The Missing Heir

TheMeet

Chapter 1

She was walking home from the library, the sun dipping behind the horizon as the brisk autumn air brushed against her face. A town car slowed beside her, the back window rolling down to reveal a boy leaning out. Her first thought was simple and instinctive: he’s hot.

He leaned a little further. “My apologies, would you be so kind as to direct me to Silverton Estate?”

Something tugged at her inner being, a strange pull she didn’t understand. She ignored it and pointed him toward the Estate. Everyone in this neighborhood knew where it was. Silverton Estate was pack territory, the home of the Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. Only wolves lived here.

As the vehicle pulled away, they kept looking at each other. She noticed his beautiful amber eyes, warm and striking. A pity she was leaving tomorrow. She wondered briefly who he was.

When she arrived home, she sensed her mother in the kitchen, Gloria Silverton Reed, sister to Alpha. “How was class, honey?” her mother asked. She shrugged. “It was good,” by normal circumstances.

Her mother and father had met years ago on a business trip when the Reed family visited America. They mated and bonded that same summer, elevating her father to Beta of the Silvermoon Pack. He had been the youngest brother of the Reed line, finding his mate across the ocean. Her aunt Victoria had suffered the same fate, meeting her mate in the same pack, linking the two families and their packs over continents.

He watched her as the car pulled away, unable to stop himself. There was something quietly striking about her, a beauty that didn’t shout for attention but held it all the same. Noble, almost. The kind of presence that made the world slow down for a moment.

He pressed the button to raise the window, but his mind stayed outside with her. He hadn’t wanted to come here. His father had insisted, dragging him across the ocean for diplomatic courtesy and pack tradition. But now… now he is glad. A strange sense of anticipation curled in his chest, and he found himself hoping she would attend the banquet.

Whenever an invited Alpha arrives, the Silvermoon Pack hosts a formal banquet. It’s tradition, a celebration of unity, strength, and respect. Every wolf in the territory is invited. He silently prayed to the Moon Goddess that she would be among them.

When they reached Silverton Estate, the Pack House stood tall and proud, its stone walls glowing under the lantern lights. The two Alphas greeted each other with firm handshakes and warm smiles, acknowledging the meeting of two powerful bloodlines. The air buzzed with excitement as pack members filled the hall, music rising, laughter echoing, and scents of roasted meats drifting through the space.

But he barely noticed any of it.

His eyes kept scanning the crowd, searching for her.

He moved through the hall with the grace expected of his station — the future Alpha of the Twilight Pack, but his attention was fixed on the entrance. Every time the door opened, his heart kicked, hoping it was her.

Two young women approached him, stepping directly into his path. “I’m Clare,” the first said, her voice sweet but practiced. “My father is the Beta of our pack.”

He offered a polite smile, the kind required of an Alpha heir. “Nice to meet you, Clare.”

“And I’m Charlotte,” the second added quickly, leaning in just enough to be noticed.

“Very nice to meet you too, Charlotte,” he replied, maintaining the courteous tone expected of him. Their intentions were obvious, the way they angled their bodies, the way their eyes lingered on him, the way they spoke as if they were presenting themselves. But his attention drifted again, he pulled toward the entrance.

And then he saw her.

She stepped into the hall wearing a stunning over‑the‑shoulder red dress, the fabric hugging her form with effortless elegance. Her long auburn hair cascaded down her back, catching the warm light and glowing like embers. She looked breathtaking, not because she tried, but because she simply was.

“Who is that?” he asked, unable to hide the awe in his voice.

Clare and Charlotte exchanged a look before answering, their tone sharp and dismissive. “No one,” Clare said. “She’s just an omega. We let them attend sometimes. My father says it’s good for pack morale.”

His jaw tightened. Something in him bristled at their words, a protective instinct he didn’t understand. “Excuse me,” he said, already stepping away.

He moved through the crowd, weaving between pack members, ignoring greetings and conversations. His focus narrowed to a single point: her. He reached the spot where he had seen her standing, heart beating faster than it should.

But she was gone.

He stood there, scanning the hall, searching every corner, every doorway, every shadow.

Nothing.

Only the lingering scent of autumn air and something warm, familiar, and impossibly magnetic.

He didn’t know her name. He didn’t know her story. But he knew one thing with absolute certainty:

He had to find her.

……………

She had completed her obligation, meeting the visiting Alpha and his Luna, offering the respectful greeting expected of her station. Once the formalities were done, she slipped out quietly, unnoticed by most. She preferred it that way. Attention had never been kind to her.

But Declan noticed.

Her cousin, the future Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack, stepped into her path with a raised brow and a soft, teasing tone. “And where do you think you’re going, young lady? You’re already leaving me in this Goddess‑forsaken place tomorrow, and now you’re slipping away tonight.”

She couldn’t help but smile. Declan had always been able to pull one out of her, even on the darkest days. She reached for Vicky, Declan’s mate, and hugged her tightly. “I’m going to miss you,” Vicky whispered, her voice trembling.

Vicky knew. She knew about the shadows haunting Elizabeth, the bullying she endured, the way her wolf stirred too early, too violently. She knew the danger Elizabeth would face every day she stayed there.

Declan wrapped his arms around his cousin, pulling her into a firm embrace. “I’m truly going to miss you, Elizabeth Silverton Reed.”

Her name carried weight, the merging of two ancient Alpha bloodlines, Silverton and Reed, tied across oceans and generations. In her name lived a legacy, responsibility, and a future she wasn’t sure she wanted.

When she walked into her home that night, she felt the heaviness of it all settle on her shoulders. The future. The unknown. The wolf inside her refused to sleep. Scotland felt like escape but also exile. She wondered which one it truly was.

Elizabeth woke early, long before the sun had risen. She sat at the breakfast table, hands wrapped around a warm mug, staring at nothing. Her thoughts drifted between memories of her father and the strange boy with amber eyes she’d met the night before.

One year since her father’s death, and she still saw him every time she closed her eyes.

Her family entered the kitchen one by one.

Her uncle Samuel Silverton was first. “Good morning, Sweet pea,” he said warmly.

She cringed at the nickname. He gave it to her when she was five, and it had stuck like glue. “I’m going to miss you. But this is for the best. We need you safe.”

She nodded softly. “Yes, Uncle.”

Her aunt Luna Margareth — approached next, pulling her into a firm embrace. “We love you, dear,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

Declan looked like he had been crying. They had been inseparable as children, two halves of the same mischief, until he found Vicky. Even then, he had always been her protector, her confidant, her anchor.

Vicky was crying openly now, wiping her cheeks as she hugged Elizabeth again. “Please call me the moment you land,” she said. “And don’t disappear on me.”

Her mother and Aunt Victoria stood together, eyes filled with tears. They didn’t speak — they didn’t need to. The grief, the fear, the love between them was loud enough.

Elizabeth stepped outside, the crisp morning air biting at her cheeks. The SUV her uncle had arranged waited at the curb, engine running. She climbed inside, her chest tight, her eyes burning.

As the vehicle pulled away from Silverton Estate, she looked back one last time — at her family, at her home, at the life she was leaving behind.

Tears blurred her vision.

She wasn’t just leaving for Scotland.

She was leaving everything she had ever known.