Chapter One

My eyes flash open. It’s dark. I can barely make out more than five metres in front of me. I stand, feeling the cool air wash over me, a nice light breeze blowing through the trees. It’s quiet. The only sounds I hear are my heart beating rapidly in my chest and the trees rustling in the wind. I don’t even hear any animals. Strange. I must be deep in the woods. I take a step forward, feeling the forest floor crunch beneath my feet.

Where are my shoes? I think to myself. Looking down I notice I’m completely naked. That explains the goosebumps running down my spine. Cuts covering my body but from what? I look at my hands as they start to tremble. Both of my wrists covered in a think bruise. Chained up? I wonder. I gently touch the bruise surrounding my left wrist.

“Ouch!” I wince out loud, hissing through my teeth. I turn my right hand over, noticing a mark carved into my palm. A wave of fear washes over me.

I need to get out of here, I tell myself and I take off running. Sprinting through the woods I jump over dead logs, dodging the rocks and trees as best I can. I don’t know why I’m running; I just know that I must keep moving. My bare feet ache as small sticks and rocks dig into my skin. My footsteps and rapid breathing are the only sounds I can hear. Wait, I can hear another set of footsteps, two sets, no three sets of footsteps! Someone or something is chasing me. I reach a clearing at the edge of the woods. I’m trapped, exposed. My heart sinks, this isn’t good. Spinning around all I can see is the dark forest. Desperate and confused, I look up at the sky.

Where’s the moon? I think to myself, noticing there’s no moonlight to help me see. I take off again for the other edge of the clearing, hearing the footsteps getting closer. I spot a large oak tree to my right, and I run for it. I reach for the trunk and hide behind it just in time as I hear the footsteps enter the clearing.

“Find her!” I hear a man’s voice shout. “Spread out, she can’t get away again.” Again? I’ve escaped before? What do they want with me. I slide down the trunk of the tree, feeling the bark cut into my back on the way down. I catch my breath before turning slowly, trying to get a peek of my hunters but the clearing is empty. Where did they go? I stand, confused. Was I hearing things? Surely not. I decide I’m going to run further into the woods, hoping they don’t follow me. As I turn around a gasp escapes my cold lips. A giant black wolf standing in front of me. It’s bright golden eyes staring into my soul.

“Gotcha!” I hear in my head. “You’re coming with me” the strange voice continues. Fear washes over me as it lunges toward me.

“AARRGGHH!” I scream as I wake myself. Sitting up in bed I pinch my brow, another nightmare. My dreams have been erratic lately. I’m not sure why but it’s getting exhausting. I lay back down trying to calm my racing heartbeat. Beep beep beep and there’s my alarm. 7am, right on time.

I go through the motions of my morning routine, get dressed and ready for school, eat breakfast, and do my morning chores. I hear the school bus turn down the street as I’m wiping my hands dry on a tea towel. Crap! I think to myself. I grab my bag and race out the door to the bus stop. Waving my hands in the air, I flag down the driver as he passes me and pulls into the bus stop. That was close. The doors open and a familiar face greets me.

“Hey Cassidy, running late again?”, Mike says, cocking an eyebrow. He’s the bus driver. Despite knowing me since I was five years old, he still refuses to call me ‘Cass’. Claims it’s too informal for our student-driver relationship. He’s a simple man, sporting his usual dark jeans, light blue polo shirt and his old black cap he wears backwards to make him look ‘hip’. This month’s attempt at growing a beard shaped his square face nicely. This latest attempt might stick around for more than three months.

“Hey Mike, you know me, no matter how early I get up, I’m still late.” I shrug, Mike laughs and I turn to head to the back of the bus. My usual spot, third seat from the back on the left. I like consistency. Sitting down, I notice Lani isn’t here. Lani is my best friend; we’ve known each other our whole lives. Our mums had us a day apart, so we consider ourselves sisters. She’s usually already on the bus by the time it reaches my stop. I decide to text her to see what the deal is.

C – Where are you?

