Ice Shard (Shifter Chronicles #1)

 Ice Shard

The night’s shadows chased away the last of the light as the sun sunk behind the large oak and pine trees of Grenwood Forest. A heavy frost had dusted the trees, leaving icicles hanging off the snow-covered branches. Balancing precariously on her seven-inch heeled boots, Eve carefully trudged along the ice-covered river bank.

Still wearing her work clothes, Eve had on a long-sleeved black cardigan over a button down white blouse with long black pants. The name tag that was pinned on the upper left of her blouse was written in a curly script and cheerfully read: ‘Hi! I’m Genevieve Dawson!” Long, wavy blonde hair was pinned to the back of her head in a French braid.

Eve had just finished her evening shift at the Lone Wolf Café and was on her way home. She always preferred to take the late afternoon shift. None of the other waitresses understood Eve’s fascination of walking home through the forest alone at night. They didn’t see the beauty of the last rays of sunlight shining through the ice, illuminating the forest in a sparkly, orange glow.

A breeze howled and whipped around Genevieve; she hugged her torso as a shiver ran down her spine. Her breathe made vague, dancing images in the air every time she exhaled. A dark shadow fluttered on the edge of her peripheral vision.

Whirling around, she quickly scanned through the thick brambles of the surrounding oak and pine trees. The only thing she could see moving was the gentle sway of the leaves and the sound of the wind howling throughout the forest.

Shooting the forest one more suspicious glance, Eve turned her back on it continued walking, this time more wary of her surroundings. She was about halfway home, her heels leaving a trail of half-moons in the snow. The sound of a stick cracking had Eve spinning on her heels.

“Is anyone there?” Eve called out cautiously, her eyes squinting at the darkness. There was no answer or any movement.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Eve jumped at the sudden sound of someone’s footsteps stomping on the dead leaves and debris lying on the forest floor.

“Hello? Who’s there?”  Eve shouted at the shadows. Crunch! Crunch! Crunch! The footsteps were getting closer. “Tabatha? Is that you? This isn’t funny!” Eve fervently hoped it was her younger sister, Tabatha.

Crunch! Crunch! This time the footsteps were only two metres away. She could see a dark shadow slithering behind the trees. Scrambling away from the forest edge, Eve nearly tumbled over when her heel hit the icy river.

The shadowy figure glided through the trees towards her. Vaguely, Eve could make out the silhouette of a man. She watched as his hand appeared to push away the branches of a pine tree, snow tumbled off of the pine to the ground below it in a big, disfigured lump on the ground.

The man stepped out of the darkness.  He had messy brown hair, which had leaves and twigs falling from it, and he also had bright moss green eyes. It fell just short of his shoulders. He wore a torn brown sweater and khaki pants. His eyes quickly sought out Eve’s and he sighed with what sounded like relief.

“Hi, I’m Everett Dalen,” he announced, holding out his hand. He waited for her to come nearer, but he soon realised that she wasn’t going to come any closer.

Lowering his hand, Everett softly said, “I’m sorry if I scared you, but I promise I don’t mean you any harm. My friend, Preston and I thought it would be fun to explore the forest, but when night fell we got separated. If you know these woods well, could you please help me find him?”

 “I called out when I heard someone in the forest. Why didn’t you answer me?” Eve eyed the stranger suspiciously.

“I couldn’t hear anything except the howl of the wind and the rustle of the leaves in there,” Everett replied, jerking his thumb towards the forest. “I know you don’t trust me and I understand that, but I would be very grateful if you could help me find Preston. Could you please tell me you name?”