Prologue

7 years ago...

"Mom, please, can we go into Marie's?" Ellie's voice begged, as she pulled on her mom's hand, leading her in the direction of the jewelry and accessory store in the mall. 

"Ok, but only 3 things, that's it," her mom, Cindy, replied, the mock stern tone giving away her tendency to give in to the little girl pulling at her hand.

"Yay!" Ellie exclaimed, running into the store filled with racks of hair ties, earrings, fuzzy backpacks, necklaces, and every shiny thing a preteen girl could possibly drool over.

Ellie pulled a basket from the pile at the entrance and started perusing the racks and shelves. A shiny tiara caught her eye and she pulled it off the shelf, looking intently at the fake diamonds adorning the peaks.

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through Ellie's head, and she saw a burst of flames in her vision, engulfing the store next door. Ellie turned around sharply with a surprised gasp, searching for the fire, looking at the video store, the tiara dropping from her hand to the floor. She let out a relieved breath.  Nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The mall was normal, there was no fire, there was no explosion. It was just in her head, her imagination gone wild again. She shook her head as flames shot through her vision again. A nagging feeling engulfed Ellie's stomach, desperation flooding her mind.

"We have to go," Ellie said to her mom with urgency.

"Don't you want to get a few things for school?" her mom objected. "Look, Ellie, you love these hair ties." Her mom held up a set of blue ties, shimmering with glitter and sequins.

"No, mom, we have to go now!" Desperation was overtaking her normally calm, shy demeanor. She was getting concerned glances from the other stores patrons. 

"Do you want to get some lunch, Ellie?" her mom asked with concern in her voice. "Are you getting tired?" Cindy reached up and felt Ellie's head. "You're warm, let's go get a drink."

"We have to leave the mall," Ellie dropped the basket on the floor much to the annoyance of the store employee standing next to her and tugged on her mom's arm, dragging Cindy out of the store. Next door to Marie's was a small video game store, a family of six had just ventured inside the store.

"NO!" Ellie yelled. Her mind was filled with visions again, engulfing her view until all she could see were red flames and black smoke clouding her vision. The store stood intact as people walked in, out, and around it, but in Ellie's vision flames licked up the sides of the walls as destruction lay inside the four walls.

"YOU HAVE TO LEAVE!" Ellie screamed. Her head burst with the pain, hot, sharp stabs throbbing through her temples.

"Ellie? Ellie, what's going on? What's the matter?" Cindy ran her hands down Ellie's arms, trying to find the mysterious cause for the agony on her daughter's face.

The family that had just entered the store looked over at Ellie and Cindy. The lady standing with her husband and four kids lowered her brow in concern, glancing at Ellie as she walked over to join the two. 

"Is she ok?" the lady in question asked Cindy.

"I'm not sure," Ellie's mom looked concerned and slightly frantic, unsure what was happening with her daughter. She glanced over at the lady asking questions.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Eloise, I didn't see it was you. We didn't mean to interrupt your trip." Ellie's mom spoke to the lady distractedly as she tried to get Ellie to sit down. Ellie's frantic please filled the air.

"Mom, please, we have to go. Please," she reached for Cindy's arm, "everyone needs to leave, there's a fire, an explosion, something's wrong, we have to get out!" Ellie's urgency rent the air. Her confusing words were rambling as she desperately tried to get them out of the mall.

"No, it's no problem." Eloise replied to Cindy's earlier statement, "Elizabeth, do you know where you are?" Eloise asked Ellie gently.

"WE HAVE TO GO!" Ellie grabbed Eloise's arm now too, trying to get someone's attention, anyone who could get them out of the store. No one seemed to find her pleas effective. "The store is going to blow up. I saw it. In my mind. Just now. That one!" Ellie pointed to the video game store where Eloise's family was browsing.

"It's ok, dear, nothing is wrong with the store."

"No, you don't understand," tears streamed down Ellie's face, nobody was taking her seriously. "There's going to be an explosion. We have to go, please, go." Ellie was past desperation, her cries echoed around the mall. At the word explosion, panic had started to spread, and families hurried out of the walkway toward the exit.

"We have to go, please, we have to go, now, please..." Ellie's tears could not be stopped, her sobs rent the air.

"Ok, we can leave, we can go now," Eloise said calmly. She took Ellie's arm and started to guide her toward an exit, Ellie's mom holding another arm.

"Your family, you have to save your family," Ellie cried, looking up at Eloise. Ellie's normally bright green eyes flashed a shade of violet as she screamed out in pain, grabbing her head while she yelled, "FIRE!" a vision of flames filled her mind, the flames licking at her head, burning through her skull. Chaos broke out in the mall when Ellie screamed, people grabbing their family and rushing toward exits. 

