Five years ago...

"Mom! Dinner's ready!" I yelled to my Mom. My Dad typed on the computer, pulling up the local news. I could see the flashing letters, spelling out Guardians, spelling out destroy. My mom hurried to the kitchen, smiling as she took her seat. It was my treat to make dinner tonight for my celebration. For the first time, I had walked outside as a Wolf! It was for a whole hour and I couldn't be happier!

"It smells delicious!" My mom inhaled deeply, taking all the scents with it. We sat around our small table in the dinning room. My dad came and sat beside me. As we dove into the amazing pasta dish, we talked about the Gift.

"So are you happy with your form?" My father asked. I smiled and nodded. He was burly with a bigger frame to accommodate the bear in him. While he was muscles and bulked up, my mom was just as tall, but thinner. She was strong, because she needed to be to fly. The eagle called her to the skies.

"I love it! It's beautiful." I thought back to the Wolf that stared back at me when I looked in the mirror. Silver and black, it blended in with the shadows. It was almost as if the fur was the night itself. The calmness outside relaxed any tensions. Nothing could disturb out final peacefulness.

Our house was located in a small neighborhood. There was plenty of space between the houses and our yard was large. Within the five houses that made our side of the road, we knew two of the housed Shifters. They came over to our house often enough.

That afternoon, my dad had taken me out to a secluded field where we practicing with our Gift. He worked me hard, making me run sprints and leaps, but he was always encouraging. He did this all to make me the stronger and more agile.

When we finished with our warm dinner, our stomachs full, I went to the living room where I picked up my book and daydreamed into the evening.

I could help to imagine finding true love, just like my character. I was fifteen and it was a cheesy thought. Honestly, true love? I needed to focus on staying alive, not finding the right guy. But if I let myself dream, just a little, I imagined finding another Shifter, someone who I could live in peace with without fear of Guardians. As I closed my book and shut my eyes, I could imagined a handsome, tall man. Would he be a bear like my dad? Possibly a hawk or something flying, like my mom?

I always thought of him as a wolf, to match mine. The light to match my shadows. A smile crept on my face as I thought of a wolf to match my own form and for a moment all was peaceful-

"Wynter, get to the basement!" My dad told me calmly. We only went to the basement for emergencies. What now? My mom grabbed my arm, leading me back down the carpeted stairs. My dad stayed upstairs, waiting by the door.

We reached the door and entered the dim room. My mom bolted the locks, then took me to the corner. Below the couch was a trap door. When I was ten, we had to use this once. It all turned out okay.

"Stay here until I knock, okay?" My mom asked. I gave her a weak smile and nodded as I crawled down. This must have been pretty serious.

"I'll be okay, Mom. I'm fifteen." I reminded her. Her face was filled with sorrow.

"I know. I love you." She told me before shutting the metal door. The trap door had a ladder that led down to the small safety room. I bolted the three locks and sat on the corner sheets. There was food for a week stored down here with water and blankets.

I waited, and waited, and waited.

There was a metal clock on the wall. When an hour passed, I nearly tempted myself to go up, but resisted. I let another ten minutes pass before giving in and going up. I opened the door silently, moving around the couch. Mom and Dad weren't in sight. I crept up the stairs. It was dead silent in the house. When I reached the front door, I saw them outside. I peeked through the window.

Four Guardians were standing in front of them. They were angry and made large arm gestures. I watched as one raised their gun.

In an instant, my mom was down on the ground, blood staining the driveway. I had to hold my hands over my mouth to resist screaming. She was gone. I couldn't see her breathe. There was no life in her. Even from twenty feet back, I could see my dad vibrate, shake with anger for barely a second before leaping into the face of the Guardian, shifting into a bear.

The lead Guardian had long swept dark hair with blue-green eyes. Dad clawed at one of the Guardians, but the dark haired boy, only about eighteen years old, a new recruit, pulled the grizzly bear of the women, now bleeding from many deep scratches, and shot him in the back.

The heavy bear writhed before shifting back into a human and going limp. The four Guardians threw their bodies on the ground and started to walk away.

I ran out the back door, the image of my dead parents, the only family I had, my only mentors scarred in my head. I'll never forget the face of their murderer.

Notes

Hey everyone! Chapter Two for ya! Here's a little background for Wynter. Next chapter will be in the present, I promise!

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