Chapter 1 Ashes and Arrival

The night Aurora Vale lost her family, the snow smelled like iron.

A blanket of silence had draped over Crescent Hollow, her small hometown nestled deep in the woods-too quiet, even for winter.

She had fallen asleep reading in her bed, her fingers tangled in the fabric of her worn sweater, comforted by the scent of cinnamon her mother always added to the fireplace logs.

The first scream shattered everything. She woke with a gasp, heart already thudding in panic. The sound of snarling and crashing glass filled the air outside her room.

Then came her mother's voice.

"Aurora! Get Elias and run!" She didn't make it in time.

Her mother had begun to shift, protecting her younger brother-but the rogues were faster. Bigger. Hungrier.

Aurora saw fur, blood, and snow all blur into one horrific moment. Her father's final roar. Her brother's scream.

And then silence.

She didn't remember how she got away. Only the cold against her feet, the branches scratching her skin, the sob caught in her throat as she ran into the forest and didn't stop.

Nothing except the forest swallowing her whole as she sprinted barefoot through the trees, the wind freezing against her tear-streaked face.

That night carved a permanent scar into her soul. She didn't look back. She never got to say goodbye. She collapsed in the snow far from home, her body trembling, skin burning, her soul ripped apart.

That was when she heard it. A soft voice, deep within her mind.

"Live."

Now, 5 years later, after moving from different towns. She stood at the edge of the city known as Crescent City, with her entire life packed into one old duffel bag and a single suitcase with a broken wheel.

The world here was louder-taller buildings, honking cars, glowing neon signs that didn't flicker with fire, but with electricity and indifference.

She tried to live through it for the past 5 years. But everywhere she settled, she felt unsafe. With no known relatives and no records of her birth parents, the university had offered her a rare late transfer-an escape disguised as a scholarship.

Crescent University would be her new home for now. At least until she could figure out who she was without the weight of ghosts on her back.

Aurora glanced at her reflection in a darkened storefront window as she waited for the campus shuttle.

She barely recognized herself. Her long ash-brown hair hung in soft waves over her shoulders, the ends fraying from weeks without care. Her skin-pale with an undertone of honey-looked even paler under the city's cold lights, but her face still carried a delicate, haunted beauty.

High cheekbones, wide hazel eyes flecked with gold, and a heart-shaped mouth that hadn't smiled in a long time. She was slim, but with the gentle curves of someone who once danced barefoot through flower fields and now flinched at shadows.

She wore an oversized hoodie that swallowed her small frame, black leggings, and scuffed sneakers-clothing that made her look invisible. That was the goal. Invisibility was safety. The shuttle arrived with a hiss of brakes. She boarded in silence, settling into a seat by the window.

As the buildings slid by, she tucked her legs up and wrapped her arms around herself, her gaze vacant.

She hadn't shifted. Not once. It wasn't normal for someone her age. Most werewolves felt the pull of their wolf by sixteen, seventeen at the latest. But she had just turned twenty. And still-nothing. No voice in her head. No ache in her bones during the full moon.

Just silence. A silence that made her feel broken.

They had said she was adopted. The memories of her human parents were warm, though hazy. But her blood-her real blood-remained a mystery. All she knew was that something inside her was... waiting.

Dormitory Hall A came into view, a towering structure lined with creeping ivy and arched windows. It looked more like an ancient boarding school than a university hall. She took a deep breath as she stepped off the shuttle.

The air here was different. Still, but cleaner. Crisp. She could almost smell the pine trees beyond the campus wall, the subtle hum of energy beneath the stone pathways. As if the land itself knew what she was. Or what she might become.

She checked in, received a keycard, and climbed four flights of stairs before unlocking her dorm room. It was small-bare walls, one desk, one bed, a window overlooking the inner courtyard. She dropped her bag and stood in the center, her body frozen by the quiet.

For a moment, she let herself cry. Not loudly. Not violently.

Just a few tears that traced her cheeks like old friends. Her hand pressed over her heart. It still beat. That had to mean something. A new life. A new beginning.

Even if her past still clung like a second skin.

Somewhere in this strange, glowing city, her fate waited.

And it would not be gentle.