THE ROYAL SEER'S POV The night Mooncrest Kingdom fell, I knew the Moon Goddess had begun weeping long before the first drop of blood touched the ground. The war horns echoed across the kingdom; then came the screams.  I hurried through the palace corridors with my white robes gathered in my hands as the walls trembled around me; every explosion shook dust from the ceiling, and the scent of smoke drifted through the halls, mixing with blood and fear. It had begun; the vision I had dreaded for months was finally unfolding before my eyes. When I reached the palace balcony, King Alaric stood motionless, staring down at the kingdom he had spent his life protecting; our beautiful Mooncrest was burning.  Homes disappeared beneath flames, the market square had become a battlefield, and royal guards fought with everything they had, but the enemy kept coming. There were simply too many of them. Queen Elena stood beside her husband, her hands gripping the stone railing so tightly her knuckles had turned white. "They have breached the eastern gate," the queen whispered. The king didn't answer immediately; his eyes never left the battlefield below. When he finally spoke, his voice carried more sorrow than anger. "They opened the gates from inside, we were betrayed," the king replied. I closed my eyes for a brief moment; I had feared this day, the missing patrols, the intercepted letters, the servants who vanished without explanation, and the whispers inside the palace walls. Someone had sold Mooncrest to its enemies; now we were paying the price. A violent explosion shook the palace beneath our feet; stone cracked, and the windows shattered.  Queen Elena gasped. "They're here," she announced. The king looked at her; neither of them needed to speak; the truth was already written across their faces. Without wasting another second, they ran toward the royal nursery.  I followed close behind; servants rushed through the corridors carrying frightened children toward hidden passages while wounded soldiers limped past us, refusing to abandon their posts despite the blood running down their armor. No one expected to survive this night. King Alaric pushed open the nursery doors. The moment I stepped inside, my heart broke. Little Princess Hailey sat inside her crib, completely unaware that her world was ending; she looked up and smiled. "Mama," Hailey called out with her tiny voice. Queen Elena let out a broken sob before rushing to her daughter; she lifted the child into her arms and held her so tightly I thought she might never let go. "My sweet moon," she whispered, kissing the top of Hailey's silver curls again and again. The little princess laughed softly; she was too young to understand why her mother's tears covered her tiny face. King Alaric walked over slowly, his large hand gently brushed against Hailey's cheek. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Queen Elena looked at him desperately. "There has to be another way," she cried out. The king slowly shook his head. "If they find her," His voice failed him. "They will kill her," he explained. Silence settled over the nursery; only the distant sounds of battle reminded us that every passing second brought death closer.  I stepped forward. "The tunnel is still secure," I suggested, trying to keep my voice steady despite the fear clawing at my heart. "But we don't have much time," I warned. Queen Elena immediately held Hailey even closer. "No," she said. I moved until I stood before them. "Your Majesty, if we wait any longer, none of us will leave this palace alive,"  "It is time," king Alaric said, looking at the queen. The queen stared at him as if he had asked her to stop breathing. "No," the queen whispered, tears streaming down her face. "She is only two; I can't let go." "I know, but you must," King Alaric pleaded.  Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks; little Hailey reached up with her tiny hand and clumsily wiped one away. "Don't cry, Mama," Hailey said. I had witnessed countless births and countless deaths, but nothing had ever shattered my heart the way those three innocent words did. Queen Elena buried her face against her daughter once more. "I'm so sorry." You deserve so much more than this,"the queen whispered over and over. Hailey simply smiled. "I love Mama," she said. King Alaric turned away for a moment; even the strongest king was still a father. When he looked back, he knelt before his daughter. "My brave little wolf," he said. Hailey clapped her hands happily. "Wolf," she repeated. A faint smile touched the king's face despite the tears gathering in his eyes. "Always remember one thing, you are loved," he said calmly. Hailey tilted her little head; she repeated the last word