Silence followed Vaughn's mortifying words. My heart dropped straight to my toes. Scenarios of the worst things possible ran through my mind, each bringing along just a bit more blinding panic. I took a deep breath, unable to think a single coherent thought. It felt as though the rest of me had been detached from my brain. I went through the five stages of grief.

Denial: "Flora is not gone! Have you checked the whole house? She's 6, she would never just wander off. The doors were locked. Maybe she got hungry or went to the bathroom. Flora was fast asleep when we left her. There is just absolutely no way she could be missing. How is that even possible?"

Anger: "This is all your fault, Lucian! I hate you. You are nothing to me anymore. I hate you so much. This is all your fault! God, if you were just a bit more careful, this would never have happened! My sister is missing because you couldn't put extra security around her room! Who does something like that? You are a damn billionaire, Lucian. The least you could have done was to make sure nothing happened to her. Actually, you know what? I don't hate you. I hate myself. God, I'm so stupid!"

Bargaining: "Maybe we can get her back. Maybe she's just somewhere inside the house still. If only we just checked on her sooner.....call someone, Lucian! Do something. I'll do whatever they ask for. Maybe she's still safe and alive. Maybe..."

Depression: "Flora's gone, isn't she? She's dead. Oh God, I'm a horrible sister. I hate myself. This is all my fault. She was all I had left and I was all she had left. There is no one else in the world. God, kill me now. I hate myself. I want to die."

I never quite worked my way into Acceptance.

Panic gripped my chest so hard that it became harder to breathe. Lucian was saying something to Vaughn, but I tuned them out. Miserable tears etched their way down my face, and racking sobs shook my entire body.

"Victoria!" Lucian's rough yell snapped me back to reality. I began pacing up and down in front of him and Vaughn like a madman, wringing my hands painfully and muttering incoherent sentences about my missing sister. I hadn't even a clue what I was saying myself. Shock numbed my head, making everything seem foggy. Lucian grabbed the side of my arms and pulled me hard against him.

"You need to calm down!" he growled into my face. Lucian's clear silver eyes helped clear my head. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I forced myself to calm down. The hysteria I felt before was wearing off, followed by embarrassment for my outburst. I couldn't freak out like that again if I wanted Flora back.

But I was angry.

I suppose I hadn't exactly finished that stage yet.

"Don't touch me." I placed my hands on either side of his chest and pushed with as much force as I could muster. But Lucian didn't budge an inch. He merely tightened his fingers around my arms until I thought it might snap in half. With a silent growl, he released and gently shoved me back. I stumbled away and out the door, my hands shaking. Lucian started shouting something at Vaughn but by that time I was too far away to make out the words.

I ran all the way to Flora's room. The bed was messed up. I noticed one of the sheets missing from the bed. At least her kidnappers had been nice enough to see that she had been warm. The balcony door was slightly ajar. Other than that, nothing else seemed out of place. I gripped the doorknob, fresh tears itching my eyes. Bile rose in my throat, bitter and tasteless.

I walked over to the bed, my mind dizzy with fear. Something silver caught my eye as I searched for any clues. It was partially hidden under the bed. Reaching down, my fingers wrapped around the object. I held it up to the moonlight. It was a jade pendant with intricate golden designs on a long chain. When I looked closer, I saw that the golden swirls actually made up the shape of a howling wolf. The necklace almost pulsed in my hand. I felt a strange pull towards it, a feeling I could not quite place. The jade seemed to paralyze me.

"Victoria!"

Quickly, I snapped out of the strange trance and shoved the necklace under my bra. Perhaps it was important to knowing where Flora had been taken. However, I knew I couldn't show it to Lucian. He may not even allow me to come along with him. I had already began formulating a plan to get my sister back. The necklace might help me but I had no clue how.

