I vividly remember that it was a family tradition for me to wish for one thing- anything- as a birthday wish.

On my ninth birthday, I used that wish to make my mom and dad promise to stay with me forever. To never leave my side.

Yet here I was. 16.

A girl dreams of her 16th birthday to be everything and more.

He'd broken his promise.

I didn't realise that I was violently being shaken by Tyson, probably to get me out of my trance.

Why? I tried saying but my mouth having a mind of its own and everything, it decided to disobey.

Instead, it came out as a groan.

I was frustrated. Why did it have to be dad?

"Why?" I tried again. This time he'd heard it. "Why couldn't it have been me?! I'm going to die anyway!"

I heard mum sob from behind Tyson's massive build somewhere. "Never say that, honey! You hear me-"

Tyson hushed her up and placed his hands on my hips. "Because he loved you Burn. Fathers tend to do that. Love you- I mean. Well, some anyway."

I stared at him. Tyson Wilder. One of the kindest werewolves I'd ever met. The only one anyway.

Here, I was upset about being unfairly separated from my father. His separation with his dad was by choice.

But at least his dad is still alive, I told myself. But he doesn't love him. I knew that my dad loved me and was willing to die for me.

Thoughts of despair flooded inside my mind like a tsunami from Tyson so I pushed him before I unlocked any personal secrets.

Alarms were echoing through the corridor and the speakers were bursting; 'All personnel to the east corridor and B-15 cover the west wing'.

"We need to get out of this place before it's impossible," my voice strained.

Suddenly a storm of footsteps erupted from a staircase below us.

"Run! Run! Run!" Sebastian was yelling as we all bolted for the door.

I was the last to burst through and also the last to gasp.

"We're trapped," Tyson stated with horror painted on his face.

I walked a few steps until I was at the edge of the balcony. We were at least 10 floors up and there was no way around.

"We could jump," Eleanor exclaimed as she used her gun to point at the door.

"Are you insane?!"

Grief began pumping inside my chest. I was the one that led all of them here and their deaths would also be my fault.

Dad didn't die for nothing. Dad didn't die for nothing.

I desperately looked around at the cloudy horizon. Little houses were visible many meters below us.

But I was so sure that we weren't in a skyscraper?

"There has to be a way out," I muttered.

Tyson groaned out loud. "Is it just me or is this stupid view killing me? It might just be the fact that we're trapped but-"

I watched the corner of the sky fold into the building meet as Tyson spoke. "Tyson! You're an actual genius!"

Raven's words echoed in my brain; The only way which you can recognise this illusion is if the corners are slightly bent in. I noticed the trick over the past years.

"I am?"

I disregarded his sentence and continued, "Okay, so when I was in Raven's house-"

I could almost see Sebastian cringe his perfectly sculpted face at his brother's name even though he was behind me.

"I was shown an illusion of a landscape that wasn't actually a landscape-"

"You're making no sense," Eleanor blurted out.

Suddenly, banging began on the door causing her to aim her gun straighter towards it.

"You know what?! If you're about to do one of your crazy stunts, then go right ahead! My stupid ass will be right behind yours!" she added.

I didn't know how tall this building was. Like Raven's, it could be two-storeys but again, it could even be four or five. Most of us wouldn't survive that jump.

But Tyson could.

"Tyson, how high of a jump would you survive?!"

"Well, I don't exactly know the extent of my abilities yet but probably up to 15 storeys!" he yelled back. "Wait-"

"You need to jump down there with all of us on your back," I said in a tone that screamed, obviously.

"Dude, this is really high up. Most of you will fall off by the time we reach the ground-" Tyson started off but was interrupted by a series of bullets as the door swung open.

Guards began filing out but continued to collapse on the floor as Sebastian and Eleanor fired their guns.

"I promise this isn't higher than four storeys-"

"Wait, what, how?" he questioned.

"Just- you're gonna have to trust me we don't have the time!"

He groaned loudly. "Since you saved my life once, I guess I owe this to you."

He began to run wildly and suddenly, his clothes ripped off as his body enlarged to the point where he became a giant wolf.

"Anytime today, Burn," Eleanor called out.

All of a sudden, Tyson the wolf bolted towards Eleanor and threw her on top of him. "This is absurd! Who is this- oh- hey Tyson."

The oagle soldiers grew terrified as if they'd never seen a creature of such beauty.

Mom was next to scramble on top of him. "It's a pleasure to meet someone like you."

He growled in return.

Next, Sebastian leapt on top of him and offered me his arm.

Suddenly it hit me. More like slammed me. Why did I come here in the first place?

This was bigger than us. Mom. Dad. Me. All of us.

The human race depended on it. I came to defend Earth and save it from ultimate doom.

If I was a coward and escaped today, everything would have been for nothing.

Shit, Ivory, where was she? We'd completely forgotten about her.

She was still in there.

In the evening sky, my body glowed a neon green. I had 2 hours at tops to find her and stop the invasion on Earth.

I didn't know how but I had to. I glanced back at Sebastian's arm that reached out to me.

I would never forgive myself if anything happened to any of them. They'd done more than enough for me since the time I'd seen them in the weapons room that day when they offered their help.

I ignored Sebastian's hand that I desperately wanted to hold a last time but I ran to Tyson's face that reminded me of my dog back home.

"Tyson, this is going to sound absurd but everyone that's anything to me anymore is on your back," I whispered holding his face close to mine.

I stared into his deep eyes as he did into mine. He growled and tilted his head as if he was confused.

"I'm not leaving with you guys," I told him.

His pupils grew wider and shook his snout. He rested his werewolf head against mine and his voice boomed in my head.

Just come with us. I can't leave you.

"You know I can't. I have to save Earth."

Bullets were still being fired until all the soldiers were scrambled on the ground.

Burn-

"Promise me that you'll get them to safety no matter how much they resist."

He growled in frustration and ferociously shook himself.

"What's going on?" Sebastian called from Tyson's back.

"Go," I whispered, pushing him back.

He shut his eyes for a moment then opened them again. He smiled through them and I could feel him saying, thank you Burn.

He began running on his four feet about to jump off the terrace.

God, I hope that I'm right. I won't be able to see if they made it alive.

"Wait, what the hell is going on-" Sebastian asked as Tyson leapt off the building.

I looked into his golden eyes for the last time. The same golden eyes that were the first I've grown to love so deeply.

"Goodbye, Sebastian."

This fight is bigger than us or who we love.

I'll always put Earth first.