<div class="floatleft">(http://i.imgur.com/sZlKnxj.jpg)<br/>                          <span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Ravi;"><em><strong>Luc Winters</strong></em></span></span></div><br/><div align="center"><em>They were all dead.<br/><br/>All  of them.<br/><br/>He was supposed to protect them...and he had failed as their leader.</em></div><br/>Green eyes snapped open with a strangled gasp as the images of his clan burned into his memory. Another nightmare. That was nothing new. Instead of moving quickly, Luc Winters let his eyes adjust to the darkness surrounding him and made sure he was alone before he let himself fall from the tree he had been dozing on, landing on the ground on all fours. He breathed in deeply, trying to catch the scent of anyone who could be hiding...or hunting for him. The thought would almost amuse him if he wasn't so damn true. The death of his entire clan hung around his neck like a rope tightening every second that he was running for his life. The longer he ran, the guiltier he felt. They were all dead...and he was still alive.<br/><br/>How was he to know that they were being hunted like wild animals?<br/><br/>Feeling his anger boiling, his emotions starting to splinter out of control and his body beginning to change, Luc forced himself to calm down. After their clan was attacked, he had not had a chance to run home and so he had nothing but the clothes on his bag. If he changed now...then when he transferred back into human form, he would be as naked as the day he was born. And he needed to be inconspicuous. A naked man running around the woods would definitely draw more attention than he cared to receive. With a roll of his shoulders, he stood up in the darkness and made himself move slowly, making his way further into the mountains that he knew were off limits.<br/><br/><br/>When Luc had been named the alpha of the New Mexico clan, it had been expected. The Winters had been alphas for almost five generations, so it was almost expected of him to become the leader of their pack. It had been an honor, and his clan had been his all he knew, his loved ones. He had been raised with them, they were family, friends....the attack had blindsided all of them. After the clan had been exterminated, Luc had taken off. He had changed into his wolf form and had taken off all to the way to the border of New Mexico. There he had changed into the last human clothes that had been hidden throughout their state, and he had done what no clan leader was allowed to do. He had crossed borders.<br/><br/>The clans throughout the world had specific rules and guidelines and he had broken about all of them. No border crossing without making the clan leaders aware, no desertion of their clan families, death and honor in all done. He had shamed the Winters name.<br/><br/>Pushing his thoughts away, Luc moved silently through the mountains. He had heard of a strong pack leader in the Rocky Mountains and he needed to get to him. He would know what had happened to his people, he would know what was going on. At least, if he made it alive to him then he hoped he would have some answers. He had covered his tracks as best as he could but he was in no mood to take the time and hide himself.<br/><br/>He needed answers.<br/><br/>And if he brought the wrath of a clan leader upon himself...then so be it.