Scarred Under Moonlight

Aria Moonclaw was born beneath a sky heavy with stars, the only child of Alpha Mason Moonclaw, leader of the Silverfang Pack. From her first breath, her life was different. She was treasured. She was cherished. She was loved beyond reason.

Her father adored her not only because she was his child, but because she was all he had left. His mate, Luna Elena, had been the anchor of his soul, the calm in his storms, the laughter in his darkest days. She had been everything to him his partner, his balance, his true mate chosen by the Moon Goddess herself. And then, too soon, she was gone. The pack whispered that Alpha Mason was never the same after Elena's death. His fire dimmed, his temper sharpened, but his heart... all the love he could not give Elena anymore, he poured into their daughter.

Aria.

She became his reason to rise each day. His reason to fight. His reason to believe in the Moon Goddess still.

But even love is complicated. Alpha Mason had always prayed for a son, someone to carry his throne with strength and certainty. A son to continue the Moonclaw bloodline, to wield the power of Silverfang without question or doubt. Yet fate had delivered him something far different a daughter. Fate, it seemed, enjoyed cruel twists.

At first, Mason raged against it. He questioned, he doubted, he begged the Moon Goddess for answers. But as Aria grew, as she smiled with Elena's eyes and laughed with Elena's joy, his doubts began to crumble. He trained her himself, molding her into something even the old laws of wolves had never seen a female Alpha. The first in Silverfang's history. The pack elders scoffed. They doubted. But Mason never faltered. His daughter would prove them all wrong.

Aria herself carried that dream like fire in her blood. She was proud, stubborn, and strong-willed. She was every bit her father's daughter, and though she had lived a sheltered, carefree life in many ways, she knew the weight of what awaited her. Tomorrow, on her eighteenth birthday, she would awaken her wolf. Tomorrow, she would step into her destiny.

But tonight... tonight was her last night of innocence.

The air was thick with the scents of pine and earth as Aria wandered the pack grounds. The sky had grown dusky, and the moon hung fat and silver above the treetops. Her father had forbidden her to be out alone this late, but the walls of the packhouse felt suffocating. She needed space. She needed silence. She needed to breathe before the storm of her future came crashing down.

She let her feet carry her into the trees, savoring the hush of the forest. Every sound was sharper tonight the rustle of leaves, the chirp of crickets, the soft hoot of an owl somewhere above. She inhaled deeply, the crisp night air burning her lungs in the most comforting way.

Then movement caught her eye.

A white rabbit darted across