I wake up to the sound of knocking at the door. 

"Miss Elizabeth? It's time for breakfast." One of the maids said from outside the door. "Ah yes, thank you, Jenny. I will be down in a bit." I hear the faint footsteps walk down the hallway and knowing waking Thomas up was gonna take more than a knock on the door. I push back the blanket, freeing my legs from the heavy blanket. I sit up and stretch, causing a moan to escape my lips. I walk across the room and open the curtain. Closing my eyes quickly to the quick burn of the bright light that blinded me. I step away and head to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror I grab my hair and being to untangle my knots into a french braid that ends at my lower back. I walk to my closet and grab a simple navy blue long sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans.  

"Elizabeth?" 

"In the closet!" I yell back. Looking at the racks deciding what shoes to wear.

"It's rather cold out. A few inches of snow on the ground." Thomas said while taking a seat on my chair to the vanity.  I pull out my heavy socks from the drawer. Sitting on the closet floor and slipping them on. I grab my hunter boots and step into them. I walk out of the closet and walk over to the sink and begin to brush my teeth.

"Where are you going again today?" The sentence coming out muffled because of my brushing.  "Alpha Harold, out East." Thomas said while taking my brush and combing through his short hair. "Are you nervous about your first Alpha meeting?" I say after I spit out the paste. "Well it isn't exactly mine, I'm observing the contents of the meeting." I wash my mouth out with water and turn around. "Thomas you know when father steps down you will be the rising Alpha," I say chuckling. "I kinda want the meeting to be over with already. Penny will be returning when I get back." Thomas mood completely changed as he spoke about his mate, Penny, a lovely girl. She was a part of the pack across town.

 "You'll find your mate, he's bound to be somewhere out there," Thomas said with a warm smile. "If mother ever lets me out farther than this town, maybe I would meet him then," I say walking out of the bathroom and back into the room seeing the low glow of what was left of the fireplace. Thomas stands by the coat rack by my door with my forest green long coat in hand.

"If you're going to the greenhouse, you'll need this." Handing me the coat. I lay it over my arm and start to walk down the long hallway. Thomas hot on my tail. We walk silently to the dining area and take a seat. I place my coat on the back of my chair. We all greet each other with warm smiles and "good mornings" and we get settled. We bow our heads as father says grace. As soon as I heard "Amen" I dig into the pile of food that sat on my plate. Pancakes with the perfect amount of powder sugar and a single strawberry cut on top.

"Darling are you excited about the greenhouse?" My mother Anna spoke. 

"Yes, I hope to see my favorite, the White Lily," I say in-between my bites. "Yes, darling I would have a garden full of White Lily's just for you." My father spoke will a smile. I slipped a small giggle. "Well, I look forward to the day," I say taking a sip of my milk.

"Well, Thomas are you ready?" Father says as he nods his head at one of the maids as they take his plate away. "Yes, but I won't lie. I do feel unsettled." Thomas said while whipping his mouth of powdered sugar. "Don't fret my boy, it's a mere look into what you will be doing one day. An Alphas duty." Father said. Thomas got up and gave mother a kiss on the cheek. 

"I'll walk you to the door." My mother stood up quickly. "When I back, I'll grab my coat and we will head to the garden." I nod my head and thank the maids for cleaning the mess we made. I pick up my coat and walk towards the living room taking a seat the grand piano that sits by the now huge one window and began to play. A few moments later I hear my mothers quiet footsteps, knowing she was behind me. "I love the gift that has been blessed with you. I could listen to it all day." Mother said with a warm smile. "I don't play as much as I would like." I gather up my coat and slip it on and head down the long hallway and down the corridor to the door that leads to the back yard. Mother opens the door for the blinding light shines its way into the flame lit corridor. 

Thomas was right. 

