Chapter 40:
The dawn crept along the horizon in pale blushes of pink and gold.
Aria woke to the distant hum of tension whispers and restless paws scraping stone.
She lay in Kael’s arms, her cheek pressed to the curve of his chest.
His heartbeat was steady, a living drum that anchored her in a powerless calm.
But peace was a fleeting dream in the Midnight Pack.
When she lifted her head, Kael’s jaw was tense; his wolf fur bristled even in human form.
His eyes, haunted gray, stared past her toward the courtyard where the pack began to gather.
She pushed herself up, trailing her fingertips across the wound he’d received the night before it still throbbed, but clotting.
A drop of crimson stained her palm, and she swallowed, knowing this blood was more than flesh it was a bond, prophecy in motion.
A shrill bark shattered the hush. Lucien stormed forward, Beta’s cloak whipping behind him.
“Alpha,” he snarled. “We have reports: Bloodfang retreated, but they killed off our eastern scou
