Serene pov.
The moon was already bleeding red when I slipped through the shadows of Lunaris.
I didn't know then what it meant. I only knew that the sky looked wrong—like an open wound that refused to heal. The light it cast was strange and hungry, turning the familiar streets of the city into something sinister.
But I couldn't stop to stare. I had work to do.
The Omegas were waiting.
---
The bread was stale, but they didn't care.
I pressed the crust into the trembling hands of a cub no older than five. His fingers were bony, his ribs visible through his torn shirt. The silver marks on his cheeks—the brand of the lowest rank in Lunaria—gleamed dully in the red moonlight.
He shoved the bread into his mouth before anyone could take it back.
"Slow down," I whispered. "You'll choke."
He didn't slow down. He didn't even breathe.
I had been stealing for the Omegas for three years now. Three years of dodging palace guards. Three years of running through alleys with my heart pounding against my ribs. It wasn't heroism. It was survival. The Omegas were the only creatures in this kingdom who looked at me like I was something other than dirt.
The cub finished the bread and looked up at me with wide, hungry eyes. There were nine of them tonight, huddled in the shadow of a crumbling wall. Nine Omegas who had been beaten, starved, and forgotten by the packs that were supposed to protect them. Nine children who would have died without the scraps I brought.
I reached into my sack and pulled out more bread. "Take it slow," I said again. "Share it. Don't fight."
The oldest boy, maybe twelve, nodded and began distributing the food. He was wise beyond his years. He had to be. Omega children grew up fast or they didn't grow up at all.
I leaned against the wall and let myself breathe. My legs ached from running. My wrists were raw from the ropes I'd cut to escape my latest master's estate. The bruises on my back throbbed where the whip had caught me.
But I was alive. And tonight, these children would sleep with full bellies.
Then I noticed the girl.
She was huddled apart from the others, her knees drawn to her chest. Her hair was matted and dirty. Her clothes were rags. She was no more than ten years old. But there was something about her eyes that made me pause.
They were silver.
Not gray. Not pale blue. Silver. Like the moonlight that spilled across the rooftops of Lunaris. I had never seen anyone with eyes like that. They seemed to glow faintly in the darkness, as if something ancient and powerful slept behind them.
I moved toward her slowly, crouching down so I was at her level.
"Hey," I said softly. "Are you hungry?"
She didn't answer. She just stared at me with those strange silver eyes. Her lips were cracked and bleeding. Her hands were shaking.
I pulled out the last piece of bread from my sack. "It's okay," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you."
She looked at the bread. Then she looked at me. Something flickered in her gaze—recognition, perhaps. Or maybe just hunger winning over fear.
She reached out and took the bread. But she didn't eat it. She held it clutched to her chest like a lifeline.
"Where are your parents?" I asked.
She shook her head. Her eyes filled with tears.
I understood. No parents. No pack. No one to protect her. Just another orphan left to rot in the streets of Lunaris, where the powerful feasted and the weak starved.
I reached out and touched her shoulder. "It's okay," I said again. "You're safe now."
She flinched at my touch. Then, slowly, she leaned into me. Her small body was trembling. I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.
"Shh," I murmured. "You're safe."
But even as I said the words, I heard footsteps.
---
I froze.
The footsteps were heavy. Measured. The sound of boots on stone. The sound of guards.
I pulled the girl behind me and pressed myself against the wall. The other Omegas were scattering like frightened mice, melting into the shadows of the alley. The cub with the silver marks grabbed his siblings and disappeared into a gap in the wall.
"Stay behind me," I whispered to the girl. "Don't move. Don't make a sound."
She nodded, her silver eyes wide.
The footsteps grew closer. I could smell the guards now—the sharp scent of metal and sweat and cheap ale. More than one. At least four, maybe five.
I risked a glance around the corner.
Five guards. Armed. Moving with purpose. They were searching for something—or someone.
One of them pointed toward the alley. "There! I saw movement!"
My heart stopped.
I grabbed the girl's hand and ran.
---
We burst out of the alley and into the streets of Lunaris. The city was bathed in the red glow of the Doom Moon, its towering spires and marble walls casting long, hungry shadows.
"Stop! Thief!"
An arrow whistled past my ear. It embedded itself in the wall beside me with a sickening thud.
I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.
I pulled the girl into a side street, then another, weaving through the maze of narrow alleys and crowded market stalls. My lungs burned. My legs screamed. But I kept running.
Behind me, the guards shouted. More arrows flew. One grazed my shoulder, tearing through my sleeve and drawing blood. I bit back a cry of pain.
The girl stumbled. I caught her before she fell.
"Come on," I gasped. "We have to keep going."
But she was slowing me down. Her legs were too short. Her body was too weak. If I stayed with her, they would catch us both.
I looked around. We were in a narrow alley filled with overturned crates. A pile of sacks sat in the corner.
"Hide here," I said, pushing her behind the sacks. "Don't make a sound. Don't move. I'll come back for you."
She looked up at me with those silver eyes. She didn't speak, but I saw something in her gaze—trust. Trust that I would keep my word.
I squeezed her hand once. "I promise."
