Chapter 1

I woke up to the sound of a stomach aching in hunger, it rumbled so loud that my own stomach followed suit, letting out a low grumble that demanded to be fed.  I gently opened my eyes, breathing in the fresh, cool air of the morning and started to remember where I was. My back was padded by the soft grass, my head cradled on Rowan’s stomach as my legs stretched out, making a ‘T’ shape with our bodies.

'We shouldn’t be here,' hissed in my head, I knew she was right but I chose to ignore her. 

The patch of grass underneath me was that thick, plush kind of grass, that was never attended to but long enough to slightly bend over making it perfect and cushy to lay on.  It was surrounded by such a dense treeline and bushes; it was a wonder that those types of plants just refused to grow in the small oval area I was in, and when you looked up, it provided a perfect view of the sky.

This was my favorite spot to escape to anytime I needed to get away. It was close enough to home, but far enough away that it was private, although Rowan always knew where to find me. His company was the only one I didn’t seem to mind, we would sit for hours on end talking about nothing or gazing up into the sky. I must have dozed off last night listening to Rowan talk of constellations… anything to take our minds off of the next few days.

As I glanced to my left, a hand stroked through my long brown hair which laid over him, a smirk forming on his face.

“Sorry my stomach is such a jerk; I would have let you sleep a little longer.” He smiled, his dimples on full display.

“It’s fine,” I mumbled, smiling gently back at him. His brown eyes were almost as dark as mine, they were easy to get drawn into, and even easier to get lost in. I snapped myself out of it, and sat up from his chest “You’ll need to get back right away anyways, and I could use a shower after being outside all night.”

“Yes, I suppose I should go wake the Alpha…" His voice sounding a little rougher than before. A Beta’s duty was never ending, and most times I could tell that he enjoyed every minute of it. The next few days, however, were going to be stressful.

With that we stood up, brushing the leaves and dirt from our clothing. The sun was just beginning to peak through the trees, which gave me hope that I could slip back inside without too many prying eyes. 

“Avi… “ His voice rang out from behind me with such a smooth chuckle. I spun around to see what was so humorous and he had closed the gap between us seamlessly, causing me to practically run right into his chest, his arms catching my shoulders at the last second. His arms ran down mine as his strong mint smell filled my senses and I waited for him to talk.

He looked pained to remove his arms from mine as he plucked a twig from my hair, never removing his eyes from my own, and motioned for me to twirl around where he proceeded to untangle two more leaves from my curly brown hair. I grabbed a ponytail from my pocket and quickly threw my hair up into a bun, a slight blush forming on my cheeks as I gave him a goofy grin and let out an embarrassed, “Thanks.” Rowan was never one to judge me, but his emotion filled eyes always seemed to bring out the heat in my face.

I managed to slip through the forest without drawing attention to myself, darting into the house as I had done so many times before, when the smell of baked goods filled my nose. I clutched my stomach and said a silent prayer that it would be quiet for the next few moments. I headed up the stairs that I knew would have no traffic this early, carefully tiptoeing past three other rooms, being extra careful not to step on any spots I knew would creak. I dashed into my room, closing and locking the door with one motion, and with a sigh of relief I marched straight into the shower.

Author's note: I am aware, and apologize in advance, for the grammatical errors and word swaps in Timber. I've read the comments and paragraph notes. Mated to Brianna, the addition of Mylo and all of my future books are better because of your help and have been edited MUCH better. I hope you can see past the mistakes in my first book.