A beautiful blanket of snow covered the ground and silenced any noise for miles. As we walked to the greenhouse the snow crunched beneath our feet. The snow made me feel calm. It was so beautiful. As we walk to the greenhouse I take in my surroundings. My eyes lock in the sight of the Collin Woods cover is snow making it look beautiful. The Collin Woods never looked scary as the stories are. It was always beautiful. Thick, full evergreens traced the border of it. And a layer of snow made it even more eye-popping. I've always wanted to walk to it but my mother would never allow it. She is terrified of the Collin Woods. We made it to the greenhouse and opened the doors to feel the heat through my coat. I slip off the coat and place it on the back of the chair by the door, as did my mother. I walk quickly to the White Lily's. My heart warming at the sight of them. I grab the watering can and fill it to the brim. I begin to walk around and water all the flowers while my mother began to put new soil in a pot and planted a seed. 

Flowers calmed my mother of Collin Woods. That's why our greenhouse was the size of an average house here in town. You could count maybe thousands of flowers here. I make my way around the tables watering all the plants on the ground, tables, and even the hanging ones. "What did you plant?" I ask poring a little water now the soil. "Well, I'm hoping that I can grow a sunflower but I fright that with the winter and lack of sunlight, it won't grow to its full beauty." My mother seems a little sad. A small smile places on my lips. My mother and her flowers.

"Sorry to intrude my Luna, but Alpha Charles is on the phone inside wanted to share a message with you." The housekeeper Jenny bowed her head. "Alright, thank you, Jenny. I will be right in." Mother washed her hands and put back coat back on and left to exit the greenhouse. 

"Miss Elizabeth? Would you like me to accompany you while your mother is on the phone?" Jenny asks as her teeth chattered from the cold, seeing she did not have a coat on. "Ah no Jenny, I will do just fine on my own out here thank you. Please go back inside to the warmth. I wouldn't want you to get sick." I say setting down the watering can to fill it back up. "Alright Miss Elizabeth, thank you," Jenny said with a smile as she turned and walked quickly back to the house. I fill up the can and begin to water the flowers but a feeling of mischief washed over me. Mother was nowhere in sight, so nobody to tell me what to do. I sit down the water can and pick up my coat and exit the greenhouse and started to walk to the line of trees beginning the Collin Woods.

So much mystery hidden in beautiful trees. I walk the edge until I see an opening in the trees. By this time I was out of sight from the house. The opening in the trees leads to a path. How come I've never seen this path before? I ask myself. I take a deep breath and look at the path. I knew the bad that has happened in these woods. And who's to know what would happen to me if I entered the woods. I take a deep breath and enter the woods and begin to walk the trail. The snow becoming more beautiful on the trees as I walk. There is no sound of birds chirping or foxes snapping small twigs. Silence. The only sound was the sound of snow crunching under my boots. I knew mother would be crawling in her skin if she knew what I was doing. I wonder if she was done with the phone call yet. I was too far from home to hear any cry from anyone from the house.

I come to a stop when I see a faint light coming from ahead. I walk faster to get to the light wanting to see what it was. I come to a stop when I see an open area with a lamp post holding a flame in the cage. How odd.

I walk around the circle looking at the lamp post until my foot hits something. I stop in my tracks to see the snow piled up. My boot hitting some on the snow off I see brown. I take my gloved hand and began to brush off the snow and I began to see a boot? I backed up quickly and look again. It is a boot. I take another step to try to wipe the snow off the face. It looked to be a boy around my age, his skin purple from the cold. He had to of been dead for a while. I wipe more snow from his body to see stab wounds and claw marks down his bare chest. I back up and gasp. 

"Oh my God", I breath out shaking.

"You know it's very rude to pass onto peoples land without permission." A deep voice says behind me.

I turn around quickly to see a big man, standing taller than anyone I've ever seen before. He was dressed in black boots and a big black trench coat. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. He was unshaven in the face but didn't have a beard. He was very muscular. I felt warmth with the stranger but I was also terrified.

"Who are you?" I ask as I began to slowly back up.

"I believe you know who I am." He voice so deep it sent a chill down my spine.

I shake my head trying to back away further from the man.

"No? You don't? I thought everyone knew who these woods belong to."

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Photo is of the Collin Woods.