CHAPTER ONE The Girl Who Dreamed of Wolves
Satine had never considered herself remarkable.
At twenty-one, she was tall and slender, with long, dark-brown hair that fell in loose waves down her back. Her eyes were an unusual grey-green, although they sometimes appeared almost silver beneath certain lights. A faint crescent-shaped birthmark rested just beneath her left collarbone, something she'd had since birth.
She had always thought it was nothing more than a strange little mark.
There was nothing particularly unusual about her life.
She lived in a small village surrounded by thick forests and mountains. She worked at the local bakery six days a week, rented a little cottage on the edge of town, and spent most evenings alone with a book.
She didn't have many friends.
She didn't have family.
And she had no memories of her mother beyond fragments.
The scent of lavender.
A soft voice singing.
Warm arms holding her close.
And a silver necklace.
That necklace was the only thing her mother had left behind.
Satine wore it every day.
She had never known why.
She simply couldn't bring herself to take it off.
There was another thing Satine had never been able to explain.
Her dreams.
They had started when she was a child.
At first, they had frightened her.
Eventually, she had become accustomed to them.
The dream always began beneath the moon.
A huge silver moon hung in a sky without stars, casting an eerie glow over an endless forest.
Satine would always find herself standing barefoot among the trees.
The ground beneath her feet was cold.
Mist curled around her ankles.
And somewhere in the darkness, wolves waited.
She never saw them arrive.
One moment she would be alone.
The next, dozens of pairs of glowing eyes would surround her.
Black wolves.
Grey wolves.
White wolves.
Some enormous.
Some smaller.
But there was always one wolf she noticed first.
A massive black wolf standing apart from the others.
He was larger than any wolf should have been.
His fur was almost completely black, except where the moonlight caught the edges of his body.
And his eyes...
His eyes were golden.
Every time Satine dreamed of him, she felt the same strange sensation.
Recognition.
As though she had known him long before she could remember.
She never knew his name.
She never knew why he watched her.
But she knew one thing.
He was waiting for her.
Every time she tried to approach him, a voice whispered behind her.
Run.
And every time she turned around—
She woke.
Tonight was no different.
Satine jolted upright in bed.
Her breathing was uneven.
For several seconds, she didn't know where she was.
Then the familiar darkness of her bedroom slowly came into focus.
The old wooden dresser.
The faded curtains.
The small bedside lamp.
The pile of books beside her bed.
She glanced at the clock.
2:17 a.m.
Satine dragged a hand through her hair.
“Again,” she whispered.
She hated that dream.
Not because it was frightening.
Because it felt real.
She pushed the blanket away and climbed out of bed.
Her feet touched the cold wooden floor.
She shivered.
Outside, rain had been falling earlier, but now the village was strangely quiet.
Satine walked toward the window and pulled the curtain aside.
The clouds had moved away.
A full moon hung over the forest.
She stared at it.
Something about tonight felt different.
Then she heard it.
A howl.
Satine froze.
The sound had come from the forest.
Another howl followed.
Closer.
Her heart began beating faster.
“There aren't wolves here,” she whispered.
Everyone in the village knew that.
At least, they were supposed to.
The forests surrounding the village had been considered unsafe for decades, but no one had seen a wolf in years.
Another howl echoed through the darkness.
This time, something inside Satine's chest responded.
A strange pull.
A warmth beneath her skin.
She slowly moved closer to the window.
Then something shifted between the trees.
Satine stopped breathing.
Two golden eyes appeared in the darkness.
A wolf stepped into the moonlight.
Satine stared.
The creature was enormous.
Its shoulders were nearly level with the bottom of her window, and its black fur blended almost perfectly with the shadows surrounding it.
But those eyes...
Those impossible golden eyes...
Satine knew them.
She didn't know how.
She simply did.
The wolf stared directly at her.
Neither moved.
Satine should have been terrified.
Instead, an unfamiliar calm settled over her.
The wolf stepped forward.
Her heart skipped.
Then something impossible happened.
The creature began to change.
Its body stretched.
Bones shifted.
Black fur disappeared.
Within seconds, a man stood beneath the moon.
Satine stumbled backward.
He was tall.
Very tall.
Broad shoulders stretched beneath a dark shirt, and his muscular build made it obvious that he was someone accustomed to physical strength rather than merely possessing it.
His hair was black, slightly tousled from the night air.
A faint scar ran through his left eyebrow.
Another disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt.
But it was his face that held Satine's attention.
Strong jaw.
Sharp cheekbones.
Hard features.
And those golden eyes.
They were exactly the same as the wolf's.
He looked up at her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
His expression was unreadable.
Then his gaze dropped to the silver necklace around her neck.