"Ellie!" Ellie's mom yelled in concern, putting her arms around her daughter. Ellie held Eloise's arm with a death grip.

"Richard!" Eloise yelled with urgent authority. A man inside the video game store locked eyes with her, he had been assessing the situation from afar, watching cautiously. "We need to leave." 

Richard nodded sharply, gathering his four kids while they all exited the store quickly. He led the four kids through the exit, down the walkway and out the mall entrance doors, toward the parking lot. Ellie visibly relaxed once they had reached the parking lot. 

"Come here, Ellie, let's get you to urgent care, they will be able to help," Eloise said gently, touching her hand to Ellie's forehead noting the heat that radiated off her head. 

"Eloise, I'm so sorry, I don't know what's happened," Ellie's mom looked around with an embarrassed and worried expression, her eyes frantic.

"We have to go now, mom, please..." Ellie sobbed.

"Come on, let's go this way," Eloise spoke with authority, gently touching the hand gripping her arm, leading the two women toward the exit.

As they neared the exit, a young boy, around the same age as Ellie ran past Ellie. She tensed, letting go of her mom and Eloise and lurched out to grab his arm yelling, "NOOO!" The boy fell to the ground, trying to kick Ellie off. Ellie used the strength she had left to grasp his arm and yank him toward the door, doing little more than angering the boy. He wrestled his arm free, but Ellie grabbed his shirt, digging in with all her body weight. His shirt pulled up, showing a birth mark on his abdomen, two marks that looked strangely familiar. Panic shot through her body, through her mind, she pulled on his shirt, grabbing his arm again.

"I have to get back there, my best friend is in there," he gasped.

"No, you can't! Please! You can't!" Ellie screamed, with a sudden burst, she lurched toward the exit with the boy, they flew through the door and landed on the concrete sidewalk, skinning arms and legs as Eloise and Cindy grabbed onto their arms, trying to break them apart.

As they broke apart a sudden, loud explosion rent through the air, shattering glass and thrusting them forward out the doors onto the sidewalk. Glass showered down around them. 

Eloise lifted her head from the sidewalk, assessing her arms and legs, then looked frantically around for her son. He lay next to Elizabeth, his shirt torn and scratches covering his arms and face, but otherwise unharmed. Ellie lay on the sidewalk, her eyes closed. She had passed out next to him, finally at ease. An eerie calm had descended on her body. The effort of the last ten minutes had taken her energy and she would be at rest for awhile.

Eloise looked up at Richard as he ran toward her. 

"Richard, her eyes," Eloise gasped.

"What is it? Whose eyes?"

"Elizabeth's."

"What about them, is she ok? Are you ok? Is Jake ok? Where are you hurt? Whose blood is that?" His hand roamed over her body, searching for serious injury. His eyes darted to his son, desperate to make sure everything was ok.

"We're fine, Richard, her eyes, they went violet." She looked up at her husband. He paused and glared at her, searching for the lie, disbelief covering his face.

"No."

"Yes."

2 months ago...

"Please don't make me go," Ellie begged her parents. Her green eyes desperate, pleading with her mom. "Why can't I stay here at public school? I have friends here."

"You know the rules. The Academy is for the last 2 years of your education, for all werewolves." Ellie's mom patiently explained, her heart breaking over the desperation in her daughter's eyes.

"I'm going to have to leave all of my friends behind. I don't know anyone at The Academy. Please, mom?" Her eyes darted to her dad, trying to figure out which parent she should plead with next, looking for a crack in their stern facade.

"Ellie, you're going to make lots of friends at The Academy, I promise," her dad interjected, unwilling to allow his daughter's pleas to go unheeded. "I met your mom when I was there, and I still stay in touch with the friends I made during our years there." His soothing voice did little to assuage her fears.

"No, I won't! I don't make friends anywhere! Please?" Ellie's eyes were wet with tears while her voice cracked. She didn't want to go, she didn't want to leave her best friend behind, and she most certainly didn't want anything to do with the werewolf pack requiring her to uproot her entire life to finish her education at their own private boarding school in the middle of nowhere. 

Ellie didn't actually know where The Academy was, it was one of several private werewolf boarding schools where kids were required to finish their primary education. They also had several universities attached, making The Academy at the very best a 2 year investment of time, and at worst a 6 year long-haul visit.

"Ellie, calm down. It's going to be ok. You knew this was coming. You'll be going with Jane and Sarah, you've known them for years." Ellie's mom kept talking in soothing tones.

