Ava Jones played by Emily Rudd.

AVA
Some people say that family is everything. Your whole life is supposed to revolve around this certain group of people that mean more to you than anything else, and vice versa. They provide you with the love and affection that nobody else could give you.

Well I say that's a bunch of bullshit.

I say family is worthless. I say it's a group full of people who honestly could give less of a shit about you, unless of course, it benefits them. Family provides you with nothing but sorrow, pain, and miserable memories that just about any person in the world could give to you.

Yeah, I know. It sounds harsh, right? Well guess what, based on everything my family has put me through in these past four years, my perspective of 'family' isn't all cupcakes and rainbows. To me it's all just one big lie.

I was born into the Crestwood Pack. Yes I said pack, as in werewolves. My dad was an Alpha and my mother was his Luna. I had a brother who was five years older than me. The Crestwood pack was small with a mere sixty or seventy wolves and was settled in a very secluded area were there wasn't another pack for about a hundred and fifty miles.

My life was great. I had a mom and dad who 'loved' me and a brother who 'adored' me. That was all just a lie though. As soon as they found out I was different, they threw me aside as if I meant nothing to them.

On my twelfth birthday, I was expected to have my first shift, and I did. But instead of being a large, mighty wolf like everyone had expected, I shifted into a small, defenseless...kitten.

Nobody knew how or why. All they knew was that I was different, and they hated me for it.

For three years after that day, my 'family' treated me like trash. My brother despised me, my mother bossed me around like the wicked witch of the west, but my father...my father was the worst. He would hurt me in so many different ways. He was an alpha so one of his greatest prides was his children. When I shifted that day in front of the whole pack, it embarrassed him. He hated me more than my mother and brother combined.

The way my father hurt me wasn't only emotionally, it was mentally and physically too. He left me scarred, literally and in my head. Because of him, I'm terrified of just about everything. Especially alphas.

Eventually, the pain my family was causing me, drove me to my breaking point. One year ago today, I ran away. It wasn't hard really. They wanted me gone so they let me go. They didn't even bother to chase after me.

As soon as I ran away, I became a rouge. No packs accept rouges and most even kill them. I had nowhere to go. So, for the past year, I've been on my own. The only person I could talk to was Amara, my kitten.

The first two weeks of surviving were tough. Its kind of hard to hunt for food when most of your prey are larger than you. After those two weeks, I started getting the hang of things. I hunted rabbits and ate berries off the bushes. I avoided anything that smelt like another rouge or other pack's lands. I would climb trees to sleep or nap in and used rivers/ponds to wash off in.

Now here I am one year later, spread out in my kitten form on a log, basking under the hot summer's sun, enjoying myself. I didn't mind my new life. It was quiet and peaceful. Nobody was around to tell me what to do or tell me how much of a disgrace I am. Nobody was hurting me and I felt so free.

I was just about to doze off until I heard a twig snap in the distance. I perked my ears up and heard about four pairs of feet running in my direction. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest in fear when I heard men yelling.

"I smell a rouge!"

"I think it's this way!"

"Alpha said no rouges near the border! Find it and capture it, now!"

Alpha?! No no no! I cant let them get to me!

Run Ava! Amara panicked in my head.

I got up and ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction of the men. They continued to chase me deeper and deeper into the forest.

I ran over many twigs, snapping them and for sure causing a ton of noise. I hopped over fallen trees and ducked under others. I tripped over a root that was sticking out from the ground and tumbled over.

I rolled into a tree stump and hit my head. I was begging to feel drowsy and my vision was blurring but I tried standing up anyway. I failed.

"What kind of rouge are you? Alpha has to see this..." Was the last thing I heard before I my legs gave in and I blacked out.