Chapter 1 “The Wolf Beneath The Storm”

The storm rolled in without warning. One moment, the night was quiet; the next, the sky split open, spilling rain like shattered glass.

I clutched my cloak tighter and pushed through the forest path, the smell of wet earth rising around me. The storm had caught me halfway between villages, and I was already cursing myself for not leaving earlier. The forest near the border was dangerous at night — not because of bandits, but because of the stories whispered about what lived beyond the ridge.

Wolves that walked as men.

Men who howled at the moon.

The Silverfangs.

I had always laughed at those tales when my grandmother told them. Until tonight.

A low sound sliced through the wind — a growl, rough and wounded.

I froze.

There, between the trees, something moved.

At first I thought it was a shadow. Then lightning flashed, and I saw it — a massive wolf, silver as moonlight, its fur matted with blood. One of its legs dragged behind it, and every step left a dark smear in the mud.

My heart thudded painfully. Common sense screamed run, but something stronger rooted me to the spot. The healer in me — or maybe the fool.

“Easy,” I whispered, lowering my hood. My voice trembled. “I won’t hurt you.”

The wolf’s golden eyes lifted to mine. They weren’t the dull eyes of a beast — they were sharp, intelligent… and heartbreakingly human.

He staggered once more and collapsed near the creek, sides heaving.

Without thinking, I ran to him, kneeling in the mud. His fur was warm under my hands, his pulse faint but steady.

“Gods, what happened to you…” I murmured, scanning the gash on his side. The wound was clean — too clean for a wild fight. A blade had done this. A poisoned one, judging by the dark veins spreading beneath his fur.

He growled weakly when I touched him, but didn’t bite. Instead, his head fell beside my knee, as if surrendering.

I tore open my pouch, fingers shaking. “Hold on,” I whispered, mixing crushed bellroot and moonmint into a paste. I pressed it into the wound. The mixture hissed on contact, and the wolf flinched violently, eyes glowing bright gold before dimming again.

“You’ll live,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if it was true. “Just—don’t die here. Please.”

Thunder cracked again, so loud it shook the ground. I looked up — the trees were swaying hard, their shadows bending under the storm. When I looked back down, the wolf’s breathing had slowed. For a terrible moment, I thought he’d stopped.

Then his eyes opened once more, locking with mine.

A strange warmth surged through me — a pulse that wasn’t my own heartbeat, but his. It rippled through my veins like light through water. I gasped and stumbled back.

The wolf gave one last shudder… and went still.

I reached for him, but the forest had gone silent. No wind. No rain. No sound at all.

Only the heartbeat I could suddenly feel inside my chest — strong, unfamiliar, echoing in perfect time with my own.

When I woke, the storm had passed.

I was lying on the forest floor, the air damp and cold. The wolf was gone. Only a faint trail of silver fur remained near the creek, already vanishing under the fog.

I pressed a hand to my chest. My heart was pounding wildly, faster than normal. Every nerve in my body buzzed with strange energy — sharper hearing, a keener scent, a restless ache beneath my skin that made me want to run until the world disappeared.

“What in the gods’ name…” I whispered.

A sound behind me — boots crushing wet leaves.

I turned sharply, expecting a traveler. Instead, three figures in dark armor stepped into view, their faces hidden behind silver masks shaped like wolves.

“By order of Her Majesty, Queen Morwen of the Silverfangs,” one said, voice cold as steel. “You are under arrest.”

“Arrest?” I stammered. “For what?”

The soldier raised a scroll, sealed in wax. “For trespassing into the Silverfang Realm. And for awakening the Blood Moon bond.”

I blinked, heart hammering. “I—I don’t know what that means.”

The tallest of the three tilted his head, studying me. Beneath the mask, I saw a flicker of curiosity — or pity.

“You will,” he said quietly. “When the prince wakes.”

Before I could move, they surrounded me. Cold metal touched my wrists, and the forest dissolved into shadows as they led me away — through the mist, across an unseen border, and into the world of wolves I had never believed was real.