Chapter One

Chapter 1

Cora could hear her heart pounding in her chest and feel the fire in her lungs as she pushed herself harder and faster into the twilight darkened forest. She could make out the beat of paws behind her struggling to keep pace with her as she sped on, dodging trees and undergrowth. The air was beginning to cool as the sun sank below the treetops. Sucking in a large breath, Cora let out a howl of pure joy. Heavens, did she love to run! She could hear Lexie's less enthusiastic howl coming from a few yards back. As Cora pushed through the last of the underbrush and into the firefly dotted clearing, she skidded to a stop.

"Could you slow down?" Lexie croaked as she struggled to catch her breath, almost tumbling into Cora as she came to a stop in the clearing beside her.

"Never" Cora responded with a sly grin. "Why don't you try a little harder to keep up?"

"Keep up? You know you are the fastest wolf in our year, probably in the whole pack. How am I supposed to keep up with you? Nah, I'll just lag behind, then crash to the ground when you finally decide to stop." Lexie collapsed in an exhausted heap in the cool grass of the clearing. Her breathing had finally returned to normal as she stretched her big grey paws out in front of her, raking her claws through the tall grass.

Cora took a moment to think about what Lexie had just said. It was true, ever since her Awakening two years ago on her 16th birthday, when she turned into her wolf form for the first time, she had easily outrun every wolf she had met. Some of the males in her year had even challenged her to races after class, certain that they could beat the small pretty wolf, but she had won every race. Now that she had graduated, she was happy just to run with Lexie. Although, winning those races had earned her enough cash to buy herself an insanely cute black leather bomber jacket on one of her and Lexie's trips to Flint City.

"We should probably start heading back home, Leo hates when you stay out here after dark. Drifters could be anywhere, you know." Lexie began to haul herself up from the grass and head back toward town.

"Fine, wouldn't want you getting on dad's bad side now, would we?" Cora followed Lexie back into the now even darker forest. Lexie was studying under Cora's father, Leo to be a Healer. Leo ran the pack hospital and was the pack's Lead Healer. Lexie had always been at the top of their class academically and was doing phenomenally as Leo's student. Cora knew how much studying under such a well-respected Healer meant to Lexie, even if he was just her dad.

Much to Lexie's delight, the trip home was at a much slower pace. The female wolves chatted as they made their way at a jog back through the twisting trees and brush. They had been friends since they were young kids. Cora's mother, Danica was a teacher at the elementary school and Lexie had been her student. Lexie's mother, Kate was a single mom. Her mate, Lexie's father, had died when Lexie was just a baby. Kate would often need to drop Lexie off at school early in order to get to work, so Cora and Lexie would play in Danica's classroom until school started. They became fast friends and had been inseparable ever since. Lexie even had her own room at Cora's house.

Kate worked long hours at the pack gym. She oversaw the whole place, scheduling training camps, general upkeep, and even maintaining the training equipment which ended up broken quite frequently. Young wolves often have a hard time managing their strength and seasoned warriors simply have so much power that sparring equipment does not last long. Alpha Dom had always made it a point to ensure that any female wolf who lost their mate was still taken care of by the pack. He gave Kate the job at the gym after Lexie's father died and paid her well for her work. Kate and Lexie were not wealthy by any means, but they wanted for nothing, Alpha Dom made sure of that. The new Alpha, his son, Elias had the same desire to care for widows and had continued this practice since he took over as Alpha last year.

The tree lined street was quiet as the females came to the edge of the forest. They grabbed the clothes they had stashed in a backpack under a fir tree, shifted back into their human forms, and quickly dressed under the cover of the trees and brush. They didn't mind being naked in front of each other since wolves were generally naked in their human form right after shifting, but they were not looking to give an eye full to any passing pack members.

Cora finished dressing first and stepped out from behind a scrubby bush, smoothing her hands over her sage green tank top and denim shorts. Lexie emerged from behind a scrawny pine tree a moment later in her typical outfit of black bike shorts and a Jasper River Hospital t-shirt. Cora couldn't quite figure out if Lexie genuinely liked the pack hospital t-shirts, or if she just wanted to be prepared to assist Leo with healing duties at a moment's notice. Lexie was tying back her long black hair into a sleek low pony as Cora approached her.

"Ready?" Cora asked

"Yep, is it okay if I stay the night at your house again tonight? Mom's working late again tonight. Apparently Alpha Elias has requested special training for the new Gamma, so she has been pretty busy all week."

"Of course! You know that you are always welcome to stay. My parents wouldn't have given you your own room at our house if they didn't want you to use it." Cora smiled at her friend as they waled along the street at the edge of town. The sun was just about set and the streetlights had begun to turn on. They could see Cora's house up ahead. A generous sized, light blue, two story home with white shutters and a welcoming porch that her mother had filled with potted plants and rocking chairs. As they got closer, Cora could see her parents rocking in two of the chairs, each with a glass of red wine.