without understanding. "Loved," she said. Another explosion thundered through the palace, the nursery walls shook violently, dust drifted from the ceiling, and I looked toward the door. "They're inside the palace," I started. King Alaric stood. With trembling fingers, he removed the royal moon pendant from around his neck and gently placed it into Hailey's tiny hand; the ancient heirloom disappeared inside her little fist. I slowly stretched out my arms. "Give her to me." Queen Elena froze; every mother's instinct begged her to keep holding her child, to run, to fight, to die together, but if she did, the Mooncrest bloodline would end before sunrise. Finally, with hands trembling beyond control, she placed Princess Hailey into my arms; the little girl immediately reached back toward her parents. "Mama, dada," Hailey called out. Queen Elena covered her mouth to silence the cry threatening to escape; king Alaric leaned forward and kissed his daughter's forehead one final time. "Leave," the king commanded. Only one word, yet it carried the hopes of an entire kingdom. I wrapped my silver cloak around the little princess, hiding her from anyone who might see us, then I turned toward the hidden doorway concealed behind the nursery wall. Before stepping inside, I looked back one last time; the king and queen stood side by side, not as rulers, not as legends, simply as two parents preparing to die so their daughter could live, tears blurred their vision. "I swear upon the Moon Goddess my life for hers." I assured them as I tightened my hold on the child. The stone door slowly rumbled shut between us; darkness swallowed the hidden passage. I heard the unmistakable sound of swords being drawn. The last king and queen of Mooncrest were ready to make their final stand, and I prayed their sacrifice would never be forgotten. The hidden passage stretched deep beneath the palace, lit only by ancient moonstones embedded in the walls. I held Princess Hailey tightly against my chest as I ran; every step felt heavier than the last.  Behind me, the sounds of war echoed through the tunnel: the clash of steel, the roars of wolves, and the screams of dying soldiers. Each sound reminded me of one painful truth, Mooncrest was breathing its last. Little Hailey had fallen asleep in my arms, her tiny fingers still clutching the royal moon pendant her father had given her. She had no idea she had just seen her parents for the last time; I prayed she would never remember this night. The tunnel finally opened into the sacred Moon Chamber; moonlight poured through the circular opening high above, illuminating the old altar at the center of the chamber. This place had witnessed the birth of every Mooncrest ruler for centuries, and tonight it would witness the disappearance of its last princess. My hands trembled as I gently laid Hailey upon the cold stone altar. "I'm sorry, little one, but this is the only way," I whispered. I lifted both hands toward the moonlight and began speaking the ancient language of the Moon Goddess; power answered immediately, the chamber shook, and white symbols rose from the floor and circled around Hailey's tiny body. Tears blurred my vision as I spoke the forbidden spell. "I seal your memories." The glowing runes melted into her forehead. "I seal your royal aura." White light wrapped around her heart. "I seal your wolf until the day destiny calls you home." Hailey whimpered softly; a single tear rolled down her little cheek before the magic finally settled. The princess of Mooncrest was gone; before me lay nothing more than an ordinary child, a wolfless orphan. Invisible to those hunting the royal bloodline. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "When the moon chooses its queen, every chain placed upon you tonight will break," I whispered" I wrapped her in an old travel cloak, hiding every trace of royalty, then carried her through another hidden passage leading toward Crescent Forest. By the time dawn painted the sky, flames had swallowed the palace behind us. I watched from the edge of the forest as smoke rose above the kingdom I had served all my life. Mooncrest had fallen. Silently, I laid the sleeping child beneath the shelter of an ancient oak tree; it was the hardest thing I had ever done. I brushed a strand of silver hair away from her face. "Forgive me, I could not stay," I whispered.  