Lyra's POV
The moon hung low over Silverfang territory that night, veiled behind a curtain of smoke-gray clouds.
The air was too still for a full-moon evening too heavy, as though the forest itself sensed what was coming.
I remember standing barefoot on the veranda of our packhouse, the cool wood pressing against my toes while the faint scent of rain drifted through the air. Father always said the moon was the goddess's eye watching, judging, blessing.
But that night, her eye felt closed.
"Lyra, come inside before you catch cold."
Mother's voice floated through the open doors, warm and commanding all at once. She was everything an Alpha Luna should be graceful yet fierce. Her long auburn hair was tied back, her eyes glowing faintly gold even in human form.
I turned toward her, clutching the small silver pendant my brother had given me earlier that day a tiny wolf etched into the center.
"I'm not cold," I whispered. "It feels different tonight."
Mother's gaze softened. She crouched, the hem of her black gown brushing the floor as she cupped my face in her hands.
"That's your instincts growing stronger, my little moon," she said gently. "You're feeling what the entire pack do feel."
At nine , I didn't yet understand the weight of what that meant. The Silverfang Pack had been one of the strongest in the northern territories a name spoken with respect and fear.
My father, Alpha Tristan Hale, ruled with balance firm when he had to be, merciful when he chose to be. And my brother, Theo, his heir, was already a prodigy at sixteen strong, calm and protective.
Just then, Theo appeared behind Mother, stepping up onto the veranda. Already quite tall, with the same dark color of his hair as Father, and those same quiet flames in his eyes, he gave me a playful grin.
"Spying on the moon again, pup?"
I stuck my tongue out. "No, I am not spying; she is simply quiet tonight."
Theo looked down at me slightly, frowning lightly. "Being quiet is never always good."
Before Mother could give him a hard time about his negative talk, a loud, piercing howl sounded in the distance beyond the trees. This was an alarm, and it was certainly not a happy howl from the wolves that were part of the patrol coming back home.
Mother froze, and Theo's hand went to the knife at his waist.
And then there was the smell. Smoke. Metal. Blood.
There had been one howl that was still hanging in the air when the sudden, oppressive silence followed it. But this silence was nothing like comforting silence it felt like something had sucked the life out of everything and now everyone was holding their breath.
Theo's fingers closed tighter around the hilt of his knife. Mother's eyes flashed towards the trees where the mist swirled.
"Wait here," she said softly. "All of you.
In a flash, she was gone. One heartbeat she was human, and the next she was a russet-colored wolf running through the mist into the garden beyond.
Theo and I remained motionless on the veranda while the smell of smoke grew heavier. I grasped his sleeve.
"Theo...what is going on?"
For a moment, Theo did not respond. His jaw muscles flexed under the tension in his face, and his eyes flickered rapidly between human brown and wolf gold.
After a few moments, he dropped to his knees in front of me, and his expression softened compared to his voice.
"Don't you remember what Father told you?" he asked. "If the pack is in danger, you run south. You go to the Riverbend Pack, and you tell them who you are."
I furrowed my brow.
"But Father said that's only if"
"Lyra."
His voice cracked for the first time. "If anything happens, you promise me you'll run. Promise."
My throat tightened. "But you'll come, too?"
He gave me a small, crooked smile. "Of course I will. You think I'd let you get all the adventure?"
It was a lie I knew it even then. His eyes said otherwise.
Before I could argue, the air around us seemed to shift. It was faint, but I felt it a pulse, like something deep in the earth had stirred and was calling to me. My chest ached suddenly, a strange, steady thrum beneath my ribs that didn't belong to fear.
I looked up at the moon, and for a heartbeat, everything else fell away.
The clouds parted, and moonlight broke through, spilling silver across the forest. And there far away, so faint it could have been imagined I felt a second heartbeat align with mine. Not Father's, not Theo's. Someone else's.
A flicker of warmth and pull, like the bond of a string drawn between two souls. It terrified me.
"Lyra?"
Theo's voice snapped me back. "Lyra, what is it?"
"I… don't know," I whispered. "Someone's"
A scream cut through the night. A man's voice. One of our sentries.
Then another howl this time closer, darker, and laced with killing intent.
Theo rose in a flash, yanking me toward the doors. "Inside. Now!"
We ran through the halls, our bare feet echoing against marble floors. Shouts erupted in the distance guards, warriors, orders. The walls themselves seemed to tremble.
Father appeared at the end of the corridor, already half-shifted. His chest was bare, his eyes burning molten gold.
Blood streaked his shoulder, but his presence filled the hall like thunder.
"Theo, take your sister and go!"
Theo shook his head. "I can fight!"
"Not tonight!" Father's roar shook the air. "Go!"
For one second, they locked eyes Alpha and heir, father and son.
Then Theo grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the servant tunnels at the back of the manor.
I looked over my shoulder as we ran. Father turned toward the courtyard, and through the windows, I saw it the forest beyond our lands burning red.
Wolves clashed in the flames, their snarls like the sound of tearing steel.
And among them, I saw something that made my blood run cold.
Our banners. Our warriors.
Fighting each other.