The roaring cheers of a hundred guests as they sing happy birthday wrap Harmony in awkwardness. She's never known where to look or what to do when the singing starts. The soothing lull of her mother's voice draws her eyes up, Harmony smiles at her mum before being pulled in for a hug by her dad. She travels to the table, about to blow out the candles, when the wind lashes, taking out the flame.

The pack laughs, this happens every birthday, as if the wind is alive and waiting for the right moment to pull its prank; but Harmony, happy that everyone else is happy, joins in the laughter.

Harmony's mum orders someone to bring the matches. "Let's give it another go." She encourages with a chuckle, knowing what will happen next.

With some hesitation, Harmony tries again, and like before, the candles are blown out for her.

Annoyed, Harmony protests to cut the cake, after some back and forth with her mother, a pack member brings the butter knife, handing it over with a proud smile. "Happy Birthday," the pack member says to Harmony.

Harmony holding the knife, it slices through the soft spongey layers with ease, and everyone erupts into cheering and clapping. She passes the dull blade to her father, after all, who better to cut a cake than the chef who baked it.

Since werewolves can't drink milk, Jimar had spent months perfecting a lactose-free cake recipe for his daughter's birthday, although Harmony didn't inherit her mother's lactose intolerance.

Harmony appreciates every bite of her cake. From the corner of her eyes, she catches a few werewolves throwing it in the bin and hiding the wasted food under layers of tissue. Harmony has seen this happen a few times before, her anger rushes to her legs, but she has never been able to confront them. 'C'mon, you can't let them get away with it' she thinks to herself.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Her mum asks.

Harmony turns back to the guests, they're behaving as if they finished eating. She returns to her mother, whispering to her, "the guys over there threw away dad's food."

Her mother's expression shifts instantly, and like the sudden clap of thunder, she calls out, "hey, you five." She calls them to her, and they approach with their heads down, like children about to be told of for something they know they did wrong. "Who was it?" She asks Harmony to reconfirm before telling the perpetrators off. "You owe my husband an apology."

Harmony's father looks up, confused.

All five of them apologise.

"With all due respect, many of us are not accustomed to human food." The one with a scared lip speaks up.

"If you don't like it, then let us know next time, or leave it for me." She concludes.

The other pack members stare at their plates and back at Harmony's mother, they walk towards her, and eventually, a mountain of unwanted cake is left in front of her, "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to the texture." A pack member explains to Harmony's father.

Harmony's mum looks at her husband apologetically. As Alpha, she feels responsible for her pack's actions.

"It's okay," Jimar assures her. Working in a high-class restaurant is enough proof of his skill, a few hundred werewolves refusing his food doesn't sting as much, as long as he knows his wife enjoys his cooking, which she very much does.

Jimar catches his daughter's worried look, responding with a hug, "more cake for us to take home."

Harmony lives with her human father, "it's for your protection" her mother once explained. Jimar very often visits with their daughter.

They've just left the house, the unexpected downpour of rain drums on Harmony's rain jacket, they get in the car, and arrive at their destination a few minutes later.

Harmony's mother and her pack are usually in one of three possible hideouts, this time it's the abandoned flats with crumbled concrete and dead grass, not Harmony's favourite location to visit her mother in.

The damp walls emit an unpleasant cheesy odour, but something else is mixed in, a horrendous, fleshy smell much worse than rotten eggs, it sinks into her stomach threatening to chuck all its contents out. Harmony leads her father as she explores the fractured building, holding his hand tightly.

Slow, spaced, thumping reaches Harmony's ears, as if the building has a beating heart, it sends a chill through Harmony's spine.

Their worst fears are realised when Harmony discovers a trail of blood, close by, bodies are littered across the floor, a massacre. Harmony's heart starts pacing uncontrollably, she lets go of her father's hand and runs around calling out, "mum!"

"Harmony wait," Jimar calls out, his voice echoes back from the darkness.

The scent of death overshadows everything else as dead bodies increase, the further she runs. Each face once belonging to someone she knew, Harmony's eyes well up with tears.

Suddenly, Harmony feels a tight grip around her ankle, she trips, her palms landing on a pool of slick, cold, blood.

