Arla woke with a gurgled scream, gasping as her eyes darted manically. Her bedroom. Another dream. There were so many horrors that she witnessed that day, yet she couldn’t understand why it was the green-eyed witch who had kept visiting her in her dreams - nightmares - each night for the past two months. The witch’s light green eyes had looked at her as though she knew something and saw something no one else could. She also couldn’t forget the way her skin had tingled, like goosebumps without the bumps. She didn’t think the witch wanted to harm her. If she’d wanted to, she could have struck her down easily, but Arla never felt as though she were in danger.  She had an overwhelming urge to seek her out, but knew a twelve-year-old girl would not get far on her own, and no sane witch would venture anywhere near

Esther’s blood turned to ice. Two days. Two days was all it had taken for him to find them.  Beta Wesley crossed the road, heading towards her. She dropped the shopping bag, grabbed Arla’s hand and ran. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him in pursuit and made a blind turn down an alleyway.  Despair shot through Esther as she took in her surroundings and realised the alley was a dead end. The red brick wall of a building was on her left, high wooden fences lined the right-hand side and the back, and a small silver hatchback car was parked halfway down in the centre of the road. “Arla, run and find somewhere to hide, sweetie,” she said, watching as Arla scurried underneath the silver car. “Esther, don’t fight,” said Beta Wesley softly. “You know yo

“Are you ok? Are you hurt?” Granny Elsie  asked worriedly, rushing into the bathroom. “I-I don’t think so,” she stammered. Granny wrapped her in a towel and led her back to the bedroom. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to do it,” Arla apologised as she got dressed. “Will the Alpha kick me out?” she asked tentatively. “Of course not, dear. It wasn’t your fault. The screen can be replaced, you cannot. He’ll just care that you’re not hurt. Come now and have some dinner,” Granny reassured her. Alpha Lorenzo had kept to himself in his office since they returned home. He’d tried to focus on work, but had been completely preoccupied with thoughts of the blonde girl upstairs. I

It was late afternoon by the time they arrived back at the packhouse, Arla and Chloe chatting animatedly the entire way. As they pulled up in the driveway and began taking bags out of the boot, Beta Drew and Eli stepped out of the front door on their way out. “Wow, someone’s been busy today,” Eli commented, stepping forward to help carry the bags. “I’m so tired,” complained Arla. “Who knew how exhausting shopping could be?” “Are you sure you’re going to make it up the stairs?” laughed Beta Drew, also picking up some shopping bags. “I think I’ll manage...just,” she replied overdramatically, eliciting louder laughter from Drew. “Drew and I have got these, Millie. We’ll take them up to Arla’s room. Head home and enjoy the r

Arla’s thirteenth birthday came and went, and she had settled in and started to feel at home. The nightmares began to ease, which meant not only was she getting more sleep, so was Granny Elsie and unbeknownst to Arla, Alpha Lorenzo, also.  Arla, Chloe and Felix became firm friends, and the two newcomers joined Chloe’s posse of friends, sharing break times at school together. Arla and Felix, however, were almost inseparable. Wherever one went, the other was not far away.  Felix’s dad, Dustin, was a surgeon in the human world before finding his werewolf mate, and was now training at the pack hospital, learning everything he could about applying his existing knowledge to healing wolves.  He worked shifts, so on the days he was sleeping, Felix would have dinner at the packhouse with Arla, and the days