CHAPTER 1 – The Blood Moon Begins

The Moon Festival was never meant for people like me.

All around the clearing, wolves danced and laughed, their faces painted with silver crescents, clothes glowing with threads woven under moonlight. Lanterns floated overhead, their warm gold light casting shifting shadows on the stones below. The ancient pines swayed, whispering old prayers to the Moon Goddess.

I stood at the edge of it all, half-hidden beneath the gnarled limbs of a hollow pine. My hands were clenched inside the sleeves of my simple robe—undyed, unadorned. I wasn’t dressed to be seen.

Celina was.

She moved like water, spinning at the heart of the crowd. Her dress shimmered with every step. Pale blue silk trailed behind her like smoke. Her silver hair coiled neatly atop her head, crowned with the Beta family’s sigil.

She was the pack’s favorite. She always had been.

“She’ll be Luna by sunrise,” someone muttered behind me.

“Which one of the triplets, though?” another replied. “Kael? Thorne?”

My stomach twisted. They weren’t wrong. Celina was everything the pack wanted in a Luna—bloodline, strength, and beauty. She belonged.

I didn’t.

I was Rory. Omega. Orphan. Servant to the Beta’s family since I was nine. No lineage. No power. No future.

My first full moon shift was due tonight. Normally, I’d be excited—my first transformation beneath the festival moon. But I wasn’t. My whole body felt wrong. Too tense. Too aware of how easily I could be overlooked, stepped around, or forgotten.

A drumbeat echoed from the far side of the clearing, signaling the arrival of the Alpha’s sons. The crowd parted, all eyes turning as the triplets stepped forward. Kael, tall and sharp-jawed, led them. His presence pulled attention without effort. Riven followed, his movements smoother, quieter. Thorne walked last, broad-shouldered and silent, his expression unreadable.

Even Celina paused to watch them, lips parting slightly. Everyone knew tonight was the night one of them would choose her.

I turned away, unable to bear it. The ache behind my ribs was too sharp. I didn’t belong here, not among glowing gowns and future Alphas. My job was to help the healers and fetch water after my shift—nothing more.

I moved toward the outer paths, hoping to escape notice before the ceremony began.

Then it hit me.

Blood.

At first, I thought it was nerves. Then came the scream.

High. Sharp. Real.

Chaos exploded in the clearing.

Shadows burst from the trees. Dozens of them—rogues. Their eyes glowed red. Their bodies were ragged with unkempt fur and old wounds. Claws slashed. Teeth bared.

People screamed. Wolves shifted mid-run. Warriors lunged forward to defend the elders. Parents shielded pups. Lanterns shattered. The silver-drenched clearing turned into a war zone.

I saw Celina stumble, a rogue grabbing her by the arm. Her dress tore. She shouted, twisting free as another wolf shoved the attacker off her.

Then I saw him.

A pup, no older than four, crawled beneath one of the long food tables. His eyes were wide.

Frozen. He didn’t scream now—he just stared, shaking, completely alone.

No one noticed.

No one except me.

I didn’t think.

I ran.

I darted through the chaos, dodging claws and overturned tables, slipping between two fighting wolves. My breath burned in my chest. The pup’s tiny hands gripped the table leg, his face streaked with dirt and tears.

A rogue was closing in.

He was fast, growling, teeth exposed.

I didn’t slow down.

I leapt.

Mid-air, my body cracked and tore. Bones broke. Skin split.

My wolf form burst free in a flash of white fur.

I collided with the rogue before he reached the pup. My teeth sank deep into his throat. He thrashed beneath me, claws scraping my shoulder. I bit down harder. He went still.

The pup scrambled away behind me.

I stood, panting. Blood dripped from my muzzle. My paws were soaked. My whole body trembled.

And then—silence.

The noise of battle dulled. Heads turned.

Hundreds of eyes stared.

At me.

At the omega who had shifted mid-air—and killed like an alpha.

Whispers rippled through the stunned silence.

“Who is that?”

“That’s Rory, the Beta’s servant.”

“She shifted… mid-leap.”

I took a shaky step back. My fur bristled. The world suddenly felt much too sharp.

Then I saw them.

Kael. Riven. Thorne.

The Alpha’s sons stood at the edge of the circle, all three frozen, eyes locked on me.

I didn’t understand what I saw in their expressions—shock, yes, but something else.

Kael stepped forward slowly.

That’s when it hit me.

A feeling like fire spreading across my skin.

My heart skipped.

Mate.

No. No, that wasn’t right.

Behind Kael, Riven’s brows furrowed. His mouth parted slightly, eyes darting between me and his brothers. Thorne’s fists clenched at his sides. He didn’t say anything—but his gaze never left mine.

The bond hit again. Stronger. Like a chain pulled tight between us.

My mind reeled.

All three of them?

Impossible.

But the truth was there, plain on their faces.