"Harmony," A scratchy voice calls out weakly.

The half-wolf looks in horror at Toby, she's known him all her life, he always appeared lively, muscly, and strong, but now he's struggling to even speak. as he holds himself up, his stomach on the floor.

"What happened?" She gasps.

"The Hunters attacked," He coughs, a gallon of blood gushes out of his mouth.

Harmony rushes towards him and positions her arm around his back, trying to carry his large body.

"You have to escape, you're the last of our pack's bloodline, and my favourite person in the world." he tries to smile, the bloody marks on his face increase when he coughs blood again. Harmony stares apologetically. "Quickly."

Harmony doesn't listen, instead, she musters her strength in an attempt to pull Toby up, when she finally does, she notices the wide hole in his stomach. Like a tunnel, she can see through to the other side.

With Toby holding up his weight, Harmony supports him to take a step forward, "werewolves heal quickly, you'll be fine." She says to him, mostly for the sake of reassuring herself. Like a waterfall, red liquid flows out of his wound. "I can't just leave you here." Harmony cries, realising the futility in trying.

"You have to leave. Now!" Toby coughs, "before they come."

'Hunters?' Harmony assumes.

The thumping grows louder, as it becomes more rapid it sounds violent, and more like running than a heart beating.

"What is it?" The half-wolf asks.

"Sounds like Aron."

A smile appears on Harmony's face, "Aron's alive?"

"It's not what you think .... he's not the same,... none of them are." Toby's breathing becomes sharp and repetitive. Harmony can feel her own lungs collapsing as she listens to him struggling. "The hunters..."

A massive beast charges towards them. Its fur is clamped together and its eyes are glowing red. Its jaw opens, saliva drips onto the floor.

Harmony feels an increase in weight as she holds toby up, "Toby," she calls to him, his eyes are dull and his body is limp, he's gone.

She leaves Toby's body and starts running, Harmony looks back, she's ahead, 'I'm faster than him' she thinks to herself, relieved. Like a tap dancer, her legs move rapidly down the stairs. "Dad!" She shouts out, panting as she hurries through the building. Lightning flashes across the grey clouds.

When Harmony reaches the first floor, within a dark room, the lightning casts a momentary shadow of two massive werewolves hunched over something. She peers her head through the door frame, her father's shredded body is being devoured. His bones in the werewolves' jaws. The sound of flesh smacking almost makes her hurl.

Harmony quickly turns around, she whimpers then holds her hand over her mouth, hoping they didn't hear her.

A shadow looms over her, saliva falls onto her shoulder, she can hear the second werewolf still eating.

Aron finally catches up to her, he howls before racing towards Harmony who is still hiding. The werewolf over her growls, Harmony rolls across the floor dodging its attack, her back hits something hard and rough, she doesn't have to look up to know it's the third werewolf's leg.

Cornered, Harmony searches for something, a way to escape. just as the beasts are about to attack, she propels herself up and jumps out of the window. Her body rolls across the moist ground, it's cold. Dirt sticks to her skin.

She stands, and looks up at the first-floor window, before she can wipe herself off, her pursuers leap out after her.

Bang. Aron's head is shot, blood drips down, but he isn't dead yet, four consecutive rounds are fired, and he pummels to the ground with a thud. The other werewolves keep their distance.

Harmony stares at Aron's body with a guilty sense of relief. She closes her eyes, holding the tears in. A tall blonde makes his way from behind her, she peers down at the shotgun in his hand. He takes his suit jacket off and places it over her, shielding her head from the rain. His short-sleeved shirt reveals a tattoo written on his forearm. Harmony squints to read it, but the words look like gibberish.

"My colleagues will be here soon, they'll take you somewhere safe."

Rather than comforting Harmony, his announcement leaves her fingers shaking. 'He's a Hunter,' she reminds herself, 'they're gonna take me away.' While he's occupied with the two werewolves, Harmony sneaks away, she runs across the street, and enters a stationary bus, given her young age, the driver lets her in without paying.

Once seated, she pulls the tattooed man's jacket, keeping herself warm, her head against the glass, Harmony wonders where she will go.