Lucian flicked his red tongue out and dampened his lips, an action that made my heart flutter even with the bad situation. "I think we know who has kidnapped your sister. It's a man named Viktor DeClain. His pack has gotten hint of our mating, and now they've taken the most important person to you to get to me. We will get her back Victoria, I promise you that. But you are not coming with us. It is far too dangerous and I will not put your life in ri-"

I stomped right up to his face. ''She is my sister, Lucian!" I hissed. "She is all I have left. I'll be damned if I let you stop me. Get out of my way right now, or I swear to God-"

"What, Victoria?" Lucian actually growled the words out. They were deep and resonated around the large bedroom, the underlying threat beneath his rough tone perfectly clear. "You do not threaten me. You don't get to order me around. You have no power here, Victoria! I suggest you watch that little mouth of yours."

Every second we spent bickering was every chance of Flora getting hurt. Finally, I lost my temper and darted past Lucian. He may have been a superior creature but even surprise was a bitch to him. Before Lucian could stop me, I ran out the room and down the stairs, taking two at a time. My ankles threatened to twist with the black heels. After a second of quick hesitation, I yanked them off and decided to go barefoot. Lucian was no doubt already on my tail.

A wave of déjà vu hit me as I stepped outside, once again running away from Lucian. Last time it had been to get away from him. This time, it was to save my sister. And that was a perfectly good reason to steal his car again, right?

The ground was freezing in the night. I quickly came to regret my decision of going barefoot. With every step, my toes went a little more numb. The driveway was a smooth gravel but packed no heat. I ran past the water fountain, heading for a black van. There were three others parked behind it. I admired the thought of Lucian needing backup. But this was a mission that I had to do. Flora was my responsibility, not a bunch of werewolves'.

However, just before I could pull open the car door, fingers wrapped around my wrist and yanked me back. My nose smooshed into a hard chest that smelled like cologne and fresh dirt. Lucian towered over me, his dark eyes anything but happy. I swallowed dryly and stumbled back, but could only go so far when he didn't release me.

"Damn, you just never give up, do you?" Lucian hissed as a bunch of men in matching black suits exited his house behind him. I didn't miss the sight of guns being passed around. They comforted me somewhat but didn't completely ease the panic under my skin. Lucian pressed his lips together and pushed me into the backseat. After a second, he threw something black at me. It was a leather jacket, no doubt his. I stared at it distastefully then pushed it to the ground.

Lucian came around the car and got into the driver's seat. Vaughn took the passenger. They whispered something to each other and Lucian shot a worried look at me through the rear view mirror. His grey eyes were guarded, which only added more fuel to the fire burning in my chest.

Suddenly, Lucian stiffened and froze. His body went limp with a soft growl. I stared. Lucian's eyes were closed and he seemed to be concentrating hard on something. His lips moved in silent words. I noticed Vaughn had the same frozen stance. After a moment of the silence, they both opened their eyes and took a deep breath. Things appeared to come back to normal. Lucian started driving. Trying not to cry, I stared miserably out the window.

"Victoria, listen to me. Viktor's pack is out of control and dangerous. They're the kind of wolves that my father tried hard to rid of, but never could. His pack was too strong at that time. They are the outcasts of our kind. Viktor's pack is looked down upon in our world. His pack doesn't even have a proper name. Rules are something that means nothing to them. I am not sure what we're about to go into, to be honest. I have signalled my pack to come help. We will meet up at the Whitaker Forest. That is where we think they've taken your sister." Lucian said all this in a breathless hurry.

To take my mind of Flora for a second, I thought about Lucian's pack. The Winter Wolves. It had a nice ring to it, I suppose. I could tell Lucian was already nervous about introducing me. Hell, I was terrified out of my mind. Suppose they don't like me? A flash of regret went through me. First impressions were important. Well, I'd make one hell of an impression on his pack with pink hair, a slutty black dress, and no shoes.

I took the necklace out of my bra. It was warm from my body temperature. The strange prickling came back. Tracing the intricate designs, I stared out the window. The necklace began getting warm. I thought it was just my imagination until it was almost burning. With a soft cry I dropped it. Draycottflashed by quickly and soon we were surrounded by trees on a highway. I put the necklace back under my dress and looked back at the cars following behind.

