PROLOGUE

Perfect.

My fingers dig under the windowpane, dragging it up until the cool night glides through. It's not snowing tonight, but the glacial mountain breeze bites at my bare arms as I clamber over the window ledge, one leg and then the next.

This isn't the first time I've jumped from my bedroom window and onto the mossy grass below, yet my breath still shudders, my stomach twisting uneasily.

Drawing in enough confidence, I push off the ledge, suspending in a state of falling for only a moment before my feet hit the ground, pain lancing through my ankles. My fingers grip the dewy grass, bracing myself before I stand, blowing loose strands of white hair from my face.

Freedom. Finally.

This has been an especially long week, associates from all over have been visiting my mother, which means I have had to be on my best behaviour. That translates to incessant smiles, pretty clothing and strict hours in which I need to be presentable. This is the first time I've seen the forest in several days.

Picking my way quietly through the grass, I run my fingers along the exterior walls of my family manor, which I only recently inherited. Mother was Alpha until her accident, from which she handed the title down to me prematurely.

Looking around, my eyes narrow through the subtle amount of light the moon offers, knowing there are guards crawling all over the property.

While I allow my mother to stay here while she heals, the rules are strict, and I have no other choice but to respect them at risk of offending her...Again.

Picking my way across the grass, feet bare, I reach the line of the forest, peering through the looming darkness. All I desire is a walk to embrace the night, yet if I'm caught I will be told to go back. The forest borders my property, and is how the single most dangerous threat to me can enter.

Silent's.

In a Pack relatively far away, there is an Alpha who thoroughly despises me for a reason I have yet to decipher. My mother believes our Pack's have rivalled for centuries - the Independence Pack versus the Discipline Pack. I've never even met Kael, yet he sends his highly trained warriors to assassinate me often enough for me to consider retaliation.

That will never happen, though. The Independence Pack does not encourage violence, and it wouldn't be fair of me, as Alpha, to put my members at risk like that.

The brittle autumn leaves crunch beneath my feet as I carefully pick my way between trees, avoiding bracken and undergrowth as I search for the path I've worn down over the years.

Suddenly, a golden haze of shattered light, split by the trees alights the forest. Startled, I press my body against a tree trunk, back flat against the rough surface. I was hoping I had timed my escape perfectly with the guards rounds, but I suppose not.

Their voices are hushed as their flashlights sweep the area, making me wince. The creatures of the forest shrink back into the shadows, the light catching on the verdant hues of each fern and native bush.

"Faye? Really?" one of the guards mutters.

I close my eyes, cursing under my breath. I've hired the best guards in the land, so I shouldn't be surprised that they found me so quickly. Stepping out from behind the tree, I hold my hand up against the assault of light.

"I'm only agreeing because I don't want to hear the disappointed speech again," I sigh, scrambling back up the hill. One of the guards chuckles, while the other sweeps my body for injury, knowing the potential danger that lurk out here.

I'm the Alpha though, and I can look after myself, even if my mother doesn't think so.

"She wants to see you anyway," the guard says, motioning for me to follow them. I know he means my mother.

"She shouldn't be awake right now," I mutter.

Regardless, I follow the guard, silently praying my mothers lecture will be more merciful tonight. I was hoping to have at least made it past the line of trees before being caught by the guards, although it appears it will be yet another night lacking any freedom.

The guards lead me back into the manor and up the stairs to mothers room, lurking near the door while I step.

It always unnerves me, coming up here.

Mother was a powerful, confident women up until her accident, before her wounds became infected...Now she is bed-ridden and irritable. However, it's the fact she tires easily and can hardly move that gets to me the most.

Approaching her bedside, I gently pull back the gauzy net curtains that shroud her bed, the fresh pine-scented breeze fluttering through the netting. Mother lays there as she always does, frail body propped up with feather pillows, pale hands resting on the satin cover of her duvet.

"You called?" I murmur lowly, aware that the guards will be listening.

Her glassy eyes meet mine, once a vibrant hazel shade. I got my green eyes from father, but the rest of my features I share with mother. The small, sloping nose, small mouth and prominent cheekbones. Most obviously, it's the white hair, which hers has since been cut to her shoulders, turning  sickly grey colour.

"You've been out," she mutters, the slight wheeze in her lungs making me wince. Sitting beside her, I drape her cool fingers over my lap, playing with her golden ring that she still refuses to take off.

"Just for some fresh air," I admit.

Mother angles her head at me, sallow skin crinkling around the corner of her eyes as she regards me intently. Sickness has seeped everything out of here, although not the sharpness of her mind. She berates me with it enough to never forget it.

"A single Silent took out thirteen of our guards today, Faye," she murmurs.

"And why was I not first to hear of this?" I question, knowing mother would never supply me with the answer, as it would require her admitting she has too much of a role in Pack business.

"You're in danger. You are Alpha, which means they are going to come to you, and they are going to kill you," she grumbles, adjusting herself uncomfortably. I glance down at where her leg lingers under the cover, hiding what caused this all in the first place.

Silent's are dangerous. They are elite soldiers who are taught by Alpha Kael himself to fight, to target me specifically. Their purpose is to kill all those that come between them and me, and once they find me, they must kill me without saying a word. Silent's have been known to end their own lives before saying a single word, which is how they adopted the name.

"I'm the Alpha, mother. I will be perfectly safe," I assure her, brushing a hair back from her face, forcing my saccharine smile to not falter.

"Your father had a huntsman, who protected him, while being taught. When your father died a few years ago, we had the boy sent away. I've asked him to come back and resume that position with you."

I draw in a long breath, bracing myself for anger that doesn't appear. I'm sadly not surprised.

"What's his name?" I question.

This isn't the first time mother has appointed me with 'special' guards, and none of them have lasted that long. Although the idea of a huntsman intrigues me. What does that even mean?

"Cal," she breathes, closing her eyes for a long moment. "I think you will like him."