Moonbound : The Rise Of The Alpha

wooden sign they had passed miles back, but her new home was still nowhere in sight. Her father, Mark Hayes, drove in silence, grippin

asked, her voice breaking

e clipped. He hadn't been himself since the

ractured. Mark had poured himself into work to keep the pain at bay, and Lyla was left to navigate the chaos of adolescence on her

him. "Why Silverwood of all places? This pl

tart," Mark muttered w

lain their choices. The truth was, she didn't want a fresh start. She wanted answers, answers about her mom's disappearance,

gly so. The main street consisted of a diner, a general store, a gas station, and a couple of other nondes

but her stomach tightened. The stares from the teenagers were i

ge of the forest, where a modest two-story house stood waiting. It was old

," Mark said as

Lyla lugged her suitcase upstairs and found her room at the end of the hall. It was simple just a bed, a dress

e sunlight barely pierced through the dense canopy, giving it a shadowy, mysterious qu

ad called fro

eld up a picture frame of the three of them from years ago. Her mom's

n your room," Mark said

ture of comfort and pain. She took the frame and nodded

his," he said, alre

ad had become a master at avoidance, dodging any conversa

t in shades of gold and amber, but the deeper she walked into the woods, the darker

ftly nearby, and the air was thick with the scent of pine and earth. For a moment, s

n

n around

ans

so. She took a cautious step backwards and tripped over a root, landing hard on th

eath h

fading light. It was easily the largest wolf she'd ever seen, its size almo

the wolf turned and bounded back into the

ell..." she

lverwood High. The school was even smaller than she'd imagined. Wal

h?" a voice s

rl with curly auburn ha

moved here,"

g a hand. "Welcome to Silverwood. We

etty obvious," Lyla

'll get used to the staring. Peo

omething was unsettling about the way some of the s

students was

eyes. He sat in the corner of the classroom, his gaze flickering to her only briefly before

Clara during lunch, nod

her voice. "That's Eli. He's... comp

hy

ons. Silverwood has its secrets, Lyla, and somet

k wolf haunted her. Against her better judgment, she g

heavier. As she walked, she felt the same pull as

and froze. Standing there, ba

?" he asked sharply, his

the same thing,

" Eli said, his tone softeni

not afraid of the dark if

ching hers. "You don't understand. There are

echoed through the trees. It was deep and

"You need to

hat's g

pped, his voice f

ss in his eyes. She turned and ran b

omething far beyond her understanding. A