g was clear: the wolf she'd seen in the forest, the beast with the golden eyes, was tied to her past in a way she couldn't ignore. As the first rays of dawn filtered through the trees, Eli

control, a group of rebels, the first protectors, stepped in to stop them. They were the first wolves-the original shape-shifters." Elira absorbed this in silence. Her parents, who had died when she was just a child, had kept this from her. They had kept everything from her. "You're telling me that I'm a descendant of... these Moonborn kings? That the wolves last night-those creatures-are somehow connected to me?" "Exactly," Serah said, her eyes dark. "You were born with their blood. It's why you've been able to survive so long without the Court finding you. They've been searching for years, but they've never found you... until now." Elira set her mug down, suddenly feeling very small. "What do you want me to do? I'm just one person." Dren stepped forward, his expression hard. "You're not just one person, Elira. You're the last of the Moonborn bloodline. And that means you have a choice to make. The Crimson Court is coming for you. They'll stop at nothing to control the power within you. You can either run, hide, and watch your world burn, or you can stand and fight." --- The forest grew silent around them. Elira felt the weight of their words pressing on her chest. Fight. Hide. It was too much to ask of her, too much to comprehend. She wasn't a warrior. She wasn't a leader. She was just a healer, a woman who had spent her life in the village, tending to the sick and the wounded, trying to make sense of a world she didn't truly understand. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she couldn't turn away. If she ran, it wouldn't stop. The Court would find her, and they would destroy everything she loved. If she fought, maybe-just maybe-she could stop them from controlling the power that had torn her family apart. "I... I don't know if I can," El