Lena Carter hated first days.
Not because of the new school or the unfamiliar faces. She’d moved six times in four years thanks to her mom’s nursing contracts. You got used to being the new kid.
It was the looks that got to her.
The way students at Silverpine High went quiet when she walked by. The way groups split apart like she carried something contagious. And the way one particular guy with black hair and ice-blue eyes had looked at her in the hallway like he’d seen a ghost — then deliberately acted like she didn’t exist.
_Kael Frost._ That’s what the girl next to her in Chemistry had whispered. _Don’t talk to him. He’s trouble._
Lena didn’t care. She had bigger problems than some broody rich kid. Like the fact that her mom had taken a night shift at the Banff hospital and left her alone in their tiny rental cabin on the edge of town. Like the fact that the temperature was dropping to -25°C tonight and the heater in their cabin was making a concerning rattling sound.
“Ms. Carter?” Mr. Reid, her Chem teacher, tapped her desk. “You okay? You’ve been staring out the window for ten minutes.”
Lena blinked and realized she’d been watching the tree line behind the school. The pine branches were swaying in the wind, and for some reason her skin felt too tight, like she was waiting for something.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “Just tired.”
The bell rang for lunch and the classroom emptied fast. Lena grabbed her lunch bag and headed for the quietest corner of the library — she’d noticed it yesterday during the tour.
She didn’t make it five steps before someone stepped directly into her path.
Kael Frost.
He was taller up close. Broad shoulders blocking out the fluorescent lights, hoodie pulled low over his forehead, expression unreadable. The air around him felt ten degrees colder.
“Don’t talk to me,” he said. No greeting. No preamble. Just that.
Lena blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not repeating myself.” His voice was low, clipped, like he was holding something back. “Stay away from me. Stay away from my pack. Stay away from Silverpine’s woods after dark.”
Lena’s temper flared. She wasn’t used to people giving her orders on day two. “I don’t even know you. And I don’t plan on wandering into the woods in a snowstorm, thanks.”
Kael’s eyes flicked to her neck for half a second before he looked away.
“Good.” He stepped aside, but his voice dropped so only she could hear. “And Lena… if you value your life, you’ll forget what you saw in the hallway today.”
Lena frowned. “What did I—”
He was already gone, disappearing into the crowd like he’d never been there.
Lena stood there, heart pounding for no reason she could explain. The air where he’d been standing still smelled like cedar and cold rain. It made her feel strangely safe. And that terrified her.
Across the library, Jace was watching the whole thing from a table, phone in hand. The moment Kael walked away, Jace typed something out and hit send.
*Jace:* _He saw her. Full reaction. Dad’s not gonna like this._
Outside, the sky darkened early. A storm was rolling in off the mountains. And the full moon was three days away.
---
_Kael’s being icy but his wolf is reacting. Jace knows more than he’s saying, and the full moon is coming._
Want me to keep going with *Episode 3: The Storm Warning*, or add more tension between Kael and Lena first?
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