CHAPTER 1 - FIRST MEETING WITH THE VAMPIRE

I hate watch duty.

It is freezing. My breath making clouds in the air. I am stuck at the edge of our woods, staring at the creepy trees where they live. The vampires.

My dad, the Alpha, says they are monsters. Leeches. I have believed that my whole life.

Something moved in the dark over there. I went still. I could feel someone watching me. Their sentry. We never see each other, but we both know we are here. It has been like this for weeks.

Then, a loud crack.

A huge stag stumbled out between the trees, right in the middle of the no-go zone. It was hurt bad, bleeding. This was trouble. If it died there, it could start a fight. My pack would blame them. Their coven would blame us.

I did not think. I just ran toward it to help.

A blur of black moved faster than I could. Suddenly, a vampire was there, right by the dying animal.

I skidded to a stop. My hands curled into fists.

She looked up.

And I froze.

She was not a monster. She was a girl. Maybe my age. Pale, with dark hair and these crazy purple eyes. She had her hand on the stag’s neck, not hurting it, just… calming it.

We stared at each other over the dying animal. The world got really quiet.

The stag let out one last breath and went still.

“It is not in pain anymore,” she said. Her voice was quiet, but clear. Not scary at all.

I nodded, my throat tight. “Better than how it was.”

We just stood there. I should have left. I should have called for my brothers. But I did not.

“You… you tried to help it,” I finally said.

“It was suffering,” she said, meeting my eyes. “Do not wolves understand that?”

“We do,” I shot back, feeling defensive. “We understand life and death. Real death. Not your… forever kind.”

She raised an eyebrow. “We do not take. We just last longer. You burn up all at once.”

It was an old insult. But it did not feel like fighting. It felt like… talking.

“I am Kaelen,” I blurted out.

She looked surprised. “Lyra.”

“Do you just stand out here every night?” I asked, jerking my head toward her woods.

“Only when I have to. Do you just… sniff trees every night?” she asked back, a tiny, almost-smile on her lips.

I almost laughed. “It is called patrolling.”

We kept talking. I do not even remember about what. The woods. The cold. It was stupid, normal stuff. But it did not feel stupid. She asked about running as a wolf. I asked what vampires even do all night. She said she reads a lot. Old books.

It felt like hours.

Then, a howl echoed from deep in my woods. My brother, Rylan. Looking for me.

Panic flashed in Lyra’s purple eyes. The moment shattered. She took a step back into the shadows.

“I have to go,” she whispered.

“Wait,” I said. My heart was pounding. This was insane. “The next full moon. Two nights from now. The old broken tower, up north in the empty zone. Meet me.”

It was the craziest thing I had ever said. Treason.

She stared at me like I had grown another head. The howl came again, closer.

She did not say yes. She did not say no.

She just gave one quick, sharp nod.

Then she was gone. Like smoke.

I stood there alone with the dead stag. The smell of pine and blood was strong. But underneath it, I could still smell her. Like cold flowers and old paper.

Rylan crashed through the bushes behind me. “Kaelen! What happened? We heard something.”

I turned, trying to make my face normal. “Just a stag. Mountain cat got it. It is over.”

He looked at the stag, then at me, but nodded. “Good. Let us go. It is creepy out here.”

As I followed him home, my mind was screaming.

I just asked a vampire to meet me. I talked to the enemy and did not want to stop. I looked at her and did not see a leech.

I saw a girl.

And now, I had a secret that could get me kicked out of my pack forever.

For two days, I was useless.

I messed up during training. I almost walked into a tree on patrol. Rylan punched my arm at dinner. “Hey. You alive in there?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “Just tired.”

I was not tired. I was split in two. One half of me was Kaelen of the Ironwood Pack, the Alpha’s son. The other half was just Kaelen, the guy who could not stop thinking about purple eyes in the moonlight.

The full moon night came.

My family ate together in the big lodge. My dad was talking about border tensions. “The night-walkers are getting bold,” he growled, tearing into his meat. “We need to show strength.”

I pushed my food around my plate. My mom noticed. “You are quiet, son.”

“Long patrol yesterday,” I mumbled.

When dinner was done, I slipped away. I told Rylan I was going to check the south ridge. Alone. He frowned but did not stop me.

The old tower was an hour’s run north, in a place no one went. It was just broken stones and bad memories. The perfect place for a secret.

I got there early. The moon was huge and white. I felt jumpy. This was so stupid. What if she did not come? What if she did, but with a bunch of other vampires?

A soft sound, like a falling leaf. I spun around.

She was there. Just her. Leaning against a crumbled wall in a dark coat.

We stared at each other. Now that we were here, I had no idea what to say.

“You came,” I finally said. My voice sounded too loud.

“You asked,” she said simply.

“Yeah. I did.” I kicked a loose stone. “So.”

“So.”

This was going great.

I took a breath. “Why did you help the stag?”

She looked down. “It was the right thing to do.”

“My dad says your kind does not care about right or wrong. Just blood.”

Her head snapped up, eyes flashing. “And my Sire says your kind are just animals who chase their own tails. Should we believe everything we are told?”

The words hit me like a slap. She was right.

“I am sorry,” I said. “That was... I should not have said that.”

She seemed surprised by the apology. “It is what you were taught.”

“Yeah. But seeing you there, with the stag... it did not match the story.” I looked at her. “Do you really drink... you know. Blood?”

A shadow crossed her face. “Yes. But not like you think. We do not hunt people. We have donors. It is... a contract. Clean. Clinical.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Do you really turn into a giant wolf and howl at the moon?”

I cracked a smile. “Yeah. But not like that. It is not a monster thing. It is just... me. But more.”

She looked curious. “What does it feel like?”

“Free,” I said without thinking. “The world is louder, smells are stronger. The pack bond... it is like a song in your head. All of us together.” I paused. “Is that weird?”

“No.” She looked up at the moon. “It sounds... alive. My world is very quiet. Very still.”

We started walking slowly around the old stones. The talking got easier. I told her about Rylan, and how he dared me to eat a whole raw fish when we were ten. She laughed, a real, quiet laugh that made something warm bloom in my chest.

She told me about the Court. How everyone was so formal and cold. How she spent most of her time in the library, reading about a world she never got to see in daylight.

“It sounds lonely,” I said.

She just shrugged. “It is my life.”

A wolf howled, very far away. It broke the moment. We were not just two people talking. We were a wolf and a vampire, standing in a place where we could both be killed for being here.

“I should go,” I said, but I did not move.

“Me too.” She did not move either.

“Will you... come back?” The question hung in the air.

She met my eyes. “Is that a good idea?”

“Probably not,” I admitted. “But I want to.”

A slow, small smile touched her lips. It changed her whole face. “Me too.”

“Next week?” I asked. “Same time?”

She nodded. “Okay.”

I turned to leave, then stopped. “Lyra? Be careful getting back.”

“You too, Kaelen.”

I ran back to the pack lands, my heart feeling too big for my chest. I was grinning like an idiot the whole way.

When I got to my cabin, Rylan was waiting on the steps. His arms were crossed.

“South ridge, huh?” he said. His voice was flat. “Funny. Jax just got back from patrolling the south ridge. Said he did not see you anywhere.”

My grin vanished. Ice flooded my veins.

Rylan stood up. His eyes were hard. “Where were you really, Kaelen?”