The first thing Lyra felt was the silence.
It wasn’t the gentle hush of night or the lull between heartbeats—it was vast and consuming, like the universe itself had held its breath. She floated in it, her body weightless, as if she’d been stripped of flesh and left only as bone and fire.
Then light cut through the void.
Silver. Pure. Blinding.
She shielded her eyes, her pulse hammering as the brilliance softened into the figure of a woman—tall, robed in moonlight, her hair flowing like rivers of starlight across her shoulders. The air trembled with her presence, and though Lyra’s wolf stirred in reverence, her human heart thrashed in rebellion.
“Selene,” Lyra whispered, the name trembling on her lips.
The Moon Goddess smiled, not gently, but like a blade catching the light. “You stan
