Tori

Tori had always been the strongest of her siblings—the one who never backed down, the one who met every challenge head-on. Born into a pack that valued strength and discipline above all else, she had spent her life proving she deserved her place. She had the speed, the skill, and the determination. And for a long time, that had been enough.

Until the night it wasn't.

The Night Everything Changed

It had been a simple hunt.

The moon hung heavy in the sky, casting a soft glow over the landscape as Tori and her hunting party tracked a herd of deer through the underbrush. The scent was fresh, the trail promising. It should have been an easy chase.

But the air felt off that night.

The world seemed too still, as if something unseen was waiting beneath the surface.

Then, without warning, an eerie blue light shimmered in the distance—pulsing, calling.

Tori had hesitated, her instincts screaming at her to turn back. But the others pressed forward, drawn toward the strange glow, too stubborn—or too curious—to ignore it.

And then the lunar energy struck.

A surge of raw, burning force lashed across the ground, searing into her flesh before she could move. Agony ignited through her body as she collapsed, her breath stolen, her vision swimming with light. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt—cold and sharp, yet sinking deep into her bones, threading through her very essence.

She had screamed, but there had been no one to save her.

By the time the light faded, the damage had been done.

Her left eye was gone—nothing but darkness remained where vision had once been.

Scars etched themselves into her body, glowing with an unnatural blue shimmer that pulsed whenever she breathed.

And in that moment, she knew—

She would never be the same.

The Betrayal

She dragged herself back to her pack, barely able to stand, expecting concern. Relief.

Instead, she saw the fear in their eyes.

She saw the way they recoiled, whispering among themselves.

"She should have died."

"That light… it's unnatural."

Her father, the lead hunter, said nothing for a long time. He simply stared at her, his expression unreadable, before finally speaking.

"You've been tainted."

She flinched. "I fought. I survived."

"You came back wrong" another wolf hissed. "You shouldn't have come back."

She opened her mouth, but no words came.

Her father's eyes darkened. "You are a danger to the pack."

It wasn't a warning.

It was a sentence.

Tori didn't fight them when they drove her out.

She didn't beg.

She just ran.

Surviving Alone

For weeks, she wandered.

She learned how to hide, how to hunt despite her scars. Her body ached with every step, the lunar essence thrumming beneath her skin, burning under the full moon. She could still feel it in her veins, altering her, changing her.

But she refused to break.

She was Tori. And she would endure.

Yet, the loneliness was suffocating. No pack. No purpose. Just survival.

Until she heard whispers of them.

A pack that did not turn away the broken.

A pack that had no place for fear.

A pack that belonged to a wolf named Haru.

Finding Haru's Pack

Tori had learned not to hope.

Hope had gotten her cast out. Hope had told her that her strength was enough, that her pack would always stand by her.

Hope had been a lie.

So when she stood at the edge of Haru's land, she didn't let herself believe.

But when she saw the others—wolves marked by lunar scars, wolves missing eyes, wolves with wings, with voided third eyes, with strange and unexplainable pasts—she knew.

This was different.

Haru approached her, his steps slow, measured. He studied her, taking in the lunar-marked scars, the way she stood tall despite the weight she carried.

"You've been through a lot," he said.

Tori squared her shoulders. "I'm still standing."

He held her gaze for a long moment before nodding.

"Then stay."

No hesitation.

No judgment.

No fear.

For the first time in a long time, she breathed.

And for the first time in forever—

She belonged.