FATED TO BE LUNA

PART ONE: The night the Ashwood Pack burned, the moon disappeared. Not behind clouds. Not behind an eclipse. It simply vanished. For the first time in three hundred years, the Moon Goddess offered no light to the supernatural kingdom of Elaria. And beneath that impossible darkness, a little girl watched her world die. She was eight years old. Her name was Elara Vale. She remembered the screaming. She remembered the smell of smoke. She remembered her mother's hands gripping her shoulders so tightly that her fingernails cut into her skin. But most of all, she remembered the last thing her mother said. “Whatever happens tonight, Elara, never trust the Blackthorn Alpha.” Her mother's eyes were full of terror. “Never.” Then the door exploded inward. Elara screamed. Her father shoved her beneath the wooden floorboards. “Don't make a sound.” “But Mama—” “Whatever you hear, don't come out.” The floor closed above her. Through the tiny cracks between the boards, Elara saw shadows moving across the room. Her father stood beside her mother. Both of them were covered in blood. Then a voice came from outside. Cold. Commanding. Familiar. “Burn the house.” Her mother's face went white. “No…” Elara heard the voice again. “Leave no survivors.” The house caught fire. Elara pressed both hands against her mouth to keep from screaming. Her parents never came back. And the last thing she saw before smoke filled the room was a black wolf standing beyond the flames. Its eyes were silver. Watching. Waiting. That night, Elara learned two things. Her family was dead. And the Blackthorn Alpha was responsible. For thirteen years, she lived with that hatred. For thirteen years, she trained for revenge. She never knew that the man she had sworn to kill was the same man the Moon Goddess had chosen for her.