Prologue
I am Lyra, the only daughter of Alpha Theron, and sister to warriors Leo and Fabian, who have already had their wolf. I was the only one utterly, completely ordinary. I, Lyra, ten years old and forever on the sidelines, had felt that familiar, bittersweet ache in my chest. The ache of being the only one in my family without a wolf.
My mother had told me countless times that I have a special wolf, which will transform on my eighteenth birthday. I was looking forward to that day.
Bernard, my brother's best friend and son of Alpha Berlin, my father's rival, had just turned 18 years old. He would have his first wolf shift.
Standing before my father earlier in our lodge, his head bowed respectfully but his shoulders set with a strange tension, he had said, "Alpha Theron, my father and I… we would be deeply honored if you and your entire family would attend my celebration. It would mean everything to us. To have the Alpha's family there… it would solidify the bond and peace between our families."
My father, a mountain of a man with a beard shot through with silver, had studied him for a long moment. My father praised Bernard, the second son of his father, for being practically thoughtful, almost cautious. He smiled and replied.
"The entire family, Bernard? You know we rarely travel all together. It leaves the heart of the pack vulnerable."
"I know, Alpha," Bernard pressed, his eyes flickering to Leo, who stood beside him, beaming with pride for his friend. "But it's a new era. A show of unity. My father has insisted on making peace with your pack."
My father finally nodded, a slow, deliberate gesture. "Very well. For you, and for the unity of the pack, my sons will come along with their mother and Lyra, while I stay back."
Later, as we prepared to leave, I heard my father murmur to my mother, "Keep your eyes open, Elara. Old rivalries run deep, and Alpha Berlin, Bernard's father, has never been comfortable in my shadow. This sudden insistence on a grand, unified celebration… it feels like a strategy."
My mother simply nodded, her silver eyes glinting. "Always, my love."
........
Chapter one
Lyra's POV
My mother and I were returning home from Bernard's celebration party for his first wolf shift, when she suddenly screamed my name.
"Lyra, RUN!" my mother commanded. "We are under attack, Lyra. Run as fast as you can!"
"But mother, I am scared. I don't know where to run to," I cried.
"Run to the Hollow, where we had prepared for a day like this. It is not far from here," she insisted.
"What about Leo and Fabian, mother? I am concerned about my two brothers."
"Do not worry about them; they have their wolves, and they can survive," she assured me.
They came from everywhere: wolves, their coats matted and dark with intent, their eyes glowing with a feral yellow light. They didn't stage a challenge; they simply attacked, a tidal wave of teeth and fury.
In a flash of blinding light, my mother wolf shifted, illuminating a silver-white glow. Where my mother had stood was now a myth made flesh: a white wolf, larger and more magnificent than any other wolf, a creature of pure, deadly grace. My mother met the first attacker and crashed into it with her claws.
Some wolves were coming toward my little self, so I ran while my mother blocked them and wrestled with them.
I stood frozen, my feet rooted to the earth, my mind screaming. This wasn't happening. This was a nightmare.
"TO THE ROCKS, LYRA! NOW!" My mother's voice was a whip-crack, shattering my paralysis.
I ran. I didn't think; I just ran, my heart a frantic, terrified drum against my ribs. The world became a blur of snarling faces, flying fur, and the sickening scent of blood. I stumbled over a root, my knees scraping on the hard ground, but I scrambled up, driven by an urgent need to obey, to survive.
I finally found the hollow, the place where Leo and I had played for years; we knew every nook and cranny, especially the deep, narrow crevice hidden behind a curtain of thorny brambles. It was our secret fort, our safe place. Leo had always told me to hide there whenever there was danger.
Just as I was about to squeeze into the dark opening, a massive, brindled wolf landed in front of me, blocking my path. Saliva dripped from its curved fangs. It lowered its head, its muscles coiling to spring. I screamed a raw, helpless sound.
A white comet shot past me. My mother. She hit the brindled wolf with the force of a falling star, her jaws latching onto its neck. The sound that followed was not a fight; it was an execution. A sharp, brutal crack, and the brindled wolf dropped dead.
She dropped the remains of the wolf and shifted back to her human form for a brief moment. Her dress was in tatters, her arms and face stained with blood that was both hers and others'. Her chest heaved, but her eyes were blazing coals of determination. She grabbed me and practically threw me into the crevice: the dark opening.
The space was cold, damp, and tighter than I remembered. I curled into a ball, trying to make myself invisible.
"Listen to me," she gasped, her face appearing in the opening, a pale, beautiful moon in the darkness. Her hands framed my face, her touch surprisingly gentle amidst the chaos.
"You must not make a sound. No matter what you see. No matter what you hear, be silent. You will be brave and survive. This is not a game. Do you understand me?"
Tears streamed down my face, hot and shameful, but I managed a jerky nod.
"I love you, my little star. Remember who you are." Her expression softened, a world of love and sorrow passing through her eyes.
Then she was gone. The silver light flashed once more, and her white wolf stood guard at the entrance to my tomb. I pressed my eye to a narrow, jagged crack in the granite; it served as my personal window to the chaos happening around us.
I saw my mother fight. They didn't fight with honor; they fought to overwhelm, to exhaust. I saw fangs sink into her flank, her shoulder, her back. A cry lodged in my throat, and I bit down on my knuckles until I tasted my own blood, silencing it.
She never made a sound of pain. Only snarls of defiance.
Then, a new wave of attackers came, led by a huge, grizzled black wolf that I recognized. It was Berlin, Bernard's father. He didn't engage her directly at first; he directed the others, a general orchestrating slaughter.
From the other side of the clearing, a roar of pure rage erupted. My father, Alpha Theron, in his massive, dark grey wolf form, crashed into the fray. I felt a bit relieved when I saw him.
He moved like a force of nature, a thundercloud of vengeance, tearing through the rogue wolves to get to his mate. For a glorious, heart-lifting moment, I thought they would win. Together, my parents were unstoppable.
They fought back-to-back. The tide seemed to be turning. Hope, treacherous and wild, bloomed in my chest.
But Berlin had been waiting. As my father disemboweled one attacker, Berlin lunged from the blind side. His jaws, powerful and stronger, crushed my father's throat.
Time stopped.
My father's powerful body stiffened. His eyes, those wise, kind eyes I loved, met my mother's across the battlefield. There was no fear in them, only a profound, bottomless regret. Then, the light in him went out.
The pack link, that warm, constant hum in the back of my mind that was my father's strong, steady presence, simply… vanished. Snuffed out like a candle. A soundless scream tore through me. I felt the void where he had occupied, a cold, expanding emptiness in my soul.
My mother felt it too. A soul-shattering grief ripped from her throat, and the air that followed trembled in fear. It was a sound that would haunt me forever. In her moment of ultimate pain, distracted by the loss of her mate, the other wolves attacked her.
She went down under an aggressive force, with her bare teeth hitting the floor. The brilliant white of her fur disappeared beneath a heap of darker, coarser pelts. I saw a flash of her silver eyes one last time before they too were extinguished. The gentle, fierce light of my mother flickered and died, making it the
second present wolf in my pack link that was gone almost at the same time.
I was alone.