Chapter One
1128 Words
The woods behind the Silver Ridge packhouse always felt different when the three of us were together.
Maybe it was because the adults rarely followed us that far into the trees, or maybe it was because when we were out there, the world felt bigger than pack rules and training schedules.
Whatever the reason, the Everly Woods had always belonged to us.
Tall pines stretched endlessly toward the sky, their branches swaying softly in the wind while patches of sunlight broke through the leaves and painted the forest floor in warm gold. The scent of earth and pine filled the air, and the ground beneath my shoes was soft with moss and fallen needles.
It was the perfect place to run.
And we were always running.
“Move it, Lex! You’re going to lose again!”
Zayne’s voice echoed ahead of me through the trees, full of laughter and challenge.
Even at ten years old, he had a way of making everything sound like a command.
I gritted my teeth and pushed my legs harder.
“I’m not losing!” I shouted back.
Ahead of me, Zayne darted between the trees like he had been born in the forest. His dark hair flashed through the sunlight as he leapt over a fallen branch without even slowing down.
Behind me, my brother Blake groaned loudly.
“Why do we always race uphill?” he complained between breaths.
“Because you’re slow,” Zayne called back with a grin.
Blake shot him an annoyed look but kept running.
That was Blake. No matter how much he complained, he never stopped following Zayne.
Everyone in the pack already knew how things would turn out one day. Zayne was Alpha Marcus’s son—the future Alpha of Silver Ridge.
And Blake?
Blake would stand at his side as Beta.
The adults talked about it like it was already decided.
I refused to be the one left behind.
Just because I was the girl didn’t mean I couldn’t keep up.
My lungs burned as I pushed harder, weaving between the trees as fast as I could. The clearing ahead came into view through the branches.
The Stone Circle.
With one final burst of speed, I ducked under a low willow branch and sprinted into the clearing.
“I win!” I shouted triumphantly, throwing my arms into the air before collapsing onto the grass.
My chest heaved as I stared up at the bright sky above the trees.
A moment later Zayne burst into the clearing and skidded to a stop.
He stared at me in disbelief.
“No way,” he said.
Blake stumbled in right behind him and dropped onto the grass beside me with a dramatic groan.
“I call foul,” he wheezed. “Alex cheated.”
“I did not!”
“You cut through the willow patch,” Zayne accused.
“That’s called strategy,” I said smugly.
Zayne stared at me for a moment before shaking his head with a crooked grin.
“You’re impossible.”
The afternoon sun warmed the clearing as we rested in the soft grass.
The Stone Circle stood quietly around us—large, smooth rocks arranged in a perfect ring that no one in the pack could explain. The elders said it had been there long before Silver Ridge was founded.
To us, it was just the best place to rest after a race.
Zayne stood and plucked a dandelion from the grass.
Blake groaned immediately.
“Oh no.”
Zayne ignored him and walked over to me with exaggerated seriousness.
“Alexandra Hale,” he announced dramatically.
I propped myself up on my elbows.
“For your incredible bravery in defeating both the Alpha and his Beta,” he continued in a deep, official voice, “I hereby declare you Luna for the day.”
Before I could protest, he tucked the small yellow flower behind my ear.
Blake snorted.
“Luna for a day? That sounds dangerous.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because she’d make us do chores.”
“I would not!”
“You totally would.”
Zayne crossed his arms, pretending to consider it.
“She might,” he admitted.
I gasped.
“You two are the worst.”
Zayne laughed.
“Well, if you’re Luna, what’s your first order?”
I thought about it seriously for a moment.
“No homework,” I declared.
Blake immediately sat up.
“Best Luna ever.”
Zayne shook his head.
“You’d run the pack into chaos.”
“Maybe chaos would be fun.”
A familiar voice chuckled from the edge of the clearing.
“Chaos rarely works out the way you hope.”
We all turned instantly.
My father stood leaning casually against one of the trees at the edge of the clearing.
Lucas Hale.
Beside him stood Luna Layla Blackwood, Zayne’s mother.
Blake and I scrambled to our feet immediately.
“Dad,” I said.
“Racing again?” he asked, amused.
“Alex cheated,” Blake said quickly.
“I did not!”
Layla laughed softly.
“I believe her victory should stand.”
Zayne looked oddly pleased by that.
The adults soon began heading back toward the packhouse, leaving us to follow behind.
Blake jogged ahead to walk beside my dad, already asking questions about combat training.
But Zayne slowed his pace until he was walking beside me.
For a moment neither of us spoke.
The forest was quiet around us except for the sound of birds and distant voices from the pack grounds.
Then Zayne stopped.
I turned to look at him.
His expression had changed.
The playful grin from earlier was gone, replaced with something more serious.
Too serious for a ten-year-old.
“I mean it, Lex,” he said quietly.
“Mean what?”
His dark eyes locked onto mine.
“I’ll always protect you.”
I blinked in surprise.
“What?”
His voice dropped lower.
“No matter what happens. I won’t let anything hurt you.”
I studied him for a moment before smiling.
“Well,” I said teasingly, “if you’re Alpha one day, I expect special treatment.”
Zayne smirked.
“You already get special treatment.”
“Do not.”
“Do too.”
I rolled my eyes and continued walking toward the packhouse.
But as we stepped out of the woods and the large Silver Ridge compound came into view, I couldn’t help glancing back at him.
Zayne Blackwood had always been impossible to ignore.
Even back then, part of me had known one simple truth.
Life would always be more interesting when he was around.
What I didn’t know yet…
Was just how much our lives would eventually change.
- Writer
