Chapter 1
Chapter One
The Voice Beneath the Moon
The first thing Seraphina Valen heard every morning was her wolf.
Wake up.
Sera pulled the blanket over her head.
“No.”
You’re late.
“I’m not.”
You are.
Sera opened one eye and looked at the clock.
7:42 a.m.
She sat up.
“Okay... maybe I am.”
Aurelia laughed inside her mind.
I told you.
Sera threw a pillow at the wall.
“I hate mornings.”
You hate mornings because you stay awake half the night.
“I was busy.”
Watching dramas.
“Research.”
You were crying over fictional characters.
Sera frowned.
“They were sad.”
You cried for forty minutes.
“They deserved my tears.”
Aurelia sighed dramatically.
You are impossible.
Sera smiled.
“And you love me.”
Unfortunately.
Sera laughed.
Aurelia had been with her for two years.
The moment Sera turned fourteen, Aurelia had awakened.
A deep-blue wolf with eyes almost the same shade as Sera’s.
They had been inseparable ever since.
Aurelia wasn’t just Sera’s wolf.
She was her closest secret.
Her voice when Sera needed advice.
Her argument partner when Sera was being stubborn.
And sometimes...
Her only company.
Sera walked toward the mirror.
Her light-blue hair was tangled from sleep.
She stared at herself.
“Disaster.”
Beautiful disaster.
Sera smiled.
“You’re getting sentimental.”
Don’t ruin it.
Sera grabbed a brush.
Then paused.
Something had caught her attention.
Outside her window, the moon was still visible.
It was strange.
It should have disappeared beneath the morning sky by now.
Yet it remained unusually bright.
Sera stared at it.
Aurelia became quiet.
“Aurelia?”
No response.
“What’s wrong?”
Aurelia finally spoke.
I don’t know.
Sera frowned.
Her wolf always had an answer.
Even when the answer was ridiculous.
But now...
Aurelia sounded uncertain.
Let’s leave the window.
Sera looked at the moon one more time.
Then closed the curtains.
“You’re late.”
Sera stopped at the dining-room entrance.
Her father hadn’t even looked up.
Alpha Adrian Valen continued reading the report in his hands.
“I’m three minutes late.”
“You’re still late.”
Sera pulled out her chair.
“Good morning to you too.”
Her mother, Luna Evelina, glanced at her.
“You should learn to take your responsibilities seriously.”
Sera sat down.
“I do.”
Kael looked up from his phone.
“You overslept.”
Sera looked at him.
“And you talk too much.”
Kael smirked.
“Good morning, sister.”
“Morning, spoiled prince.”
He grinned.
“I prefer future Alpha.”
“Of course you do.”
Kael was the heir.
Everyone knew it.
He knew it most of all.
Their father had spent years preparing him to lead Mooncrest.
Sera had never been given the same attention.
She wasn’t expected to inherit anything.
She wasn’t expected to lead.
She wasn’t even expected to cause problems.
Unfortunately for everyone...
She enjoyed causing problems.
Adrian placed his report down.
“Training begins at ten.”
Sera sighed.
“Again?”
“Yes.”
“I trained yesterday.”
“And?”
“And I’m still alive.”
Kael laughed.
Adrian didn’t.
“You need discipline.”
Sera picked up a piece of toast.
“I have discipline.”
Her father stared at her.
She smiled.
“Somewhere.”
Evelina sighed.
“Seraphina.”
Sera immediately knew that tone.
“Fine.”
She took a bite.
“I’ll behave.”
Aurelia whispered inside her mind.
You won’t.
Sera almost choked.
“Be quiet.”
I know you too well.
After breakfast, Sera walked through the garden.
Mara was waiting beside the rose bushes.
“There you are.”
Sera smiled.
“Mama!”
Mara opened her arms.
Sera immediately hugged her.
Mara was the closest thing Sera had ever had to a mother who actually acted like one.
She had raised Sera since she was a baby.
She taught her how to read.
How to cook.
How to fight.
How to defend herself.
And most importantly...
How to survive being underestimated.
Mara looked at her.
