Chapter 1 THE HEALER'S SECRET

WOLF BORN: THE LOST PRINCESS

The wind howled through the trees, its mournful sighs rattling the shutters of the small cottage where Elara worked by candlelight. The forest loomed outside, its dark edges whispering with unseen creatures. She had never feared the woods, though the villagers did. They told stories of beasts with eyes like burning coals, of howling figures that stalked the night.

Elara knew better. Since her childhood, she had strolled among the trees, and not once had she seen the monsters that they feared. Still, the forest felt alive, its presence a quiet hum in her bones.

Tonight, though, the night held something different-something waiting.

"Elara?" Maren's voice cut through her thoughts. The old woman healer ground herbs with a mortar at the small wooden table, her expression a map of worry, deeper than usual. "You are distracted again."

Elara huffed out a sigh and rubbed her hair back. "Tired. Just tired. This storm- "

A loud crash broke the night.

Elara and Maren shared a jolt. From outside. It had been. From the treeline. One beat later a low, animalistic growl came.

Elara spotted a lantern. "Someone's out there."

Maren's eyes went black. "Don't go, child."

But Elara was already running. She shoved open the door, icy wind slapping her in the face as the rain pounded against her skin. She ran toward the sound, feet light on wet earth. And then-

A man lay there, crumpled at the base of a tree, his body covered in blood.

Her breath caught. He was huge, impossibly broad, his chest rising and falling in shallow, ragged gasps. His dark hair clung to his face, matted with rain and blood. But it was his eyes that stopped her cold.

A deep, piercing gold.

Not human.

Lycans. The beasts the village dreaded.

Elara faltered only for a moment before she knelt beside him. His breathing was labored, his skin scorching hot. She reached out to touch him-

His hand snapped out, gripping her wrist.

Elara gasped, but before she could react, his lips parted. His voice, hoarse and broken, sent chills racing down her spine.

"Princess... you're alive."