Then I turned and ran.
---
I made it two blocks before the guards cornered me.
They emerged from the shadows on either side, blocking my escape. One of them drew his sword. Another notched an arrow.
I was trapped.
I backed against the wall, my hands raised. My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure they could hear it.
The guard with the scar on his cheek stepped forward. He was the one who had shot at me. He was smirking.
"The Scarlet Slave," he said, spitting the name like a curse. "Finally caught."
"I'm not a slave," I said through gritted teeth.
"Doesn't matter what you are. You're a thief. And thieves pay with their hands." He raised his blade. "Which one do you want to lose?"
I looked at the blade. I looked at the guards. I looked at the red moon hanging in the sky like a bloody eye.
And I felt something stir in my chest—something ancient and powerful that I did not understand.
The air around me grew cold. The guards shivered.
The scarred guard frowned. "What the—"
"Release her."
The voice cut through the air like a blade.
The guards turned. I looked up.
A woman was walking toward me through the street. She was tall and beautiful, with silver hair braided with moonstones and eyes the color of the sky at dusk. She wore a gown of white silk, and a silver crown rested on her brow.
Princess Seraphine.
The guards lowered their weapons immediately, bowing low. "Your Highness. We were just apprehending a thief. She's—"
"I know who she is." Seraphine's voice was calm, almost gentle. "Step aside."
The guards hesitated. Then they obeyed.
Seraphine walked toward me, her gown brushing the cobblestones. Her eyes met mine, and something flickered in them. Recognition? Pity? I couldn't tell.
"Your Highness," I said, my voice shaking. "I didn't—"
"You stole bread to feed Omegas," she interrupted. "I know."
I stared at her. How did she know that?
"I have been watching you for some time, Selene." She crouched down beside me, her gaze never leaving mine. "Selene Wrath."
I had not heard my full name in ten years. It hit me like a physical blow. How did she know it?
"How do you—"
"I know who you are," she said softly. "I know where you came from. I know what you have endured." She reached out and touched my cheek. "You are my sister."
The word echoed in my head. Sister.
I had no sister. I had no family. My pack was destroyed in the war. My mother was dead. My father was dead. I had been alone since I was eleven years old.
"You're lying," I whispered.
Seraphine shook her head. "I am not lying. Your father was King Aldric of Mooncrest. Your mother was his true mate. They died in the war, but you survived. You were lost to us. But I found you."
I stared at her, my mind reeling. King Aldric? Mooncrest? I had been raised in the slums of Lunaris, surviving on scraps and stolen bread. I had been beaten and starved and sold like livestock. I was nobody.
But Seraphine's eyes were sincere. And there was something about her face—something familiar that I couldn't quite place.
But there was also something else. A flicker in her gaze that I couldn't read. A shadow behind her smile.
"I have been searching for you for years," she said. "I wanted to bring you home. I wanted to give you the life you deserved."
The guards exchanged glances. The scarred one looked uncomfortable.
Seraphine stood and extended her hand to me. "Come with me, Selene. Let me show you who you truly are."
I looked at her hand. It was pale and soft, unmarred by labor. It was the hand of someone who had never known hunger or fear or pain.
I should have refused. I should have run. I knew better than to trust the powerful.
But something in me—something small and foolish—wanted to believe her.
I took her hand.
---
They brought me to the palace.
Mooncrest Palace was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. Marble halls. Golden chandeliers. Tapestries woven with the history of the Moon Wolf Queens. I walked through the corridors with Seraphine at my side, my breath catching in my chest every time I passed a guard who bowed to me.
Servants rushed to attend to me. They brought me warm water to wash the grime from my skin. They brought me clothes made of silk and velvet. They brought me food that smelled like heaven.
I had never experienced anything like it.
But I didn't relax. I couldn't.
Because something was wrong.
I could feel eyes on me wherever I went. Guards watched me from the shadows. Servants whispered behind their hands. And Queen Mother Isolde—Seraphine's mother—looked at me with cold, calculating eyes.
"Is that her?" Isolde asked, looking at me like I was a bug beneath her shoe.
"Yes, Mother," Seraphine said. "This is Selene. The lost princess."
Isolde smiled. But the smile never reached her eyes.
"Welcome home, Selene," she said. "I hope you enjoy your stay."
I didn't answer. I was too busy watching the sky outside the window.
The Doom Moon was still rising. Its red light spilled across the city of Lunaris, casting everything in a bloody glow. The same red light that had followed me through the streets. The same red light that had flickered in the eyes of the girl I had saved.
I felt something stir in my chest—something ancient and powerful that I did not understand.
And for the first time in my life, I was afraid.
---
That night, I dreamed of falling.
I was standing on a cliff, looking down at the ocean far below. The wind was howling. The moon was red.
Behind me, someone pushed.
I fell.
The rocks rushed up to meet me.
And then I heard a voice—soft and ancient and full of sorrow.
Rise, daughter.
I woke with a scream caught in my throat.
And when I looked down at my chest, a silver wolf crest burned into my skin.
Somewhere beyond the palace walls, the Doom Moon howled.
My life would never be the same again.
END OF CHAPTER 1