ChapterTwo
1455 Words
The Alpha Heir
Lily read the message again.
THE LETTER WAS NEVER MEANT TO GET TO YOU
A cold chill crept slowly down her spine as another strong gust of wind rattled the windows of her bedroom. Outside, the trees behind the Carter farm swayed violently beneath the storm, their branches scratching against one another like claws in the dark.
Her breathing slowed.
Carefully, Lily looked toward the window again.
The figure was gone.
Just darkness.
And the endless line of trees stretching behind the farm.
Lily swallowed hard and tightened her grip around the phone.
Her room suddenly felt smaller than usual.
Too quiet and too cold
She immediately clicked on the unknown number and pressed call, but the line barely rang before a robotic voice answered.
“This number does not exist.”
Her stomach twisted painfully.
The message still sat there on her screen.
Real.
Cold.
Unsettling.
Sleep became impossible after that.
Every creak of the house made her tense. Every movement outside made her glance toward the window again.
By the time morning finally arrived, Lily had barely slept.
The smell of toasted bread and eggs filled the Carter farmhouse as Lily rushed downstairs wearing her school uniform.
Her father was already near the front door preparing to leave for the farm.
The moment she saw him, she immediately wrapped her arms around him tightly.
Daniel Carter blinked in surprise before laughing softly.
“Well… good morning to you too.”
Lily forced a small smile.
“Morning.”
“You look exhausted.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Too much studying?”
Lily almost laughed at that.
Before she could answer, Naomi walked into the kitchen carrying Lily’s lunchbox.
Her silver curls were tied neatly behind her head, but the sharpness in her eyes immediately made Lily uneasy.
Naomi studied her face carefully.
“You didn't sleep last night, why? ”
Lily frozed
“Nothing,” Lily said quickly.
Naomi didn’t argue, but her expression darkened slightly as she handed Lily her lunch.
“Come straight home after school.”
Lily blinked.
“Grandmaaa”
“Straight home.”
Something in her tone made Lily stop arguing immediately.
She kissed Naomi lightly on the cheek, grabbed her bag, and hurried out before the tension in the kitchen became worse.
Ashvale High School looked exactly the same as always.
Crowded hallways. Loud students. Peeling classroom walls.
Lily spotted Arielle near the front staircase almost immediately.
Arielle has been her best friend since kindergarten.
“Hi Arielle,” Lily greeted while walking over. “Good morning, babe. How are you doing?”
Arielle grinned brightly.
“Hi Lily. It feels so good to see you.” Her expression changed slightly. “Why do you look like you fought demons in your sleep?”
Lily sighed.
“You’re not going to believe what happened yesterday.”
“Oh this should be interesting.”
Lily quickly explained everything.
The scholarship email.
Her grandmother’s strange reaction.
The figure outside her window.
The anonymous text.
By the time she finished speaking, Arielle stared at her for two seconds before bursting into laughter.
Lily frowned immediately.
“I’m serious.”
“Oh Lily,” Arielle said dramatically, “I thought you stopped hallucinating years ago.”
“I’m not hallucinating.”
“Please.” Arielle crossed her arms. “Why on earth would Blackthorn Academy grant a scholarship to a lowly student like you?”
The words stung more than Lily expected.
Arielle noticed immediately and sighed.
“You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Sure.”
“Lily, Blackthorn Academy is literally for billionaire families and rich psychos from the mountains. Nobody from Ashvale gets invited there.”
Lily quickly pulled out her phone.
“I’m telling you the email was real.”
She unlocked the screen confidently.
Then froze.
The text was gone.
Completely gone.
Her heartbeat skipped.
“No…”
“What?”
“It was here.”
Arielle leaned closer before shaking her head.
“You seriously need sleep.”
“No, Arielle, I swear”
“Mhmm.” Arielle adjusted her bag. “I have class in three minutes, and unlike you, I plan on graduating.”
Then she walked away laughing softly to herself.
Leaving Lily standing there alone and confused.
Lily stared at her phone again.
Nothing.
No text.
No unknown number.
No trace of the message.
