LOGINThe ground trembled beneath my boots.Not from hunters.From something deeper.I froze in the middle of the courtyard.Around me, warriors rushed toward the southern wall after Rowan’s warning. Snow scattered under their feet. Steel clanged. Voices rose in sharp orders.But the vibration under the stone floor lasted only a moment.Then it stopped.Darian noticed my pause.“You feel that?” he asked.“Yes.”Rowan turned.“What?”“The ground,” I said.He stomped once on the stone.“Feels normal to me.”Mira stepped beside me.Her eyes narrowed slightly.“No,” she murmured. “She’s right.”Rowan frowned.“You felt it too?”“Yes.”Kael moved closer to the wall, his gaze sweeping the mountains around the valley.“What kind of tremor?”“Short,” I replied. “But strong.”Darian shrugged.“Maybe one of the hunter wagons hit a rock.”“No,” Mira said.“That felt different.”The wind pushed through the courtyard gate, carrying the sharp scent of silver from the distant camps.Rowan sighed.“Great.
The hunter leader smiled.Even from the tower, I saw it.The man sat tall on his black horse halfway down the ridge, his army standing still behind him like dark shadows against the snow. Silver weapons caught the fading light. Rows of soldiers waited in silence.Rowan muttered beside me, “I don’t like him.”“No one does,” Darian said from behind us.Mira’s gaze stayed fixed on the rider.“That man carries control,” she said softly.Kael stood a step behind me on the tower stairs. He didn’t move closer. He didn’t speak.But I felt his presence anyway.The hunter leader raised one hand slowly.The army behind him moved again.Not forward.Sideways.They spread across the ridge like a dark curtain.Rowan cursed.“They’re surrounding the valley.”Darian leaned against the stone railing.“Not attacking yet.”“No,” Mira said. “They’re showing us something.”I watched the rider carefully.“What do you mean?”“They want us to feel pressure.”The horn from the tower sounded again.Wolves rush
The silver net burned the moment it touched the ground.Someone screamed.I rolled sideways in the snow just as the glowing threads crashed down where I had stood a second earlier. The net slammed into the frozen earth with a sharp metallic snap.The wolves scattered.Rowan grabbed Lian and dragged him clear as the edge of the net struck the ground beside them.“Move!” he shouted.The silver strands hissed against the snow.Anyone caught under that would not survive.Darian kicked a fallen branch toward the net. The wood struck the threads and instantly smoked.“Yeah,” he muttered grimly. “Definitely silver.”A shadow moved between the trees.Hunter.Kael reacted first.He dashed forward and tackled the man before the rest of us even saw him. The hunter slammed into the snow with a shout as Kael knocked the weapon from his hands.Two more figures appeared behind the trees.“Left!” Mira called.I lunged toward them.The first hunter raised a crossbow. The silver bolt flashed through th
The knife flew toward my throat before I even saw the hand that threw it.I twisted aside on instinct.The blade cut past my shoulder and struck the wooden post behind me with a sharp crack.Gasps rose from the watching warriors.I turned quickly.Mira stood ten steps away, calm as ever.Her hands rested loosely at her sides.Rowan laughed from the edge of the training ground.“Well,” he said, “that woke everyone up.”Snow covered the wide clearing inside Frostveil’s inner wall. Dozens of wolves had gathered in a loose circle. Some stood. Some crouched on the stone ledges.No one spoke.Everyone watched.Because Mira had just tried to kill me.Or so it looked.I pulled the knife from the wooden post and walked toward her.“You could have warned me,” I said.“You would have moved slower.”I handed her the blade.“You missed.”She smiled faintly.“No. You moved.”Darian leaned against a pillar nearby.“I like her methods already.”I shook my head.“This is training?”Mira turned toward
The horn sounded before sunrise.The long warning note echoed through Frostveil like a crack through ice.I woke instantly.Snowlight filtered through the tall windows of the chamber. Cold air pressed against the glass. The valley outside still slept under a pale sky.But the horn sounded again.Once. Twice.Danger.I threw on my coat and stepped into the corridor.Guards rushed past me toward the outer gate. Their boots struck the stone floor in fast rhythm.Rowan appeared at the stair landing.“You heard it too?”“Yes.”He rubbed the back of his neck.“Scouts returned during the night.”“That fast?”He nodded.“Something strange is happening near the eastern ridge.”I felt the weight of the previous night settle again.Hunters.Thousands.We moved quickly down the steps toward the courtyard.Snow crunched under our boots as we stepped outside.Warriors gathered around the central fire pit. Mira stood among them, calm as ever, her hands folded behind her back.Darian paced beside the
The hall fell silent the moment the word Luna was spoken.It came from the oldest elder of the River Pack. His voice was steady, though his hands trembled slightly as he leaned on his staff.“Then there is only one matter left,” he said.Every pair of eyes turned toward him.He looked straight at me.“Elara of Frostveil,” he continued, “the united packs recognize your authority over the valley. The elders agree there must be balance beside the Alpha leadership.”Murmurs moved through the hall again.Kael stood beside me but said nothing.The elder raised his chin.“Therefore, we offer you the title of Luna.”The word landed like a stone dropped into still water.A Luna.Not just a leader.The Luna.Mate to an Alpha.Partner in rule.I felt the weight of it settle around my shoulders before anyone even spoke again.Rowan crossed his arms slowly.“That was fast,” he muttered.Mira tilted her head with a faint smile.“I wondered when someone would say it.”Darian looked confused.“Wait,”
The wolf came for her throat, and Elara chose not to kill him.Steel rang as her blade caught his midair strike, forcing his weight sideways into the snow. He rolled fast, recovering quicker than most trained fighters, amber eyes blazing with the kind of desperation that only came from starvation…
“They bowed to her.”The whisper traveled faster than winter wind.Elara heard it before she even stepped into the training yard.Two warriors stopped mid-conversation when they noticed her.“…not officially Alpha,” one muttered.“But did you see how Rowan deferred to her?” the other replied quietl
The first body dropped before sunrise.Kael saw it from the ridge.One of his border guards lay twisted in the snow, crimson bleeding into white like a warning written too clearly to ignore.He crouched beside the corpse, jaw tight.“Clean strike,” Rurik muttered behind him. “No hesitation.”Kael t
The silence broke before the words did.Every wolf in Frostveil’s central clearing stood frozen as Rowan stepped onto the raised stone platform. His presence alone could quiet storms, but today, something heavier filled the air. Anticipation. Unease. Change.Elara felt it before she understood it.







