Mark by Destiny.

The forest trembled with howls.

From the shadow of the sacred mountain, blood already stained the soil where three packs, Silvermark pack, Shadowmoon pack, and Nightveil pack clashed for dominance. 

            

     The night split with screams.

Trees shook as bodies crashed through. undergrowth wolves, half-shifted and bleeding, scattering in blind panic. Claws tore the earth, paws slipped in mud thick with blood. The air stank of iron and smoke as fire licked the edges of the battlefield, swallowing the forest whole.

Mothers howled for their young, but in the chaos, even children were abandoned. Small shapes stumbled in the dirt, crying, reaching out for hands that never came. Some were trampled beneath heavier paws, forgotten as warriors fled for their own lives.

Alpha commands shattered in the storm of fear, drowned beneath the victorious roar of the rival pack. The conquered scattered like prey, their pride stripped away, their future burning with the forest. Chains rattled in the hands of their captors,slaves to be dragged into the night, trophies of another war claimed.

The Selene Forest had known battles before, but never had it tasted such despair.

The Selene Forest (once a place of worship and silence)  now carried the scent of iron and ash. Moonlight, pale and watchful, bore witness to every broken bone and spilled secret.

They said whoever ruled the mountain ruled the wolves. But power demanded sacrifice, and the gods were listening. 

 After every battle comes a Victor, however, in this scenario, silence and cold war engulfed the territories".

       After the chaos of war, when blood still runs fresh, a night of silence falls. On the next full moon, a "raven" delivers a letter to each Alpha, sealed with the Moon Goddess’s sigil.

The letter commands:

"Seek the one who bears the mark of my blessing. She alone will decide the fate of the sacred mountain. Bring her before me, or the forest shall drown in endless blood."

Instead of uniting the packs, the letter makes things worse.

Some packs see the heroine as salvation (they want to find and protect her).

Others see her as a weapon (whoever owns her, owns destiny).

And some believe she must be destroyed before she fulfills the prophecy.

Each pack searched secretly, oblivious of the fact that each one of them had received the same letter from the moon goddess.

        Among the Silvermark Pack, Beta Rexor stood tall at his Alpha’s side, a wolf of strength and discipline. His mate, Mariseth, carried herself with quiet grace, admired for her loyalty as much as her beauty. Together they had been blessed with  two daughters of same age, 

'Ravena and Liora',  however, Liora was adopted.

The sisters were inseparable in age but not in fortune. Both were beautiful, but where Ravena’s beauty was sharp and fierce, Liora’s was soft, radiant, almost divine. With golden hair that caught the light like spun sunlight and eyes that glittered like starlight, Liora could have been mistaken for a goddess herself. Wherever she walked, whispers followed. Friends gathered at her feet, laughter rose in her presence, and even Kaelen…the boy Ravena’s heart secretly ached for could not resist her glow.

Every smile Liora received was a dagger to Ravena’s heart. Every stolen glance from Kaelen, every whispered compliment, every hand reaching for Liora’s friendship left Ravena drowning in shadows.

Love turned sour. Admiration turned to envy. And in that envy, a deep hatred began to take root, a hatred Ravena hid behind her smile, but one that burned hotter with every passing day.

Their mother "Mariseth’s"  hatred for Liora was a quiet, festering thing ..like poison hidden in a jeweled cup.

It hadn’t started the day she picked up the girl as an infant, but the day people began to look at her with awe. Liora’s beauty stole attention in ways Mariseth had never managed, not even in her youth. At every gathering, whispers rose: “The Beta’s daughter is radiant.” But they never meant Ravena. Their eyes always sought out the child who wasn’t truly hers.

       When the elders praised Liora’s grace, Mariseth’s jaw clenched. When the young men tripped over their words around her, Mariseth’s stomach turned. When Kaelen, Ravena’s crush, watched Liora with hungry eyes, Mariseth’s fury burned like wildfire.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn’t right.

How could this child, this unwanted creature, shine brighter than the daughter she had carried in her own womb? Mariseth soliloquised.

