Page 9

She froze mid-step, her breath catching in her throat. Luna powers? The term was completely foreign yet somehow stirred something deep within her. Before she could respond, her phone buzzed in her hand. The doorbell camera app showed someone at her front door.

"I... I really have to go." She snatched up her sandals and hurried across the beach, confusion and fear tangling in her chest.

As Seraphina neared her house, something felt wrong. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she noticed her living room window—shattered, glass glittering on the front lawn. Through the jagged opening, she could make out a shadowy figure moving inside.

Common sense screamed at her to run, to call the police, and to get as far away as possible. But as she reached for her phone, another vision slammed into her with such force that she staggered.

Unlike her previous glimpses of the future, this vision transported her completely. Seraphina found herself in a crowded auditorium, facing a stage where a distinguished man with slicked-back gray hair and piercing blue eyes stood at a podium. His tailored suit and commanding presence screamed politician, though she couldn't place his face.

"We will reshape this nation," he was saying, his voice carrying an undercurrent that made Seraphina's skin crawl. "We will create a new order."

Before her horrified eyes, the man's features began to contort. Bones cracked and shifted beneath his skin as his face elongated into a muzzle filled with razor-sharp teeth. His elegant suit split at the seams as his body grew, massive and terrifying,covered in gray fur. Not a man anymore—a beast. A wolf twice the size of a normal one.

The crowd around Seraphina wasn't running in terror. Instead, they too began to change, bones breaking and reforming as they transformed into smaller versions of the creature on stage. Then, as one, they turned toward a group of normal humans backed against a wall, terror etched on their faces.

"No!" Seraphina screamed as the wolves lunged forward, jaws snapping.

The vision held her in its grip, forcing her to witness the carnage as humans fell beneath claws and teeth. Blood splattered across white marble floors. Screams echoed off vaulted ceilings. And through it all, the lead wolf—the politician—watched with cold, calculating eyes that seemed to look right through the vision and find her.

Seraphina's scream tore from her throat, ripping her back to reality.

FOUR

ORION

Orion maintained a careful distance as he followed his Luna through the Miami streets. Her yellow sundress fluttered in the breeze, a bright beacon against the morning sunlight. He pressed his phone to his ear, never taking his eyes off her.

"Chance, I've found her." His deep voice rumbled with barely contained excitement.

"Already? You just docked this morning." Chance's surprise carried through the line.

"The mate bond led me straight to her. She was walking along the beach—" Orion paused, watching as Seraphina glanced over her shoulder. He ducked behind a parked car. "She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Black hair that catches the light, and green eyes that pierce right through you."

"So you approached her? What happened?"

Orion ran his large hand through his hair, still frustrated by the encounter. "I tried introducing myself, but she got spooked. Said she had to go and practically ran away."

"The mighty Alpha King getting rejected?" Chance chuckled. "That's a first."

"She looked down at her phone when I mentioned she'd manifested her Luna powers. Got some alert, I think." Orion's jaw clenched. "Something's off, Chance. The pull in my chest is undeniable—stronger than anything I've ever felt—but there's something impossible happening."

"What do you mean?"

Orion lowered his voice, even though no humans nearby would understand the significance. "She's human, Chance. Not a trace of wolf in her scent."

The line went silent for a moment. "That's not possible. A Luna has to be a wolf."

"That's what I thought." Orion tracked Seraphina as she turned down another street. His instincts sharpened, the predator in him mapping her every movement. "Either she's human and can't be my Luna, or she's my Luna and somehow a wolf shifter without me knowing it."

"Could be someone who hasn't transformed yet?"

"Unlikely." Orion's leather jacket creaked as he quickened his pace.

"What are you going to do now?"

Orion watched as Seraphina stopped at a crosswalk, her posture tense like prey sensing a predator. His wolf stirred beneath his skin, urging him to claim what was his.

"I'm going to catch up to her. Figure this out." He rolled his shoulders, feeling the tension of the hunt. "Something's odd about all of this. She seemed... confused."