Chapter One

She was in a forest glade, she could hear the birds in the trees and the whistling of the wind as it passed through the branches around her. She could feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, smell the sweet scent of the flowers around her that grew happily in the vast, thick grass at her feet. Somewhere off in the distance she could hear the babbling of a brook or a stream. The branches and leaves swayed lightly and butterflies flitted around delicately, dancing in the air and settling on flowers before setting off again. 

She felt a presence, one that was not her own. 

It was near to her, she could feel it so strongly, like someone he knew was nearby. She turned her face towards the depths of the trees around her and for a moment, she could have worn that she saw a flash of green catch the light. 

A shadow of something moved long the rim of the clearing, it was moving curiously, cautiously, as though it wished to look at her but was uncertain of whether it wanted to be looked upon itself. 

It paused and turned to her again, this time showing her its glowing green eyes. They were kind, longing and she felt her heart warm as she gazed back.

It was something so close, and yet so far. She found herself unable to move towards it, as though her feet were stuck firmly planed where she stood. So, she stood and took in what she could of the presence. She knew that it was a dream, that she would inevitably open her eyes and the creature she so longed to lay her eyes on in the light would vanish once more. 

She stood, basking, drinking in all she could. One day, she knew she would have the power to reach out and take hold of the creature hiding just beyond the front line of trees. One day she would view it fully, it would com to her, and if it didn't then she would go to it.

No matter what, her heart resolved it.

It was a warm evening in early June. The moon rose high into the sky over the bustling city as the sun slowly lowered towards the horizon and the sky gradually changed from periwinkle to a simmering orange and soft midnight blue. There wouldn't be stars as the night fell, not with the glowing pollution of the city lights and the haze of smog that rose between the high-rise apartments and imposing sky-scrapers.

Within the walls of one of the tallest buildings of the city, Hazel Garcia-Sparrow made her way from the elevator, past the desks of her colleagues and into her office. Her stiletto heels clacked across the polished white floor as she walked.

She was tall already, standing at 5'9” even without the heels. She had sleek, shoulder-length brunette hair, golden, caramel skin and hazel eyes that barely spared a glance around her as she got to the door of her office.

Briefly, Hazel paused and moved to her assistant's desk.

“Any news for me, Derek?” She asked, her voice soft and lyrical, but holding a subtly reserved edge.

Derek was a fairly new employee of her parents' company. He was nervous and a little bit shy in an endearing sort of way. He reminded Hazel of a shy golden retriever puppy. She didn't have any doubts that he would grow to fit in though; he was talented and had already proven himself to be a fast learner.

He was a thoughtful and hard-working man who clearly wanted to impress her. He had done enough research to have been able to bring her her favourite coffee on his first day, along with a blueberry muffin, which she had been exceptionally grateful for given her high levels of stress that day. She knew that a big part of the favour was him trying to get into her good books as fast as he could, but she appreciated the gesture none the less.

“Yes! Yes, actually, your father called and asked me to relay to you that he wishes to meet with you for lunch tomorrow.” Derek explained in a rushed sort of way. It was easy for Hazel to see that he was intimidated by her.

“Thank you, Derek.” She replied, rolling her eyes slightly at her father's nonsense. “Though, I don't know why he choose to go through you instead of just telling me face-to-face when I get home after work tonight.”

“Beats me. He seems to do this sort of thing a lot though.” Derek said, offering up a small, sympathetic smile.

Without another word, Hazel pulled the door to her office open and stepped inside.

The interior was modern, mainly black and white, but with rose gold accents like the trim on her desk and the paperwork and stationery organisers that sat on its surface. The room had a tall walls and her desk was backed by floor to ceiling windows that peered out towards the city below.

As she sat down in her office chair and returned to her computer to finish up the evening's paperwork, she lamented her position. She never wanted to be stuck working for her parents. The magazine was their dream and had never been hers. Of course, she admired them for being able to build what they had, but it just wasn't for her. They, however, didn't see it that way and she doubted that they ever would.

