The forest was alive with shadows.
Selene Darius ran barefoot across the damp earth, her breath sharp and uneven. The wind tugged at her long dark hair, carrying with it the faint scent of smoke from the direction of her home. Every instinct screamed at her to look back, but she couldn't. To look back was to slow down. And if she slowed down, she would be caught.
She had been running for what felt like hours. Her body ached, her lungs burned, and yet she pressed on.
Her father's voice echoed in her memory, steady and commanding even in chaos.
"Run, Selene. You are the last. You must live."
Those words struck deeper than any wound.
The pack that had been her world since birth — the proud Darius bloodline, guardians of the valley — was gone. She didn't need to see it to know. The fire she had glimpsed rising against the sky was proof enough. Her people had fought, but they had been overwhelmed.
A sharp crack in the underbrush pulled her back to the present. Selene's wolf stirred restlessly inside her, urging her to shift, to fight, to unleash the Alpha's heir she was born to be. But she clenched her jaw. She couldn't waste her strength, not yet.
Branches clawed at her arms and legs as she darted through the trees, heart thundering like a drum. Every rustle behind her sent panic racing through her veins. She wasn't sure if she was being followed, or if fear itself had given sound to the night.
At last, she stumbled into a small clearing. Moonlight spilled across the grass, painting it silver. The sight of it should have comforted her, but instead it only reminded her of the prophecy whispered since her birth — a prophecy tied to the Blood Moon and the one child destined to rise when all hope was lost.
She had never believed it. Until tonight.
Selene sank to her knees, clutching at the earth as tears blurred her vision. Her chest ached with grief too heavy for her nineteen years to carry.
Her mother's laughter.
Her brother's playful teasing.
Her father's pride when he called her his heir.
Gone.
She pressed her palm against her heart, as though the gesture could hold together the pieces threatening to shatter. "I'll live," she whispered to the night, her voice trembling but resolute. "I don't know how, but I'll live. For them."
The forest answered with silence, broken only by the distant cry of wolves.
Selene forced herself to stand again, shaky but determined. She had nowhere to go, no plan, but she couldn't stop. Survival meant moving forward, even if each step hurt.
Just as she turned, the faint crunch of footsteps froze her in place. Her breath caught. Someone was here.
A figure emerged from the shadows at the edge of the clearing. Tall. Broad-shouldered. His presence carried authority, though his expression was unreadable in the pale light. Behind him, more figures followed, their movements disciplined, not wild like the rogues who had destroyed her home.
Selene's wolf bristled with both fear and defiance. She drew herself up, despite the tremble in her legs.
The man's eyes fixed on her, sharp and calculating. When he spoke, his voice was steady, almost commanding.
"You're far from safe ground. Who are you?"
Selene hesitated. Revealing her name felt dangerous, but hiding it felt like betrayal to her bloodline. She swallowed hard, lifting her chin.
"My name is Selene Darius," she said, her voice steadier than she felt. "Daughter of Alpha Darian… and the last of my pack."
The clearing seemed to still with the weight of her words. The man studied her with new intensity, his gaze unreadable.
At last, he spoke again, softer this time. "Then you are the one we were told to find."
Selene's breath caught, confusion rippling through her grief. "Find… me?"
The man stepped closer, and in the moonlight she saw the crest upon his armor — a silver wolf, etched in intricate lines.
"I am Damon of the Silvercrest Pack," he said firmly. "My Alpha sent us to search the borders. He feared the rumors were true." His eyes locked with hers, unwavering. "And now, I see they are. You are the Moon's last heir."
The title struck her like lightning. She had heard it whispered since childhood, a name laced with destiny, a burden she never asked to carry. To hear it spoken now, with her entire family gone, felt both like a curse and a command.
The moon rose higher above them, its pale glow washing over her as though to mark the truth of Damon's words.
Selene straightened her shoulders, though her heart still ached. Alone or not, broken or not, she was the last. And the last could not fall.
Not yet.