Chapter 1 Prologue
In the shadowed heart of the Hollows, where geothermal springs bled crimson and quartz veins pulsed like living fire, the blood moon hung low, a wound in the sky.
Its light bathed the ancient caverns in scarlet, whispering secrets of power and betrayal to those bold enough to listen. The House of Varex, a lineage of werewolves forged in primal rites, had long guarded the Lunasanguine a relic of molten quartz and starfire, said to bind lovers or break empires.
Its song was a call to the blood, a promise of dominance and desire, but also a curse that drew hunters like moths to flame.
Aurora Moon, last of the Varex bloodline, was born under such a moon, her eyes flecked with the same fire that burned in the relic. Her claws were sharp, her heart fierce, her body a canvas of untamed power, untouched by any lover yet craving a bond to seal her fate. She was no mere wolf she was fire-child, destined to wield the Lunasanguine or fall to its hunger.
Her dreams were haunted by visions: a man with smoke-grey eyes kneeling at her feet, his submission a vow; another with amber eyes, fierce and loyal, yearning to claim her; and a shadow, tall and dark, whose green eyes stirred her blood like a forgotten song.
But the Hollows were not hers alone. Elowen, a scryer of Varex blood twisted by malice, hunted the relic with her sanguine-key, a chain of crimson links that pulsed with a rival power, threatening to unravel Aurora’s destiny. Morvath, a shadow-lord whose hounds prowled the caverns, sought the Lunasanguine to forge an empire of ash. And in the wings, others stirred Jasper, a vampire whose shadows danced to Aurora’s command; Kai, a warrior wolf whose jealousy was a blade; Lira, a fae whose defiance hid a heart torn by desire; and Rune, an outcast whose secrets could shift the tide.
The caverns thrummed with the relic’s call, their walls etched with runes that whispered of a rite under the blood moon a ritual of love and blood, where Aurora’s choice would bind her to one, or all, or none. Her dominance was her strength, her heart a crucible, but the Lunasanguine demanded more: a surrender to love, a claiming of power, or a sacrifice to break the key that threatened them all. As the moon rose higher, the Hollows waited, its springs steaming, its shadows coiling, ready to crown a queen or consume her.