Hazel longed for the outdoors. She felt stifled and trapped in her parents' expectations for her to carry on their business after they retire. She would rather be free to make her own choices in life. She had never even wanted to take Business Studies at university, but they hadn't given her a choice; they had threatened to take away her dog if she disobeyed them.

No matter how hard she tried over the years though, she just couldn't quell her yearning. It was like there was some invisible force pulling her away to somewhere distant, somewhere that she was unable to reach.

Every time she closed her eyes to sleep, she dreamed of trees that towered over her, a crescent moon that hung where the sun should be, glades of tall grass and wildflowers, and somewhere deep in the haze of slumber, somewhere hidden in her dreams that felt more like memories, deeply imprinted on her were a pair of glowing green eyes. She felt them, like they could see her, like they were watching patiently, like they were waiting for her.

By the time that Hazel was finished, it was over an hour past the time her shift had ended. She had always been someone who worked hard at everything she did. She already had a fairly vast amount of savings since she didn't have to pay rent while living at home and put as much as she could of her income into a private savings account.

She knew she should be happy with such a privileged lifestyle, but all she felt was hollow, like her soul was off in the tress while her body was stuck in a high-rise prison. Sure, the cage that she was perpetually stuck in was pretty and well-decorated, but it would still always be a prison. Her heart was heavy and she feared that she would never find her true calling, never find her way to the depths of the woods where her soul desperately wanted her to be.

When she arrived home, her parents were already sitting in the dining room waiting for her. The table was set and the food was served. There was a place set out for her with a plate full of food and a glass that had been filled to the brim with white wine.

“You're late.” Her father said, simply.

“I know, sorry dad. I got caught up at work and didn't want to leave any paperwork unfinished.” Hazel explained as she sat down to join them, turning to her mother. “Thank you for making me dinner, mum.”

Her mother smiled at her in a strained sort of way. It was obvious that she was a little irritated at her daughter for her delayed arrival as well. She didn't really get along with either of them. Her father was a cold man who liked to have control over everything around him, whereas her mother had always opted for a more passive-aggressive approach.

“It's good that you're taking the job seriously. You'll need to have a good work ethic for when you take over the company.” Her father commented.

“Dad, you know I don't want to-” she was cut off abruptly by her father's angry voice.

“What you want doesn't matter, Hazel! You will take over the company! You've prepared your whole life for this and I refuse to allow you to throw your life away for some silly little pipe dreams!” He yelled angrily, slamming his fist down on the table with a resounding thud.

“… Why don't we all calm down and enjoy this meal that I've prepared for us all? I even sent the cook home early today so that I could make everything myself.” Her mother said nervously, eyes flitting between her husband and her daughter.

“You're right mum. You put all this effort in today, so we should be appreciating it instead of screaming at each other over dinner. Besides, I'm an adult. If I want to go and do something else with my life, I can simply leave to go and do it and neither of you could do anything to stop me.” Hazel said, voice even and uncaring as she glared pointedly at her father and took a deep drink of her wine.

Her father looked as though he was about to blow a gasket. His face became bright red and his eye twitched slightly with rage. He swallowed it down though, and started aggressively cutting into his food. He knew that if he continued yelling at his daughter at the dinner table he would only be making an embarrassment of himself.

"I know you might want to, but I won't just keep sitting by and letting you dictate my life for me." Hazel said, not entirely sure why she chose that moment to say something she knew would only escalate the situation.

"That's it, young lady! I am your father and you will do as I say!" Her father screamed at her, nostrils flaring. "You live under my roof and you will live by my rules! I don't care what you want! I don't care about your silly, pathetic little pipe dreams! You will never make anything for yourself outside of this company! You're nothing! You're just a silly little girl! You'd be nothing without our money! You ungrateful little witch!"

"Young lady? Little girl? Do you even hear yourself? I'm twenty-six for goodness sake! I'm an adult, not some little girl who you can boss around take out your anger issues on! I am not an emotional punching bag for your pathetic insults, nor am I just going to sit here and allow you to talk down to me in a feeble attempt to break my self esteem so you can manipulate me into doing what you want! I won't be controlled! I won't sit idly by while you steal away the best years of my life for your stupid selfish desires!" Hazel threw back at him with simmering fury.

