The storm raged over the dark forest, lightning splitting the sky in jagged scars of light. The full moon hid behind thick clouds, as if the heavens themselves wished not to witness what was about to happen.
Beneath the ancient trees, hurried footsteps crashed through the underbrush. A cloaked figure clutched a small child to her chest, breath ragged, eyes wild. Behind her, distant howls rose hunters, traitors, monsters who would steal what was not theirs.
"Hold on, my love. Please, just a little farther," the woman whispered, tears mingling with the rain on her cheeks. The little girl whimpered softly, tiny hands clutching at her mother's cloak.
The woman reached a cave, her sanctuary of last hope. She was Lilith, witch of rare power, wife to a wolf duke far from home, and mother to a child both worlds would kill to claim. Their daughter, a hybrid of witch magic and wolf blood, was the key to untold power.
"My dear Althea… Mommy has no choice but to seal your power. We can't let them use you. This is the only way I can protect you," Lilith sobbed, her heart breaking as she prepared the spell.
Magic burned at her fingertips, a last desperate enchantment forming on her lips. The spell drew half her strength; darkness swam before her eyes as she fell.
Footsteps approached.
"We found them, Casper," Fagus announced, stepping closer to the fallen pair.
Casper grinned. "Yes. She is the key to our revolution. Let's leave for the human world."
"And the witch?" Fagus asked, glancing at Lilith's still form.
"Leave her. I want her to live long enough to witness the destruction of her world through her daughter's power."
They took the child and vanished into the storm.
When Lilith awoke, she was in her bed. Her husband, Duke Castiel, knelt beside her, his eyes full of sorrow.
"Althea?" she whispered. But Castiel only looked away, and she knew. Her daughter was gone. Torn from her grasp.
A scream tore from her throat as darkness claimed her again.
Hours later, the storm passed. The moon peeked from the clouds, casting silver light upon a lonely country road in the human world.
Casper and Fagus drove fast, the child silent in the back seat.
" Althea's powers will help us weaken the King of wolves and we will kill him, take over the kingdom and rule " Casper narrated his plans while speeding on the road
" Yes master only you deserve to rule the realm of supernatural beings only you and I will help you in anyway " Fagus spoke,
Fate had other plans. A lightning bolt split the night, striking the car. The vehicle skidded, a door flung open, and the small child was thrown into the grass. The car careened off a cliff, vanishing into the depths with its passengers.
There, on the roadside, the small Althea stirred. Alone. Forgotten by the world.
Until a man with kind eyes and a weary heart came upon her. He knelt, lifted the girl gently into his arms, and felt the pull of fate wrap around them both.
And so, the moon Queen set its plan in motion.