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She had always found comfort in the stars, and in their ancient light telling stories of the past. As a little girl, she'd lie on the grass behind her grandmother's house, connecting constellations and imagining their movements. Astronomy had given her order in a chaotic world, explanations for the unexplainable.

Late that night, as she curled under her duvet, Seraphina stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars she'd stuck to her ceiling years ago. Turning thirty had seemed like such an arbitrary milestone this morning. She'd done her usual birthday ritual of worrying about her biological clock, and about the relationships sacrificed for research grants and academic papers.

Now, those concerns felt minor compared to whatever was happening to her perception of reality.

"Happy birthday," Seraphina murmured into her pillow as sleep finally pulled her under, dreams of falling stars and blood merging as she drifted off.

TWO

ORION

Orion tapped his fingers on the ancient oak desk, the centuries-old wood worn smooth beneath his touch. Quarterly pack finances should have commanded his attention, but tonight, the numbers blurred before his eyes. The clock on the wall struck eight, each chime echoing through his royal study like a heartbeat in the otherwise silent castle.

"Damn these reports," he muttered, undoing the top two buttons of his crisp black shirt. His powerful frame strained against the confines of the tailored fabric.

His mind drifted as he looked out the arched window at the mainland glittering across the water from his private island. The lights of Miami competed with the stars above. The artificial brightness was a glaring reminder of the human world he'd kept at arm's length for four centuries. So much chaos, and so many complications?—

Suddenly, a jolt shot through his body, electric and primal. Orion jerked upright, knocking the inkwell across territory allocation maps. The sensation cascaded through his veins, a warmth he'd never experienced in four hundred years of existence.

His wolf, always present beneath his skin, surged forward with a clarity that stole his breath.

Our Luna has awakened.

Orion braced himself against the desk, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the edge.

"Impossible," he whispered.

Yet, the wolf inside of him insisted differently, clawing at his insides and demanding release to go find their mate.

He crossed to the window, throwing it open to the December night. The sea breeze carried salt and possibility as he lifted his gaze to the stars scattered across the velvet sky. The constellations that had guided his kind for millennia seemed to pulse with new energy.

"Four centuries." His voice was rough, laced with disbelief and something dangerously close to hope. "Four centuries of waiting."

Orion paced the length of the study, unable to contain the restless energy coursing through him. His rational mind needed confirmation of what his wolf already seemed to know. Bertram, his royal advisor and trusted friend, would be able to clarify what had just happened. The elder's wisdom reached back further than even Orion's considerable lifetime.

The ancient corridors of the castle blurred as Orion strode purposefully through them, nodding curtly at pack members who bowed in deference. When he reached the eastern tower, he didn't bother knocking.

"You feel it too." Bertram stood at his own window, his weathered face turned skyward. No surprise marked his features when Orion entered, just quiet understanding.

"Is it true?" Orion demanded, his natural authority filling the room. "After all this time?"

Bertram turned, his eyes bright with centuries of wisdom. "The stars have shifted their alignment tonight, My King. Something has awakened."

"My Luna?"

"Only the King can truly know." Bertram stepped closer, studying Orion's face. "The mate bond is fragile at first, easily misinterpreted. What does your blood tell you?"

Orion closed his eyes, focusing inward past the noise of his rational mind. There—pulsing beneath everything—was the tether. New, delicate, but unmistakable.

"She's there." The words emerged as a growl, his wolf rising closer to the surface. "I can feel her."

"Then it is true." Bertram's voice carried reverence. "After four centuries, the Starlight pack will finally have its queen."

Orion's chest expanded with a deep breath as the reality settled into his bones. Centuries of ruling alone, of empty ceremony and hollow traditions maintained simply because they must be.

Bertram's gnarled hand gripped his walking stick as he moved toward the door. "We must go to the sacred fountain. Only there can we see her clearly."

Orion followed the elder through the winding stone corridors of the castle. Guards stationed at intervals straightened as he passed, their eyes lowering in respect. He acknowledged none of them, his mind consumed by the persistent tug in his chest—the invisible thread connecting him to a woman he'd never met.