The ceiling groaned, raining sparks onto my scarred right leg as I dragged myself deeper into the burning manor.
"Damian!" I coughed, swatting away a curtain of thick black smoke.
I found him pinned beneath a charred oak beam in the center of the grand foyer. He was hacking up gray ash, his hands weakly pushing against the massive timber.
I dropped to my knees, ignoring the blistering heat radiating from the floorboards. I wedged my shoulder under the wood. My bad leg screamed in protest, the old injury flaring with white-hot agony.
"Push!" I yelled, digging my heels into the rug.
Together, we heaved the timber off. Damian scrambled backward, clutching his ribs.
"Help me up," I choked out, reaching my soot-stained hand toward him.
The floorboards trembled violently. A massive crystal chandelier crashed ten feet away, sending a wave of searing heat washing over my face.
Damian looked at my outstretched hand. He stood up, brushing the ash from his trousers. He didn't reach for me.
"Damian?" I asked, my voice cracking from the smoke.
A second figure emerged from the corridor behind him. My sister, Ivy. Her silk dress was pristine, completely untouched by the destruction devouring our home.
Damian grabbed Ivy's waist, pulling her flush against his chest.
"What are you doing?" I shouted, panic rising in my chest. "The roof is coming down! We have to go!"
He didn't answer me. Instead, a cold, sharp intrusion pierced my skull. He forced the mate bond open. He didn't speak the words aloud, choosing to dump his unfiltered thoughts directly into my mind.
*A wolfless reject.* His mental voice dripped with absolute disgust. *If I didn't owe her for saving my life five years ago, I never would have claimed her. Today is perfect. She dies here, and I can finally be with the woman I truly love.*
My arm dropped back to the burning floor. The heat of the fire vanished, replaced by an icy numbness spreading through my veins.
I ruined my leg pulling him from a rogue ambush. I endured the whispers of his pack, the pitying stares of the elders, all because he promised to honor my sacrifice.
Ivy stepped closer to the edge of the collapsing floor, a cruel smile stretching across her lips.
"Don't look so pathetic, Freya," she yelled over the crackling wood. "The Blackwood family and the Luna position are mine now. I'll take excellent care of him."
"You planned this," I whispered, staring at my own sister.
"You were always just a placeholder," Ivy retorted, resting her head against Damian's shoulder. "A crippled charity case."
Damian turned his back on me. He hoisted Ivy into his arms and bolted for the grand exit, not looking over his shoulder even once.
"Wait!" I screamed, pushing off the floor.
My bad leg buckled instantly. I collapsed hard against the burning wood, tearing the skin off my palms.
The heavy oak doors slammed shut behind them.
A burning support beam snapped directly above me. The ceiling gave way, sending a shower of flaming debris raining down.
I curled into a ball, squeezing my eyes shut. This was it. I was going to burn alive in the house I helped build, betrayed by the only two people I trusted.
But the burning never came.
A blinding flash of silver light erupted from the center of my chest. The force of it threw the flames backward, creating a perfect, cool circle around my body. The roaring fire muted into a distant, muffled hum.
The silver glow intensified, wrapping around my limbs like a physical shield.
A voice echoed in the space around me, ancient and melodic, vibrating through the floorboards.
"My child, the slumber is over."
I stared at my glowing hands, trembling uncontrollably.
"The true bloodline of the Moon Goddess has awakened," the voice declared.
The silver light flared into a brilliant nova, piercing through the roof of the manor. The gravity in the room vanished, lifting me inches off the ground, and then the world went totally dark.
Cold marble pressed against my spine.
I opened my eyes, blinking against a harsh, pure light. Gone was the smoke, the ash, the suffocating heat of the Blackwood manor.
A vaulted ceiling carved from gleaming silver stretched high above me. Frost-colored tapestries hung from towering pillars, swaying gently in a cool breeze.
I pushed myself up into a sitting position on the massive bed. My right leg didn't ache. I threw off the silk blanket and stared at my knee. The jagged scars were gone. The chronic stiffness, the pain that had haunted me for five years, had completely vanished.
"You heal remarkably fast."
I flinched, snapping my head to the left.
A man stood beside a towering arched window. He was massive, his broad shoulders blocking the moonlight pouring into the room. He wore a sharply tailored black suit, a stark contrast to his pale skin and silver-white hair.
He stepped forward. Ice-blue eyes locked onto mine, carrying an oppressive, heavy authority that made my pulse hammer against my ribs.
"Where am I?" I demanded, gripping the edge of the mattress. "Who are you?"
"You are safe," he replied, his voice a low, resonant baritone that commanded the space in the room. "And you are far from the cowards who left you to burn."
"How do you know about the fire?" I asked, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
He stopped at the foot of the bed, resting his large hands on the silver footboard.
"Because I have watched you for a very long time, Freya."
I scanned the room, looking for an exit. The heavy oak doors were closed tight. No guards, but this man radiated enough power to take down an entire pack alone.
"I asked who you are," I said, keeping my tone steady.
"My name is Lucien," he said.
The name hit me like a physical blow. Lucien. The Supreme Alpha of the Federation. A myth to most packs, a ruler who governed the supernatural world from the shadows. No one saw him unless he wanted them dead.
"The Supreme Alpha," I whispered, gripping the sheets tighter.
"Yes." He tilted his head, studying my face with an unreadable expression. "I have spent years searching for the lost anomaly. The one wolf born without a spirit, or so the rumors said."
"I am wolfless," I shot back, defensive instinct kicking in immediately. "Damian made sure to remind me of that right before he left me to die."
Lucien's jaw tightened. "Damian is a fool playing with dirt, unaware he held a diamond. You are not wolfless, Freya."
"I have never shifted. I have never heard a wolf in my head. I am twenty-three years old, Lucien. It doesn't happen this late."
"Because your wolf was not meant for a normal pack," Lucien said, stepping around the bed to stand directly over me. "She was dormant. Waiting for the catalyst."
He extended a hand, his long fingers hovering inches from my cheek.
"Welcome home, Moon Maiden."
I opened my mouth to call him crazy, to demand he let me leave, but a sudden pressure built behind my ribs. It wasn't pain. It was a massive, untamed energy pushing against my skin, demanding to be released.
I gasped, clutching my chest as a glowing silver aura began to seep from my pores.
"Let her forward," Lucien commanded softly. "Do not fight it."
I closed my eyes, unable to stop the surge of power.
In the dark void of my mind, where there had only ever been empty silence, a shape formed.
Paws the size of boulders hit the ground. A coat of shimmering, luminescent silver fur reflected an unseen moon.
A massive white wolf rose to her full height inside my consciousness, throwing her head back to let out a howl that shook the very foundations of my soul, her glowing silver eyes snapping open to meet mine.
