The silence of the night was shattered by a heavy scream, quickly followed by more, as the Crescent Moon pack found itself under siege. Sixteen-year-old Kayla Xanders awoke disoriented, the sounds of battle drawing her to the grounds.

Terror froze her as she witnessed unkempt rogue wolves clashing with her pack's warriors. She saw too many rogues, an impossible number, swarming from every direction. Then, a blood-matted rogue snarled, running towards her, only to whimper and turn away, a strange confusion washing over Kayla.

But the rogue's reaction drew another's attention – a man in human form, who approached with an ugly smirk. He threw a sparkling powder, forcing a wheeze and cough from her as she fought to maintain consciousness. Before he could reach her, a pack warrior intervened, and Kayla seized the chance to flee.

She desperately searched for her family amidst the injured and dead, her heart pounding. Then, she found them: her Alpha father and Luna mother, lifeless on the ground. Disbelief washed over her, refusing to accept their easy defeat. She rushed to her brother, Martin, hope flickering at the sight of his labored breath, only for it to shatter as she saw his grave injuries.

Tears streamed down her face as she watched her only sibling, barely twenty-one and destined to be Alpha, die before her. She laid his head on her lap, singing their mother's lullaby until his last breath, and even after.

Her grief hardened into a cold rage. Standing amidst the fallen, a primal scream tore from her throat, echoing through the now silent night. Pain ripped through her, bones cracking, as she involuntarily shifted for the first time, her golden-brown wolf emerging. With a war cry, she turned, scenting the rogues, ready to hunt. They would pay.