Chapter 1

Emily Grace Carter had always believed she was ordinary.

She had been born on a crisp October morning in Boston, Massachusetts—or so her birth certificate said. Her parents, Michael and Sarah Carter, often joked that she'd arrived screaming loud enough for the entire maternity ward to hear. They told the story every birthday, laughing about how the nurses had predicted she'd either become a lawyer or a singer because she refused to stop making noise.

Emily loved hearing the story.

She never questioned it.

Why would she?

Her childhood was exactly what anyone would call normal.

Every Sunday morning, her family attended St. Michael's Catholic Church, where Father Donnelly greeted every child by name and always carried peppermints in the pockets of his black robe. Emily attended St. Michael's Academy from kindergarten through eighth grade, wearing the same navy-blue plaid skirt, white blouse, and knee-high socks every day.

She hated the uniform.

Her mother insisted it was adorable.

Emily disagreed.

She had the same group of friends from first grade onward.

Olivia.

Rachel.

Sophie.

Grace.

The four girls were inseparable.

They traded friendship bracelets during recess.

Passed folded notes during math.

Whispered about boys during lunch.

And every Friday night, one of their houses hosted another sleepover.

Sleeping bags covered living room floors while cheesy romantic movies played until midnight. They painted each other's nails, experimented with makeup they weren't supposed to own, and giggled over ghost stories until someone inevitably got scared and insisted all the lights stay on.

Emily was always the brave one.

Ghosts weren't real.

Neither were monsters.

At least...

That's what she believed.

---

Summer vacations became traditions.

When Emily was seven, her parents took her to Walt Disney World.

At ten, they spent a week on Cape Cod collecting seashells.

By thirteen, they had graduated to cruises in the Caribbean.

Emily loved the ocean.

She could spend hours floating in the warm water, staring at endless blue skies.

Her father often teased that she belonged in the sea more than on land.

"You've never met a beach you didn't fall in love with," he'd say.

She'd laugh.

"Can you blame me?"

Her life felt safe.

Predictable.

Perfect.

---

If there was one strange thing about Emily...

It was the dreams.

They started when she was six.

Always the same.

She'd wake in the middle of an endless forest beneath a massive silver moon.

She could hear wolves howling in the distance.

Not frightening howls.

Lonely ones.

She would follow them through the trees until she reached a clearing where a giant white wolf waited.

The animal never moved.

Never growled.

It simply watched her.

Its silver eyes were filled with sadness.

Every dream ended exactly the same way.

The wolf would lower its head.

Then whisper...

"Find us."

Emily always woke before she could ask what it meant.

She told her mother about the dreams once.

Sarah smiled gently as she tucked Emily back beneath her blankets.

"It just means you have a big imagination."

Emily accepted that answer.

Children dreamed strange things all the time.

---

By high school, life became busier.

Emily joined the soccer team.

She made honor roll every semester.

She volunteered at church food drives and helped organize toy collections every Christmas.

Her parents couldn't have been prouder.

She had her first crush during sophomore year.

His name was Ethan Brooks.

Captain of the baseball team.

Blue eyes.

Crooked smile.

Completely oblivious that Emily existed.

Olivia spent weeks trying to convince Emily to talk to him.

Instead...

Emily accidentally walked into a locker.

Directly in front of him.

For years afterward, her friends never let her forget it.

---

Her sixteenth birthday arrived with balloons, cake, and far too many embarrassing childhood photos.

Michael handed her a small velvet box after dinner.

Inside was an antique silver necklace.

A delicate crescent moon hung from the chain.

Emily admired it.

"It's beautiful."

"It belonged to your grandmother," Michael said softly.

"Mom's mother?"

There was the briefest hesitation.

"...Yes."

Sarah quickly smiled.

"It always seemed meant for you."

Emily fastened it around her neck.

It fit perfectly.

Almost...

As if it had been made for her.

Neither of her parents noticed the pendant growing warm against her skin.

Or the faint silver glow that lasted only a heartbeat before disappearing.

Outside...

Nearly a thousand miles away...

Deep within the forests of Black Hollow...

A massive silver wolf lifted his head toward the moon.

His golden eyes widened.

He hadn't felt that presence in twenty-five years.

The scent.

The bond.

The impossible spark of a bloodline everyone believed had vanished.

He whispered a single name carried only by instinct.

"...Emily."

Miles away, hidden in another territory, an older wolf with crimson eyes opened his own.

He had felt it too.

A slow smile spread across his scarred face.

"So..."

He looked toward the rising moon.

"The last Moonblood lives."

And for the first time in twenty-five years...

The wolves began to hunt.