I have decided to re-write this story (December 2014) as it has been 2 years since I wrote this and my writing style has changed and developed quite a bit. I know some of you are eager to read the remainder of this story and I promise you that this is the story I am now working on.

For any new followers, welcome! I'm glad you've decided to stick with me and some of my stories, and I really hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. All rights belong to Richelle Mead. The plot of this story however belongs to me and cannot be used without written consent from it's author.

Chapter 1

Wolves howled around us, filling the soft morning air with the sound of mourning and sadness. I sat in silence as I watched my father bury the body of my brother. Upon finishing the task, he threw his large dark head up towards the sky, and let out a sorrowful howl. Whether it was heartfelt or not, I couldn't be sure. But there was one thing I was certain of: my father was not happy.

Rose…Both of my other brothers nuzzled into each of my sides, seeking comfort and wanting to give me some simultaneously. All three of us coward slightly as our father walked away from us, not even sparing us a glare. I huddled in closer to the warmth of my brothers' fur.

It'll be okay, Eddie said quietly to me, his voice coming through clear in my mind. As a pack, we were all closely linked mentally. We had the ability to communicate with each other by sending the thoughts that we wished to say to one another.

Are you feeling hungry? I shook my head slightly at him. Losing Mason had come as a shock to all of us, and burying him had made me feel sick to my stomach.

Okay, he said, giving me a nudge towards the den. Let's go inside; Alberta will probably come see us soon. As the largest of us, Eddie took on a protective role and lead Christian and I back inside. I was glad to be out of the cold morning air, and away from the icy glare of my father.

I sat quietly in the den while we waited for Alberta to visit us. She was one of the older members of the pack, and the only motherly figure Eddie, Christian, Mason and I had had. Our mother had passed away shortly after given birth to us (we had been told), and Alberta being the sweet, nurturing wolf that she was, had stepped in automatically to take care of us. My father on the other hand, had never taken an interest in us; Alberta tried to assure us that it wasn't any fault of our own – that losing his mate, Janine, was taking its toll on him and that he really did love us…he just had a very hard time showing it.

I wasn't so sure that I believed that last part. Perhaps he really was in pain from losing my mother, but the look of disgust I received whenever I made eye contact with him sent me a very clear message.

Ow! A sharp sting shot through my tail and I whipped around to see what had caused it. Christian lay behind me, biting and pulling at my tail playfully. He growled and hopped away from me, only to crouch down low in an attempt to play-fight. Slowing, I lowered my body to the ground, preparing to myself to pounce. I had spent some time watching the older female wolves getting ready to hunt, and had been practice my stalking and pouncing. Being so young, I wasn't able to go with them yet…and so, for now, jumping on Christian would have to do.

I waited until Christian was on edge, anticipating when I would make my move before I launched myself from the ground and landed half on him.

Hey! He grumbled in mock annoyance as I nipped his ear and tumbled off him. I'll get you for that! I didn't even hear him come after me before he had tackled me over. Together we rolled around in the dirt, coating ourselves in mud. Eddie watched from the side-lines, rolling his eyes at our games.

Hello there, little ones, Christian and I froze upon hearing the soft padding of Alberta's paws. She entered our den then, her grey fur as neat and pristine as ever. As each of us hurried towards her, she licked each of us a couple of times with affection. She had been devastated by Mason's death, and spent her time making sure the three of us were doing okay. My stomach grumbled suddenly, apparently I was hungry at the mere sight of Alberta these days.

Are you hungry? She smiled affectionately between myself and my brothers as we waited for her to lie down. Alberta had been the one feeding us since birth, and so what she said next came as a surprise to us.

Actually babies, I thought that you could come out and join the rest of the pack for dinner. What do you think?

At only four weeks old, my siblings and I hadn't left the den all that much, and so any outing sparked excitement within all of us. Unfortunately, Mason had been a little too adventurous for his own good and had wandered out while the rest of us had been sleeping. It was my father who had found his little body the following morning.

Casting the gloomy thoughts away, I hurried to catch up to Christian as he made to run out of the den towards the pile of meat.

Woah guys, wait a second! Eddie's body soon stopped us in our tracks as he placed himself in front of us. He shot us a disapproving look. Don't you remember what we've been told? Never leave your den without being sure your surroundings are safe.

I nodded sheepishly at my big brother, and he then proceeded to check around us for danger. Eddie had always been the more cautious one out of the four of us, but this had since intensified since Mason's death. He was also cleanest out of us all, never liking to get dirty. I was sure that he had more baths than any other wolf in our pack…although I had to admit, it did show; his dark, black coat was always sleek and neat looking, unlike Christian's – who's fur was also black, but often ragged and muddy from rolling around in the dirty.

I wasn't exactly one to talk however; I loved to roll around and get muddy too…but in the evenings, Alberta would spend the most time licking me clean. My coat was a couple of shades lighter than the boys however, appearing to be more of a dark brown than black. Whenever she groomed me, Alberta would coo over my fur, telling me how pretty it was and how proud I should be of such a beautiful coat. I mean, I didn't mean to be cocky…but I sort of agreed with her.

As soon as Eddie gave his nod of approval, Christian and I bounded out towards our dinner with Eddie close on our heels. The older we'd gotten, the more eager we had become to eat with the other members of the pack; this was a big deal. I approached our large pack with caution; most had already began to dig into the fresh food, and Eddie and Christian had pushed their way through to do the same. I stopped in my tracks, choosing to spend a few moments studying each individual pack member first. I hadn't really noticed that there weren't many with the same colour fur as me – most consisted of the grey/white combination like Alberta's, while others had black like my father and brothers. Dotted throughout the pack, I noticed a couple with rich, dark red coats, just like my mother's had been. Mason had inherited her pretty auburn coat, while Eddie and Chris had gotten my father's sleek, black one. I, however, was somewhat of a mystery.