"Calm down! Both of you!" Her mother yelled over them. "Have some decorum." 

"Fine." Her father spat and Hazel said nothing.

“Actually, Hazel, you should probably know that there's a possibility that has presented itself for a new merger with another company.” Her mother explained, changing the subject.

“Sounds good. I'm sure everyone will be happy and excited about having to downsize their department to accommodate all those newbies.” Hazel said, nodding lightly as though what she said hadn't been completely sarcastic.

“A lot of things are still undecided, nothing is set in stone yet, but we will have the final decision by the end of the month.” Her father said tensely, not looking up from his plate.

The rest of the meal passed in silence.

Hazel downed the rest of her wine and stood up. “Thank you for the meal. It was delicious.” She said, picking up her plate and glass, placing them neatly in the dishwasher before silently going up to her room.

As soon as she got through the door, she sighed with relief. She couldn't stand having to interact with her overbearing parents for longer than a single meal. They were emotionally exhausting and talking to them together left her drained and bone tired. It was almost more draining than sitting in her office all day doing paperwork and making phone calls from 7 o'clock in the morning to 7 o'clock at night.

Before she could fully collect her thoughts, she heard a bark coming from the other side of the room and before she knew it, the big ball of white fluffiness had bounded towards her wagging its big tail and was looking up at her with its adoring brown eyes.

Hazel immediately crouched down and hugged her best friend, petting her back and head affectionately as the happy Samoyed nuzzled into her touch and wagged its tail excitedly. Hazel had had the dog since the year before she entered university. She had lovingly named the dog “Candy Floss”, or “Floss” for short.

“Hello, Floss. Been bored stuck in here without me?” She asked weakly and Floss barked in agreement.

Hazel's parents didn't particularly like Floss and were generally opposed to the friendly dog being able to run around the house freely, so for most of the day, Floss was sadly confined to Hazel's room. However, Hazel had taken it upon herself to hire a dog-walker/sitter to let floss out in the garden and take her out for walks during the day so that she wasn't cooped up all the time.

“Lets relax for a bit shall we?” Hazel said with a warm smile and went to fetch one of Floss' dog brushes from the small set of plastic drawers by her desk. It was organised and filled with Floss' toys, grooming equipment and a selection of different collars and leads.

She settled down on the floor, leaning back on the side of her bed. She grabbed her personal laptop from her bed behind her and got comfortable, placing the laptop down next to her and opened up a YouTube video about embroidery techniques from a seamstress channel that she recently started enjoying.

Hazel patted her lap and beckoned Floss, who hurried over and sat across her lap, laying her head on top of her large, soft paws. Hazel patted her on the head and started brushing through her thick, white fur. She really was like a giant piece of candy floss or a big wispy cloud.

As she sat there, brushing her furry friend, Hazel wondered to herself whether she would ever be able to escape her parents' clutches or if she would one day be able to choose her own path in life. The more she thought about it, the less fair it seemed that she was being forced into something that she adamantly and vocally didn't want for herself. 

Hazel wished with all of her heart and soul that she could have had parents that supported her and her dreams instead of trying to dictate her every move. Because of her parents' strict rules, Hazel had never had any real friends and had never been able to date anyone before. There was one girl she had had a small crush on back in college, but that had been squashed right from the get-go. She sometimes felt as though she was being robbed of an important experience that all her classmates had been able to go through. It felt like she had missed out on a right of passage. 

There was no freedom to be had in her parents' household, only the thinly veiled illusion of choice. Only when Hazel had her own money to use, could she buy the clothes and food that she actually liked and enjoyed, only then could she begin pursuing her hobbies of writing her own blog and making her own lifestyle videos for her website.

She had taken it upon herself to go out of her way to pay for online courses, learn how to edit and film videos, and learn coding so that she could create her website. She made sure that everything reflected who she really wanted to be.

