Morning came, but Selena hadn't slept.
She stood at the edge of the packhouse balcony, the wind tugging at her hair. The vision from the Moon Realm still haunted her. That Alpha, the one who didn't speak, but whose presence had shaken her to her core felt too real to ignore.
She could still feel his eyes on her.
> "You look like someone who's seen a ghost," a voice said behind her.
Selena turned to find Rhea, the Beta's younger sister. Sharp-eyed and loyal to no one but truth, Rhea had always been suspicious of Damien's reign.
> "I saw something," Selena admitted. "Someone."
> "A threat?"
Selena hesitated. "I don't know yet."
Before Rhea could respond, a howl echoed from the north border distress. Immediate.
Within seconds, the courtyard filled with wolves. Selena leapt from the balcony, shifting midair into her silver-toned wolf, her aura crackling. She reached the border in minutes.
What she saw chilled her.
Three patrol wolves lay unconscious. No blood. No wounds. Just silence.
> "Poison?" Rhea asked, sniffing.
Selena shook her head. No, this was magic. Ancient magic.
Then she noticed it burned into the tree nearby:
A crescent moon with a claw slash through it.
Not a message.
A warning.
> "What does it mean?" Rhea whispered.
> "It means someone wants me gone," Selena said coldly. "And they're not afraid to use forbidden marks to do it."
From behind, the Elder arrived, his face pale.
> "Selena… this mark. It's from the Order of Shadows."
Selena narrowed her eyes. "Then they've made their first mistake."
> "Why?"
> "Because I'm not afraid of shadows anymore."
She look
ed into the forest, her voice steady.
> "I am the Moon's light."