Prologue – The First Bite
Velaris, 131 years before the Crimson Eclipse
The moon bled that night.
Over the black forest of Velaris, a crimson halo circled the sky like a warning whispered to gods long forgotten. The ground pulsed. Trees howled. And beneath them, a man knelt over the woman he'd sworn never to touch.
"I shouldn't have come," she whispered, trembling.
"You called me, Lira." His voice was cracked, feral. "You were in heat,do you know what that does to a wolf like me?"
Lira's breath caught. Her shift dress clung to her curves, soaked from the river she had just crossed. "If I let you bite me… the bond will never break."
"You don’t want it to break."
In a single breath, he crossed the space between them. His hands were rough, large, trembling—not from fear, but restraint. He touched her jaw, tilted her head. Her pulse fluttered. His eyes glowed silver.
"You’ll be mine, forever," he growled.
"Then take it," she whispered.
The bite was brutal,cruel in its passion. And when the blood touched the moonlight, a scream shattered across Velaris.
The Moon Queen had been born.
