The forest was alive with shadows.Lily ran, her feet barely touching the ground, branches slapping at her arms and face. Behind her, the sounds of the seer’s cottage being torn apart echoed like distant thunder. She didn’t dare look back.Avery’s words rang in her ears: “Find the Blade of Stars.”She didn’t know what it was, where it was, or how to wield it, but something inside her whispered that her survival depended on it.Dora stirred within her.“We shouldn’t be alone, Lily.”“We’ve always been alone,” Lily whispered back. “We just didn’t know it.”The moon broke through the clouds as she reached a clearing. Before her lay a shimmering lake...... Silver Springs.It was eerily still.Lily stepped to the water’s edge, her breath catching. The surface reflected not just her image but a version of her cloaked in silver, a crown of thorns upon her head, and a crescent moon burned into her forehead.She flinched.“What the hell is happening to me?”A voice answered from the shadows be
The palace was quiet.Too quiet.Lily sat on the edge of the bath in her chambers, watching steam rise from the water like wisps of ghostly smoke. Her mind wasn’t in the room, it was replaying that moment in the woods again and again.The masked Alpha.His voice.His words.You don’t know who you are, Luna. But you will.A knock came at the door, snapping her out of it.“Come in,” she called.It was Avery.He stepped inside, eyes scanning her quickly, taking in the robe she wore, the faint cuts along her collarbone, and the weary look behind her eyes.“You okay?” he asked softly.“No,” Lily replied with raw honesty.Avery didn’t try to sugarcoat it.“I heard the healers say the fog wasn’t natural. Some sort of forgotten ancient magic. But the rogues weren’t acting rogue. Someone’s pulling strings.”Lily looked up. “He knew me, Avery. The masked Alpha.”Avery frowned. “What do you mean?”She stood, her robe fluttering as she walked to the window, staring out at the forest. “He looked i
The darkness wasn’t just black. It was alive.Lily could feel it slither around her fur, licking at her paws like icy smoke, whispering things she didn’t understand. She could barely see Callum, though he was only inches away. Her wolf ears twitched as distant echoes danced through the air—howls, gasps, the hiss of steel, the snap of bones.Then everything went still.Her heart hammered as her wolf instincts screamed. This was no ordinary mist.It was enchanted. Controlled.“Callum…” she mind-linked, her voice tight. “What’s happening?”“Stay close. Don’t shift back yet.”But something was off. Even their mind-link crackled, as though the fog was interfering.A low growl came from ahead. She turned. Shapes began to emerge from the darkness.Not rogues. Not pack warriors.But creatures. Mutated wolves with black, glassy eyes and mouths that dripped with green-tinted saliva. Their fur was matted, their forms twisted like they had been stitched together from nightmares.“What the hell ar
Two nights later, the moon was full, fat and golden, like a cursed omen hanging above them. The air was thick with anticipation as Callum, Lily, and a small entourage of warriors arrived at the ancient Stone Circle, the neutral ground chosen for the peace summit.The place was eerie. Giant moss-covered stones towered over them, some cracked from age, others inscribed with the sacred runes of the Old Pack Law. It was here, centuries ago, that treaties were signed and wars ended...... or started.Lily kept close to Callum’s side. She was dressed in a flowing silver robe, a cloak of royalty draped over her shoulders, though she hardly felt regal. Her heart thumped like a war drum in her chest, her wolf, Dora, alert and pacing inside her mind.“This is a battlefield disguised as a table,” Dora growled. “And they dressed it in moonlight hoping no one noticed.”Callum’s expression was unreadable. His eyes, however, flickered constantly like an alpha scanning for danger.They reached the cen
The next morning was drenched in a suffocating tension.The entire Nightshade Pack was on high alert. Patrols had been doubled. Warriors, some of whom hadn’t shifted in months, were summoned to the training grounds. No one said it outright, but the truth hung in the air like fog:War wasn’t coming.It had already begun.Lily stood in the war room beside Callum and Victor. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest, but her mind was anything but still. The room was filled with pack warriors, advisors, and scouts reporting back with panicked fragments of news.“Three rogue packs spotted near the river bend. They weren’t fighting, just watching us,” one scout said.“They’re testing our response time,” another growled. “Mark my words, they’re planning something bigger.”Lily glanced at Callum, who hadn’t spoken in a while. His jaw was tight, his body tense like a coiled spring. She reached for his hand under the table and gave it a light squeeze.“We need to prepare,” she whispered. “No
Lily sat at the edge of the balcony that watches the Nightshade valley, her arms wrapped around herself as the wind pulled her hair. It was past midnight, but sleep refused to come. Not after what had unfolded.Her conversation with Alistair had ended hours ago, but his words still haunted her."You’re nothing but a pawn in this game."She wanted to scream that she was more than that. She wanted to believe it. But in the quiet of the night, her doubts slid in like shadows. What if he was right? What if this was all a cruel twist of fate, her falling for Callum, the very son of the man who now wanted her destroyed?The door creaked open behind her, and she knew it was him.Callum.She didn’t have to turn to recognize his presence, the gentle vibration of their bond pulsed inside her like a second heartbeat. A grounding force amidst her spiraling thoughts.“I figured you’d be out here,” he said, his voice a warm contrast to the cool night air.Lily didn’t respond immediately. Her eyes w