"Hello girls" Danica greeted them with a broad smile, her long red hair pinned neatly away from her face. "There are some fresh baked cookies in the kitchen, help yourselves. I know how hungry you both get after a run through the trees."

Lexie waved a quick hello to Leo and Danica, then disappeared inside. She loved Danica's cookies and was definitely hungry after their run.

"Thanks mom. Lexie is going to stay the night tonight too if that's okay. Really, I think she may end up here the rest of the week if Kate has to work late training the new Gamma."

"Of course dear, we love to have Lexie here. She can stay anytime, just make sure she lets Kate know where she is so she doesn't get worried." Danica took another sip of her wine and reached out for Leo's hand. "Leo, I assume you have plenty for Lexie to do at the hospital this week."

"In fact, I do." Leo ruffled his brow, his dark brown eyes growing serious. "We have been busier than usual these past few days. I've seen a lot of trackers and guards come through pretty scraped up from run-ins with drifters. I want you girls to be careful not to get too close to the edge of the pack land while you are out running. There have been more drifters nearby lately."

"You got it, Dad." Cora leaned in to give her father a peck on the cheek, then headed inside to find Lexie. As expected, she was perched at the kitchen island with a cookie in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. "These are so delicious" she moaned with enthusiasm. "How is your mom such a good baker?"

"I don't know, maybe it's all the practice she gets feeding your hungry face?" Cora laughed and grabbed herself a cookie. "I need a shower, I'm all sweaty and dirty from our run. Want to watch a movie in a bit?"

"Sounds good. I should probably shower too." Lexie stood up and stretched, which made her seem even taller than she already was. "Meet in your room in half an hour? I'll bring some popcorn."

Cora and Lexie climbed up the stairs to their rooms, each with their own attached bathrooms. Even though their bedrooms weren't huge, they were private which was quite necessary. As much as Cora loved spending time with Lexie, they both agreed that some alone time was important for their friendship and had no hard feelings about their time spent apart.

At the top of the stairs, Cora made a left down the hallway and Lexie turned right. Danica and Leo's room was on the main floor of the house, tucked into the back corner, so the girls had the whole upstairs to themselves. Cora opened the door to her room and sighed with a feeling of comfort when she entered. No mater how much Cora loved to run the woods and hang out with her friends, there was just something special about being home and in her own space. She tried not to let her mind wander to the coming fall when she would have to decide what type of skill she wanted to pursue within the pack. For now, she would soak up as much of the freedom of summer as possible and enjoy these nights in with Lexie just watching movies and snacking.

Cora peeled off her sweaty tank top and shorts and tossed them into the overflowing hamper in the corner of the room. Enjoying the freedom of summer had left her with little time to do laundry. She walked past her unmade bed and into the attached bathroom pausing to look at herself in the mirror before turning on the water. Her awakening two years ago had changed her body quite a bit and she had become even more of a grown wolf now that she was 18 and able to mate. The muscles throughout her petite body were well defined and her hair and skin were nearly perfect. Of course, the summer sun had helped, her skin was kissed by the sun and her light brown hair had been lightened even further by those magnificent rays, giving her a head-to-toe bronzed glow. She was pretty, there was no denying that, but her looks were not something that she was overly focused on. Honestly, pretty much all wolves were good looking, probably some sort of alpha predator gene.

The thing that made Cora stand out in the looks department was her wolf. She was absolutely breathtaking in wolf form. She could remember the night of her awakening and the look on her mother's face when she turned for the first time. Danica had begun to cry when she saw Cora's wolf and Cora panicked, thinking that something was wrong until Leo reassured her that her mother was just overwhelmed by the beauty of her wolf. The majority of the Half Moon pack were some variation of black or grey wolves, but not Cora. She was a gorgeous tri-colored wolf. Her coat was a delicate mix of dark grey and red fur with splashes of white around her face and legs. The red in her coat was likely passed down to her by her mother who was not originally from the Half Moon pack. Danica was a fiery red wolf from the Marsh pack far to the east. Leo had always told Cora that he could sense that she would be an extra special wolf because she was born under the Half Moon, their pack's namesake. Cora always thought he was just being superstitions, but between her unique coloring and exceptional speed, Leo seemed to be right. She didn't know what this would mean for her future though, she hadn't even decided on a future path yet.

After studying herself in the mirror for what she concluded was way too long, Cora turned on the shower and stepped into the warm stream of water. Showering off the sweat, dirt, and pine needles after a run through the woods always felt so good. After she was suitably clean, Cora returned to her room to try and find some clean pajamas, which turned out to be more difficult that she would have liked given the massive pile of dirty clothes in the corner. Settling on a pair of old cotton shorts and a tank top, she quickly dressed and moved on to gathering up blankets and pillows for the movie night.

Cora heard a quick knock on her bedroom door "You ready? I have popcorn!" Lexie sang from the other side of the door.

"Come in" Cora replied as she finished spreading the extra pillows and blankets out over her bed. Lexie entered, popcorn in hand and they settled into Cora's bed and began scrolling through their movie choices. They decided on a rom-com that they had both already seen several times, but it was an easy watch. Something light and enjoyable to help them wind down at the end of the day.

