"Wake up! Aria, wake up!"
Aria's eyes flew open. She wasn't at the bottom of a ravine. She was in her bed, with Mira shaking her shoulder furiously.
"You were screaming in your sleep," Mira said, her face tight with fear.
Aria sat up, cringing at the pain in her head. "The triplets—they were chasing me. I fell..."
"It was just a dream," Mira said quickly. "You've been in bed for three days with a fever."
"Three days?" Aria gasped. "But I remember the welcome feast, seeing the triplets, running from them—"
"You never left this room," Mira insisted. "You collapsed right after the rogue attack. Today is your eighteenth birthday."
Aria touched her face. It was wet with sweat, but the fever had broken. Had it all been a dream? The triplets, Jaxon's warm eyes, their talk about silver eyes? It had felt so real.
"My birthday," she whispered. In wolf packs, turning eighteen meant it was time for the Moon Ceremony—when young wolves fully connected with their wolf souls. For most, it was a party. For an omega like her, it would be a small, forgotten event.
"Yes," Mira said, looking worried. "And I need to prepare you for tonight." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cloth bag. "But first, I have something for you."
Aria unwrapped the cloth. Inside was a metal pendant on a chain. The ornament was shaped like a crescent moon with a small wolf etched into it. When she touched it, the metal felt strangely warm against her skin.
"It's beautiful," she said, putting it over her head. "Where did you get it?"
Mira's eyes widened as the pendant landed against Aria's chest. For a moment, Aria thought she saw the silver metal glow slightly.
"It was your mother's," Mira said quietly.
"My real mother?" Aria asked, suddenly alert. Mira rarely spoke about Aria's real parents. All she knew was that they had died in a pack war when she was a baby.
"Yes. I've kept it safe until you were old enough." Mira reached out as if to touch the pendant, then pulled her hand back quickly. "You must never take it off, do you understand? Never."
"But why—"
"Promise me!" Mira's voice shook.
"I promise," Aria said, confused by Mira's fear. "But what does it do? Why does it feel warm?"
Before Mira could answer, a knock sounded at their door. Mira jumped like she'd been shocked.
"Stay here," she ordered, going to answer it.
Aria heard low voices talking. One was Mira's. The other was male, deep and serious. Her heart jumped—was it one of the triplets? Had her dream been real after all?
Mira returned, her face pale. "Alpha Darius wants to see you."
"Me?" Aria gasped. "Why?"
"He didn't say. But we can't refuse." Mira grabbed a coat. "Put this on. Keep your head down, and for moon's sake, hide that pendant under your shirt!"
Five minutes later, Aria stood before the pack Alpha in his office. Her legs felt weak. She'd never been this close to him before. Alpha Darius was a huge man with dark hair streaked with gray. His eyes were green like Kade's, but darker, like a forest in darkness.
"So," he said, studying her, "you're the omega girl who's been sick."
Aria nodded, keeping her eyes down as omegas were meant to do.
"Look at me," he ordered.
Slowly, she raised her eyes to meet his. Alpha Darius leaned forward, his face changing from mild interest to sharp focus.
"Your eyes," he said quietly. "They're unusual."
"They're just gray, sir," she said quickly.
"No." He stood and walked around his desk. "They're silver. Like moonlight on water." He circled her slowly. "Who were your parents, girl?"
"I don't know, sir. They died when I was a baby."
"Mira isn't your blood mother?"
"No, sir. She found me and took me in."
Alpha Darius stopped in front of her. "Today is your eighteenth birthday."
It wasn't a question, but Aria nodded anyway.
"Usually, omegas have their Moon Ceremony privately. But you..." he paused, "you will join the main ceremony tonight, with the other wolves who've turned eighteen this month."
Aria's heart skipped. The big ceremony? With the Alphas and Betas? That was unheard of.
"Sir, I don't understand—"
"You don't need to understand. Just be at the Moonstone Circle at midnight." His tone eased slightly. "It's time to meet your wolf, little one."
