Lost Hope: Book 5: Forest of Vipers

Prologue

Sparrowfeather had seen Violetshadow come back to camp awhile ago. She had slipped past the guard, her dark eyes flashing, and immediately blended into the wall and made her way over to the warriors den. He had narrowed his eyes and tasted the air for his mate who had left camp with her, but Burrowpelt did not come back.

    He didn't go out to look for her. He knew she could take care of herself, but something inside of him was uneasy, and as the sun started to set, her bounded out of camp and followed her's and Violetshadow's scent into the forest, although it was extremely diluted due to the downpour hours before.

    And then the tang of blood hit the roof of his mouth and he froze.

    Sparrowfeather's ears twitched uneasily as he took a more thorough look around at the forest, breathing in the scents, blood and battle among them.

    Picking up the pace, he hurried along the trail and came upon a large puddle of blood. It stained the ground and seeped between blades of grass. His breath caught in his throat as he realized it was Burrowpelt's. But where was she?

    Sparrowfeather scanned the area frantically, but couldn't pick up anything besides the blood and rain. Maybe foxes had come and taken her, he thought with a sickening feeling. But how had this happened in the first place?

    And then a image of Violetshadow coming back to camp without her mother flashed suddenly in his mind and the truth spilled out before him. She had found out about Fogbreeze and confronted Burrowpelt. He knew it.

    This was always something that Sparrowfeather and Burrowpelt had feared. That one day she would find out about her true parentage.

    Even if Violetshadow had not been his real daughter, he had been determined to love her the same and be the best father he could be to her, to Violetkit, better than Fogbreeze could have been.

    But it seemed now that he hadn't been good enough, because now she'd killed her own mother.