The Queen's Army

Ze'ev Kesley is a normal twelve-year-old boy living on Luna when word arrives that he has been chosen for Queen Levana's army. His family is told it is an honor. Refusing is not an option.

Soldiers are made, not born, and Ze'ev is taken from home to be made. He is genetically modified and trained over years to fight to the death. Along the way he proves to Levana, and to himself, that he is capable of evil.

The result is exactly what the Queen wants: the alpha of his pack. The story is a short, dark origin piece with a tight focus on one boy's transformation, and it keeps to his experience without branching out.

It belongs to the Lunar Chronicles and was first published free on Tor.com in 2012, then reprinted in the Stars Above collection. As a prequel to Scarlet, it shows the early life of the soldier who appears there under the name Wolf, and it fills in his past and his brother Ran. Reading Scarlet first adds context, though the story stands on its own.