PROLOGUE
Three Months Ago
Riverside Pack Settlement, Blackmoor Territory
Aria Nightfang knew something was wrong the moment the children stopped playing.
She stood in the center of the settlement's community square, surrounded by donation boxes for the charity drive she'd organized. It was a beautiful evening..... the sun setting over the forest, families gathering for dinner, the sound of laughter echoing through the compound.
Then... silence.
Aria's instincts, honed by twenty years as Luna of the Shadowpine Pack, screamed danger. She turned toward the tree line, her enhanced hearing picking up what the others hadn't yet noticed.
Footsteps. Too many. Too organized. Moving with military precision.
"Get the children inside," she said quietly to Elena, the settlement's head teacher. "Now."
Elena's eyes widened. "Luna, what....."
"NOW!"
The command in Aria's voice brooked no argument. Elena grabbed the nearest children and ran. Other adults, sensing their Luna's distress, began herding kids toward the main building.
Aria shifted partially, claws extending, canines lengthening, her senses sharpening to supernatural levels. She could smell them now. Humans. At least twenty. Armed with silver.
This wasn't a random attack. This was an execution.
"Everyone get to shelter!" she shouted, her voice carrying across the settlement. "We're under attack!"
The first gunshot shattered the peace.
Silver bullet. It missed her by inches and struck Thomas, one of the pack elders, in the shoulder. He went down screaming, silver burned werewolves like acid.
Then chaos erupted.
More gunshots. Smoke grenades. Tactical teams in full combat gear emerged from the forest, moving with lethal efficiency. They weren't trying to capture. They were trying to kill.
Aria shifted fully into her wolf form, a massive creature with silver-gray fur and amber eyes. She charged the nearest attacker, her jaws closing around his weapon and crushing it. But there were too many. Too organized. Too well-armed.
Around her, her pack fought desperately. Screams filled the air, both human and werewolf. She saw Marcus, barely eighteen, take three silver bullets to the chest. Saw little Sara's mother throw herself over her daughter as an attacker raised his weapon.
This wasn't a battle. This was a massacre.
Aria fought her way toward the main building where the children were sheltered. She had to protect them. It was her duty as Luna. Her purpose.
She'd almost reached the door when she saw the leader of the attack.
A figure in tactical gear, face covered by a helmet and night vision goggles, directing the assault with cold precision. The figure turned, noticed Aria, and raised a hand. Immediately, three soldiers focused their fire on her.
Aria dodged left, then right, but silver bullets were faster than even a Luna. One caught her in the shoulder. Another in her side. The pain was excruciating, like being burned from the inside out.
She stumbled, shifted back to human form, pressing her hand against the wound in her side. Blood poured between her fingers.
The figure approached, pulling off their helmet.
Aria's breath caught.
It was a young woman. Pretty. Delicate features. Dark hair. Human. She looked like she should be at a university somewhere, not leading a military assault on innocent werewolves.
"Why?" Aria gasped, blood filling her mouth. "We've done nothing to you. We're civilians....."
The woman raised her weapon, a custom pistol loaded with silver rounds, and pointed it at Aria's chest.
"Orders," the woman said simply, her voice eerily calm.
"Whose orders?" Aria demanded, even as her vision began to blur. "Who sent you?"
The woman smiled. It was the cruelest thing Aria had ever seen.
"Does it matter? You'll be dead either way."
She pulled the trigger.
The bullet punched through Aria's chest, missing her heart by millimeters but tearing through her lung. Aria collapsed, her blood pooling on the ground beneath her.
Around her, the screaming had stopped. The settlement was silent except for the crackling of fires and the quiet sobbing of survivors.
The woman knelt beside Aria, studying her like a scientist examining an interesting specimen.
"You're the Luna, aren't you? Thessian Nightfang's mate?" She pulled out a phone and took a photo of Aria's dying face. "Perfect. He'll love this."