If the enemy found me with her, everything the king and queen had sacrificed would be meaningless. "My life was promised for yours, and I intend to keep it," I said, tears falling freely down my face. With one final look, I disappeared into a nearby bush. Hours passed; hidden among the trees, I watched from a distance so she wouldn't wander off. Patrols from the Dark Wood Pack rode along the edge of Crescent Forest; my heart pounded. The little princess still sat beneath the ancient oak where I had left her, weak from hunger and exhaustion. One warrior suddenly pulled his horse to a stop. "Alpha Victor," he called out. Alpha Victor dismounted immediately, he slowly approached the frightened child and knelt before her; his voice was gentle. "Little one, where is your family?"  Hailey looked up with frightened blue eyes; she opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came, only tears, her tiny body swayed before she collapsed forward. Victor caught her before she struck the ground as darkness claimed her once again. I disappeared into the forest knowing that the princess is safe and Alpha Malachi has concerned Mooncrest kingdom

POV: Hailey I turned twenty three days ago, and I still had no wolf. In Dark Wood Pack, that made me an outcast. Most werewolves shifted during their teenage years. By twenty, they could communicate with their wolves and control their instincts and prepare for the responsibilities that came with adulthood. I had never shifted, heard a wolf's voice, or felt anything stirring beneath my skin. I had stopped expecting it to happen, but that didn't mean I had accepted it. I pushed the thought aside, pulled on my worn shirt, tied my hair back, and stepped outside. Work was waiting, and worrying about something I couldn't change wouldn't put food on my table. The moment I stepped outside, laughter drifted from the training grounds. I knew that sound. Someone was about to make my life miserable again. "Look who finally decided to come out of hiding." I recognized the voice before I turned. Brandon, one of the young warriors, stood near the training grounds with two friends. His eyes moved over me, and his mouth twisted into a mocking smile. I ignored him and continued toward the storage building where I had been assigned to sort supplies. Apparently, ignoring him wasn't entertaining enough. "Still wolfless at twenty, Hailey?" Brandon taunted. "Should we start planning your funeral or are you waiting for your wolf to arrive first?" His friends burst into laughter. I tightened my grip on the basket I carried and kept walking. I wanted to tell him that having a wolf didn't make him a better person, I wanted to ask why someone who spent every day training to become a warrior needed to humiliate a woman who had never harmed him, but I knew arguing would only give them more reason to mock me. So I swallowed the hurt and continued toward the storage building. I had become good at pretending cruel words didn't matter. Unfortunately, pretending didn't stop them from hurting. One day, I promised myself, I would leave Dark Wood. I didn't know where I would go, but surely there was somewhere people wouldn't look at me as though I were a mistake. "Hailey!" Lyra called as she came striding towards me, her dark hair swung behind her, she had the kind of confidence that made people move aside without her asking.  Unlike me, she never seemed afraid of what others thought, her eyes immediately narrowed when she noticed my expression, she glanced past me towards the training grounds. "What did Brandon want this time?" she asked suspiciously. "Nothing," I replied, picking up the basket again. "If you say that again, I'll start believing you enjoy being insulted," Lyra warned. A reluctant smile touched my lips. "Perhaps I do, it gives me something interesting to think about while I am working." Lyra snorted. "Your humor is getting worse. We might need to find you a healer." I laughed despite myself. She took the basket from my hands and helped me carry the supplies inside. Lyra was the only person in Dark Wood who never treated me like I was broken. She didn't pity me or pretend my condition didn't matter, she simply treated me like a person. Sometimes, that meant more than she knew. We spent the next hour sorting everything into its proper place. It was ordinary work, the kind nobody else wanted to do, but I didn't mind.  