Just then, my stomach growled at me, reminding me of what I had left the den to do. Casting all thoughts other than what I was about to eat out of my mind, I quickly followed my brothers' footsteps and tried to push my way through to the pile of food.

Being slightly smaller than them, I found it more difficult to get through the hungry wolves. I continued trying to weave my way through the various strong legs of the fully grown wolves; I would get almost as far as the food before getting growled at by one of the possessive males and shoved to the back of the crowd.

I tried over and over again until my paws hurt from digging them into the ground and my sides hurt from being shoved back and forth. Finally, I made it through…

To find that all of the food was gone.

Sighing, I walked towards a small tree on the edge of our territory and lay down, trying to ignore the hungry rumbles of my small stomach. Feeling dejected and cold, I curled up into myself tighter to protect myself from the chilly breeze swooping in from the east.

Ehm, excuse me?

I jumped as a small voice spoke from above me. I scolded myself internally for not having heard anyone approach me; what kind of a wolf was I going to make when I was older if I couldn't even listen to my surroundings.

Yes? I stood and watched a small white cub approach me carefully. As she got closer, I noticed she was about the same age as I was.

I also noticed that she was carrying a few scraps of meat in her mouth.

Here, she dropped the food at my feet and sent me a sweet smile. I saw that you didn't get any. I saved you some of mine.

Are you sure? I asked her, trying to not look directly at the tasty-looking meat. My tummy grumbled again.

Of course, help yourself, she nudged the food in my direction and took a seat beside me. I didn't have to be told twice. Somewhat greedily, I gobbled down the meat trying to take in the wonderful taste it brought into my mouth.

Good? The young cub chuckled when I nodded certainly, licking my lips.

Very, I replied, shamelessly trying to get any leftovers off my face. Thank you.

No problem, She sent me another pretty smile. I'm Lissa by the way. Mama started letting me eat with the others last week…you'll get the hang of it, I promise. It takes a little while.

Okay, well thank you anyway, I straightened up, feeling much better now that I had some substance in my tummy. I'm Rose.

It's nice to meet you, Graciously, Lissa sat back and began to groom her already perfectly clean white fur. I watched her closely in awe and attempted to copy her movements. Alberta had always groomed me, and I had always been too distracted by the play-fight between Eddie and Christian to take notice of what exactly she was doing.

Lissa chuckled at my attempts. Here, let me show you how to do it.

Lissa spent the next half an hour showing me how to clean myself after a messy meal, and chatting aimlessly about nothing in particular. The more time I spent with her, the more I grew to like her. Her personality was bubbly and refreshing and her good mood contagious. We ended up spending most of the day together, playing and chatting about the other members of our pack.

Which one is your mother? I asked her; we had been sitting in a little spot overlooking the large, flat area that lay in the middle of all the dens. Evening was quickly approaching and wolves were gathering into the area, all getting ready to settle down for the night.

She's the one standing next to Alberta over there, Lissa pointed her nose in the direction she indicated. You know Alberta, right?

Yes, I nodded, studying the white wolf Alberta was talking to; she was as pretty as Lissa was. She raised me.

She- Lissa looked at me in surprise. Alberta did? What about your Mama?

My mama died when she was having me and my brothers, I explained. So Alberta took us in.

Wait! Are you- Are you Abe's daughter? That's so cool! I grimaced. So apparently Alberta taking us in wasn't a secret. Abe was the Alpha of our pack, and so his affairs were known by all – including the almost-abandonment of his cubs. Lissa being as young as she was wouldn't have known any of this however.

Not really, I told her, watching my father as he stalked the perimeter of our territory menacingly. He doesn't like us very much.

Why would you say that? Lissa looked genuinely confused. I couldn't help but glance from my father to Lissa's, who was nudging her mother gently with affection. No, having started her life in the presence of her parent's loving relationship, Lissa wouldn't understand my father's lack of affection towards my brothers and I.

I think he blames us, I said quietly. For my mama's death, I mean.

Oh Rose, Lissa leant against my side, trying to comfort me. I'm sorry.

No, it's okay. We have Alberta. She's all we need.

Lissa was silent for a couple of moments, and I had a feeling she wanted to say something else. After a minute, she did.

Rose, I heard about that happened to your brother, and I'm really sorry. I can't imagine how awful it would be to lose Andre.

Andre? I glanced over at her.

My brother, she explained. He's my only sibling. It must be really terrible to lose Mason.

It is, I agreed sadly. But I have Christian and Eddie…we all look after each other now.

Just then, Lissa's mother called out for her and Lissa made to move.

I should go, She told me, although she looked as though she wanted to stay. I realised with a start that darkness had now coveted the sky and my brothers would probably be wondering where I'd gotten to.

Yeah ok, I stood too and together we began to walk towards our dens. Will I see you again soon?

Of course! She yelped, nudging her head into mine. We're best friends now! We're going to see each other all the time! With that, she hurried off to her mother, who was waiting for her at the entrance to their den. A particular chilly breeze ran through my fur and I hurried to get into the shelter of my own den, where my brothers were starting to settle for the night.

Where have you been? Eddie questioned me as I joined them. I haven't seen you all day.

He waited until I had curled up before curling up against me. Christian settled himself on my other side and we nestled as close as we could to keep warm.

I've been with my new best friend, I told them, nuzzling my head underneath his. Eddie might have asked me who she was, but apparently I was too tired to be capable of staying awake and found myself drifting into a dreamland where I could chase butterflies with my new friend all day long.