Chapter 1

Night had fully settled over the arena, and with every passing hour the air grew heavier. The smell of blood, smoke, sweat, and freshly turned earth lingered over the stadium until it became impossible to ignore. Thousands of wolves filled the stone stands, their howls rolling through the night as claws hammered against rock. Their excitement was almost contagious. They had watched warriors fall for days, and now only the strongest remained.

The Tournament was nearly finished.

One last semifinal stood between the competitors and the championship match, and Daniela watched it unfold without taking her eyes off the arena. Leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree, she followed every movement of the fighter dominating the battlefield.

Williams.

Her younger brother.

He had always been a monster in combat. Strength came so naturally to him that he made even skilled opponents look ordinary. Every punch landed with crushing force, every kick drove someone backward, and every exchange ended with his enemy looking weaker than before.

The clash of their attacks echoed across the arena. Dirt exploded beneath their feet as they fought, and every impact sent another wave of cheers through the crowd.

Daniela simply watched.

Whoever won this fight would become her final opponent. One more battle stood between her and everything she had worked for since she was old enough to understand what it meant to belong to the Blackthorn family.

She wanted to become the heir.

She wanted to become the next Alpha of the Bloodmoon Vanguard Pack.

This Tournament had been the bloodiest one she could remember. Day after day, defeated wolves had been dragged out of the arena. Some were unconscious. Others screamed through broken bones while healers rushed to keep them alive. Daniela had survived every brutal round, just as she had five years ago when she competed in her first Tournament.

Her body showed exactly what those battles had cost her.

Bruises covered her arms and ribs. Fresh claw marks crossed scars that had never completely faded, and every muscle in her body ached from days of nonstop fighting. Even so, none of it mattered.

She had made it this far again.

She hadn’t entered the Tournament because she wanted applause. She didn’t care whether strangers admired her or remembered her name.

There was only one thing she had wanted her entire life.

Her father’s acknowledgment.

Alpha George Blackthorn ruled the Bloodmoon Vanguard Pack with absolute authority. He believed strength was everything, while mercy and kindness were signs of weakness. In his eyes, his greatest disappointment had begun the day his wife gave birth to a daughter instead of another son.

Then came Williams.

Then Edwards.

Her brothers had grown up surrounded by praise. Every lesson, every opportunity, and every piece of training had been designed to prepare them to lead the Pack one day.

Daniela had received none of it.

No matter how hard she trained or how many victories she earned, George never looked at her the way he looked at his sons. She defeated every rival placed before her. She mastered every challenge her instructors gave her. Again and again, she proved she was one of the strongest wolves of her generation.

It never changed anything.

Whenever George looked at Williams or Edwards, pride filled his eyes.

Whenever he looked at Daniela, there was only indifference.

Tonight, she intended to change that.

If she defeated Williams before every Alpha gathered here, her father would have no choice but to admit she deserved to inherit the Pack.

The Tournament was more than a competition. Every five years, the strongest wolves from the Allied Territories came together to fight for honor and recognition. Winning meant earning the respect of every Pack and every Alpha in attendance. It was the kind of victory people remembered for generations.

Before sunrise, Alpha George Blackthorn would announce the next heir to the Bloodmoon Vanguard.

For years, everyone had assumed that honor belonged to Williams. He was the favored son, the warrior George had shaped into his own image.

But if Daniela defeated him tonight, every prediction would be proven wrong.

A deafening crash pulled her from her thoughts.

Williams slammed his opponent into the stone floor with enough force to shake the arena. The wolf collapsed and failed to get back up.

The horn sounded.

The crowd erupted.

Williams stood in the center of the arena with blood dripping from his clenched fist as he raised his arm in victory. Then his eyes found Daniela.

She met his gaze without hesitation.

Neither of them smiled.

She ignored the cheers and reached for the silver pendant resting against her chest instead. The old necklace, marked with strange crimson symbols, had been around her neck for as long as she could remember. Before her mother died, she had always called it priceless and warned Daniela never to take it off.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Daniela remembered her mother’s gentle voice. The memory settled her nerves and reminded her why she had fought so hard to reach this point.

When she looked up again, her attention shifted to the platform above the arena.

Her father sat there in his ceremonial robes, his posture perfectly straight and his face as unreadable as ever. Beside him sat Alpha Charles Pendragon, a man whose reputation reached far beyond the Eastern Territories. Packs had fallen before him, and the Alphas who challenged him were rarely seen again.

Even George’s fearsome reputation seemed small beside Charles.

Daniela quickly looked away before her wolf’s uneasiness grew worse.

Instead, she found Frank sitting a few seats behind the visiting Alpha.

The moment he noticed her, he smiled.

Without warning, warmth spread through her chest. It irritated her how easily he could affect her.

Frank had always been different. While everyone else judged her for being born female, he had always believed in her. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, she had fallen hopelessly in love with him.

Those feelings would have to wait.

Tonight belonged to the Tournament.

Only Williams stood between her and the future she wanted.

“Daniela Blackthorn!” the announcer’s voice boomed across the arena. “Daughter of Alpha George of the West and challenger to the heir!”

Daniela almost laughed.

If anyone was standing in another person’s way, it was Williams standing in hers.

She pushed away from the tree and walked toward the arena entrance as the crowd parted before her. Thousands of eyes followed every step she took.

No woman had ever reached this stage of the Tournament before. Not because women had been forbidden to compete, but because none had survived long enough.

Williams waited in the center of the arena with a mocking smile.

“Careful, sister,” he called. “I’d hate to embarrass you in front of half the werewolf world.”

Daniela smiled back.

“You should be worrying about yourself. If you’re lucky, you’ll still be able to crawl out of this arena after I’m finished.”

Williams snorted.

“Don’t forget your place. You’re only here because Father wanted to entertain the crowd before the real fight.”

“No,” Daniela replied calmly. “I’m here because I defeated every wolf they put in front of me, including the ones who almost beat you.”

His expression hardened immediately.

“You’ll regret that, Dora.”

“I doubt it.”

The horn echoed across the arena, signaling the start of the match.

Inside her mind, Josephine growled with excitement.

“Let’s put him in the dirt.”

Daniela smiled as her claws slid from her fingertips.

“I’ve been waiting all week.”

In the next instant, brother and sister burst forward together, each determined to leave the arena as the only one still standing.