Chapter one : The Fall Of Lyra Black

Lyra

The air in my lungs tasted like copper and burning pine.

‘Run,’ Nyx roared in my mind, her voice was like a fractured, wild echo of the wolf she used to be. ‘They are coming. Run!’

I didn't need her to tell me. The barks of the Bloodmoon wolves tore through the midnight air, sharp enough to slice through the trees of the Northern Territories.

Twigs whipped me across my face, cutting my cheeks, but I couldn't feel the pain. My bare feet slammed against rocks and damp moss of the forest floor, slippery with the blood I had spilled only an hour ago.

My own hands were stained in it. The deep, damning red of my packmates.

It had been the full moon.

The night of my ascension. I was supposed to stand beside Alpha Kade Ashford as the proud Luna-in-waiting of the most powerful pack in Silvermist.

Instead, something inside me had snapped. Nyx hadn’t just shifted…she had transformed to a terrifying beast.

A volatile, monstrous transformation that blocked out my consciousness and left three warriors dead in the sacred clearing.

“Monster!” the pack screamed when I was finally forced to transform back. “Abomination!”

The memory of Kade’s face flashed in my mind, sending a spike of pain through my chest that had nothing to do with the hunt. He hadn't looked at me with horror.

He looked at me with relief.

"I, Alpha Kade Ashford, reject you, Lyra Black, as my mate and Luna," his voice boomed over my broken, naked form in front of the entire pack.

He didn't care about the dead wolves. He cared about the excuse this situation presented him with. He had always wanted Jasmine Heart, the fragile, smiling Former beta's daughter. My family's ancient nobility had forced his hand, but this incident…it was the perfect excuse to stop the mating bond.

A heavy boot slammed into my shoulder from behind.

I hit the dirt hard, tumoring down a steep canyon. I choked on a mouthful of mud and dead leaves, rolling onto my back just as a massive hand gripped the front of my torn garment and hauled me to my feet.

Beta Darius Thorn sneered down at me, his eyes gleaming with a sickening hate under the moonlight. This was surprising to me. I thought he liked me.

Behind him, three of his loyal enforcers stepped out from the shadows, their silver blades unsheathed and catching the pale light.

"End of the line, Lyra," Darius hissed, his breath hot and foul.

"The law..." I gasped, coughing up blood, my ribs aching from the fall. "The law says I will face the Alpha King's tribunal at Valehold Citadel. You have to take me to Riven Vale."

Darius laughed, a harsh, barking sound. "The Alpha King doesn't care about a rabid bitch. And Kade certainly doesn't want you breathing long enough to appeal. You’re an embarrassment to the Bloodmoon Pack. A stain on his new reign with Jasmine."

"He ordered this?" My voice cracked, a pathetic, fragile sound.

"He authorized me to dispose of the threat," Darius corrected with a cruel smirk.

He shoved me backward and I stumbled, my heels catching on the precipice of a sheer drop. I looked over my shoulder and below lay Blackthorn Valley, a mist-shrouded abyss hidden beyond the Northern Mountains.

No wolf entered the valley and returned. It was a wasteland of rogues and death.

"Are you going to execute me yourself, Darius?" I spat, trying to summon the pride of the Black lineage, even as my knees trembled. "Or are you too much of a coward?"

"Oh, I'm not going to execute you, Lyra. That would leave a body. Silvermist law can be so tedious about autopsies."

Darius raised his hand and whistled. It was a sharp, piercing sound that cut through the silence of the valley.

From the dark tree line across the Carnoy, a chorus of low, guttural growls answered.

My blood ran cold. They were Rogues. They were not just one or two, but a pack of feral, wild wolves stepped into the moonlight. Their eyes were bloodshot, their jaws dripping with saliva. They weren't hunting for food. They were looking at me with a terrifying intent.

"A planned rogue ambush," I whispered, the horrifying realization clicking into place. "You planned this."

"It would be a tragic accident," Darius corrected, stepping back into the shadows with his men. "The mad Luna-in-waiting fled into the woods and was unfortunately torn to pieces by lawless exiles. Kade will mourn you for a day. Jasmine will comfort him. And the Black family name dies with you."

"Darius, wait!" I screamed, but it was too late.

With a brutal kick to my chest, Darius launched me off the ledge.

The wind caught my hair as I plummeted into the darkness of Blackthorn Valley. I hit the sloping earth below, rolling violently through briars and sharp rocks until I crashed into the trunk of a massive, dead oak tree.

The breath was completely knocked from my lungs as I heard my ribs snap.

I lay there, paralyzed, gazing up at the full moon through the canopy.

The heavy, rhythmic thud of paws surrounded me. The stench of wet fur and decay filled the air.

Five massive rogue wolves emerged from the mist, circling my broken body, their teeth bared, ready to tear my flesh from my bones.

I couldn't move or fight. My wolf was exhausted and locked away in the cage of my mind.

‘This is it,’ I thought, closing my eyes. ‘The fall of Lyra Black.’

A deafening, monstrous roar shook the very earth beneath us. It wasn't the howl of a rogue or call of a Bloodmoon wolf. It was deeper, ancient, and powerful enough to vibrate through my shattered ribs.

The rogues froze and the growling stopped instantly, replaced by low, terrified whimpers.

I forced my eyes open. The rogues were backing away, their tails tucked between their legs, staring in absolute horror into the deep fog of the valley.