Prologue
The Night the Stars Went Out
Flashback – 16 years ago
Silver Moon Pack
Luna Beverly Hart
Today we are celebrating Lily’s 2nd birthday. I still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. I had complications after having Liam, our first-born son. Doctor Wesley told us we were unable to conceive again, and we were devastated. We prayed to the moon goddess Selene every day to bless us with a little girl. We lived our lives serving our goddess in hopes that she would hear our prayers. 4 years later I had a vivid dream about a little girl holding a Lily of the Valley. I felt a strong connection to this little girl and refused to get out of bed. It was then I realized that Selene had been listening all along.
Laughter broke my train of thought.
I watched Lily, tiny and barefoot, silver curls bouncing as she ran through the courtyard, arms lifted to the sky like she could fly. Lily had frosting on her cheeks and a spark in her violet eyes that made everyone smile. She was sunlight, that girl. Sweet and wild and full of light I didn’t think could ever be dimmed.
We celebrated her second birthday under the moon, surrounded by pack members and family. Her older brother Liam paraded her around, showing her off like she was a treasure no one else could touch.
She was.
She was everything.
She was special.
Until the sky cracked open and everything changed.
The first warning howl came just after sunset.
Then the screaming started.
Rogues. Dozens of them, maybe more—unmarked, savage, and fast. They stormed the eastern wall of our territory, slipping through a weak point we hadn’t fortified yet. We were celebrating, unarmed, exposed. They came like shadows, merciless and efficient.
The first thing I did was grab Lily.
She didn’t understand. She clutched her stuffed wolf and blinked up at me with those bright eyes that never knew fear. I ran. Goddess, I ran. Through the back halls of the pack house, my wolf clawing at the surface, screaming to get out, to protect. I could hear Leo shouting orders. Hear Liam yelling for me.
I almost made it.
I was just steps from the escape tunnel when the rogues found us.
One of them slammed me against the wall. Another wrenched Lily from my arms. I fought. I shifted halfway, claws ripping through flesh, teeth snapping bone. I tore through two of them before one of them shoved a silver dagger into my side.
I dropped.
Bleeding. Weak. Barely conscious.
I heard her cry out. “Mama!”
Then silence.
Then footsteps, fading.
And Lily was gone.
I crawled through the dirt, dragging myself toward the tunnel, my blood painting the stone. I tried to scream, but my lungs filled with fire. I felt the bond between mother and child—so soft, so pure—snap like a thread burned to ash.
I don’t remember passing out. Only the cold.
When I woke, Leo was beside me, covered in blood, his eyes wild with grief.
“I couldn’t find her,” he choked. “They were already gone. Beverly… they took our baby.”
My world ended that night.
Liam didn’t speak for days.
The pack mourned like we’d buried her—but we hadn’t. No body. No trail. Just whispers. Just loss.
And I kept hearing her laugh—that laugh. That golden, bright sound I feared I’d never hear again.
But I never stopped hoping.
Even when they told me to let go.
Even when my wolf whimpered in the back of my mind every time someone said her name in past tense.
Because I was her mother.
And a mother always knows…
Her daughter is still out there. Somewhere.
