Prologue

Grimacing from the stabbing pain, I glanced down at the blood blossoming across my white T-shirt, tears slipping down my face.

“Why, daddy? I was only trying to help momma stop Daniel’s change.”

Another shot fired, echoed by my mother’s sobs. My breath caught as the bullet bit into my shoulder.

“Stop crying, you worthless shifter bitch. This is your punishment. You knew the rule about changing and you broke it.”

“Claude! She can’t control her change on the night of a full moon. Please stop this madness.”

My father glared at my mother before firing another round into my aching body. “Both of you will shut the hell up and mind the rules. No weakness; no shifting; no exceptions. And, Arianna, you know why I punish you just as Kristy knows why she is beaten.”

“But, daddy, shifting is who we are.” I whimpered as I felt my shifter blood forcing the bullets out of my body so I could heal the damage done.

“I don’t care! You know the rules and you broke them.” Spit flew as my father screamed, his shotgun hanging by his side. Cocking it again, he raised it and looked at me down his sight, his hand steady.

My breath caught in my lungs as the bullet slammed into me, my heart faltering before the pumping slowed and the world spun. My father glowered at me before directing a sharp kick at my ribs. A scream ripped out of my throat as the pain made me dizzy. With one last lingering glance at my mother clutching my baby brother, I sighed and passed into the void. The screams silenced as the heavy darkness closed over my head.

Little one, why are you giving up? Isn’t there something in life worth living for? 

Bright sunlight blinded me before my last breathe finished slipping away. A tall angel with long hair tied back into a ponytail stood with his wings resting against his back. Startled at his beauty and the warmth of the sun on my skin, I hurriedly looked down at my body, surprised to see no blood and to be dressed in a flowing green dress. Shouldn’t I be dead? There was no way my shifter blood could have healed all that damage to my organs and body.