Night draped Thornridge in velvet shadows, and the moon, usually my comfort, felt like a witness I couldn't escape. I stood at the tree line, wrapped in a plain cloak that made me look more like a traveling healer than the Luna of an Alpha. The Seer had told me to blend in, to wear no symbol of power or status. I was not Luciana of Thornridge anymore—not to the human world I was about to enter.
I was just a girl with a secret and a mission.
The Seer waited for me near the river's edge, her gnarled fingers drawing new runes into the soil with a stick soaked in ash and herbs. She barely looked up when I arrived.
"You're late," she murmured.
"I had to… I left a note," I said, adjusting the satchel on my shoulder. It held a few essentials—herbs for healing, a blade for safety, and the Veilglass tucked in a velvet pouch. I didn't bring anything else from the pack. Nothing that could give me away.
