Chapter 1 Ghost Luna

• NYRA POV
• Auuuuuuuuu. I howled, calling them together. Blade in hand, my chest and thighs guarded by my grandmother’s armor, a tight choker and thick plates.
• They gathered before me, weapons ready: sentinels, spear maidens, guardians.
• “The scouts say their main force is two miles out, camped by the river,” Mira reported. “Arrogant fools didn’t even post enough guards.”
• I nodded.
• “Sisters of the Moon,” I howled, blood boiling. “The Lycanthrope pack has taken our pups’ lives. They stole what makes us who we are.”
• Loud growls answered me. “We will never let this go. Never. Today we attack. We spill their blood and take our revenge!”
• Auuuuuuu!
• Howls and shouts rose. Spears tapped. Shields and weapons clanked through the forest air.
• Then Solara mind-linked me. “Luna, we should visit the Matriarch. Seek her blessing. Learn what the Moon Goddess decides.”
• I linked back at once. “The Matriarch knows nothing. She believes in the Moon God, the Goddess, and old prophecies. I don’t.”
• “But Luna—” I raised my hand near her face. She swallowed the rest of her words.
• “I met with Aeluneth. She said we will win. That is all we need.”She nodded, her blood-streaked eyes meeting mine.
• “Nature is with you. Fear not!” Aeluneth’s words echoed behind my closed eyes.
• Then we charged. I went first and shifted. Power surged through the earth and my body like liquid starlight. I dropped to one knee as the change hit. Bones cracked and reformed with wet sounds.
• My spine stretched. My shoulders widened into strong wolf muscle. Claws burst from my fingers. My face pushed forward into a deadly muzzle, fangs lengthening.
• The pain was sharp—a reminder that I was both human and wolf. Warrior Nyra, Luna of the Silver Moon Pack. First of my kind. Bringer of judgment. Descendant of the Luvera Dynasty, a line of fierce female warriors.
• In moments the tall, thick-furred woman was gone. In her place crouched a massive silver wolf, larger than any male, surrounded by two hundred and sixty female wolves who had answered Mother Nature’s call.
• “Ready, my Luna?” Brown-furred Solara mind-linked.
• “Always,” I answered, voice steady. “We strike fast. No mercy. Guard the flanks. And if that arrogant Alpha Thorne shows up, leave him to me.”
• We moved through the forest like trained hunters, paws silent. My senses sharpened. I smelled smoke, the enemy camp, and unwashed males thick with arrogance.
• We burst from the trees. Chaos erupted.
• Lycanthrope sentinels howled the alarm too late. I struck first, slamming into the nearest guard with bone-crushing force. My jaws locked on his throat. Hot blood filled my mouth as I shook him hard.
• Around me my sisters unleashed hell.
• Red-furred Mira tore into a tent and dragged a screaming warrior into the open, teeth deep in his throat.
• Solara’s axe, still strapped even in wolf form, flashed as she half-shifted, severed an enemy, then dropped back to full wolf.
• “Intruders!” a male voice bellowed. then was ripped apart.
• The Lycanthrope Alpha, a hulking brute named Thorne, charged into the central fire and shifted into a massive coal-black wolf.
• “He’s mine!” I roared.
• Our bodies crashed together with a force that shook the ground. He was bigger and heavier, but I was faster and driven by rage. I dodged his snapping jaws and raked my claws down his side. Blood sprayed across the dry grass.
• “You dare challenge Silver-Moon?” I snarled through the bond my sisters shared, one he could not hear. “You will pay for every murdered pup!”
• He lunged again. I twisted, used his momentum, and flipped him onto his back. My teeth sank into his shoulder, crunching through muscle. Thorne roared in pain and threw me off. I rolled, sprang up, and circled.
• Around us the battle raged. One young warrior, barely past her first shift—took a vicious bite to the leg but kept fighting, head high, dragging her attacker down.
• Pride swelled in my chest even as Thorne’s claws caught my flank. Pain flared hot, but I used it, for my pack, for my sisters.
• I feinted left, then struck right, locking my jaws on his throat. Not a killing bite—not yet. I wanted him to feel the strength of a Luna warrior.
• Then sharp pain stabbed my flank. It ripped through me. I tried to plant my paws and stay standing, but my body failed. I crumpled.
• Almost at once I forced myself up, growling harder. I charged Thorne, whose attention had shifted. Coward! I shouted through the bond.
• He circled, met my eyes. Fight me! Fight me! I barked.
• Then he charged straight through me, claws and teeth tearing the length of my wolf form.
• I staggered, pain flooding every muscle. He turned and sank his claws into one of my sister warriors. Blood sprayed like a fountain. I fell back.
• I tried to mind-link Solara. Nothing. The link would not open. She could not hear me. Her furry head snapped back. A loud howl tore from her.
• “Protect the Luna!” she shouted through the bond. Warriors fell back, circling me as if I were helpless.
• “What is going on?” I howled.
• I saw their eyes locked on a badly injured silver wolf lying on the ground. Dead, I thought. But how? I was the only silver wolf in the clan. Then the truth hit me like a blow.
• The unconscious silver wolf was me. How is this happening?