Luna Stardust's Arc

Chapter 1 of 8

Luna Stardust knelt at the edge of the pine line, her healer's satchel of bright cuttings and salves resting in the snow. She had come back day after day, hoping the alpha would let her near the sick pups. Trust, she knew, had to be earned slowly. A small whimper turned her head. A purple pup lay crumpled between the roots, one delicate wing bent wrong. Blood darkened the violet fur. It was one of the alpha's own. Luna's hands shook, but her training did not. She lifted the pup gently and carried it to a sheltered hollow she had built from glass-clear ice and woven branches. Inside, the light glowed soft and blue. She cleaned the wound, set the wing, and wrapped it with strips from her satchel. Footsteps crunched behind her. The alpha stood at the entrance, eyes hard, breath sharp in the cold. Luna did not rise. She only held out her empty hands, the pup breathing steady at her knee, and waited.