The Mark of Betrayal (by Cooper) novel Chapter 1

Samara

Nine years old

“Samara! Samara, wake up!” my mother says urgently, shaking me awake.

“Hmm, what?” I ask sleepily. There’s a lot of banging nearby.

“Samara, wake up, you have to get dressed. The pack is under attack!”

I shoot up in bed. “What?”

“Hurry and be as quiet as possible,” my mother says, tossing clothes at me. It’s late fall, but we’ve already had our first snow and the air outside is cold.

I begin putting on the clothes over my nightclothes to save time, sliding my feet into shoes without lacing them up while my mother puts a coat on me.

“Listen to me. We’re going to sneak out of here and then you’re going to ride Simone and we’ll get you to safety.”

I haven’t gotten my wolf yet, I won’t until I turn 10, so I’ll have to ride my mother’s wolf so we can move faster. The only problem is, my family is descended from the rare white wolf. The gene comes from my mother’s side. Her wolf is white, my sister, Althea’s wolf is white, and I expect that my wolf will be white as well.

Usually, a wolf’s color is decided by the color of the person’s hair. But the women in my family are different. We are a very rare breed of wolf that descends from a long, pure line of Alphas. It doesn’t matter that my hair is brown, my wolf will be white.

My mother’s wolf’s pure white coat will be easily seen, even in the forest.

“Come on, Samara! We have to go!” she says.

“What about Althea?” I ask as my mother drags me into the hallway. She listens for a moment and then begins dragging me to the end of the hallway.

“She’s not in her room. She may already be helping your brother and father fight.”

My sister, Althea, is nineteen years old. My brother, Theodore, or Teddy as I call him, just turned eighteen. We have been planning his Alpha ceremony for nearly a year. My parents have been planning their retirement for the same amount of time. He is due to take over the pack this coming weekend.

At the end of the hallway, my mother opens the secret compartment that was put into this wall years ago when my great grandfather first built this packhouse. Only the Alpha family knows where the secret compartment is.

Just as my mother pushes me into the space, I hear a snarl behind her. Her eyes go wide, and she looks at me, quickly taking my face in her hands.

“Listen to me. You get downstairs. Find your father or your brother. They will get you out of here. I love you. Never forget that,” she says, and slams the door in my face.

A moment later I hear something heavy smash against the door, and I hear the sounds of clothes tearing before I hear Simone’s angry snarl. I stand in the small space, my hands over my mouth, trying not to cry out.

I listen to the battle on the other side of the door. I don’t have my wolf yet, so I don’t have a link to my family. But when I hear a wolf yelp, before the telltale ripping of flesh and I hear my father’s wolf cry in agony at losing his mate, I know that it is my mother who lost the battle outside the door.

I want to scream but a wolf’s nose at the bottom of the door jolts me back to reality. I race down the stairs as I hear wolf claws scratching to get through the door.

When I reach the first floor, the sounds are even louder than they were upstairs. I stand on the inside of the secret compartment, quietly sobbing, fear and grief keeping me frozen in place.

I’m not sure how long I stand there before the door is wrenched open.

I scream before I’m pulled into my brother’s arms.

“Thank the goddess, I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he says, looking around quickly before pulling me out of the room.

“Listen to me, you have to run. Our parents are dead. If I win, I will find you. If not, stay hidden, don't let them find you, they will kill you,” he says, pulling me down the corridor.

He stops, pushing me behind him, just as a wolf leaps at us. My brother’s claws extend, and he slashes the wolf’s throat mid-air. He grabs my hand and is dragging me down the hall before the wolf’s dead body hits the ground.

“Where do I go?” I ask.

“Go south. These attackers seem to be from up here in the north. Stay out of the packs if you can, we don’t know who is a friend and who is a foe. If you can’t, don’t tell them who you are. Keep your Alpha blood a secret. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I say, crying.

He stops, looking around before turning to me and taking my face in his hands. “You’re stronger than you know, little sister. You can do this. I have faith in you.”

He leans in and kisses my forehead. “I love you, Teddy.”

“And I love you, Sammie,” he says.

His head jerks up. “Hide! Now!”

I turn, looking for a place to hide. He points to a small closet, and I rush to get inside. It has shelves and blankets, and I grab a blanket to cover myself with it. When I turn back, his finger is at his mouth, telling me to be quiet. I nod and get into the closet, tucking myself onto the floor under the lowest shelf.

I wait, listening.

“Oh, Sawyer, it’s you. I thought it was another one of those attackers,” my brother says, speaking to one of his best friends. I start to get out of the closet, knowing that they will help me get out of here.

I’ve just cracked open the door, my hand still holding the knob when I see a glint in Sawyer’s hand.

“I’m sorry brother, but it’s time for you to die,” Sawyer says before stabbing my brother several times with the knife. I tuck myself back into the closet, slapping my hands over my mouth as my brother falls to the floor, his eyes looking at me through the crack in the door.

I feel strong arms pick me up and the person begins running with me in their arms.

“Alpha, we found this pup on the outskirts of our borders,” the man holding me says.

I feel gentle fingers push the hair out of my face. It reminds me of the way my father moves the hair out of my face when it’s blowing around.

“Is that her blood?” a deep baritone voice asks.

“I’m not sure. We found her and when we realized that she’s still alive, we brought her straight to you.”

“Get her to the pack hospital. If nothing else, she looks nearly frozen. I don’t smell a wolf on her, so she won’t be able to heal herself if she is injured.”

I was taken the pack hospital where I was fed and treated for minor injuries and dehydration. Alpha William came to see me every day and on the second day, he asked me my name.

“Sam….antha. Samantha,” I say, quickly changing my name. Teddy told me to hide my identity, so that’s what I’m going to do.

“Samantha, do you belong to a pack?” he asks me kindly.

Tears begin streaming down my face and I shake my head.

“You’ve had a rough time of it, haven’t you?” he asks me kindly.

I nod, struggling to breathe with the weight of everything that I witnessed still fresh in my mind.

“You’re safe now. You can stay here. No harm will come to you.”

“Thank you.”

“What is your rank, pup?”

“Omega,” I say, deciding that’s the best way to hide in a pack while I wait and hope that my sister will come for me.

“Okay, Samantha. Once you’re cleared by my doctor, I’ll get you a room and we’ll get you set up with a work schedule. How does that sound?” he asks.

“Fine,” I say, thinking I won’t be here long.

Two weeks later, I overhear the nurses talking in the hallway. I find out that my family is dead, and that Sawyer has taken over as Alpha of my family’s pack.

It was at that moment that I swore an oath to myself and my family. I swore that one day I would return home and take revenge on Sawyer and Roman for what they did.