and we limp over to the tree, desperate to get away.

The black wolf, apparently not dead, howls up into the night sky, a warning and a call for help.

My brother shot me a worried look. "There's to many," He said. "And—" he puts on a pain stricken face. "Wolves never attack people! It's like— a whole pack!" He winces and grabs a hold of his ankle.

I look up at the tree as wolves howl back. "Climb up." I say.

He shakes his head. "I can't climb. Not like this." He rests his foot down and tries to put weight on it.

The black wolf stays on the ground, whimpering.

But my brother whimpers louder. He screams in agony and I plug my ears. He can't stand, much less climb a tree.

Movement comes from the forest, and everywhere there seems to be wolf eyes.

"I'll help you up." I say.

He shakes his head. "No! I'm the older brother!"

I nod. "Yeah. And I'm the non-hurt one." I argue back, not letting my brother die because I couldn't help him or myself.

Knowing I wouldn't budge, my brother decides to let me help him up. "You're going to have to stand on your hurt leg for a moment." I say.

He nods and uses his hurt leg to boost himself up. He groans and screams, all but crying on his way up.

A wolf comes from behind me and jumps. I dodge to the side, causing it to hit the trunk of the tree.

I run deeper into the woods, deciding I don't have time to claim a tree. I can't exactly run faster than them either.

What are wolves doing here? This close to civilization?

I grip the crowbar tighter as I run faster towards— towards whatever is in this direction. I think after Vix's house it's just woods until you hit the Canadian border. But there had to be houses right?

I can feel them nipping at my heels, taunting me, playing with me.

They know I'm useless.

They know I can't do anything.

But since when do wolves play with their food? I scoff. I knew paper came at a cost. We've officially sent the wild after us for taking their trees.

What's next? A squirrel is going to jump on me?

That would be a way to die.

I try to sprint faster, and when I do one wolf stops in front of me.

I don't how far I've ran, but it was far. Far enough to where I can't here the music or the screaming anymore.

Those screams would never leave my mind, though, no matter how far I ran.

I lift the crowbar over my head and bring it down hard. But a hand stops it.

I look up to see a tall man, with a five o'clock shadow growing in.

He gave me a kind smile that gave me the chills, my skin getting goosebumps. "Hello." He says, his yellow tinted teeth glinting in the faint moonlight.

I can barely make out his features but I know they aren't good.

I widen my eyes, as I watch him fold the crowbar over like it was a piece of paper.

The man lets go of the crowbar and I stumble back. The wolves don't attempt to attack this tall man, or me, at the moment.

"Who— who— are you?" I continue walking backwards until I run into another man.

I spin and see a younger man, even handsome on some level, smiling wickedly at me.

"Take her back, yeah?" The man says, licking his teeth.

I smile back at him and use the bent in half crowbar to hit him where it hurts.

He crumpled to the ground and I run forward, pushing past a group of laughing men.

I keep running, not daring to look behind me, scared that I might see a wolf or a man chasing me down. I don't know what just happened and I don't think I want to find out.

I feel a heavy body plunder onto me and I drop forward, my face scraping in the leaves. Claws dig into my back, ripping it and shredding it. I scream, not able to do anything else, not able to save myself or the get the wolf off of me. The claws seize and I'm left bloody on the forest floor, too weak to even scream anymore. My voice is lost in my throat, and I can practically feel the life in my body going away.

"Bitch." A voice says, and I'm kicked in the side, and I grunt out, crying into the dirt.

I grip the crow bar, but it's no use. I can't even lift my arm.

Another kick comes to my left side and I whimper into the ground.

Everything hurts.

Everything feels bloody and beaten.

I get onto my knees and elbows, trying to get up. My shirt falls to the sides, shredded, but I don't even mind it. My main problem is living.

"Jacobi! Would you look at that? She's a fighter! You sure she ain't one of us?" Someone asks, sounding serious about it, almost worried.

"Nah, one of us would never have fallen in the first place." Jacobi says, laughing.

I get onto my knees, facing the men.

My eyes are shedding tears, and my back is probably hanging in strips, tattered. I don't feel strong, but I must have been to get onto my knees in the state I am now.

"Dam. Scratched up and beaten, yet this one is still getting up." Jacobi says, pointing at me with an open hand.

"Not to mention she was smart enough to throw her friend in a bush and kind enough to let her brother live while she dies." Jacobi walks around me, spitting on the dirt in my direction. "But she's still an idiot for thinking she was gunna get away."

What the hell. "You're crazy!" I muster up the strength to yell that. Hoping maybe they would retaliate with a reason to why they were doing what they did.

The two men nod. "Yeah. Yeah we are." They say instead. "And your dead."

The man talking to Jacobi brings up his foot but halts and slams down on my chest instead of my face.

"Dam it." Jacobi yells. "Damon, we have to go. Alpha Rylee needs us."

Damon, the one who's foot was on my chest, snarls at me. "She still dies."

Jacobi grabs Damon's arm. "Teach her that being strong gets you through life and that the weak don't last. Don't kill her."

Damon growls in a inhumanly way. "You and your morals." He looks to me. "Run. I'll give you a head start. That's fair?"

I don't know what strength I had until I heard that sentence. I run, even though my back is torn open and my ribs are probably cracked. Because when your life is on the line, you don't think much about pain, and even if you do, it doesn't even matter anymore.

I'm sprinting and tripping while heading deeper into the dark woods. My life will not end. I see three people up ahead, and I pray to God they aren't with whoever those men were.

"Hey!" I yell, and they all spin to see me.

One is an old man who looks down at the ground like he's in trouble. The other is a teenager who also looks like he's being scolded.

The third man turns slowly with his eyes wide.

He sees me and takes in a deep breath.

And let me say, if I wasn't eighty percent dead and running for my life, I would have fallen to my knees at this man's beauty.

Messy and ruffled dark hair. Dark eyes that stared at me with an intensity I could almost feel. Chiseled jaw line. Tight black shirt over a body I knew I would have drooled over if I was back at the party.

I collapse onto the ground in front of them, and the man I was so dreamily staring at as I ran caught me in his arms.

"Who did this? Who hurt you?" He sounded so protective and I felt safe with him, even though I didn't know him.

It just felt right.

"We need—" I winced because all the pain was flooding my nerves. "Run!" I tried to stand but the man held me down.

"Whoever did this will pay." He growls, and I know he meant it.

Why so protective over someone they just met?

"Wolves! People! They— they— they could control wolves! You need to run! We need to leave!" I yell.

"Alpha." The old man says. He had a scraggy grey beard and wrinkly skin. "She's lost a lot of blood."

Alpha stands and looks at the teenager. "Look. Go find Beta Queens and tell him we're under attack. Tell him I found her."

The teenager looks from me to Alpha. "She's strong. We'll need that."

Alpha nods and brushes back a hair on my face. "You're okay now. They won't hurt you here."

"Her? Me? Why were you looking for me?" The pain in my back is slowly fading away, being replaced by a cool feel. "Who's Beta Queens?"

Alpha looks at the ground. "You're a Wild. That's okay. We'll introduce you later. Right now you need to rest. We'll get you to a hospital."

At the mention of rest and hospital I finally do what my body has been telling me to do.

Fall asleep.