His entire body went still.
“Satine,” he said.
Her stomach dropped.
She opened the window a fraction.
“How do you know my name?”
The stranger stared at her as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.
“You're alive.”
Satine frowned.
“What?”
He took a step toward the house.
“I've been looking for you.”
Her fingers tightened around the window frame.
“Who are you?”
He looked at her again.
There was something unsettling about his expression.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Something much closer to relief.
“My name is Zayden.”
Satine repeated the name silently.
Zayden.
It sounded familiar.
Impossible.
But familiar.
“How do you know me?” she asked.
Zayden's jaw tightened.
“Because I've known about you for years.”
Satine stared at him.
“That doesn't answer my question.”
“No,” he admitted.
He glanced toward the forest.
His entire posture changed.
The relaxed stillness disappeared.
His shoulders stiffened.
His eyes narrowed.
Satine noticed.
“What is it?”
Zayden didn't answer.
Instead, he looked back at her.
“You need to leave.”
She almost laughed.
“Excuse me?”
“Pack a bag.”
“Why?”
“Because this village isn't safe anymore.”
Satine folded her arms.
“You're going to have to do better than that.”
Zayden's expression hardened.
“Satine, I'm not asking.”
“Then you're going to be disappointed.”
A faint flicker of amusement appeared in his eyes.
“You're stubborn.”
“You're a stranger standing in my garden at two in the morning.”
“I suppose that's fair.”
“Thank you.”
The amusement disappeared.
“They've found you.”
Satine's stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Zayden looked toward the forest.
“The people who've been searching for you since the day you were born.”
Silence filled the room.
Satine swallowed.
“Why would anyone be looking for me?”
Zayden's eyes moved to the necklace again.
His voice became quieter.
“Because of who your mother was.”
Satine's heart stopped.
“You knew my mother?”
Zayden didn't answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
Satine opened the window wider.
“You knew her.”
“Yes.”
“What was her name?”
His expression softened for the first time.
“Selene.”
Satine's breath caught.
She had never heard her mother's name from another person's lips.
Not once.
“How did you know her?”
Zayden looked away.
“She made me a promise.”
Satine frowned.
“What promise?”
Before he could answer, a howl echoed through the forest.
Zayden immediately turned.
This howl was different.
There was no loneliness in it.
No warning.
It was a signal.
His golden eyes darkened.
“Lock the door.”
Satine's heart began pounding.
“What?”
“Lock your door.”
“Zayden—”
“Now.”
Something in his voice made her move.
Satine closed the window and hurried toward her bedroom door.
She locked it.
Then she heard something downstairs.
A crash.
Satine froze.
Another crash.
Then a scream.
Her blood ran cold.
“Zayden?”
No answer.
Footsteps thundered through the house.
Someone was running upstairs.
Satine backed away from the door.
Her eyes searched the room.
There was nowhere to go.
The footsteps stopped outside.
Silence.
Then a man's voice came from the other side.
“Satine.”
She covered her mouth.
The voice was unfamiliar.
“Open the door.”
She didn't move.
The stranger chuckled softly.
“You really don't know, do you?”
Satine's breathing became shallow.
“Know what?”
The stranger laughed.
“What you are.”
The bedroom door shook violently.
Satine screamed.
The wood cracked.
Again.
Then—
The entire door exploded inward.
A dark figure stepped through.
Satine stumbled backward.
The stranger smiled.
He was tall, with pale skin and dark hair, but there was something unnatural about his eyes.
They were completely black.
“Finally,” he whispered.
Satine's back hit the wall.
“What do you want?”
The stranger took a step toward her.
“Your blood.”
Before he could reach her, a black blur slammed into him.
The two figures crashed through the doorway.
A monstrous growl shook the walls.
Satine stared.
The black wolf stood over the stranger.
Zayden.
His golden eyes burned with fury.
The stranger snarled.
“You can't protect her forever, Alpha.”
Satine's eyes widened.
Alpha?
Zayden lunged.
The stranger disappeared down the staircase.
Zayden turned toward Satine.
“Run.”
Satine couldn't move.
“Who are you?”
Zayden stepped toward her.
“Someone who is trying to keep you alive.”
“Why?”
He stared at her for a long moment.
Then he said the words that would change everything.
“Because you're not human, Satine.”
Her heart stopped.
“What?”
Zayden's expression softened.
“You never were.”
Outside, hundreds of wolves began howling.
And somewhere deep beneath the earth, something ancient opened its eyes.
Satine didn't know it yet.
But that night was the last night she would ever live an ordinary life.
Because the girl who had spent twenty-one years believing she was nobody...
was the one every kingdom had been waiting for.
The Luna had returned.