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM, MOM!" Ellie cried out, tears streaming down her face, "They HATE me and I HATE them. I thought I didn't have to go since I can't transform. Doesn't that mean I don't have to do the same things as other wolves? I'm not even a real wolf." Her outburst had cost her, sobs heaving her small frame as tears poured down her cheeks and snot ran down her nose. She grabbed a tissue from the kitchen counter to blow her nose, the blast sounding like a fog horn.

"They don't hate you, Ellie. You've never tried to get to know them." Ellie's mom continued, wrapping her arms around her daughter's shoulders, rubbing circles in the middle of her back to soothe her worries.

"No, they most definitely hate me. They hid my clothes after gym last week and I had to borrow clothes from the nurse." Her sobs muffled the rest of her tirade.

The three stood in the kitchen of the house where Ellie grew up, dinner ready to serve, all but forgotten once Ellie found the letter welcoming her to The Academy. Next year she was a junior in high school, she had been looking forward to starting with Beth, her best friend. Now, she was being shipped off to start over on her own.

"This is the worst. My life sucks. Why me?" Ellie howled, sobs still racking her tiny frame. 

"Ellie, you're going to love it there. There are a lot more wolves in the area than just Sarah and Jane. As you get older, you'll have so many opportunities. There's the Fall Festival, the annual Christmas ball, the yearly Tournament, and when you're older the Matching," her mom broke off as Ellie interrupted.

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!"

"Ellie, watch your language, that's enough," her dad said sternly. He looked at her with piercing eyes. "You will be going, and that's final."

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU BOTH!" Ellie screamed as she ran up the stairs to her room, slamming the door behind her. Her sobs tore through the house.

Cindy started after her but Carl grabbed her arm, holding her back.

"Leave her be, Cindy, she needs time." Carl said softly, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest as they both looked up the stairs. "She will come around."

"I don't think she will," Cindy replied, tears filling her eyes. "She hates us. She's going to hate us for a long time. Do we have to send her?"

"The Council was firm; she has to go."

"But, what if she's not actually a werewolf?"

"We don't know that she's not."

"We also don't know that she is."

"Cindy, we can't fight The Council on this. They were clear."

"I know, but it's breaking my heart to see her like this."

"I know," He turned his wife in his arms, rubbing her back in circles, "I love you. We will all be ok. This is the safest place for her."

"I know," Cindy replied, tears falling from her cheeks. "I know," she cried laying her head against his chest, trying to find comfort in Carl's arms.

The Academy...

A pile of applications sat on a large ancient desk, scratches marking the wooden surface, telling of the history of the piece. The headmaster sat at the desk shifting through the list of names, making notes as he shuffled the papers into separate piles. 

"I don't see Elizabeth Carter in the pile," a voice observed from the other side of the desk as he shuffled through the papers that had been sitting on the desk a moment before.

"No, Professor Martin, she does not have an application in here," the man behind the desk observed calmly as he scrutinized a list of names in his hand.

"She has to come to The Academy; the Carters know that."

"Yes, she does indeed. It is not safe for her to be away from the pack. We sent a welcome packet to her; Cindy and Carl will make sure she attends."

"Good, good," he said distractedly. 

"We must rearrange the classes to accommodate the new students," Professor Martin continued. "There will be questions."

"Yes, I anticipate a good many questions, though none will be brave enough to voice their concerns. We are prepared for the outrage. We will accommodate the dissenters," the headmaster explained in his slow, calm tones. 

A middle-aged woman walked through the door toward the headmaster and Professor Martin. 

"Professor Harlowe, what news do you bring?" Headmaster Emberton questioned as he watched the lady walk in with stiff posture, head held high.

"The Carters will come. I've spoken with Cindy. She is not happy with the news, but it can not be helped. We must protect Elizabeth. The oracle believes she is important, and we must not ignore the oracle's premonitions," Professor Harlowe answered.

"Indeed. Elizabeth will be in grave danger. We will keep her safe. The Academy can keep her safe. We must not fail," Headmaster Emberton agreed.

"A reckoning is near," Headmaster Emberton continued softly after consideration of the papers in front of him. "It can not be helped."

"You truly believe so?" Professor Martin asked.

"Indeed, there is no other explanation," Headmaster Emberton nodded his agreement. "The seven must be found if we are to have peace."

"The seven? You believe it to be the Great Reckoning then?" Professor Harlowe asked the headmaster.

"Yes, we are past due, the signs are here. The Great Reckoning awaits. The most we can do is prepare and fight for that which we value most above all else." 

"Our way of life?" Professor Martin asked. The headmaster shook his head in disagreement.

"Freedom."