Her website was one of the few things that she felt really, truly belonged to her and her alone. She didn't have to listen to anyone else or take orders from anyone. She didn't have to worry about needing anyone's approval but her own and it was working well for her. It had gotten to the point where she was making a good amount of money out of the ad revenue.

Before going to bed that night, Hazel went into her en suite bathroom, took a long shower, brushed her teeth, applied a fancy face mask and changed into her favourite satin pyjamas. By the time she was done, she felt refreshed and a lot less tense.

When she returned to her room, Floss was already asleep in her plush dog bed in the corner of the room. Hazel smiled and walked over to her bedside table, flicking on the bedside lamp before switching off the mail lights. She slid herself under the covers and pulled up her laptop so that she could check her emails before turning in for the night.

Usually she would give them a quick glance and leave herself an hour or two to catch up on her latest book of choice. She had always found solace in the escapism of books. It allowed her to relax and wind down after a stressful day and she would always sleep better having paged through a chapter or two.

As she was sifting through her emails, she came across one that was used her late maternal grandmother's name as the subject matter. Hazel quickly clicked into it and as she took in the email's contents, her eyes widened in disbelief.

Dear Miss Hazel Garcia-Sparrow,

You have been named in the last will and testament of the late Mrs Mary Louise Sparrow. Mrs Sparrow requested that you receive your inheritance exactly one week before the occurrence of your twenty-seventh birthday.

Mrs Sparrow has left to you, the deeds to her home located in the town of Fernwood, in Bleydh Forest. She has also left to you her engagement ring and a sterling silver crescent moon pendant, accented with a moonstone.

The deeds have been left in your name and you may do with the property whatever you wish. The jewellery is available for you to collect from our office at your convenience. The address of the property and the address of our office have been provided for you in the attachments below.

Sincerely,

Josephine Alexander,

Old Willow Springs Executors

Taken aback, Hazel quickly clicked on her laptop's calendar to check the dates. She was surprised to find that it was indeed, only seven days until her birthday on the 11th of June. She had really become so preoccupied that in the midst of everything she had forgotten her own birthday.

She scrolled back up and re-read the email a few times, letting all of the information sink in. Her grandmother had died over a year ago, she would never have dreamed that she would be receiving any kind of inheritance so long after the funeral and initial reading of the will.

Hazel's grandma had been a kind and warm-hearted lady. She hadn't been able to see her often as she grew up due to her parents' disapproval of the woman's eccentricities and free-spirited way of life. She had always cherished the few memories that she still had of her grandma and to find out that she had been left an entire house in a time where she desperately longed to get away from the city was an awful lot to process. It didn't feel entirely real.

She resolved to herself then and there that come morning, she would begin her plans to move into her grandma's home and leave her overbearing parents to run their beloved company alone. She would no longer be chained down to a repressed and draining life. She had hope now, a chance to live the life that she had always dreamed of.

Hazel was going to grasp this opportunity with both hands and never look back.

Her heart soared, thundered in her chest as she thought of it. The possibilities that now awaited her. She had always felt a pull towards the forest, as though it called to her through every fibre of her being. This news was like a match that had lit a fire within her soul. It burned warmly and passionately inside her chest.

Perhaps now, she would finally be able to find out why she felt so strongly.

As Hazel drifted off into sleep that night, she found herself in a dream, one of those that felt like memories, memories of things that hadn't happened yet.

Hazel found herself under that same sky, the moon hanging right where the sun should have been, only she barely acknowledged it as she gazed towards the thing that she had really come to see. Green eyes, peering at her through the trees, more brightly and more alert than they had ever been before. 

She stood at the edge of the forest. 

There was a howl that pierced through the silence, the sound reverberating around Hazel like she was standing in an echo chamber. 

The eyes never looked away from her. They were warm, inviting, expectant. They were waiting for her, the wolf was waiting for her to return home; she knew it to be true. She hummed gently, as though following on from the howl that still echoed around her, carrying a tune that only the two of them shared. She stepped forwards, towards those glowing green eyes and she was almost close enough to touch the mysterious creature.

Hazel reached out her hand.