“Your hair.”
“What about it?”
“It’s a mess.”
Sera smiled.
“I like it.”
“You always say that.”
“Because it’s true.”
Mara shook her head.
“You and that wolf of yours.”
Sera grinned.
“Aurelia agrees.”
I do.
Mara smiled.
“Tell Aurelia I said good morning.”
Sera’s expression softened.
“She says good morning.”
Mara laughed.
Training began exactly at ten.
Adrian stood across from Sera.
“Shift.”
Sera rolled her shoulders.
“Already?”
“You’ve been shifting for two years.”
“I know.”
“Then shift.”
Sera closed her eyes.
She felt Aurelia step forward.
Ready?
“Always.”
The familiar warmth moved through her.
Her bones shifted.
Her senses sharpened.
And moments later, a deep-blue wolf stood where Sera had been.
Aurelia stretched.
Finally.
Sera’s voice echoed through their shared mind.
“Don’t get dramatic.”
Aurelia’s tail flicked.
I have been waiting all morning.
Adrian’s wolf, Ragnar, stepped forward.
Massive.
Powerful.
Aurelia’s ears lowered.
Not from fear.
From focus.
Adrian gave a command.
“Attack.”
Aurelia charged.
Ragnar blocked her.
She spun.
Attacked again.
This time she almost reached his shoulder.
Almost.
Ragnar knocked her sideways.
Aurelia rolled across the grass and immediately jumped back up.
Again.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Obviously.
They fought for several minutes.
Sera could feel every movement.
Every breath.
Every change in the air.
Then Aurelia suddenly froze.
Wait.
Sera felt it too.
Something.
A scent.
Faint.
Almost impossible to detect.
Not wolf.
Not rogue.
Something unfamiliar.
Aurelia’s ears pointed toward the forest.
Someone is there.
Sera looked toward the trees.
Nothing.
Adrian noticed her distraction.
“Seraphina.”
She turned.
“Yes?”
“Focus.”
Aurelia continued staring into the forest.
I smell something.
“What?”
I don’t know.
Sera frowned.
“Can you track it?”
It’s gone.
Sera looked toward the trees again.
Whatever had been there...
Had disappeared.
That evening, Sera sat on the roof outside her bedroom.
Mara hated when she did this.
Sera loved doing it.
The moon was rising.
Aurelia was unusually quiet.
Sera noticed.
“You’re still thinking about the forest.”
Yes.
“Do you know what you smelled?”
No.
“Then stop worrying.”
Aurelia didn’t answer.
Sera looked up.
The moon was brighter tonight.
Much brighter.
A strange feeling settled over her.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
It felt almost like being watched.
Sera slowly stood.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
The forest remained silent.
Then—
Aurelia growled.
Someone is there.
Sera’s eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
Behind the trees.
Sera looked.
For several seconds, she saw nothing.
Then two pale eyes appeared between the branches.
Sera froze.
Aurelia stepped forward inside her mind.
Don’t move.
The eyes didn’t blink.
Sera couldn’t breathe.
Then, slowly...
They disappeared.
The forest became silent again.
Sera stared into the darkness.
“What was that?”
Aurelia’s voice was barely a whisper.
I don’t know.
For the first time since she had awakened, Aurelia sounded genuinely unsettled.
Then something strange happened.
The moonlight touched Sera’s face.
And for the briefest moment...
Aurelia felt something.
A memory that wasn’t hers.
A place she’d never seen.
A voice she didn’t recognize.
And one word.
Run.
Aurelia immediately pushed Sera away from the window.
Inside.
Sera stumbled backward.
“What happened?”
I don’t know.
“Aurelia.”
I said inside, Sera.
For once...
Sera didn’t argue.
She closed the window.
Locked it.
Then pulled the curtains shut.
Neither of them spoke.
Outside, deep within the forest, something moved.
And far away from Mooncrest...
Someone opened their eyes beneath the same moon.
They looked toward the distant pack.
And whispered a name that no one in Mooncrest had spoken in years.
“Seraphina.”
The moon disappeared behind the clouds.
And the watcher smiled.