5 new ones had joined us. They were all the same black vans. The windows were too dark for me to make out who was driving. Lucian suddenly slammed on the brakes, lurching no one but me forward. I gripped the edge of the seat to avoid smashing my nose on the back of Vaughn's seat.

"Lucian, what the hell!" I shouted, rubbing my knee painfully, which had involuntarily crunched into the cup holder in the middle. Lucian looked at me through the rear view mirror. Or rather, past me. His eyes widened in shock.

"Shit." he cursed loudly. "Shit, shit shit. This wasn't supposed to happen. Vaugh-"

I had no time to figure out what he meant when something slammed into the back of the car, this time allowing me to be thrown forward. I could feel blood trickling down in a warm stream down my neck. Surprisingly, the car hadn't been thrown over the edge of railing that barely protected us from the one hundred foot drop to the ground. A door slammed and suddenly, Lucian and Vaughn had disappeared. I jumped out of the car and froze.

Lucian and Vaughn had both turned into wolves. My eyes trailed past them to the sight in front of us. The black cars that Lucian's men had supposedly been in were gone. There was nothing trailing us anymore. I couldn't understand how the back of our car had been ruined; there was absolutely nothing there. Lucian growled so ferociously that I found myself creeping away. He suddenly turned on me, golden eyes wild and rabid.

Then came the sharp click of nails behind me. Lucian instantly stiffened, his posture aware and his eyes trained on something over my shoulder. Fear trailed down my back. Heavy breathing sounded from behind me. With dread clenching my stomach, I turned around.

Flora sat on the ground, humming and drawing something in the middle of the road with a pink piece of chalk. I recognized the lullaby I used to sing to her. She paid no attention to us; I could just have been an apparition in the air. Her blonde hair was matted down with sweat. Flora seemed more interested in drawing the picture than getting out from the middle of the road. Nothing made sense. I took a step towards her, feeling as though something was not quite right.

"Flora?" I whispered. She looked up.

Her eyes were red.

"Victoria!" I heard Lucian's voice shout behind me. It happened in a second. One minute Flora's red eyes were watching me and the next Lucian's quick body was flying overhead. He lunged towards Flora. I screamed and ran towards them, but Vaughn's arms were already around me.

"It's a shapeshifter, Victoria!" Vaughn muttered in my ear. I could only gape in shock as Lucian and Flora fought together. Even though she was tiny, her strength seemed no match for Lucian's for some reason. Blind panic surrounded me. Vaughn's words twisted around in my head. "It's not your sister. It was a trick to throw us off. Flora is not here, Miss Checke. She never was. It is just a trick. Take a deep breath."

Lucian took a good bite into the thing's neck. Flora stopped fighting as Lucian moved away. She lay limp in the middle of the road. Even though I knew it couldn't be my little sister, the sight of it was just too much. Hysterical sobs racked my chest. Lucian's white fur was now decorated in splatters of blood. It was black. Vaughn let me go and moved back as Lucian changed into his human form once again.

He stepped forward and took me into his arms. I was sobbing like a child now, tears cascading down like waterfalls. Every part of me felt numb with shock, but the numbness didn't lock out the constricting panic in my chest. I let Lucian press himself harder against me, his lips on my neck and his hands around my waist. Little by little, his touch slowly rubbed out the pain in my chest.

''Sorry, Vic. You probably should not have seen that." Lucian's chest was covered in the inky black blood. It smelled of rotten garbage and decaying animals. His mere presence soothed me. "It was not your sister but you already know that now. It was one of Viktor's beasts. He knows we're coming now."

"Mr. Nayati..."

"Not now, Vaughn."

"I think you'll want to see this."

Lucian sighed against my neck and glanced up over my shoulder. Whatever he saw, he didn't like. In an instant, he had tightened his grip around my waist. I took a deep breath and tried to move back, but Lucian had me locked into his arms. Glancing over my shoulder, it took one moment to see what he saw and then completely freak the fuck out.

