War was never easy, not even for Brooklynn herself. She knew that wolves would be left without their mates, and children without their parents. Homes would be torched to the ground just for another pack to rebuild. And lives would be ruined.

She wondered how people found it so easy to go blindly into war, ignoring the damage that was about to be caused.

Was it easy for them to just not care? Was the thought of death just a walk in the park for them? Brook pondered to herself.

And while she was lost in her own thoughts, her and a small group of wolves neared an area that was usually unguarded or lightly guarded.

"You ready for this?" Kai asked, pulling Brooklynn's attention back to reality. She didn't notice the teens that surrounded her until now.

Not surprising Brooklynn at all, she was accompanied by Kai, Theo and Nevaeh plus about ten other of the packs best fighters. She knew that Emilia wasn't with the group-Brooklynn was the one who made her stay back.

"Not at all," Brook answered. "It feels like I was just leaving this place yesterday. And now I'm back to betray my former pack."

Kai offered her a reassuring smile, before speaking. "I wish I could say that I understand, but I guess I never will. We kidnapped you from your pack but you're still helping us, why?" Kai questioned, his stare lacking any sort of distaste.

Brook tried to find a reason for betraying her first family, but she couldn't. No reason in the world felt good enough to her aside from the fact that they'd taken Connor, her mate, and they were now torturing him.

"I guess it's for the greater good." Is all that Brooklynn could say. She'd hoped that Kai would accept that answer, and just drop it. Luckily for her, he did.

"Don't worry, Luna. I'll be by your side until the end." Kai's words made Brooklynn feel welcomed, as if she wasn't the stranger that the pack thought she was.

Before Brook could respond, Theo spoke up.

"Where'd Fiona go?" This question halted Brooklynn in her tracks. She turned around, stunned when Fiona was nowhere in sight.

"She did leave with us, right?" Nevaeh asked, but Brook drowned out her voice.

Brooklynn could feel it in her gut, something was wrong and the disappearance of her best friend wasn't it.

Brooklynn, get Connor and get out of there. The Moon Goddess spoke to Brook, sounding alarmed herself.

This sent fear into Brook, but she wasted no time in listening to the Moon Goddess.

"Shift!" She barked out, her golden wolf taking over.

She heard the snapping of bones, and then the sound of growling. She quickly glanced behind her, before she took off running.

She hoped that they still had the element of surprise, but with the Moon Goddess's warning and the disappearance of Fiona, she didn't think that they'd be that lucky.

And she was right.

The place that was normally forgotten about and not guarded was now guarded by a group of huge werewolves. And she'd recognized every single one of them.

We can't get past them! Nevaeh shouted, using the pack link to communicate.

They're outnumbered. We can take them. Kai shouted back, making the group that she was with break into an argument. Different voices filled her head at once, stopping her train of thought long enough for Brook to become distracted.

She whipped her head around, shooting a glare at the wolves who instantly quieted down.

Brooklynn turned her attention back to the other wolves who hadn't noticed them yet, racking her brain for a solution.

Kai was right about them being outnumbered, however she knew these wolves. They were around the biggest wolves in the pack and some of them were extraordinary fighters.

Stay here. Brooklynn ordered, making her way towards the wolves. She hoped that they would recognize her and let her pass.

This would either be the smartest or dumbest idea that she would ever have.

Fortunately, it was the smartest.

Two of the wolves who she recognized and used to be friends with, shared wary looks before barking at the other wolves who stood down.

Her and her group of fighters passed, but not before Brook and one of the wolves, Bo, shared a look. It was a look of gratitude, a look of knowing the consequences of betraying your pack.

And Brook wouldn't forget their sacrifice.

Keep going, you're getting close. She heard the moon goddess order, adverting her attention away from the wolves and back to her mission.

By now all she could smell was Connor, his smell filling her nostrils. But his scent was also mixed with a horrendous amount of blood and wolfsbane, both overwhelmingly potent to Brook's strength.

She knew that the moon goddess was aiding her wolf, making it so Brook wasn't on the ground screaming at the pain. The pain that Brook was feeling was bearable, but enough to know that Connor was dying.

Brook's group approached a building which Brook immediately recognized. It was a torture chamber, the death chamber. And Connor was in there.

He didn't feel his face anymore, nor his arms, nor anything. They had beaten him, and whipped him, and pumped wolfsbane into his blood until he couldn't feel anything anymore.

No pain. Not even aching. Just numbness.

He didn't think about the fact that his death was looming over his shoulder like a dark cloud.

He thought about Brooklynn, and he'd wondered if she was still alive. If the pain had finally proved to be too much for her and her wolf. If the long and brutal torture had sucked every ounce of life out of her.

Had her body finally succumbed to death?

And the thought of her dying didn't upset him, even though it should. He hoped that she would be there to welcome him in the afterlife, so that they could be there for each other.

But seconds later he scolded himself for such selfish thoughts. He shouldn't want Brooklynn to die, he should want her to carry on and make their pack the pack it's designed to be.

With or without him.

He knew that today would be his last day alive, he could feel it in his gut. They were going to execute him-He didn't know how or when.

He had a feeling that they would broadcast his execution for every pack to see. They seemed sick enough to do that.

And the worst part was that Brooklynn would most likely watch. She would see him die, and then she would die too.

He heard the door to his cell opening, and he glanced up to see George. His beady eyes stared into his, letting him know that Connor was no longer in control.

He was at the mercy of a man who had none.

"I'm sure you're expecting me to let you live-Just so my daughter can live." The man paused, his eyes drained of any sympathy. And before George even started his next sentence, Connor already knew the results. "We all must make sacrifices. Whether that includes our own blood or not, those sacrifices must benefit the greater good. And killing you does so."

"You don't deserve to share the same name as her. You don't deserve to be a Bradley." Connor hissed, jerking his chin up in defiance.

George's eyes hardened, as if they had turned to stone. He stalked towards Connor, his posture that of a cat stalking its prey.

To a normal person, George would be considered intimidating maybe even a bit horrifying. But not to Connor, who saw the fear hiding in George. He saw the cowardly side of Brooklynn's father.

But before Connor was able to press George on that, and expose his true self, a scent filled his nose.

Brooklynn.

It hit him, and at first he thought he was imagining it. But the more he focused on it, the closer it got. And he realized that it was definitely her.

He silently cursed, what if they had got Brooklynn too? What if she had come here to die with him?

This sent Connor over the edge and drove his wolf into a frenzy. Suddenly, instead of staying still in the chair he was thrashing around and anxiously trying to break free from the chains.

"Why the sudden change of attitude?" George mocked Connor with a sneering gaze. He didn't seem to be aware of why Connor was freaking out, which made it even worse. "Did you finally realize that you didn't want to die?"

George pulled out a knife from his back pocket, and pressed it onto Connor's forearm. He slowly, and painfully dragged the knife through his skin-A twisted smile on his lips.

The blood that exited Connor's body turned black, signaling that Connor was being poisoned.

And he knew exactly what this poison would do to him, without a cure he would be dead by the morning.

"And now you're going to rot," George said. But as the man started to turn around, the sound of a bullet went whizzing through the air. It hit George in the stomach, knocking him back onto his ass.

They both looked up to see Brooklynn, bruised but fiercer than ever. The look of distaste that she expressed towards her father was unmatchable.

And for Connor, it was easy to tell what Brooklynn was thinking. As a matter of fact, if her thoughts turned to sound, she would be screaming.

She wanted to kill her father.