LOGINLuna was three years old when we discovered we weren't the only ones hunting the Harmony pieces.We were planning our trip to find the fifth piece—located somewhere in Australia—when Vincent burst into the strategy room."We have a problem. Big problem."He threw down photographs. Images of a temple in ruins. Not destroyed by age—destroyed recently."What am I looking at?" Dante asked."The Australian temple. Someone got there first."My blood ran cold. "The fifth piece?""Gone. Whoever took it knew what they were looking for and how to get past the guardians."Luna picked up one of the photos, studying it intently. "They used dark magic. See the scorch marks? That's not natural fire. It's corrupted power.""Who would use dark magic to steal Harmony pieces?" I asked."Someone who wants to prevent the Awakening," Dante said grimly. "Or control it."Luna's eyes went distant—she was having a vision."Luna?" I touched her shoulder gently.She blinked, coming back to the present. "I saw hi
After the Sahara temple, Luna tried something radical.She suppressed her powers for an entire week.Not completely—that was dangerous. But enough that she appeared normal. Spoke like a normal two-and-a-half-year-old. Played like a normal child. Learned at a normal pace."What is she doing?" Marcus asked, watching Luna play with building blocks instead of reading advanced physics."Experimenting with being ordinary," I explained."Is that... healthy?""I don't know. But she needs this. She needs to know who she is without the power."For one week, Luna was just a child.She laughed more. Played more. Stopped calculating futures and analyzing outcomes and predicting everyone's behavior.She got paint on her clothes and didn't care.She fell and scraped her knee and cried like a normal kid.She asked simple questions and accepted simple answers.It was beautiful.And it broke my heart, because I realized this is what we'd stolen from her. The chance to just be a kid.On day seven, Luna
Luna was two and a half when we went after the fourth piece.The location: Sahara Desert."At least this one is warm," Vincent joked as we trekked through endless sand."Warm" was an understatement. It was scorching. Even with werewolf resilience, the heat was brutal.Luna walked steadily, unbothered by the temperature. Her body adapted to environmental extremes without effort now."The temple is buried," she said, pointing to what looked like a random dune. "Three hundred feet down.""How do we get down there without triggering a collapse?" Dante asked."Carefully." Luna placed her hands on the sand.Silver light pulsed through the ground, stabilizing the sand around us. Slowly, she created a tunnel—not by moving sand, but by solidifying it into walls."Show off," I muttered, but I was proud.We descended into the buried temple, finding chambers untouched for thousands of years. The walls were covered in Egyptian hieroglyphics."What do they say?" I asked.Luna read them slowly. "Her
Luna stopped smiling.Two weeks after the Himalayan temple, my daughter who used to laugh and play and find joy in simple things had become quiet and withdrawn.She still did her research. Still taught her classes. Still practiced her powers.But the light in her eyes was gone."She saw something in those mirrors," Dante said, watching Luna sit alone in the library, reading a book on existential philosophy. "Something that broke her.""She saw all the ways she could fail," I said. "All the ways we could die. All the terrible futures waiting for us.""She's two years old. She shouldn't have to carry that.""But she does." I moved to sit beside Luna, who didn't acknowledge my presence. "Luna, honey, talk to me.""What do you want me to say?" Her voice was flat, emotionless."I want you to tell me how you're feeling.""I'm feeling like I've seen a thousand ways for everyone I love to die and I can't unsee them." She closed the book. "Every time I look at you, I see the version of you who
The third piece was in the Himalayas."Why are they all in the most inhospitable places on Earth?" I complained as we climbed the mountain path."Because inhospitable means hard to reach," Luna said, not even winded despite the thin air. Her enhanced physiology adapted to everything. "The guardians wanted to make sure only the worthy would find them."We'd brought a smaller team this time—just Dante, me, Luna, and Vincent. Marcus stayed behind to lead the pack, and we'd learned our lesson about bringing too many people.The temple was carved into the mountainside, invisible unless you knew exactly where to look."Tibetan design," Luna observed, studying the entrance. "But the symbols are older. Sanskrit mixed with something pre-Sanskrit.""What do they say?" Dante asked.Luna's face went pale. "They say: 'Here lies the price of knowledge. What you learn, you cannot unlearn. What you see, you cannot unsee. Only those willing to bear eternal truth may enter.'""That sounds worse than th
Luna was weak for three weeks after the Amazon temple.The sacrifice of five years had taken more than just theoretical time—it had drained her physically. She slept sixteen hours a day, ate barely anything, and her power fluctuations were erratic."I'm scared," I admitted to Dante one night, watching Luna sleep fitfully."She'll recover. She's the strongest wolf alive.""But what if she doesn't? What if giving those years damaged something permanent?"Dante had no answer.On day twenty-two, Luna woke up different.Not better. Different."Mama," she said, sitting up in bed. "I can see clearer now.""See what, baby?""The futures. Before, they were blurry. Possibilities. Now they're sharp. Detailed." Her eyes—currently silver—focused on something I couldn't see. "I can see exactly which choices lead where.""Is that... good?""I don't know." She looked at her hands. "I see myself at age five. I see the Awakening. And I see..." She trailed off, tears filling her eyes."What do you see?"
The Amazon rainforest was trying to kill us.Humidity made breathing difficult. Insects swarmed constantly. And the locals warned us about jaguars, anacondas, and poisonous everything."This is worse than Antarctica," Vincent muttered, slapping at a mosquito."At least we're not freezing," Marcus c
"You want me to do WHAT?"Dante stood in front of me, arms crossed, looking far too calm for someone who'd just suggested I fight his entire pack."It's tradition," he said. "Before a new Luna is accepted, she must prove herself worthy.""By fighting?""By winning challenges from any pack member wh
I woke up to find myself wrapped around Dante like a blanket.My face was pressed against his chest, one leg thrown over his hips, my arm draped across his torso. Worse, his arms were around me, holding me close like I was something precious.I froze, afraid to breathe.How the hell did this happen
The gates of the Shadowmoon estate loomed before me like the entrance to hell itself.Marcus had barely said two words during the hour-long drive, and I'd spent the entire time rehearsing what I would say to Dante. How I would maintain control. How I wouldn't let him see how much this place still a