Flora was in the arms of a man, sobbing softly. Her eyes were blindfolded with a piece of black cloth. The man who held her was tall and Italian. His umber eyes was as black as the London sky above and glittered with dark intent. A bucket of ice filled my stomach every time I looked into his soulless, evil eyes. He had dark skin with a leathery look to it and a thick mustache. His hair was gelled back and reflected the moonlight. My vision became dizzy.

Behind him stood werewolf after werewolf, all silent and melting with the night. I couldn't tell where the fur ended and the night began. There had to be at least one hundred wolves, all snarling and rabid. Red eyes like Flora's were wild with hunger. Yellow teeth that could slice skin like butter. Tears gathered in my eyes.

"Let her go!" I shrieked, fighting to get Lucian's arms off me. It was the only thing stopping me from attacking the man. I didn't care if I got hurt. How dare he touch my baby sister? "Get off me, Lucian! Let my sister go, you sick fucker! Don't touch her. Flora..."

She cried out at my voice, which only made me sob harder. Lucian still wouldn't let me go. I punched and clawed and kicked but he remained a protective wall of muscle. My screams drifted into the dark sky yet no one spoke. After a moment, I forced myself to calm down. My body went limp into Lucian's arms. He held me protectively and stared daggers at Viktor DeClaine.

Viktor smiled but it was without humour. He adjusted Flora in his arms, which made me bristle with anger. Lucian pressed one hand against my lower back, a warning to not cause another scene. I muffled my cries into his jacket.

"Lucian Nayati." The man's voice was deep and malicious. An unexplained shiver ran its way down my neck. I hated him so much that it terrified me. Never in my life have I felt so much hate and anger for one man, not even the one holding me right now. "I was wondering when we could see each other again. How have to been, brother?"

Lucian smiled back. "Absolutely spiffing, brother." he spat.

They were conversing like best friends.

The man's eyes trailed over to me. He looked me up and down slowly like a girl for sale and smiled. Disgust was heavy in my stomach. Lucian growled and tightened his grip on me. His teeth were sharpened and bared at Viktor.

"Is that your mate?" Viktor asked with a hint of dark intent in his deep tone. "Well done, brother. She is simply stunning. Such bright hair...it almost makes me want to keep her sister. One sister for you, one for me. There's no reason why we could not-"

Lucian laughed darkly. "Oh, I would watch your mouth if I were you, Viktor. After all, was it not my own father who took away everything from you? Shamed you in front of the Elders and kicked you out of the pack? I see you've made quite an army there but you are below me, Viktor, you always will be. The Winter Wolves would never accept back scum like you. You'll do well to remember that...brother."

Viktor chuckled lightly. "Yet it is I who holds all the power. Ironic, is it not? Tell me, how far would you go to keep that pretty little mate of yours? After all, I kill one sister and you lose yours. Is it worth it, Lucian? Tread carefully now. You are on my land and believe me, I will use that to my full advantage. The son will pay for the sins of the father. I am going to enjoy watching your face when I kill both Victoria and Flora Checke."

"One hundred years and you still haven't let go."

"No, I haven't." Viktor snarled. "You took everything from me. I am going to take everything from you, starting with this little girl." He flicked out a pocketknife and pressed the tip against Flora's cheek. I screamed and lunged for Viktor, but Lucian was too strong. "And your pack isn't even here to help you now, Lucian. Do not worry, brother. I will make sure to kill the Winter Wolves quickly. But then again," - he motioned to the wolves standing behind him - "My pack is quite hungry. I heard werewolves go very nicely with balsamic vinegar."

I read a quote somewhere that said when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. However, I wasn't just at the end of my rope. I had already fallen. Lucian snarled and opened his mouth to spew out another useless threat but I pressed his lips together. Flora was my sister. I had to fight for her myself, or die in the process. But I knew I couldn't let this end without doing everything in my power to save her.

"Viktor, I have something of yours." I reached for the jade pendant.