L – I’m so sorry, I slept in, Mum is dropping me off, I’ll be there in five!

C – That’s okay, I’ll be there in soon. Meet at our spot?

L – Obvs!

I smile at my phone before putting it back in the front pocket of my bag. Sitting back, I look out the window, taking in the town. I don’t usually pay attention when I’m on the bus, choosing to gossip with Lani instead.

It isn’t long before we pull up to the school. Westford. The only school on our land. Attendance for all kids was mandatory. Alpha’s rules. Thankfully, I was nearly 16 which meant only one and a half more years of school before I became a fully-fledged pack member. If my wolf shows before then that is. Most kids my age already had their wolves. Lani was the only other kid my age who didn’t have her wolf yet. It made us outcasts a little, but we didn’t mind as we had each other. Spotting her as I get off the bus, I wave.

“Eek! I have some news!” Lani squeals as I make my way to her. Lani was pretty. Red curly hair that sat just past her shoulders, forest green eyes peeping through under her long lashes. Her pale round face covered in freckles. She wasn’t much taller than I was. Dressed in a tight fit navy skater style dress and a long black cardigan two sizes too big that hung off her shoulders, covering her slim build. Her signature style.

“What news?” I laugh as I hug her. She pulls me down and we both sit under the tree. I learn back against it whilst she faces me. Her face lighting up.

“I got my wolf! Isn’t that exciting?!” She exclaims, happiness radiating from her. “Her name is Freya, and she is covered in light brown fur with red flecks through it. She’s stunning, I have to show you her.”

“That’s amazing, I can’t believe it!” I proclaim, and I grab her hand. “She sounds gorgeous. When did this happen?!”

“Last night! I was eating dinner and started getting these cramp-like feelings and my face started heating up. Mum took me outside and about an hour later I shifted. I stayed up all night getting to know Freya. That’s why I was late. I didn’t go to sleep until 2am.” She says with wonder and excitement in her voice. I was so happy for her; I know she was starting to worry she wouldn’t get her wolf at all. You could hear the relief in her voice as she spoke.

“Ugh! That sounds amazing. I’m so jealous” I tell her.

“Don’t worry, yours will come when you least expect it,” she says sincerely whilst tapping our hands. “Oh, I can’t wait to go on my first pack run. Oh! Now I can find my mate!” her voice rising an octave in excitement. “I hope it’s Jordan, he’s so cute!” She squeezes my hand as she squeals. I’ve never seen her so giddy.

“Isn’t he dating Vanessa?” I ask, resentment creeping into my question. I was happy for Lani, but I also felt the loneliness starting to creep in as I realised. I was now the only one our age who didn’t have her wolf.

“Technically yes, but they aren’t mates. They’re just dating until one of them finds their mate.” She says, trying and failing to sound confident. “I heard Vanessa was so upset when she shifted, and she found out Jordan wasn’t her mate. She even threated to kill her friends if they were his. Thankfully they weren’t otherwise we’d have a bunch of dead wolves laying around.”

“She wants to be Luna that badly?” I scoff. Jordan was going to be the next Alpha. His dad was Alpha so of course any girl he’s with was seen as our future Luna. “Honestly, I’m glad she isn’t going to be Luna. Could you imagine Vanessa as our Luna? Talk about the power going to your head.” I roll my eyes at the thought. Vanessa was crazy, obsessive and controlling. School Captain and the principal’s daughter. She was a control freak long before she got her claws into Jordan.

“That girl has some serious issues.” Lani states. “Actually, I don’t want to be Jordan’s mate anymore, I value my life.” I snort at her statement. “I pity the girl who ends up his mate though, may she rest in future peace.” She says as she moves her hands across her chest in a cross like she’s just finished praying to God.

“I second that,” I reply and we both laugh. Riiinnnggg. The familiar sound of the school bell chimes out across the grounds. Ugh.

“We better go, don’t want to keep Mr Trible waiting. I like staying OUT of detention,” Lani says as she gets up. Following her lead, we head off to class.