Chapter 1

My mate’s sister Selene, the last purebred white wolf in Stormcliff, was dead.

She had been with pup when she climbed the highest tower of Blackrock Keep on a stormy night. Guards said she stood barefoot in the rain, her white cloak whipping behind her like broken wings, before she hurled herself into the darkness.

By the time they found her, snow around her was red. Her wolf was shattered. The pup she carried never had a chance.

Before Selene died, she sent one last whisper through the pack bond. Only I heard it.

“Lyra saw him.”

From that day, I became Stormcliff’s greatest sinner.

Everyone knew what it meant. I had seen the wolf who drove Selene to her death. I knew his face, his scent, his name. Yet when the elders demanded the truth, I said nothing.

For two years, I kept the secret.

Alpha Aldric, my father-in-law, once knelt before me, hands trembling.

“Lyra, tell me who took my daughter.”

Luna Marla clutched my dress, sobbing.

“She was carrying a pup. How can you know and remain silent?”

I could not look at them. I could not answer. I only turned away.

The entire territory cursed me. They called me traitor, murderer, protector of monsters. Every full moon, wolves gathered outside my chamber, howling for my blood.

Only Darian did not abandon me.

He blocked the elders, stopped Marla from dragging me to the execution stone, and brought me lunar energy soup each morning. For a time, I believed he still trusted me. I thought he still loved me.

Then I bore his pup. The dream ended.

Less than a year after Selene’s death, my body began to fail. My wolf blood thinned. My limbs grew heavy. My wolf curled inside me, shriveled and silent. Most days, I could barely rise from the stone bed.

That night, the door to my chamber opened. Darian entered with six Soul Walkers from Silvermoon Pack, carrying a cold iron device shaped like a wolf skull, etched with lunar runes.

The moment I saw it, my breath stopped.

The Soul Recollection Device.

Every wolf in the northern territories knew its power. It tore open memories and projected them for the pack to see. It pierced the wolf soul itself. Most who entered it either died screaming or lost their minds.

“Darian,” I whispered. “What are you doing?”

He looked at me with eyes that had once softened when they saw me. Those same hands had rested on my belly during pregnancy. Now only obsession and grief remained.

“Get up, Lyra,” he said. “Today is your judgment.”

Two warriors lifted me. Pain shot through my bones. I clutched Darian’s sleeve.

“Please. I am sick.”

“You are sick because guilt eats your wolf soul,” he said, voice rough. “She trusted you. For two years, you let her killer walk free.”

“I did not—”

“Then speak.”

The truth rose to my throat. I wanted to scream, to tell them everything, to justify my silence.

But Selene’s whisper echoed in my mind. The words I had buried. The words that had ruined my life.

“I cannot,” I said.

Darian froze. For a second, pain flickered in his eyes. Then it vanished.

“Take her,” he ordered.

The warriors dragged me to the judgment platform. Moonlight spilled across the corridor, silver and cold. The device hummed softly like a living thing.

When the gates opened, the plaza roared. Wolves from every territory pressed close. Some climbed trees and rooftops. Crystal recorders glowed pale blue.

This trial was not just for Stormcliff—it was broadcast to the northern territories.

The warriors hauled me up the stone steps. Crystal walls rose around me, sealing me like prey.

Above, Aldric and Marla watched. Years of grief and aging had hollowed their faces. Marla’s hands gripped the railing, eyes full of hatred.

“Two years,” she said, voice trembling. “Do you know how many nights I dreamed of Selene calling for me?”

The plaza fell silent.

“She was pregnant. She was afraid. She died alone, and you knew who did this to her.”

My wolf whimpered inside me.

“Lyra,” Marla whispered, “I want to see if your heart is truly black.”

The crowd erupted.

“Traitor!”

“Make her speak!”

“Use the device!”

“Let her die if she refuses!”

Their voices washed over me. I swayed, too weak to cover my ears.

Darian stepped onto the platform. The wolves fell quiet.

He stopped in front of me, gaze on my thin wrists, the blood on my feet, the trembling of my body. Pain flickered across his face.

“There is still time,” he said quietly. “Tell me who you are protecting.”

I met his eyes through the crystal wall.

“Darian, you will regret this.”

He tightened his jaw.

“My only regret is trusting you for two years.”

The Soul Walkers opened the device. The iron wolf skull descended. Needles slid out, thin as spider legs, glowing cruelly.

One Soul Walker hesitated.

“Alpha Darian, her wolf soul is too weak. She may not survive.”

Darian did not move.

“Then infuse lunar energy.”

The Soul Walker stiffened. “She will feel everything.”

“Good.”

The infusion rod pressed against my heart. Silver light poured through me like molten moonfire. My body arched violently. A scream tore from my throat.

The energy did not heal. It drew me out of weakness, forcing every nerve awake.

The helmet locked around my head.

The first needle pierced my scalp. Then the second. Then the third. Each drilled deeper into my wolf soul. I thrashed. Blood slid from my hairline.

Darian stood beyond the crystal walls. Knuckles white. Hands clenched. But he did not stop.

“Begin,” he ordered.

The projection opened beneath the full moon. My memories spilled into the night.

The first vision appeared: snow. Three days after Selene’s death, I stood at her grave, Moonlight Herb in hand. Carved on the stone: her name, a white wolf with outstretched wings.

Two days before she died, she had laughed at the market, touching her belly.

“When my pup is born,” she had said, “you must be the first to hold him.”

I bent to lay the flowers. Darian snatched them and slammed them into my face.

“Do not soil my sister’s grave.”

Petals scattered, crushed beneath boots. I stood broken.

“Darian,” I whispered, “she is gone. I feel it more than anyone.”

Before I could finish, he shoved me down. My head struck the gravestone. Blood ran over her carved name.

The plaza erupted. Needles pierced deeper. The memory unfolded before thousands.

The truth I had buried for two years finally crawled toward the light.