Having something useful to do was better than standing around listening to people discuss what a disappointment I was. When we finished, Lyra nodded toward the training grounds. "Come on, let's watch the warriors make fools of themselves," Lyra suggested with a mischievous grin. I glanced at her. "Aren't you supposed to be helping with the patrol preparations? I asked. "Later. Right now, I need entertainment," she replied. You mean you need to insult someone who can actually fight back? I teased. "Exactly, it's called balance," Lyra declared proudly. I shook my head, but followed her, the training grounds were crowded, warriors sparred while others practiced shifting, their wolves moved effortlessly across the field. I watched them, wondering what it felt like to have something inside you that you could trust. Would my wolf have been fierce or gentle? Would she have been the voice of confidence I had never found in myself? I had asked those questions for years without finding an answer. Whenever I asked about my childhood, I received the same story. Alpha Victor had found me beneath an ancient oak in Crescent Forest when I was a small child. I had been alone, with no family nearby and no explanation for how I got there. He had taken me into the pack and raised me under his protection, I was grateful to him, but he couldn't tell me where I came from. I remembered nothing about my parents, not even a place I could call home. Sometimes, I wondered whether they had died searching for me or abandoned me because I was different. That last thought hurt, so I pushed it away. "You look as though you're trying to solve the secrets of the universe," Lyra remarked, studying my face. "I'm just watching," I replied. "No, you're wondering what your life would be like if things were different," she countered gently.  "It doesn't matter," I replied. Lyra studied me but didn't push. She understood that I hated being treated as though I might break if someone acknowledged my pain. Soon, she was called away to help with patrol preparations. Before leaving, she pointed a warning finger at me. "Stay away from Brandon unless you want to rearrange his ugly face," she advised. I smiled. "I'll try to control myself." "You'd better," she teased before hurrying away. For a little while, the day felt less cruel. By late afternoon, I had finished my duties and started toward my room. I could have taken the direct path through the pack grounds, but my attention drifted towards Crescent Forest. I stopped, I had seen those trees countless times, yet something about them suddenly caught my attention, a strange feeling settled inside me, deep and unfamiliar. I couldn't explain it. I had no reason to feel connected to the forest, but looking at it stirred something I couldn't name. My heart thumped harder. I took a step toward the trees, and the sensation grew stronger. For one brief moment, I thought I heard something stir inside me. I froze, "Was that my wolf?" I wonder  I pressed a hand against my chest and waited, nothing happened. The strange feeling disappeared, leaving me staring at the forest with my heart racing, I wanted to go closer, though I had no idea why. Perhaps I was tired, perhaps Brandon's insults had affected me more than I wanted to admit. I turned away and hurried back to my room. That night, I lay on my bed, listening to the distant sounds of pack life. Tomorrow would probably bring more insults, more work, and another reminder that I didn't belong. Yet I couldn't stop thinking about the forest, I pressed my hand against my chest, hoping to feel that strange stirring again but nothing happened. For years, I had believed my greatest problem was the wolf I didn't have. Now I wondered whether something else was missing, something connected to the childhood I couldn't remember. One question followed me into the darkness "what was missing inside me?

POV: Hailey Exhaustion finally pulled me to sleep, but peace remained out of reach. I found myself standing in a long corridor, surrounded by strange paintings and towering walls. I didn't recognize the place, yet something about it felt familiar. A scream shattered the silence, I turned just as flames burst through a doorway. Smoke filled the corridor, and the building shook beneath my feet, I tried to run, but my legs felt weak. Before I could call for help, a woman rushed toward me and pulled me into her arms. The moment she held me, I felt safe. She smelled faintly of roses, her hands trembled as she cradled my head, shielding me from the smoke. "My sweet moon," she whispered. The words stirred something deep inside me. I looked up, desperate to see her face, but the smoke blurred her features, I could only make out her tearful eyes. "Who are you?" I asked, my voice sounded small and frightened. The woman froze. For a moment, she stared at me as though my question had broken something inside her, her lips parted, but no answer came. Instead, she pressed her cheek against my hair and held me tighter. "Please, tell me who you are," I begged. She drew back just enough to look at me, I could feel her desperation, even though I didn't understand its cause. "You must be brave, my sweet moon," she whispered. "No matter what happens." I shook my head, frightened by the screams and the flames spreading around us. I wanted to know why the palace was burning, but more than anything, I wanted her to stop looking at me as though she was about