The moon bled red long before it crested the pines.
All across Moonveil territory, wolves stilled mid-stride, ears pricked to a sky that glowed like a fresh wound. The Blood-Moon Rite had begun hours too early, and every creature in the forest felt the change in its marrow.
High on the northern ridge, Kaida Fenwyn broke from the treeline at a run. Her breath clouded in the cold, copper-tinted air. She had known the night would be important—her twenty-first birthday, the evening of the lunar rite—but this was no ordinary summons. The moon's strange hue made the world itself look flayed. Her heart thudded with a restless, dangerous excitement she could not name.
Behind her, Seren followed in silent rhythm, her twin's footfalls light as snowfall. Together they moved like two halves of the same thought. Though their faces were identical, Seren's calm was a living contrast to Kaida's fire; one carried the storm, the other its still eye.
Far below, torches ringed the ancient altar, a bright wound in the darkness. Drums boomed in a pulse older than the pack itself. Wolves in human skin crowded the clearing, their voices low, their eyes reflecting the crimson light. Every gaze tilted skyward as the red moon lifted higher, larger than any in living memory.
Kaida and Seren descended the slope. The forest vibrated around them, branches rattling with an unseen wind. Somewhere in the distance, a lone howl rose—deep, resonant, a warning. The sisters felt it in their shared bones.
At the heart of the gathering stood the Oracle.
Aradia's hair streamed silver as riverlight, her skin pale enough to drink the moon. Blind eyes faced the heavens, but she turned her head with uncanny precision as the twins approached, as if the earth itself whispered their arrival.
"Two shadows," she intoned, voice carrying like thunder over water. "One soul divided."
The drums cut off with a single echoing beat.
"Tonight the Moon calls what should never be called," Aradia continued. "The Alpha shall know the pull of destiny twice. One bond to bind. One bond to break. Before the next eclipse, choice must be made—or the pack's heart will die."
A murmur rippled through the assembly—wolves shifting uneasily, elders exchanging startled glances. Prophecies were common; this kind of doom was not.
From the far side of the circle, a presence heavier than the prophecy itself stepped into view.
Alpha Marcel Draven moved through the crowd like night given form. Broad-shouldered, battle-scarred, his gray-silver eyes caught the torchlight and threw it back like blades. He was the youngest Alpha in three generations and the most feared; the rival Shadowbane Pack still whispered his name as a curse. Power rolled from him in a silent tide.
The moment his gaze fell on Kaida, the mate-bond struck—sharp, electric, a pull that locked her breath in her chest.
Then he looked at Seren.
A second surge, equal and impossible, clenched every muscle in his body. His wolf rose, torn between twin calls. Marcel's heartbeat thundered like the drums had moments before.
Gasps scattered through the clearing. No Alpha in Moonveil's history had ever felt the bond more than once. The Moon Goddess did not make mistakes—yet here stood proof of a broken rule.
Bram, his Beta, edged closer, voice low. "Alpha… this—"
"Silence," Marcel said without turning. His eyes stayed fixed on the sisters, his own instincts warring against logic.
Kaida felt heat flare across her skin, part fear, part something darker. Seren's fingers twitched at her side, the only outward sign of the storm that surely raged within.
The Oracle's staff struck stone with a crack that silenced even the restless wind. "Beware," Aradia said, "the shadow that wears a sister's face."
A hush fell so complete that the forest itself seemed to hold its breath.
Then, from the southern ridge, a second howl tore through the night—this one harsh, jagged, unmistakably hostile. The rival Shadowbane Pack had crossed the border.
Chaos erupted. Wolves shifted in an instant, bones snapping, fur blooming as howls answered the challenge. Torches flared and toppled. The scent of iron sharpened in the air.
Marcel did not hesitate. "Defend the line!" His command rolled through the clearing like thunder.
Kaida grabbed Seren's wrist. "Stay with me," she hissed, but the twin tugged free, eyes drawn toward the distant trees where red moonlight flashed off moving shapes.
Shadowbane wolves burst into the clearing before the pack could form ranks. Teeth and claws met flesh; the night became a blur of snarls and screams. Kaida spun, ready to shift, but a streak of black fur lunged at her from the side. She ducked, the swipe grazing her shoulder, and shifted mid-turn. Her own silver-gray wolf form leapt forward, instincts burning.
Through the chaos, she glimpsed Marcel in half-shift, his massive dark wolf cutting through enemies like a storm. Even in battle, his gaze found hers—then snapped toward Seren.
Seren had been cornered by a pair of Shadowbane wolves, their eyes bright with bloodlust. Marcel launched across the clearing in a blur of motion, slamming into the attackers before Kaida could move. The impact sent one rival flying. The other turned, only to be caught in Kaida's own crushing jaws.
The fight ended as suddenly as it began. The intruders, realizing their ambush had failed, melted back into the trees. The clearing stank of blood and smoke.
Marcel shifted back to human form, skin streaked with crimson. He stood over Seren, chest heaving, and for an instant the mate pull burned so fiercely Kaida could feel it from where she crouched.
Aradia's voice drifted over the aftermath, soft but unyielding. "One bond to bind. One bond to break. The Goddess waits."
The red moon loomed huge above them all, its light a silent verdict.
Kaida met Marcel's eyes and felt the world tilt—destiny, danger, and desire twined so tightly she could no longer tell them apart.