A strange feeling settled heavily in her stomach.
For the first time since receiving the scholarship, Lily genuinely started wondering if something was wrong.
Not with the email.
With Blackthorn itself.
A group of senior students suddenly walked past nearby, their conversation catching her attention immediately.
“…heard the Blackthorn Academy already gave out the scholarship.”
“That means somebody from here would be in the same school as Ethan Blackwood?”
Another student lowered his voice instantly.
“Don’t say his name so loudly.”
Lily frowned slightly.
Ethan Blackwood.
She had heard the name before.
Everybody had.
The Blackwoods practically owned the northern territories surrounding Black Hollow Ridge. Even people in Ashvale knew better than to joke about them openly.
“They said Ethan challenged an entire rival pack alone last winter,” one of the boys whispered.
“And won.”
“That family is insane.”
“Not insane,” another muttered nervously. “Dangerous.”
Lily felt herself grow strangely curious.
Who exactly was Ethan Blackwood?
Before she could think further, the warning bell rang loudly across the courtyard.
By the time school ended, dark clouds had already gathered across the sky again.
Lily walked home slowly, replaying everything in her head.
The disappearing message.
Naomi’s fear.
The strange conversation about Ethan Blackwood.
Nothing made sense anymore.
As the Carter farmhouse finally came into view, Lily stopped walking completely.
A black SUV was parked outside the house.
Not just any SUV.
A sleek, expensive vehicle that looked completely out of place beside the old Carter farm.
Her stomach tightened instantly.
The chickens near the coop were unusually restless, clucking loudly and scattering nervously around the yard.
Even the wind felt strange.
Too still.
Lily slowly approached the house.
The front door was slightly open.
And voices drifted quietly from inside.
One belonged to Naomi.
The other,
A calm male voice.
Lily stepped inside carefully.
The moment she entered the living room, silence fell heavily across the house.
A tall man dressed entirely in black stood near the fireplace with his hands folded behind him. His sharp features remained unreadable, but something about him immediately made Lily uncomfortable.
Not because he looked threatening.
Because he looked too composed.
Too controlled.
Like somebody pretending perfectly to be human.
Naomi sat stiffly on the couch nearby.
And the moment Lily saw her grandmother’s face, fear crawled through her chest.
Naomi looked defeated.
And terrified.
The man’s eyes slowly shifted toward Lily.
“Miss Lily Carter.”
It wasn’t a question.
Lily tightened her grip around her school bag.
“What’s going on?”
The man reached calmly into his coat and pulled out a black envelope sealed with a silver wolf crest.
The same crest from the email.
“The scholarship offered to you by Blackthorn Academy is genuine,” he said calmly. “Preparations for your transfer have already begun.”
Lily looked immediately toward Naomi.
Her grandmother’s jaw tightened painfully.
“No,” Lily said slowly. “Grandma already said I’m not going.”
The room fell silent.
Then the man spoke again.
“With respect, Miss Carter…” His gaze flickered briefly toward Naomi. “Some things are no longer within our control.”
A heavy silence followed.
Lily stared at her grandmother in disbelief.
Naomi looked away first.
That alone terrified Lily more than anything else.
“You knew about this?” Lily whispered.
Naomi closed her eyes briefly.
Then finally, slowly
She nodded.
Lily’s chest tightened.
The man placed the envelope carefully on the table.
“You will leave for Blackthorn Academy in three days.”
Lily immediately looked at Naomi again, waiting for her to protest.
To argue.
To refuse.
But Naomi only looked tired.
Broken.
Like someone who had spent years fearing this exact moment.
Finally, her grandmother spoke softly.
“…She’ll go.”
Lily stared at her in shock.
“Grandma”
Naomi’s eyes met hers finally.
And for the first time in Lily’s life,
She saw genuine fear inside them.
The man gave a small nod before turning toward the door.
But just before leaving, he paused.
“The Alpha Heir has already been informed of Miss Carter’s arrival.”
Lily frowned.
“The Alpha Heir?”
The man looked at her calmly.
“Ethan Blackwood.”
- Writer
