The night the war truly began, the moon did something it had not done in centuriesit bled.
A crimson halo stained the silver sky above Elysira, casting its eerie glow across the forests of Moonvale. Wolves howled in confusion, not in unity, as if the heavens themselves had chosen sides.
Seraphina Vale felt the air shift before she saw the omen.
The wind carried whispers ancient, trembling, terrified.She stepped onto the cliff edge, her silver hair catching the red light, her palms warm with a power she had never asked for.
A voice echoed in her skull, one she didn't recognize.
"The Luna rises… and the world will burn."
Her breath hitched, not a vision. A prophecy.
But she wasn't supposed to receive prophecies.Not her.Not the hidden descendant of the Silvermoon bloodline.
Footsteps approached behind her.
"Seraphina," Elder Marrow rasped, bowing his head. "It has awakened in you, hasn't it?"
She turned slowly. "You said the Silvermoon gift was lost."
"I said it should have been lost. But fate is cruel."
She stared at him, shaken. "And the prophecy? What does it want from me?"
He hesitated dangerous, for a man who never hesitated."Your bond," he finally whispered. "Your fated mate."
Her heart lurched. She didn't have a mate.The moon had never marked her.
Marrow's eyes dimmed. "The Luna of War never bonds gently."
Before she could question him, a horn's roar tore through the forest deep, metallic, unmistakable.
An invasion horn.
Her pack's warriors burst through the trees, weapons drawn.
General Draven skidded to a stop before her. "Luna Shadowfang scouts breached the border. They're moving fast."
Seraphina's pulse snapped into a sprint.The Shadowfangs never attacked at night.Never during an omen.Never without warning.
Unless
She froze.
A figure stepped out of the dark forest as if conjured by the bleeding moon.Tall, midnight armor. Black eyes burning with something between rage and destiny.
Alpha Kael Ravaryn.
Her sworn enemy.The ruthless Alpha of Shadowfang.
His gaze locked with hers and the world dropped away.
Her wolf surged violently, howling inside her chest, clawing toward him.
No,Impossible.
A bond ignited like wildfire, ripping through her veins.
Seraphina choked on a gasp.Kael staggered, clutching his chest, eyes wide.
They weren't enemies anymore.
They were fated mates.
War bound.Prophecy marked.Doomed.
Kael raised his hand slightly almost reaching for her.
But then the ground shook.
The cliff crumbled beneath Seraphina's feet.
She fell, and Kael her enemy, her mate leapt after her.