Chapter 1
Chapter One: The Night Everything Changed
The rain poured heavily over Ravenwood Village, turning the narrow roads into rivers of mud. Thunder echoed across the dark sky as seventeen-year-old Amara Blackwood ran through the forest with tears streaming down her face.
She wasn't supposed to be there.
Everyone in Ravenwood knew one rule:
Never enter the Moonshadow Forest after sunset.
But Amara wasn't thinking about rules. She had just argued with her aunt again. Since her parents died in a mysterious accident ten years earlier, life had never been easy. People in the village treated her differently. Some whispered when she walked by. Others avoided her completely.
They feared her.
And she never understood why.
As lightning flashed above the trees, Amara stopped.
She heard something
A howl.
Not a normal wolf's howl.
This one sounded deeper.
Stronger.
Almost... human.
Her heart pounded as she slowly turned around.
Two glowing golden eyes stared back at her from the darkness.
She froze.
A massive creature stepped out from behind the trees.
It stood on two legs.
Its black fur glistened in the rain.
Its claws were sharp enough to tear through stone.
And yet...
The creature wasn't attacking.
It simply stared at her.
"Who are you?" Amara whispered.
Suddenly, hunters appeared from behind the trees carrying silver weapons.
"There she is!" one shouted.
"The Alpha found the girl!"
The werewolf growled fiercely and jumped in front of Amara, protecting her.
"What is happening?" Amara screamed.
The leader of the hunters removed his hood.
Amara's blood ran cold.
It was Mayor Richard Kane, the man who had raised her after her parents died.
"Bring her to me alive," he ordered.
"The prophecy has finally awakened."
Before Amara could speak, the werewolf grabbed her and leaped into the darkness.
Behind them, the hunters chased through the forest.
And above the clouds
The full moon appeared.
At that exact moment, Amara felt a burning pain spread through her body.
Her eyes slowly changed from brown...
to bright silver.
And somewhere deep inside her—
Something ancient woke up.
