THE FEMALE ALPHA

Eighteen Years Earlier The night the royal family fell, the moon turned red. Across the kingdom of Aethoria, wolves emerged from their homes and stared at the blood-colored sky. Some lowered their heads in fear. Others howled at the strange omen, their voices carrying through the forests and across the mountains. The oldest wolves recognized the sign. The Blood Moon had returned. And whenever the Blood Moon appeared, the kingdom's history was about to be rewritten. Inside the Royal Palace of Silvermoon, Queen Evelina Vale clutched her newborn daughter against her chest while distant screams echoed through the corridors. Her daughter was silent. Too silent. The baby had opened her eyes shortly after birth, revealing irises the color of molten silver. A faint crescent-shaped mark shimmered on her tiny wrist before disappearing beneath the blanket. The queen stared at the mark, her heart tightening. It was true. The ancient prophecy had not been a myth. Her daughter was the child the elders had feared for generations. The first female heir in centuries to carry the complete bloodline of the original Alpha kings. The child who could unite the divided packs—or destroy the kingdom if raised by the wrong hands. A violent crash shook the chamber door. "Your Majesty!" a guard shouted from the other side. "We must leave now!" Queen Evelina looked toward the entrance. "Where is the king?" The guard hesitated. That hesitation told her everything. Her husband was gone. The man she had ruled beside for twelve years had been betrayed by someone he trusted. The royal guards were scattered, the council had turned against them, and the palace was falling into enemy hands. The queen lowered her face to her daughter's forehead. "I'm sorry, my little moon." A tear slipped down her cheek. "You deserved a world that would welcome you." The door shook again. This time, the lock began to break. A woman hurried into the chamber through a concealed passage. She wore a dark traveling cloak, and her face was streaked with soot. "Your Majesty, we have to go!" Queen Evelina stood and placed the baby in her arms. "Elara, listen to me." The woman looked at the child, then back at the queen. "No," Elara whispered. "Please don't ask me to leave you." "She must survive." "I can take you both." "You cannot." The queen grasped Elara's hands. "Someone has betrayed the crown. I don't know how many people are involved, and I cannot trust the council. If they discover who this child is, they will never stop hunting her." Elara looked down at the sleeping baby. "What will you tell her?" "That she is ordinary. That her parents are gone. That she must never reveal the mark on her wrist." "And when she turns eighteen?" The queen's expression changed. "Her wolf will awaken. When that happens, the truth may begin to find her." Another crash sounded from the door. Elara stepped backward. "Evelina—" "Promise me." The queen's voice broke. "Promise me you will protect my daughter, even if she hates you for keeping the truth from her." Elara's eyes filled with tears. "I promise." Queen Evelina kissed the baby's forehead one final time. "Her name is Seraphina." She closed her eyes briefly. "Seraphina Vale." The name of the last royal heir. The name that would one day terrify the people who had destroyed her family. Elara disappeared through the concealed passage. Behind them, the chamber door burst open. Queen Evelina turned to face the intruders. She did not scream. She did not beg. She lifted her chin and stood as a queen should, even as the kingdom she loved crumbled around her. Far beyond the mountains, a newborn baby stirred in the arms of a woman carrying her toward an uncertain future. And somewhere deep inside the child, a silver wolf opened its eyes. The royal bloodline had survived. But the kingdom did not know it yet.