Sera's POV
The knife was already in my hand before I opened my eyes.
I gasped for air, my heart hammering so hard I thought it might break through my ribs. The nightmare was the same one I'd had for seven years my father's screams, the smell of blood, and those cold silver eyes watching as my world burned.
Kael Blackthorn's eyes.
My fingers tightened around the silver blade I kept under my pillow. In the darkness of my tiny apartment, I counted to ten like I did every morning. One breath. Two breaths. The nightmare faded, but the hate never did.
I was alive. My father wasn't. And that was all that mattered.
I swung my legs out of bed and my feet hit the cold floor. The apartment was barely bigger than a closet just a mattress, a broken chair, and a hot plate that only worked half the time. But it was mine. After seven years of running, hiding, and surviving on scraps, I'd learned that mine was a luxury.
The photo sat on the windowsill where I could see it every morning. Me at ten years old, sitting on my father's shoulders, both of us laughing. Dad's eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. He'd been the strongest man I knew Alpha of the Silver Crest Pack, protector of hundreds, my whole world.
I miss you, Dad, I whispered, touching the glass. But I promise you he's going to pay.
I grabbed my contacts from the sink and popped them in, hiding my real eye colour. Violet eyes were rare. They would give me away. Then I twisted my silver-blonde hair into a tight bun and covered it with the cheap brown dye I used every week. In the mirror, I didn't look like Sera Ashwood, daughter of an Alpha. I looked like Sara Wells, nobody omega who worked at Joe's Coffee Shop on Fifth Street.
Perfect.
My wolf stirred inside me, restless and angry. I pushed her down like I did every day. I hadn't let her out fully in seven years not since that night. Silver wolves were too recognizable. Too memorable. And I needed to be forgettable.
At least for a few more weeks.
The coffee shop smelled like burnt beans and human sweat. I tried on my apron and forced a smile as my manager, Tom, grunted at me. Humans couldn't tell what I was, which made them safe. They didn't care about pack politics or Alpha bloodlines. They just wanted their coffee hot and their change correct.
You look tired, Sara, said Mrs Chen, one of my regulars. She was a sweet old lady who always left big tips.
Just bad dreams, I said, handing her a latte.
You work too hard, honey. A pretty girl like you should be out having fun, not working two jobs.
If only she knew. My second job was training. Every night after my shift, I went to the gym and practiced fighting. I learned how to use knives, how to move silently, how to kill. Because when I finally got close to Kael Blackthorn, I'd only have one chance.
The lunch rush ended, and I was wiping down tables when my phone buzzed. Unknown number. My stomach dropped. Unknown numbers were never good news.
I opened the message and my hands started shaking.
Your application has been accepted. Report to Frost River Pack house Friday at noon. Welcome to the pack, Sara Wells.
I read it three times to make sure it was real.
Frost River Pack. I was in.
It had taken me six months to build a fake identity good enough to fool pack records. Another three months to apply as an orphaned omega looking for a pack to join. And now, finally, I had a way into wolf society.
Frost River Pack was hosting the Gathering Stones ceremony in two weeks the one time all five territory Alphas would be in the same place. Including Kael Blackthorn.
My chest felt tight, but this time it wasn't fear. It was excitement.
After my shift, I ran home so fast my lungs burned. In my apartment, I pulled out the box I kept hidden under the floorboards. Inside was everything I'd saved from that night my father's Alpha ring, a piece of my mother's dress, and the detailed maps I'd drawn of every pack territory.
And my silver knife. The one I'd use to cut out Kael's heart.
I spread the maps on the floor and studied them again. Blood Moon Pack compound. Guard rotations. Weak points in their security. I'd memorized every detail, but I looked anyway. Seven years of planning couldn't fail because I got sloppy now.
A knock on my door made me freeze.
Nobody ever knocked on my door.
I shoved everything back in the box and hid it. When I opened the door, a thin man in a dirty jacket stood there. He smelled like wolf rogue, like me.
Sera Ashwood? he whispered.
My blood turned to ice. Nobody had called me by my real name in seven years.
I don't know who that is, I said, moving to slam the door.
He stuck his foot in the gap. Wait. I was Silver Crest too. I survived the massacre. My name is Gray.
My heart stopped. A survivor. Someone who knew the truth.
What do you want? I hissed.
Gray looked over his shoulder like someone might be listening. To warn you. Viktor Stone is looking for you. He knows you're alive, and he knows you're planning something. His eyes were desperate. Whatever you're planning don't. Viktor is dangerous. More dangerous than you remember.
Viktor. My father's Beta. Uncle Viktor, who used to bring me candy and call me little moon.
Why would Viktor be looking for me?
Because he's the one who Gray's eyes went wide. He looked down at his chest where a dark red stain was spreading across his shirt. No, he gasped.
He collapsed forward and I caught him. Blood poured from a wound in his back a knife wound.
Gray! I pulled him inside and slammed the door. Stay with me!
But his eyes were already going dark. With his last breath, he grabbed my wrist. Viktor... killed... your father. Not... Blackthorn. Viktor
He died in my arms.
I sat there, frozen, his blood soaking into my floor. Viktor killed my father? That was impossible. I saw Kael Blackthorn standing over Dad's body. I saw the blood on his hands.
Unless I'd seen exactly what someone wanted me to see.
My phone buzzed again. Another unknown number. This time it was a photo.
The picture showed me and Gray through my apartment window. Taken just seconds ago.
Below it, a message: Hello, little moon. We need to talk.
Someone was watching me. Right now.
And they knew exactly who I was.