As she left the Alpha's house, Aria's mind raced. Why would the Alpha himself take interest in an omega's Moon Ceremony? And why had he stared at her eyes that way?
She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice someone standing in her path until she bumped right into him.
"We meet again, silver eyes."
Aria looked up into Jaxon's smiling face. So it hadn't been a dream after all! Heat rushed to her cheeks as she stepped back.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where—"
"You're feeling better, I see," he said, his eyes warm and interested. "You gave us quite a scare, falling down that ravine."
"You remember that?" Aria asked, relief and fear mixing inside her.
"Of course." His smile faded slightly. "Though my brothers would prefer I forgot. Kade was furious that you ran from us."
Aria glanced around nervously. "Are they nearby?"
"No. Lucian is researching something in the pack library, and Kade is training." Jaxon tilted his head. "Why were you running from us anyway?"
"I heard what you said—about finding the girl with silver eyes. About some prophecy."
Jaxon's face turned serious. "You shouldn't have run. We wouldn't hurt you."
"Then why does everyone seem scared of my eyes?" Aria demanded, anger finally boiling over. "Mira, Alpha Darius, your brothers—what aren't they telling me?"
Jaxon looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Legend says that silver eyes mark those with royal Alpha blood. The Silvers were the most powerful werewolf bloodline, rulers of all packs before the Great War. They were all killed. Or so we thought."
Aria's hand went to the charm hidden beneath her shirt. "That's impossible. I'm an omega, not an Alpha. And definitely not royalty."
"Maybe." Jaxon's eyes drifted to where her hand clutched the ring. "What's that?"
Before she could answer, a cold voice cut through the air.
"Jaxon. What are you doing?"
Lucian stood a few feet away, a big book under his arm. His ice-blue eyes studied Aria like she was a puzzle to solve.
"Just talking," Jaxon said lightly. "Aria here is feeling better after her fall."
"Aria," Lucian repeated, as if learning her name. "The omega girl with the silver eyes."
"I should go," Aria whispered, stepping back.
"Wait." Lucian moved closer. "Show me your eyes."
"Leave her alone, Luc," Jaxon said, stepping between them. "She's not a science experiment."
"She's not just an omega either," Lucian responded. "Father's ordered her to join the main Moon Ceremony tonight."
Jaxon's eyes widened. "Really?" He turned to Aria. "That's unprecedented."
"I don't understand any of this," Aria said, backing away. "Please, I need to find Mira."
"Your adoptive mother can't protect you from what's coming," Lucian said coolly. "None of us can. Tonight, your wolf awakens. If the legends are true..."
"That's enough," Jaxon snapped.
Aria turned and ran, heart racing. She had to find Mira, had to understand what was happening before tonight's ceremony.
She burst into their bedroom, calling out, "Mira! Something strange is happening—"
She stopped short. The cabin was a mess, as if someone had looked through everything. Drawers hung open, blankets were thrown aside, and Mira's plant box was spilled across the floor.
"Mira?"
No answer.
On the table lay a note in Mira's handwriting:
Aria, they know what you are. Wear the charm tonight. Trust the silver wolf inside you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better. Remember I love you.
The door slammed shut behind her. Aria whirled around to find Talia standing there, her beautiful face twisted with anger.
"So it's true," Talia said, stepping forward. "The triplets are fascinated by you. The Alpha himself has ordered your ceremony to be public." Her eyes narrowed. "What kind of magic have you used, omega?"
"None," Aria said, backing up. "I don't know what's happening either."
"Liar!" Talia hissed. "I've worked my whole life to become Luna. I won't let some strange-eyed nobody take that from me."
She stepped closer, something glinting in her hand. A knife.
"Tonight at the Moon Ceremony, you're going to refuse to participate. You'll say you're sick. Then you'll leave the pack forever."
Aria's back hit the wall. The pendant under her shirt suddenly grew hot against her skin. A strange calm spread through her body.
"No," she said, her voice stronger than she'd ever heard it. "I'm going to the ceremony. I'm going to meet my wolf."
Talia lunged forward with the knife.
And Aria's eyes began to glow silver like moonlight.