As the girls giggled and munched on popcorn, Cora's mind began to drift. The sappy love story in the movie had her thinking about mates and what it would be like when she found her own mate. She was old enough now after all. She had been eighteen for two months now and had not felt any type of strong pull or attraction towards any of the wolves in the pack that she had come across. The pack was large though, so she was still hopeful that her mate was near. He could even belong to one of the other Three Rivers Packs. The Half Moon pack was one of three packs situated along sister rivers. There was the New Moon pack and the Crescent Moon pack as well. Together, they formed a larger alliance known as the Three Rivers Packs. The packs believed deeply in the Moon Goddess and the magic of mates. This is why there were several social events each year for unmated wolves from all three packs to meet and search for their mates. One of these events was happening this Friday. Alpha Elias, who was still unmated, would be turning 23 on Friday and his parents were throwing him a massive party at the pack house. Wolves from all three packs would be there, all hoping to find their mates.

Since taking over as Alpha a year ago, it had become even more of a focus within the pack that Alpha Elias find a mate soon. A pack needs a Luna and an unmated Alpha could sometimes become unstable if he remained single for too long. The Three Rivers wolves held the mate bond to the highest level of respect and honor meaning most wolves remained virgins until they found their mate. Alpha's, being so much more powerful than normal wolves, often found it harder to respect the sacredness of the mate bond if they remained unmated for an extended amount of time. Alpha Elias was still young, but Cora could tell by the way her parents talked about the Alpha's upcoming birthday party that some of the pack would begin to worry if he did not find a mate soon. He was born under a half moon, same as Cora, and there was much talk about his extraordinary strength and power, even for an Alpha. Cora had heard rumors that Elias possessed the rarest of all half moon abilities, the ability to control fire.

Cora was yanked from her thoughts by the thump of a pillow to the back of her head. "Hello! Earth to Cora!" Lexi was now waving her hand frantically in front of Cora's face.

"What was that for?" Cora asked as she rubbed the back of her head, feigning injury and scowling at her friend.

"You were zoning out about something and not paying any attention to the movie. What were you thinking about anyway?"

Cora blushed a little. She wasn't big on obsessing over mates like some girls. Up until two months ago, she really rarely thought of it at all. "I was just thinking about mates and what it will be like when we find ours."

Lexie rolled her eyes dramatically. "Ugh, who wants to think about mates?"

"Come on Lex, you don't ever think about who your mate could be or what he might be like? You have been 18 for six months now, surely you are curious."

"Nope, not at all. Why would I want to spend my time fantasizing over something I have no control over and that will likely just cause me a ton of pain in the end?"

Cora hanged her head. "I'm so sorry Lex, I didn't mean to upset you by bringing up mates." Lexi's dad, Alex had been a member of Alpha Dom's guard and had been killed while on duty when Lexi's mom was pregnant with her. Kate and Alex were mates and losing Alex nearly destroyed Kate and changed her completely.

"It's ok, I know that the reality is I will likely have a mate and will probably find him soon, I just don't particularly enjoy spending my free time daydreaming about it."

"Lex" Cora laid her hand on her friend's knee. "Just because your mom lost her mate doesn't mean that you will. There are tons of mated pairs who live long and happy lives together, I mean, just look at my parents or even Alpha Dom and Luna Rebecca. I bet you will change your mind about the whole mate situation once it happens for you."

Lexie let a small smile spread across her face. "You're probably right. I hope my mate is the nice, safe, nerdy type. Maybe he will even be a healer and work at the hospital with me."

Cora giggled and shook her head. "I think you are the only girl in the pack wishing for a nerdy mate! The rest of us are dreaming of big muscles and fast wolves and here you are hoping for glasses and healing ointments, ha!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want, muscles can't fix a broken leg or sew up a bite wound!" At this point, both girls were rolling with laughter as Lexie thumped Cora over the head with a pillow one more time. By now, the movie had ended and the popcorn was gone. They decided to call it a night and get some sleep.

"Hey, Lexie" Cora called out as Lexie was about to step out of the room. "Want to see if my mom will let us take the car to Flint City tomorrow to shop for outfits for Alpha Elias' birthday party? I want to get something cute and you know I love any excuse to shop!"

"Oh I know" Lexie giggled. "Sounds good, but I'm not letting you get me into anything too tight or too short, so don't even try."

"I'm afraid I can't make any promises. Goodnight, see ya in the morning" Cora laughed to herself as she tucked into the covers on her bed. She was pretty tired, but she couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of finding her mate at the party on Friday. It was only two days away and suddenly the idea of being a mated wolf seemed way more real to her than ever before. Cora tried hard to quelle her excitement, after all there was no guarantee that she would even find her mate at the party. After giving herself a quick reality check and pep talk, she was finally able to calm her nerves enough to drift off to sleep where she of course spent the entire night dreaming about dancing and flirting the night away with her mate, a gorgeous man with jet black hair whose face she could never quite make out.