CHAPTER 1
THE WOMAN AT THE BORDER
Rain followed Elena Vale into the Wolf Kingdom.
She had spent years avoiding places like this.
Places where people believed in bloodlines, ancient prophecies, and wolves that could become men beneath the moon.
Yet here she was.
Standing at the northern border with a torn cloak, muddy boots, and a letter she had received three days earlier.
Come to Moonstone. You deserve to know the truth.
No signature.
No explanation.
Only the royal seal.
Elena had almost thrown the letter into the fire.
Instead, she had followed it.
The guards at the border crossed their spears.
"Halt."
Elena stopped.
"Name?"
"Elena Vale."
The guards exchanged glances.
One looked at the letter in her hand.
"Where did you get that?"
"It was delivered to me."
"By whom?"
"I don't know."
The older guard stepped closer.
His expression changed.
"You have the royal seal."
Elena nodded.
"Then you know who I am."
The guard's face hardened.
"No. That's the problem."
Before Elena could respond, a deep howl rolled through the forest.
Every guard went still.
Elena felt something inside her chest answer.
A pulse.
A warmth.
Then pain.
She grabbed her wrist.
The silver mark beneath her sleeve burned.
"What is happening?" she whispered.
The guards stared at her.
One lowered his spear.
"Send word to the king."
Elena frowned.
"Why?"
The older guard looked toward the palace in the distance.
"Because the king has spent twenty years searching for someone with that mark."
Alpha King Aldric received the message before sunset.
He was seated in the council chamber when the door opened.
"Your Majesty."
A messenger bowed.
"There is a woman at the northern border."
Aldric barely looked up.
"Send her away."
"She carries the royal seal."
That got his attention.
"What is her name?"
"Elena Vale."
The room became silent.
One councilman dropped his cup.
Aldric slowly rose.
"Say that again."
"Elena Vale."
The king's expression changed.
For the first time in twenty years, something resembling fear crossed his face.
"Bring her to me."
The councilman beside him stood.
"My king, perhaps that isn't wise."
Aldric looked at him.
"Did I ask for advice?"
"No."
"Then bring her."
Hours later, Elena entered Moonstone Hall.
The palace was larger than anything she had imagined.
Guards lined the walls.
Nobles watched from balconies.
And at the end of the great hall stood the man who ruled them all.
Alpha King Aldric.
He looked older than Elena expected.
His dark hair carried streaks of silver. His expression was severe, his posture straight, and his eyes strangely familiar.
The moment their gazes met, the entire hall seemed to disappear.
Aldric stared at her wrist.
Elena instinctively covered it.
The king descended the steps.
"Where did you get that mark?"
"I was born with it."
A murmur spread through the hall.
Aldric stopped in front of her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered something Elena barely heard.
"My son."
Elena's heart stopped.
"What did you say?"
The king stepped back.
"No."
His face had gone pale.
"You cannot be."
Elena frowned.
"Be what?"
Aldric looked at the mark again.
Then at her face.
The resemblance was impossible.
Not to him.
To the woman he had lost on the night his heir disappeared.
His dead queen.
The king's voice trembled.
"Who are your parents?"
Elena swallowed.
"I was told they were dead."
Aldric closed his eyes.
The truth had returned.
And it had walked into his palace wearing a woman's face.