1

BRIANA

At the moment I woke, my body ached all over, leaving me sore and a little dizzy. Blinking against the light, I looked around the familiar room, and despite my exhaustion, a smile crept onto my lips. Last night had been one of the most important nights of my life.

I had finally turned eighteen. The pack had welcomed me as an adult, and I'd been told my training to become the next beta would begin soon.

I inhaled deeply, drawing in the scent still clinging to the pillow beside me. Drake. His scent-pine mixed with fresh citrus-made my heart race. Drake Summer. My best friend since childhood. My constant sparring partner. My partner in every game and challenge. And now... my mate.

The thought filled me with warmth. Drake and I had always gone toe to toe in training, neither of us ever backing down. He knew my strength, just as I knew his. I trusted him, trusted that even though he was still dating Laura, he would do what was right. He would tell everyone in Moonveil Park that I was his true mate.

A wide grin stretched across my face. Only last year, my life had shattered when my parents died, sacrificing themselves to save Alpha Marcus and Drake from a surprise rogue attack at dawn. I had lost my family that day.

But fate had given me another chance. Soon, I would be Luna, the future queen of this pack. In that role, I would finally gain another family-Alpha Marcus as my father-in-law, and David and Linda Bruce as my uncle and aunt.

Thinking about Drake, I turned to the empty side of the bed. My chest tightened when I saw only his t-shirt and boxer briefs left behind, carrying that same intoxicating pine-and-citrus scent. Where had he gone?

Frowning, I reached out to him through our mind link. The connection should have been easy, but something blocked me. My heart thumped hard. I tried again, more desperate this time, but still... nothing. Silence.

Confusion and unease settled over me. Why couldn't I reach him? That shouldn't even be possible. Pushing away my nerves, I decided I'd find him face-to-face and talk through what came next. Pulling on the clothes he'd left for me, I dressed quickly. I was just about to rise from the bed when the door slammed open.

Laura Cross stormed in, flanked by her loyal followers.

"Well, if it isn't the little home-wrecker," she sneered, taking a deliberate step forward.

My muscles tightened as I glared at her, anger flashing hot inside me. If anyone was the home-wrecker, it was her.

"Show some respect for your future Luna," I snapped, my voice sharp. "I am Drake's mate."

Shock flickered across her face, quickly replaced by raw fury. Laura had hated me from the first day she'd arrived in Moonveil Pack. She wasn't born here, she was the daughter of the alpha of Blood Oath, the largest and most feared pack in the region. Ten years ago, Alpha Marcus had made a deal with her father, and Laura had been sent to live here.

When she turned fourteen, she started dating Drake, and from that moment on, she had made it her mission to torment me. Why? Simply because I was close with Drake and Peter Wood.

"You will never be Luna of Moonveil Pack!" she screeched, her voice high-pitched with rage. "That title belongs to me, and it always will!"

I opened my mouth, ready to demand what she meant, but before I could utter a word, her minions lunged at me.

Pearl, the strawberry-blonde she-wolf, seized my hair and yanked me off the bed, slamming me hard against the floor. The bitter, burning scent of wolfsbane clung to her fingers. A furious growl ripped from my chest. Wolfsbane. The most dangerous poison to our kind. And they dared use it against me-a ranked wolf?

Snarling, I lashed out with my foot, the heel slamming into Pearl's stomach. She flew backward, crashing into Laura with a sickening thud. Both went tumbling. But leaving myself open had consequences.

The other two she-wolves, Ruby with her fiery red hair and Prism with her pale blonde locks, pounced on me. Their claws, coated in wolfsbane, tore into my skin.

Agonizing fire burned through me as the poison seeped into my veins. My strength began to falter, but I refused to give in. I clawed and struck back as best as I could. At the same time, I sent an urgent S.O.S. through the pack link-only to be met with a wall of silence.

Another block.

Dread coiled in my stomach. The only one who could block me so completely was the alpha himself.

Ruby's claws swiped for my face. I dodged at the last second, but her nails still grazed my shoulder. The poison spread faster, dragging my strength away with every heartbeat.

"What the hell is going on?" a deep voice thundered from the doorway.

Relief swept through me as my eyes darted up. Alpha Marcus stood there, his piercing grey eyes blazing as he took in the chaotic scene.

Laura was already hiding behind him, her lip jutted out in a pout, a dark bruise forming on her cheek from Pearl's earlier collision.

"Briana attacked Laura," Ruby said quickly, her voice laced with false innocence.

A snarl ripped from my throat. I turned to the alpha, ready to tell him the truth, but his answering growl roared louder, pressing down on me with suffocating dominance. The weight of his power forced me to bow my head, my body trembling against my will.

"I will not tolerate anyone attacking a visiting delegate," Alpha Marcus snapped. His voice was sharp and merciless.

Before I could speak, his iron grip clamped around my wrist. His eyes glazed over as he linked the pack. He was calling them.

Panic spiked in my chest.

In an instant, Marcus dragged me from his son's room, down the hallway and three flights of stairs, before shoving me out the heavy Moon doors of the five-story pack house. I stumbled, barely catching myself before I hit the ground.

I lifted my head, glaring at the man my parents had died protecting.

And then it struck me. His glazed eyes weren't just fury, they were a message. He had summoned the pack to gather.

For a trial.

My blood turned to ice as dread wrapped its claws around me.

Something had shifted overnight. Something dark.

And I was at the very heart of it.