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Episode 1 — The Night the Moon Chose Wrong
The forest was alive with whispers—leaves rustling, branches snapping, and the soft hum of the night creatures. But Aria Nightwind didn't hear any of it. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might tear out of her chest.
Tonight was supposed to be her First Shift—the moment every young wolf received their true form. For the others, it was a rite of passage. For her… nothing.
No wolf emerged. No strength. No fire.
Her father's disappointment still burned behind her eyes. "Aria… the pack cannot protect someone who cannot shift," he had said.
She ran. Through the shadowed trees, over tangled roots, past the silvered moonlight. Every step was agony, every breath a reminder that she was weak, that she was nothing.
Then she smelled it.
Iron and storm. A predator's scent that made her blood freeze.
Not a Moonveil wolf.
An enemy.
Aria froze. Her back hit a tree. Her mind screamed to run—but her legs refused to obey.
From the shadows, he appeared. Tall. Dark. Dominant. The kind of man who could command fear with a single glance. His eyes—silver, molten, unyielding—locked onto hers.
Kael Thornfang. Alpha of the Bloodfang Pack. The wolf who had crushed every warrior who dared cross him.
Her chest constricted. She should run, she should fight, she should scream—but the moment he stepped closer, something deeper stirred inside her. Something primal, something dangerous.
Kael inhaled sharply. His gaze widened. The forest seemed to hold its breath.
"…Impossible," he muttered under his breath.
Aria's stomach dropped.
"Who… who are you?" she stammered.
"Not who," he corrected, stepping closer, voice low and rumbling, "what."
Her breath caught. The scent of the Moon itself—or something darker—was wrapped around him. She realized with a sudden, terrifying clarity: her body was betraying her. Her wolf—silent for nineteen years—stirred at the presence of this one predator.
His hand brushed her jaw, light as a whisper, yet it burned her skin.
"The Moon has chosen you for me," he said.
Aria's heart froze. "M–Mate?" she whispered, horror and disbelief warring in her chest. "But we're enemies! Our packs—this is forbidden!"
Kael's smirk was dangerous, a promise wrapped in shadows.
"Then the Moon has made a mistake. Because if you're my mate…"
He leaned in, eyes gleaming gold as the first spark of his wolf stirred.
"…I'm never letting you go."
The night seemed to darken, the wind holding its breath. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled—a warning. A war was coming.
And Aria Nightwind had just stepped straight into its eye.
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