Page 1 of Fated to the Lone Shifter (Curse of the Lunaris Alpha #1)

A full moon casts ghost-pale light through the towering evergreens of the Bitterroot Mountains. Shadows move unnaturally in the underbrush—too quick, too silent. The only sound is ragged breathing.

Three mangled bodies lie sprawled across a clearing, limbs contorted, flesh torn by something neither man nor beast. Blood steams in the cold night air, soaking into the moss and pine needles. Cracked twigs and clawmarks gouge the nearby trees.

A figure watches from the tree line. Hooded. Silent. Unmoving. Their gloved hand clutches a gas canister. A matchbox slips from a coat pocket. They step into the clearing and kneel, murmuring something—an incantation? A prayer?—before drenching the corpses with gasoline.

The match flares, reflected in the golden eyes of the figure. It’s dropped. Flames erupt, hungry and sudden, licking up into the trees like summoned spirits unleashed. The fire spreads fast, too fast—jumping to dry brush and kindling, ravenous for oxygen.

A newscaster’s voice crackles to life as we close in on the scorched ground.

“For three days the blaze took over our precious Bitterroot National Forest, leaving little evidence of how it started or who was behind the devastation.

This makes the sixth fire in as many months to haunt the region.

Which leads us to ask: how did we get here and how do we stop it from happening again?