Three mates.

I couldn’t breathe.

Still half in my wolf form, still covered in blood, I stumbled backward, fur retreating in patches as skin and bone reshaped. I landed hard on my knees. My body trembled, sore from the shift. My mind refused to catch up.

Kael stepped toward me again. His eyes were wide, searching. He looked at me like he’d found something he never expected. “What’s your name?” he asked, his voice low.

“Rory,” I whispered. The name felt thin in my throat.

Kael crouched in front of me, reaching out like I might bolt. “You’re hurt.”

I flinched as his fingers touched my cheek. His skin against mine sent a surge of heat through my body. It wasn’t pain—it was power. Connection. The mate bond hit like lightning, unmistakable.

He froze.

“You feel it,” he said, barely louder than a breath.

I nodded, barely managing to speak. “Yes.”

Behind him, Riven stepped forward. His expression was colder, eyes narrowed. “No,” he said sharply. “That’s not possible. The Seer said, There’s only one mate for our bloodline.”

“She’s an omega,” Thorne muttered from behind them. His voice was rough, unreadable.

“This doesn’t make sense.”

But they were all staring at me. And I knew they felt it. The bond. The pull. The unbearable

tension humming between us.

Then, the ground pulsed.

A wave of power rolled outward from where I knelt. The air shimmered like heat above fire.

Wolves across the clearing stumbled, gasping.

Then the Seer appeared.

The High Seer stumbled into the lantern light, robes torn, eyes glowing a blinding white. She looked like she’d walked out of a nightmare. The crowd parted as she moved, collapsing to her knees just feet from me.

Her voice rasped like dried leaves. “The prophecy…”

Everyone froze.

She raised one shaking hand and pointed directly at me.

“Daughter of the forgotten,” she croaked, “you will rise where others fall. But if you choose one, the others may die.”

The silence broke like glass.

Gasps. Whispers. Disbelief.

“What did she say?”

“She has to choose?”

“The bond will kill them?”

My throat closed. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

I hadn’t chosen anyone. I hadn’t asked for this.

“Three sons. One moon. One mate,” the Seer went on. Her voice was stronger now, powered by something old and furious. “If the wrong choice is made, the bond will shatter the unity of this pack. The bloodline will fracture. And the shadows will win.”

The last word rang like a bell.

She collapsed.

Healers surged forward to catch her, shouting for space, for water, and for help.

But the crowd wasn’t focused on her anymore.

They were focused on me.

I could feel it—their fear, their doubt. Their blame.

“She’s cursed.”

“The Moon’s Mistake.”

“An omega with three mates? It’s unnatural.”

I backed away, trembling. My eyes darted between the faces—some I knew, most I didn’t.

No one moved to help. Not even the ones I’d served for years. Not even the ones I’d healed, fed, and cared for.

And still, the triplets stared.

Kael took a step forward. “This isn’t over, Rory.”

Riven’s eyes were dark and stormy. “No. It’s only just beginning.”

Thorne didn’t speak. His eyes were on mine—intense, heavy. I couldn’t read him, but his expression said everything: this changed everything.

A warrior barked out orders nearby. Healers carried the wounded. Rogues were being chased off into the woods. But the battle didn’t feel over. Not to me.

I had to get out.

I turned and ran.

I didn’t wait for someone to stop me. I sprinted across the clearing, past the broken tables and crushed lanterns. I ignored the stares, the whispers, and the confusion chasing me like smoke.

The forest closed around me.

Twisting trees and shadows wrapped me in silence. I kept running until my lungs burned and my feet hit moss instead of dirt. Only then did I stop, dropping beside a shallow stream. My reflection shimmered in the water.

Blood streaked my face. My eyes glowed faintly, still tinged with wolf. My entire body shook.

I didn’t recognize the girl looking back.

My hands curled into fists. “Why me?”

There was no answer. Only wind in the trees and the sound of water flowing past rocks.

I hugged my knees to my chest, trying to slow my racing heart.

This wasn’t just about a bond. This was prophecy. Pack-breaking, future-altering prophecy.

And I was at the center of it.

Me.

Rory.

An omega no one ever noticed—until I became something they couldn’t ignore.

I heard something move behind me. A twig snapped.

I froze.

Then I turned, eyes scanning the darkness.

Nothing.

But I felt it.

A chill ran down my spine.

Something was watching me.

Not a rogue.

Not a wolf.

Something… worse.

The hair on my neck stood up.

I shifted, slow and quiet, my wolf emerging again with less pain this time. My senses sharpened. I sniffed the air.

Rot. Cold.

Something unnatural.

Whatever it was, it didn’t belong.

I backed away from the stream and slipped deeper into the forest, my white fur nearly glowing under the moonlight.

I needed to hide. I needed to think.

But above all—I needed to stay alive.

Because tonight, the Moon had chosen me.

And now, so had something else.