RISE, LUNA OF ASHES

So was she. Two long years had bled into the dirt since Gina had walked away from the ashes of her homeland, but the girl who had wept over her parents' smoldering pyres no l

ath, and no sacred stars called upon to witness a fated union. There was no white l

ed dust of the northern Seer peaks. Her natural scent once a warm blend of wild chamomile and fresh mountain air was completely masked beneath a pungent, bitter mixture of wild rosemary, crushed ash, and toxic bloodroot. It was a witch's trick, a dark alchemy learned during her agonizing years of exile and her eyes... her eyes had turned into the color of furious storm clouds, thunder rolling endlessly ju

Even the purest vengeance required a strategic invitation. And crossing an Alpha King's border undetected requ

BUILT

as not in mourning. Far fr

t the perimeter gates. Vibrant banners symbolizing peace and ancestral prosperity draped over the stone archways-a grand exhibition declaring a historic new alliance forged with the Southern Peaks and the fierce Ironhide territories.

d her shadowed face anymore. She was no longer "Gina, innocent daughter of the Southern Glades." She was no longer "Gina, the abandoned fated mate of Alp

e nightmare of the Seer's Labyrinth-a horrific trial that no Luna in recorded history had ever walked out of alive. She had become a whisper among the lawless rogue factions, a lethal shadow operating in the bloodiest lands. She had transformed herself into a living legend... and legends,

ce. "Welcome to the high feast, stranger," the lead guard barked, waving her through the archway. Gina's lips curled into a silent, lethal smile beneath the

ALSE

as high-ranking wolves draped in fine velvet and tailored furs wove between shifting forms, their glossy pelts gleaming beneath the light of the full moo

lt entirely on lies, murder, and stolen blood. Gina moved through the dancing crowd like a drifting cloud of dark smoke quiet, fluid, and completely invisible to those around her. Her sharp eyes darted toward the raised council platform

was laughing loudly at a joke, greedily stuffing roasted meat into his mouth, his belly bloated with luxury and stolen comfort. Enjoy the feast, old man, she thought,

and resting upon her finger was the ancestral Luna's ring an ancient piece forged in sacred silver, meant to be worn exclusively by the single female fated by the Moon Goddess to stand beside the Alpha King. Gina's breath hitch

aunted. He looked like a man weighed down by an agonizing throne, carrying too much power on his shoulders and possessing far too little warmth in his heart. Gina wondered, for a fleeting, dangerous heartbeat, if he could still feel it-the deep, spiritual tether of the true mate bond that had refused to die. Because despite the dark magic, despite the Seers' brutal

LASS

from her tray, crashing violently onto the pale flagstones below. Deep red wine splashed across the white marble like a spray of fresh blood. The sharp, sudden crack echoed fa

ea of frozen guests and then his eyes locked directly onto her shadow. Time seemed to g

t her leather daggers. With a slow, deliberate movement, she raised her hands and pushed her midnight hood bac

a decade, Alpha King Rex laid

like a ghost. His golden eyes widened in genuine, unadulterated shock. Beside him, Jessica leaned in quickly, her hand gripping his forearm as she whispered something sharp, furious, and urgent into his ear but Rex was no longer listening to his fake queen. He was already on his feet

nce. They met directly beneath a grand, silk draped canopy lined with burning tallow lanterns. The festive music comple

h the weight of the moment. "...Gina." Hearing her own name spoken from h

, her storm-cloud eyes boring into his soul. "Alpha Rex," she

freeze the air between them, causing the surroun

e gentle, forgiving girl who had once looked at him with unconditional love. He found absolutely none of her. "You... you shouldn't be here,

her armor and the raw, dangerous power rolling off her skin. "You... You

walking into the dark." An agonizing, dense silence bloomed between them, heavy with ten years of unspoken blood and betrayal. Rex took a

h that the ancient Alpha could distinctly scent the wildness pulsing in her blood the bitter ash, the toxic rosemary, and the sheer, unbridled power she had

whispered, her breath

t?" Gina stepped back, her storm cloud eyes burning like

tch how it al