"Howling Hearts: When Hunters Love the Beast"

Chapter One – The Edge of the Forest

The bus rumbled through the outskirts of the city, its tires crunching gravel as it pulled into the visitor's lot of Moonshade Forest Reserve. Most students pressed their faces to the windows, eager for something-anything-that might distract from the weight of exams, essays, and the looming pressure of adulthood.

Amara Vale sat with her forehead resting against the cool glass, watching the trees roll past like a tide of shadows. The forest looked...old. Not just aged, but ancient. Untouched. There was something different about the air here-denser, quieter, almost like it was listening.

Across the aisle, Rhea Calder scrolled on her phone until the signal dropped. "Of course," she groaned. "No service. What is this, the 1800s?"

Amara offered a soft smile. "We're supposed to be disconnecting, remember? Nature, bonding, all that."

Rhea rolled her eyes. "You're too nice. If I die in the woods, it'll be your fault for being optimistic."

Behind them, Jace Navarro kicked his feet up on the seat in front of him, earning a glare from their teacher. He popped a mint in his mouth and smirked. "Call it now-someone's getting poison ivy and crying about it by morning."

"Probably you," said Selene Dusk from her corner seat. She hadn't looked up from her sketchpad, but her voice was calm, dry, and razor-sharp. "You seem like the allergic type."

Jace grinned. "Touché, goth princess."

Selene didn't respond, but Amara noticed the hint of a smile ghosting her lips. Their group had been strange for a while now-close, but complicated. Shared classes, shared secrets, unspoken bonds. Especially with Aiden Cross.

He hadn't said a word since they boarded the bus.

Aiden sat in the last row, hood up, eyes fixed on the trees. Always on the edge of things. Not quite part of the group, but never entirely apart either. He didn't speak unless he had to, but when he did, it was always something that made people stop and listen. There was something heavy about him-like he carried more than just schoolbooks in his bag.

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By the time they started unloading tents and gear, the sun was beginning to dip, spilling amber light through the treetops. Teachers shouted instructions and handed out maps, but most of the students were already breaking off into friend groups.

"Campfire circle at seven sharp," the biology teacher reminded. "You miss it, you're hiking with Mr. Greaves tomorrow morning."

Groans followed. Everyone hated Greaves. He wore too much cologne and treated everyone like future criminals.

Their group-Amara, Rhea, Jace, Selene, and Aiden-ended up with tents a little farther from the main clearing. Not too far to be isolated, but just enough for the woods to feel closer.

"Bet this is the part where we all get murdered," Jace joked, tossing a sleeping bag onto the ground. "Honestly, kind of a fitting end to senior year."

Amara snorted. "Wouldn't the killer go for the loudest one first?"

"Bold of you to assume I'm not the killer," he said, holding up a tent pole like a dagger.

"You're too messy to be a killer," Selene said quietly, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. "Serial killers don't trip over their own shoes."

"I trip once and you never let it go."

"You faceplanted into a locker," Rhea added.

As laughter broke between them, Aiden crouched in silence, helping Amara with her tent stakes.

"You've done this before," she noted, watching the way he moved with practiced ease.

"Once," he said. "When I was a kid."

"Family trip?"

He didn't answer right away. Then: "Something like that."

Amara hesitated, wondering if she should ask more, but his eyes were on the forest. Always the forest. Like he was listening for something no one else could hear.

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Later that night, the fire crackled in the middle of the makeshift ring. Most of the students had turned in early, bored or tired from setting up. Only a few remained-teachers murmuring by the larger campfire, and their group, still wide awake.

"I swear I heard something out there earlier," Jace said, poking the flames with a stick. "Like branches snapping."

"Probably a deer," Rhea said.

"Or a bear," Selene offered.

"Or a forest demon," Jace whispered, eyes wide.

Amara giggled. "You're ridiculous."

Aiden, who had been watching the firelight dance across the trees, finally spoke. "This place used to belong to something else."

The group went quiet.

"What do you mean?" Amara asked.

He shrugged. "Before the city grew around it. Before the hiking trails. People didn't come here."

Selene looked over at him. "How do you know that?"

"I read a lot."

It wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the truth either.

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As the flames burned lower, and the woods pressed in tighter, Amara felt something in her chest-a strange pressure. Like being watched. Like being expected. She glanced at Aiden, whose expression was unreadable.

And deep in the distance, something howled. Low. Long. Far away.

Everyone froze.

Jace broke the silence with nervous laughter. "Definitely not a deer."

"Wolves?" Rhea asked, glancing toward the trees.

"Could be coyotes," Selene said, though she didn't sound convinced.

Aiden stood, brushing ash from his hands. "Get some sleep."

And with that, he walked into the shadows-closer to the woods, as if they called him by name.