[Denali’s POV]

“Mommy,” I whimper, hanging on to my mother’s limp hand. “Please don’t go. Don’t leave me.”

Tears stream down my face as I stare ahead, taking in my mother, who lies motionless in the hospital bed. Behind me, I can hear my father speaking with the doctors about my mother’s recent diagnosis, but I try to block them out.

“You’re going to be fine.”

For years, my mother has been sick. Her illness was so constant that this was truly the only way that I knew her. For as long as I could remember, she was in and out of the hospital, and with each passing year, her stays grew longer and longer until finally, she wasn’t able to come home.

Six months had passed since that day, and no matter what the doctors tried, she just kept getting worse and worse until she was how she was now. In the end, she became a husk of the woman she once was, even when sick.

“Please, goddess,” I whisper, tightening my hold on her hand. “Please don’t take my mommy.”

How could I possibly continue on without my mother? No, I don't want to! She was the one who was always by my side, even when my father was too hard on me. As the daughter of an alpha, it was important that I be well versed in all things pack-related and stronger than the rest, but despite my best efforts, I wasn’t able to keep up with his teachings, and when I fell behind, I would be given harsh punishments or sometimes even locked away for a few days to rethink my failings. When this happened, my mother would always be there for me, convincing my father to stop what he was doing. And even if he was so harsh with me, he was always so gentle with her.

“Denali.” My father’s voice is even as his hand comes to clasp on my shoulder. “It’s time.”

“No!” I wail. “We can’t! She’ll die! How can you…”

I don’t get to finish my words before my father’s hand connects with my cheek and my head is snapping to the side.

With wide eyes, I meet his angry gaze as he glares down at me.

“Mind your words, Denali,” he warns, his eyes flashing with rage.

“But…” I begin, but stop as a promise flashes in his eyes. “Yes, sir.”

Swallowing down the arguments that want to come, I turn my gaze back to my mother and find that the doctor is already working on removing the machines that are keeping her alive. And once they’re gone, I am left to do nothing but slowly watch her fade away.

It was after this day that my life took a turn for the worse. Not soon after my mother’s passing, my father brought a woman and her daughter home. And despite hoping that she would fill the void in me that my mother left, I only received pain and suffering.

I became a slave to both of them, and if I didn’t do things to their liking, I was beaten and locked away for days. When I was free, I was only good for doing the chores and cooking while my stepmother and sister became the diamonds of Emerald Moon, and before long, when I turned thirteen, I found that even if I was the daughter of an alpha, my wolf was nothing more than an omega.

After that, I became a pariah and was considered a disgrace. My father pushed me aside and started doting on my stepsister because her wolf was strong and something to be proud of. Even if she was a bastard child, she was the golden child and the future of our pack.

However, when things became unbearable and I was sure I couldn’t go on anymore, I met Alexander. To say he was my saving grace was an understatement. He saved me, and if it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would have continued to push forward.

On the day we met, I decided to end everything because I couldn’t continue to push on. That’s why I found the highest waterfall on the outskirts of town and climbed to the top. After fixing my gaze on the heavens, I begged my mother to find me in the afterlife, and then I jumped.

When I hit the water, my body became immersed, and I was roughly pulled through sharp rocks that cut at my skin and tattered my clothes. As I began to fade into the darkness, I was pulled along with the current while life slowly faded from within me.

Little did I know that not only would I not die that day, but I would wake up in a small cabin with a warm blanket wrapped around me and a warm hand engulfing mine.

Who knew that his single act of kindness would turn into something special that led to a bond so strong that I was sure it couldn’t be broken by the goddess herself? But just as the seasons change, good things have to come to an end. Alexander would become my undoing and the end of the little bit of happiness I had left. Not only him, but even my family.

My blissful happiness would turn into my spiraling into darkness. A Darkness so thick that I wouldn’t be able to figure out how to get out. But then again, maybe I didn’t want to, and I would end up wanting to stay there for all of eternity.