She crouched down into the tall grass. Her little brother quivered beneath her. Blake watched the hunter point his gun downwards into the tall grass, searching for them. Blake didn't know what to do but lower her ears, ready to jump the male as soon as he spots them.

Blake tried not to growl under her breath or make any movement in the tall grass that was now moving with the wind.

This is all my fault.

Blake knew that she and her brother shouldn't have gone past the borderlines, it was the only thing that would have protected them both from the hunter.

Blake knew she should have stopped her brother, Ross, the moment he crossed the borderline. She didn't even think about calling out for an adult to fetch him. Instead, she followed him, thinking she was old enough to handle the danger that lurked in the dark forest the surrounded the pack.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are, little wolf. I won't bite," the hunter spoke with a smiled getting closer to them.

Ross was about to picked up his head as if to do as the hunter says but Blake just held him down with her body and sneered catching the hunters attention.

Blake bared her fangs at the hunter as he walked their way but she tried not to growl. She kept her head low and her body lower. "Oh, where, oh, where did my little wolf go," the hunter said turning his head from left to right, but his eyes never looked away from the area Blake and Ross laid.

He knows!

Blake's eyes grow wide. Locking eyes with the hunter, he grinned, raised his gun, and pointed it at her, "I found you, little wolf," he muttered taking a deep breath.

Blake closed her eyes.

BANG!

Blake stared at her computer screen, panting for air, her heart raced as she tried to catch her breath. Closing her eyes, she counted to five before opening then again.

For the last five year, Blake had the same dream that replayed itself over and over each night.

When the hunter's gun had gone off that night, in the tall grass, Blake's father had shown up just in time to save her and her brother from the hunter. Even though her father tried to stop the gun from hurting her and Ross, a bullet still hit Blake in her right shoulder blade.

Even to this day when Blake goes through the shift, she can still feel pain from the bullet in her shoulder blade.

It was not long after their mother showed, ordered them to run home, and don't look back as their parents, both, tried to fight off the hunter. It wasn't until morning when Blake and Ross's parents were found dead.

It was from then on, Blake and her little brother were both now orphans.

With a hard sigh, Blake glared at the computer screen in front of her as she stretched her arms over her head, moving her body from left to right. A groan escaped her lips as she heard the sounds of howling wolves from her open window.

Snapping her head towards the window, she heard loud foot steps came towards her door. "Blake," fifteen-year-old Ross shouted, opening the office door, "It's the Run! Come on!" he cheerfully yelled.

"I'll pass," Blake said in a lazy tone. She got up out of her computer chair and made her way to her window.

"You never go out anymore. Just once, for your wolf, come with me to the Run."

Blake glared out towards the dark forest and slammed her window shut. "You go, Ross. I have work to do."

"Blake," he spoke softly, "I'm worried about you."

Peering over her shoulder, Blake smiled before turning to her brother with a straight, serious face. "You don't have to worry about me. I'll go for a run later. For now, I have work to do." Blake made her way to her desk and sat down in her chair.

"Can't you just take a break for now."

"I just woke from my nap, so I just did," she replied. "Go, Ross. It's okay."

"Ok," he said slowly in a disappointing tone. "But you do know there is no Run until the Hunt."

"The Hunt," Blake turned to her brother in shock. She had completely forgotten the Hunt. The Hunt was just a few weeks away, on the full moon. The Hunt was the day when the females of all packs, were just ripe for mating season. It was when the females would run out into the forest for a day, and by night fall, the males would chase after the females and Hunt, for his mate. This year, Blake was to participate in The Hunt to find her mate.

"Did you forget?" Ross asked.

"No," she quickly said looking away from her brother and back to the computer. "I didn't forget," she said sourly, glaring at her computer screen. "I don't have time for a love story other than the one I'm writing now. I have a deadline to meet."

"You have to go there The Hunt if you do-"

"I have a mouth to feed and bills to pay. I can't go out and risk the chance of finding a mate when you're not old enough to take care of yourself. Your still a kid and you should stay that way until you go through The Hunt yourself."

"What about yourself," Ross growled.

Blake peered over her shoulder with a sad glimmer in her eyes, "We all have to make sacrifices, I have made plenty of sacrifices that I don't regret," Blake turns to her computer and started typing, "Go for your run and stay close to the pack," when he didn't move Blake spoke again, "If you don't go now, I'll have you do the chores that I haven't gotten to do today. The bathroom needs a cleaning, by the way."

Blake tried not to laugh at her little brother when he ran out of the room and down the stair, making his way out the front door.

Works every time, she smiled.

Blake's smiled didn't last long. How could she be so stupid and forget about The Hunt? If it wasn't for Ross, Blake would have never known about The Hunt, until it was too late.It didn't matter to Blake anyway. It had been so long since she had shifted into her wolf form. It had been nearly four years now.

After every transformation, because of her old wound, shifting was unbearable. Not only was it unbearable the bullet that hit her was made of silver majorly damaging Blake's shoulder blade in her wolf-form. Blake always had a limp to her step and running was even difficult. It was one of the reasons why Blake stopped running with the pack.

And after her parents died, she was too afraid to adventure out into the forest like most do. And with her near death experience with the silver bullet, she couldn't get a hold of her wolf spirit. No matter how many times Blake called out to her, she never answered back.

Blake felt like she was no longer the she-wolf she once was. Even if she was to go through with The Hunt, there was no way she could detect her mate or go into heat during mating to even give her mate pups. If she could even have pups. There was a time when the pack doctor said there was the possibility she couldn't have pups because of the silver. In Blake's mind, no male in his right mind would mate with her, knowing she couldn't give him a pup or two.

Blake's fingers stilled on her keyboard. Staring at the few paragraphers on the screen of her computer. Blake glanced at the window and smiled.

Maybe this was her punishment for running after her brother that night, for getting their parents killed. It was all her fault and now she was paying for it.

She didn't mind, no, there was no need worrying about something that couldn't be fixed. At least she had her little brother. That's all she needed.

She didn't need a mate or pups. Knowing she can take care of her little brother, Ross, was all she needed in this world and nothing was going to change that.