The moon between us

CHAPTER ONE The Night the Border Burned Elaria’s pov- The morning was unusually cold. I stood before the long obsidian mirror in my chambers, staring at the woman staring back at me. My silver eyes glowed faintly, reminding me of the pureborn blood running through my veins. Beneath my ribs, my wolf stirred. I pressed a hand against my stomach as an uneasy hum moved through me. Something was wrong. I could not explain it, but my wolf knew. The northern wind carried a strange scent. My wolf didn’t like it. I dragged the leather strap across my ribs, pulling my dark tunic tight. I wasn’t dressing for court or waiting to be protected. I was Silvercrest’s strongest blade, trained for war. BANG BANG. A heavy fist struck my chamber door, breaking the quiet. “Enter,” I commanded. The door swung inward, revealing Captain Alden. Frost dusted his silver-streaked beard, one hand resting on his broadsword. He bowed beneath my Alpha aura. “My Princess,” Alden said. “His Majesty requests your presence at the training grounds.” I fastened my sheath to my hip. “Is something wrong at the perimeter?” “The border report is quiet,” Alden said. “The King thinks your morning blade practice has been getting lazy.” A small smirk pulled at my lips. Father could never leave me alone. “He never could stand a quiet morning.” I left my chambers, my boots echoing through marble corridors. Silvercrest had stood for three hundred years, carved from grey granite and guarding us against Shadowfang. Cold wind hit my face. At the center stood my father, King Alaric Ashwyn. He was broad-shouldered and strong, wrapped in a golden-grey wolf pelt marked by battle scars. A silvered beard framed his jaw, while years of ruling had hardened his dark skin. Yet his sternness disappeared whenever his dark eyes found mine. “You’re late, Elaria,” Father called, kicking a wooden broadsword from the rack toward me. I caught it and spun it around my wrist. “I was checking the perimeter. A ruler needs to know what’s happening.” “A ruler buried in parchment will die with a pen in her hand,” he replied with a grin. “Guard up!” I barely smiled before he attacked. For twenty minutes, wooden blades cracked. I moved quickly, relying on my White Alpha blood, but he was still fast enough to drive me back. I ducked beneath his swing, swept my leg across the frozen ground, and caught his blade. My father caught my wrist, his chest rising and falling in the cold. But he wasn’t looking at my weapon. He was looking into my eyes. “You have your mother’s speed,” he said softly. I froze. Hearing my mother mentioned still made something ache inside me. Queen Lyanna had been gone for twenty-one years. She died giving birth to me, leaving my father to raise me alone. He lowered his weapon, his eyes drifting toward the pine forests along the Shadowfang border. “She wasn’t just a Queen, Elaria,” Father said quietly. Sadness filled his voice. “She was the heart of Silvercrest. She could enter rooms of angry Alpha elders without shouting or baring her fangs, and somehow make them listen.” “Your mother understood what rulers forget. Power isn’t about fear. It’s about knowing when your people need you.” He placed a calloused hand on my shoulder. For a moment, I wasn’t the future Luna. I was simply his daughter. “You carry a rare and dangerous power, my star,” he whispered. “A White Alpha core hasn’t been born here for three generations. Your strength, speed, and Alpha voice are gifts, but they can turn you into a tyrant if you forget who you protect. Leadership isn’t about making people fear you. It’s about standing between them and darkness.” I swallowed hard. “I won’t fail you or our people.” “I know you won’t,” he said with a soft smile. “Which is why…” BANG. The courtyard doors burst open. A border scout stumbled onto the frozen ground, armor torn and chest covered in blood. “Your Majesty!” he cried. “The eastern watchtower along Silvercrest Ridge! Shadowfang raiders, dozens of them! They crossed the border!” My father’s warmth vanished. The air became heavy. “Shadowfang?” he asked. “Malrik wouldn’t break twenty years of peace over a patrol.” “It’s no dispute, Sire!” the scout wheezed. “They slaughtered the outpost guard! They came with dark iron weapons, they’re burning the border treeline!” A growl rose from my chest. My White Alpha core stirred at my pack’s blood. “I’ll rally the vanguard. We ride now.” “No,” my father thundered. I froze. “No? Our guards are being slaughtered on our soil!” “Which is exactly why you’re staying here,” he ordered as his squires brought his armor. “A raid this large is madness or a trap. A ruler doesn’t march her heir into battle without knowing what awaits.” “I’m not just your heir! I’m the strongest warrior in this kingdom!” I shouted, stepping into his path as my Alpha aura flared. “You taught me to protect our people! Let me stand beside you!” He stopped and looked at me. Then he placed both hands on my shoulders, and the terrifying King softened into my father. “Protecting our people means making sure there’s still a crown if the worst happens,” he said quietly. “Stay behind the walls. Command the defenses. If this is a distraction, I need my strongest blade guarding home.” “But, Father…” “Elaria.” His voice softened. “Trust me.” Before I could argue, he pulled on his wolf pelt as his warhorse was brought forward. “Alden! Mount up!” he roared, swinging into the saddle. “To the eastern pass!” I watched my father lead fifty riders through the archway. Their hooves thundered across the drawbridge as dust and frost settled around me. Ten agonizing minutes passed. Then the ancestral soul-thread connecting me to my father violently snapped. A brutal spasm tore through my ribs, driving me to my knees. My vision flashed red. The royal war-horn blared across the valley,a frantic alarm that suddenly cut off into silence. The alpine wind whipped across the courtyard, carrying a scent that froze my blood. Charcoal. Burnt cedar. And the unmistakable metallic stench of my father’s blood soaking into the snow. My White Alpha wolf shrieked inside my soul. To hell with his commands. To hell with the inner walls. My eyes ignited with white-hot Alpha fire as I snapped my head toward Captain Alden, my voice dropping into a lethal register that shook the stone walls. “Saddle my stallion,” I roared, unleashing a wave of Alpha Command that forced every guard in the courtyard to their knees. “If my father bleeds today, I will make Shadowfang drown in their own blood!”