Her wolf whimpered inside her, weak and silent as always - a faint presence she could never reach, never connect with. While others shifted freely, ran under the moon, and roared their dominance in battle, she was... a mistake. At least, that's what they said.
"Get up, Luna Reject," a voice sneered from above. It was Lilith, the Alpha's Beta's daughter, dressed in her polished armor, blonde hair gleaming in the moonlight like she hadn't spent the last hour helping the others beat Seraphina into the ground. "Or stay there where you belong. Beneath us."
Laughter followed. It always did.
Seraphina's fingers trembled as she pushed herself up, every muscle aching from the harsh training session - no, punishment - they disguised as training. Her legs barely held her weight.
She wasn't even allowed to train with the real warriors. She was their punching bag, the joke of the pack. The so-called "fated Luna" who couldn't even shift.
Her eyes burned with unshed tears, but she wouldn't give them the satisfaction. She wouldn't cry. Not again. She turned away, limping through the shadows as their laughter echoed behind her.
---
She walked in silence toward the forest's edge, where the graves lay.
Her parents.
"Hey, Mom... Dad..." she whispered as she knelt before the two headstones. "I tried again. I tried to be strong. But it's like... everyone wants me to fail."
She paused, tracing her mother's name carved into the stone. A pang of grief stabbed her chest. The story had never changed - her parents were killed by rogues during a border ambush when she was just a child. No survivors. No witnesses.
Except the Alpha.
The only one who saw what happened.
"I miss you," she whispered, blinking hard.
A sudden gust of wind brushed past her, stirring the leaves and snapping her head up. A raven flew overhead, its shadow cutting across the moon. An omen?
She stood to leave - but stopped.
A small glint near her father's grave caught her eye. Half-buried beneath moss and dirt was a strange, rusted object. She knelt again, digging it free.
It was an old, iron locket - the kind her mother used to wear.
Her breath caught.
How had this ended up here? It had gone missing the night of their death. She remembered crying over it, asking the Alpha where it went.
He'd said it was lost in the fire.
So why was it here now?
She snapped it open - and her heart stopped.
Inside was a faded photo of her parents... and a note, folded tight, hidden behind the picture. Her fingers trembled as she unfolded it. The paper was old, brittle, and written in her mother's handwriting.
> "If anything happens to us, don't trust the Alpha. Protect the truth. And don't let them find the map."
Seraphina staggered back, the words burning into her mind.
Don't trust the Alpha?
Her world tilted on its axis.
All this time... she'd been mourning her parents as victims - but what if they'd been murdered?
And what the hell was "the map"?
A branch snapped behind her.
She spun.
No one.
But suddenly... the forest didn't feel empty anymore.
Her heart pounded, and for the first time in her life, a strange warmth stirred in her chest.
Her wolf... stirred.