Chapter 1: Fifteen Years Ago
In the middle of a bustling street stood Inez, a small girl, anxiously gazing around for her missing mother, who had promised to return in a few minutes.
She was adorned in a white dress gifted to her by her grandmother; however, her platinum blond hair ties in pigtails was disheveled and standing up on all sides. Adding to that, her green eyes shimmered with unshed tears as they carefully studied passing strangers for a glimpse of her mother, making her overall appearance quite forlorn.
"Hey, freak!" Someone called from behind her, and Inez jumped, startled by the shout. She immediately turned to look at the tall boy, around the age of ten, who was leering down at her.
Fear surged within her heart as she tightly clasped the sides of her dress.
She had hoped Billy would be too busy to pay attention to her today. After all, it was the day of the Fair and Prayer Ceremony arranged by the five packs to pay their respects to the Goddess of the Moon.
Unfortunately for her, it seemed he intended to tease like he had three days ago.
Dominic, her best friend, had chased Billy away and warned him not to tease her. But being the big bully that he was, Billy didn’t seem to care about that little warning.
Inez didn’t want her pigtails to be pulled or her arms to be scratched, so she turned on her feet and dashed to the opposite side of the street before Billy could stop her.
"That rat is running away! Stop her!" The boy shouted from behind before chasing after her.
Inez quickly weaved through the crowd before coming to a stop in front of a stall at the very end of the fair. She was quick on her feet and was an expert at running away.
This was because she was the lowest of the low within the pack, a half-blood. It would have meant her death if she was not adept at escaping danger.