Fated to Ruin The Luna-Crimson Moon Oath.

Lyra’s POV.

The forest burned with silver light. The Blood Moon hung swollen above the Vale cliffs and every wolf in the territory howled its name.

Their voices were a hymn of power, but beneath the harmony, I could hear the truth, a pulse of fear. It threaded through the smoke and the drums and the crackle of fire, whispering of something no one dared speak aloud.

That fear had a name, which is mine. I stood at the edge of the bonfire circle, the flames painting my skin in restless gold. Every gaze cut toward me, not with reverence, but with calculation. Waiting for me to stumble. Waiting for the curse to show.

“You don’t belong here, Lyra.” Rowan’s voice sliced through the night like a blade. The son of the Beta, drunk on his father’s pride, his teeth gleaming as if he already tasted victory. Around him, the pack watched, eager for blood disguised as laughter.

I smiled, sharp and dangerous. “Funny, Rowan. I thought the invitation said all pack members, not just the idiots.”

A ripple of laughter broke, uneasy but real. His smirk faltered... Good.

But then he stepped closer, his breath reeking of wine and arrogance. “Your father may be Alpha, but that doesn’t make you one of us. Cursed blood doesn’t make a wolf, Vale.”

The word cursed landed like a blade. For a moment, something ugly burned in my chest: shame, rage and the memory of the whispers that had followed me since I was born under an eclipse. But I didn’t flinch.

“Careful,” I said, letting my voice drop to a low growl. “You keep talking and I might prove how wolf I really am.”

He barked out a laugh. “Prove it tomorrow. If you even shift.” My nails dug into my palms until I felt the bite of skin. I wanted to tear him apart, not just to silence him, but to silence the doubt clawing inside me.

Because what if he was right? What if the moon rose and I didn’t change? What if the curse everyone whispered about finally showed its teeth?

Before I could answer, a change in the air stilled me and there was a shift in the crowd, not fear, but awareness.

That’s when I saw him. Across the circle, standing apart from the Vale wolves like a shadow against flame, was a man whose presence demanded silence. Broad-shouldered, wrapped in black trimmed with silver, marks of another pack. His gaze caught mine and the world dimmed.

Kael Aeson, heir of the Blackthorn Pack and our sworn enemies. What the hell was he doing here?

The stories hadn’t lied: his eyes were black fire and his face carved from command. But what no story had captured was how it felt when he looked at me, like he saw straight through my skin and into the chaos beneath it.

Rowan noticed my distraction and sneered. “Looks like even the Blackthorns came to watch the Alpha’s daughter fail.”

Kael’s lips curved, not in mockery, but in something darker, amusement and recognition.

And damn it, that look made my pulse trip over itself. I lifted my chin. “Enjoying the view, Blackthorn?” He tilted his head, eyes glinting. “I expected more from the infamous Vale girl.”

A pause, deliberate. “Maybe the stories are wrong.” My pride coiled like a living thing. “Careful. I bite.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Then maybe you’re worth my time after all.”

Before I could retort, a voice thundered across the clearing, the one voice I could never ignore.

“Enough.”

The bonfire hissed, as if the flames themselves bowed to him. My father, Alpha Dorian Vale, strode into the circle, power radiating from every measured step. His hair was streaked silver and his eyes as cold as the northern woods.

“Father...” I began, but his glare was enough to silence me. “You shame yourself,” he said, loud enough for the entire pack to hear. “Do not forget who you are.”

Heat rushed to my face, humiliation burning hotter than the fire. Around us, wolves murmured, smirks curving lips that used to bow to my bloodline.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to burn the whole forest down and show them I wasn’t the mistake they whispered about.

The drums began again. The Elders lifted silver chalices, voices rising in sacred unison. “To the Blood Moon and to the Gift of the Shift.”

I raised my head, but before I could drink, the air changed, cold and electric.

A voice rasped from the treeline, hollow and ancient. “The cursed daughter will either crown or bury you all.” Every head snapped toward the sound. The shadows split and a figure emerged, a woman draped in crimson robes that dragged across the earth. Her eyes glowed white, sightless and terrifying.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. “The Crimson Seer,” someone whispered. No one had summoned her and no one ever did.

Her face turned toward me and though her eyes were blind, I felt them pierce straight through my bones.

“She will not save you,” the Seer said, pointing her gnarled hand at my chest. “She will not be your heir. She will be your ruin.”

“No!” my father’s voice thundered. “Your words have no place here, witch!”

But the Seer only smiled, slow and knowing. “You cannot silence prophecy, Alpha. The moon remembers and the Hollow wakes.”

My breath caught. “The Hollow?” I whispered, but no one answered. The Seer turned, her robes sweeping through the dirt like smoke and vanished into the dark.

The silence that followed was thick enough to choke on. Whispers slithered around me again. Cursed...Hollow...Monster.

I couldn’t stand it. I turned and walked, then ran, away from the circle, into the woods and into the dark.

Branches tore at my skin, while my heartbeat echoed in my ears. I didn’t stop until the firelight was gone and the air tasted of rain and ash. That’s when I heard the footsteps behind me.

A hand caught my arm, iron-hard. I spun, but his scent hit me first, cold steel and wild earth, but then it was Kael.

He stepped close enough that the space between us vibrated. His eyes burned under the moonlight, unflinching and merciless.

“If you shift tonight,” he said softly, “I’ll be the one to kill you.”

The words froze me, not because of the threat, but because of the certainty in his tone. He wasn’t taunting. He was warning. “Why?” I breathed.

Kael’s gaze flickered, almost like regret. “Because the prophecy isn’t wrong, Lyra Vale.”

He leaned closer, his voice a blade of silk and danger. “You just don’t know what you are yet.”

The wind howled through the trees and the moon pulsed red above us.

And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure if the monster in the prophecy was me... or him. Why would my enemy know more about my fate than I did?