to lose me. Another explosion shook the building. The woman flinched and turned toward the sound, terror crossed her face so quickly that I clutched her clothes. What's happening? I cried out. She looked back at me, and for one brief moment, I thought she would tell me everything. Instead, she kissed my forehead and reached beneath the fabric of her dress and pulled out a silver pendant. The metal caught the light from the flames, shining brightly against her trembling fingers. I knew that pendant or at least, some part of me seemed to recognize it. She placed it in my palm and closed my fingers around it. "Keep it safe," she pleaded. The metal felt cold against my skin. I stared at its unfamiliar design, struggling to understand why holding it made my heart beat so quickly. "What is this?" I asked. The woman closed my fingers around it. "Something precious," she replied, her voice breaking. Before I could ask another question, she pulled me against her chest, her heart pounded beneath my ear, and I realized she was just as frightened as I was. I tightened my fingers around the pendant. "I won't lose it," I promised. The woman stroked my hair, whispering words I couldn't understand. Then another crash sounded, and she lifted her head toward the smoke-filled corridor. "We have to go," she said urgently. She carried me toward a doorway, but before we could reach it, something crashed behind us. She stumbled, tightening her arms around me as the smoke thickened. I could barely see her anymore. "Mama," I whispered. The word escaped before I understood what I was saying, the woman went still. For a brief moment, she held me even tighter, pressing a kiss against my forehead. Her tears fell onto my face. "My sweet moon," she whispered again. I reached for her cheeks, desperate to see her clearly, to remember her face but she was slipping away from me. "Mama, don't leave me!" I screamed, my voice breaking with fear. I tried to hold on, but my fingers closed around nothing. The silver pendant flashed in my palm before the flames rushed toward me, swallowing everything in blinding light. I woke up with a sharp gasp. My body jerked upright, and I pressed a hand against my chest, my heart raced as I struggled to catch my breath. For several seconds, I couldn't move. Then I recognized my room, the familiar window, and the blanket tangled around my legs. It had been a dream. Yet the fear clinging to me felt painfully real, I wiped my damp palms against my nightclothes and tried to calm myself and the woman's voice remained clear in my mind. "My sweet moon." I closed my eyes, but instead of relief, a deep ache settled in my chest. It wasn't the familiar loneliness I felt when others mocked me for being wolfless. This pain was different, as though I had lost someone I loved without knowing who they were. I tried to remember the woman's face, but all I could recall were her trembling hands and tearful eyes, then I remembered the pendant. I had never seen it among my belongings, yet its image remained vivid in my mind. Why had it felt so familiar? And why had I called the woman Mama? I climbed out of bed and moved toward the window. Beyond the pack grounds lay Crescent Forest, the same forest that had drawn my attention earlier that day. I had felt something strange when I looked at those trees, something that had briefly stirred beneath my skin. Now, after this dream, I couldn't stop wondering whether the two experiences were connected. I pressed my fingers against the windowsill.   For years, I had accepted that I might never learn where I came from but what if the woman in my dream belonged to my past? The thought tightened my throat. I remembered how desperately she had held me, how frightened she had been, and how her voice had filled me with a sense of belonging I had never known. What if I had once known her? What if she had been my mother? I shook my head, unable to answer my own questions. Perhaps it was only a nightmare brought on by exhaustion. That explanation made sense, but it didn't explain why the pendant felt familiar or why the word Mama had come so naturally to my lips. I returned to bed, but sleep no longer seemed possible. For twenty years, I had believed my missing wolf was the greatest mystery of my life. Now I wondered whether there was something else hidden beneath the years I couldn't remember. I pressed a hand against my aching chest and stared into the darkness. I didn't know who I had been before Alpha Victor found me beneath that oak. I didn't know why my memories were missing or what the silver pendant meant. But for the first time, I desperately wanted answers and somewhere deep inside me, I feared that discovering the truth would change everything.