So Mariseth found ways to dim that light. She loaded the girl with chores until her hands bled, sent her running errands through storm and mud, and humiliated her whenever she could. She dressed her in rags, certain that poverty would strip her of the glow others saw. But no matter how she tried, Liora’s beauty remained untouchable.

And that was what Mariseth hated most, that the girl was proof of everything she could never be. 

Rexor, though stern and respected, rarely intervened because he was not always home to witness the cruel treatment Liora receives from her mother and sister. Liora was warned never to mention how she is being maltreated by Rexor.

“Liora!”

Her sister’s shrill voice cut through the house like a whip. Liora flinched where she knelt by the hearth, scrubbing the soot from an iron pot.

“Liora!” Ravena’s footsteps thundered against the floorboards, each one filled with venom. She appeared in the doorway, holding up a crumpled dress, deep green silk, wrinkled and stained with dirt at the hem. Her eyes narrowed.

“Why didn’t you wash this?” Ravena demanded, shaking the dress in Liora’s face.

Liora sat back on her heels, breathless from her work. “Because it’s not my job, Ravena. Your clothes are your responsibility.”

Ravena’s mouth fell open in mock outrage. “Not your job? Then what is your job, little servant? Scrubbing pots? Fetching water? Running like a dog when I snap my fingers?” She sneered, tossing the dress onto Liora’s lap. “You’re too proud for chores now? Too proud to serve your betters?”

Liora pushed the dress away, her voice shaking but firm. “I won’t do it. Wash your own clothes.” 

For a heartbeat, silence fell. Then Ravena’s lips curled into a cruel smile. “Very well. If you won’t do it…” She spun on her heel, her voice rising like a dagger. “Mother!”

The sound of hurried footsteps followed. Mariseth swept into the room, her eyes sharp, her face already set in anger. “What is it, Ravena?”

Ravena folded her arms, looking every bit the wronged daughter. “Liora refuses to wash my dress. She spoke to me with disrespect.”

Mariseth’s gaze snapped to Liora like a storm. “Is this true?”

“I…I only said it wasn’t my job”

A sharp crack echoed through the room as Mariseth’s hand struck Liora’s cheek. The force sent her sprawling against the hearth.

“You will do as you’re told!” Mariseth hissed, towering over her. “You live in this house, you obey. If Ravena asks it, you do it. Do you understand?”

Tears burned Liora’s eyes, but she swallowed them down. Her cheek throbbed, but her voice came out small and steady. “Yes, Mother.”

“Good.” Mariseth thrust the dress back at her. “Scrub it clean, and if there’s so much as a speck left, you’ll go hungry tonight.”

Ravena smirked triumphantly, watching as Liora bent her head over the filthy fabric. The pot sat forgotten, her hands trembling as she reached for the bucket.

The sting of Mariseth’s slap still burned across Liora’s cheek as she slipped out into the night air. The courtyard was empty, the silence broken only by the rustle of leaves. She pressed her palm against her face, willing back the tears she refused to let them see.

The only thing that brought a smile to Liora’s lips in the quiet moments was Kaelen who has asked her to be his lover and the promises he had made never to leave her even if they both turn out to have different mates after they shift, they both have been childhood sweethearts, and Liora saw it as a 'sacrifice of love' for them to stay together forever, she had also agreed to reject her mate to be with Kaelen.

    Liora was excited as she went about her daily chores. In just a few months, she and Ravena would reach the age of shifting, finally able to summon their wolves. And with that shift came destiny. A mate. A bond no one could break.

When that day comes, Liora told herself she would no longer be bound to the Beta’s household, no longer chained by her mother’s hatred or her sister’s cruelty. She would become Kaelen's mate and he would  claim her,  and cherish her even more. He would see her worth where others only saw a servant and she would become his forever.

Sometimes she closed her eyes and let the dream play out in her mind: strong arms lifting her away from the cold corridors of the house, warm lips whispering promises meant only for her. A new life waiting beyond the walls that had imprisoned her since childhood.

They would both be eighteen soon, just some hours  apart. Ravena would shift first, then Liora. And when that day comes, no amount of envy or spite would matter. She would finally be free.