The night split open.The first clash of wolves hit like thunder, a collision of fur and teeth and power. The clearing exploded with snarls and screams, the air thick with blood and magic.Aria’s light blazed to life around her, pouring from her skin like wildfire. Her wolf’s paws scorched the earth as she lunged, slamming into the first shadow-twisted wolf that dared to rush her. They rolled across the ground, her jaws finding its throat, tearing through corrupted flesh until it went limp beneath her.The shadow burned away in a hiss of smoke, leaving behind a body that looked… almost peaceful.I can save them. The thought hit hard and fast, filling her with reckless determination.“Aria!” Killian’s voice roared through the bond. Stay close!But she was already moving, darting between fighting wolves, her power lashing out in brilliant arcs that seared through the red-eyed traitors. Each one she touched screamed, the darkness peeling off them like burned paper. Some collapsed, alive
The hall was silent except for the ragged sound of breathing. Blood slicked the floor, reflecting the glow of the torches. Wolves lay sprawled across the stone—some wounded, some dead, and some who had simply walked out, leaving a void behind them that felt worse than any corpse.Aria stood frozen, her chest rising and falling too fast. The bond throbbed painfully, echoing Killian’s rage, but there was something else beneath it—something colder, darker. The man’s voice still rang in her ears.Little vessel.She swallowed hard, clutching her arms as if she could hold herself together by force.Killian stalked through the hall like a predator, silver eyes burning, his bare chest streaked with blood and dirt. He looked like a war god, terrible and beautiful.“Gather the loyal,” he ordered, his voice sharp as a blade. “Drag the wounded to the infirmary. Burn the dead.”The pack scrambled to obey, their movements frantic. No one dared meet his gaze for long.Aria stood in the center of the
The chamber still reeked of smoke and shadow. The air felt heavy, charged, as if the walls themselves were holding their breath.Aria’s hands shook where they gripped the blanket. Her mind wouldn’t stop replaying the image—the pack warrior’s red-glowing eyes, the way his body had dissolved into nothingness.“He was right here,” she whispered, barely audible. “Right here, Killian. One of ours. One of yours.”Killian stood with his back to her, shoulders tense, jaw locked. His claws had half-shifted, digging grooves into the wood of the bedpost.“He wasn’t one of mine,” Killian growled finally, voice low and lethal. “Not anymore.”The words were meant to sound certain, but even Aria could hear the crack underneath. He was Alpha—if the Shadow Crown had already turned one of his warriors, it wasn’t just a betrayal. It was a challenge to his rule.“Killian…” She tried to keep her voice steady. “What if there are more? He said half the pack would follow. What if they already are?”He turned
The battlefield still smoked. Ash floated through the night air like black snow, clinging to fur and skin, carrying the bitter tang of blood. Wolves limped among the wreckage, dragging the wounded toward safety, but their eyes kept drifting back to one place—back to her.Aria sat cradled against Killian’s chest, his arms wrapped around her protectively, his bare skin streaked with dirt and blood. She could feel his heart pounding beneath her cheek, steady and strong, a lifeline in the storm of chaos swirling inside her.But she could hear them even here, pressed against the one person who steadied her. The whispers.“She glowed…”“That wasn’t wolf power.”“Prophecy. It has to be.”“What if she’s dangerous?”Each word struck sharper than claws. Her wolf whimpered low inside her, torn between pride in the strength they’d unleashed and fear of what it meant.Killian’s growl rumbled low, vibrating through his chest into hers. His storm-gray eyes swept across the gathered wolves, hard and
The battlefield reeked of smoke, blood, and fear. Wolves staggered among the ruins of their own strength, their eyes darting from the bodies of rogues to the faint glow still clinging to Aria’s skin. Silence pressed on them, heavier than the death littering the earth.And then, the howl came again.Low. Drawn-out. Wrong.It didn’t belong to any wolf she had ever known. It wasn’t even the rabid scream of rogues. It was deeper, threaded with something unnatural that scraped against the inside of her skull. Her wolf whimpered, her body trembling despite the heat still pulsing in her veins.The pack shifted nervously, hackles raised. Murmurs broke out.“What was that?”“It’s not one of ours—”“Moon above, what is she?”The last whisper cut sharper than claws. Aria’s stomach clenched.Killian’s growl rolled across the clearing, silencing them instantly. His broad frame stood tall, blood streaking his chest, his storm-gray eyes glowing with Alpha fire. “She is your Luna. You will remember t
The battlefield writhed with chaos. Once scattered with stars, the night sky was now smothered beneath smoke and fire. Wolves clashed fang to fang, claw to claw, as the pack fought desperately to hold the line. The enemy surged like a tide of endless, feral, and unrelenting shadows.Aria’s lungs burned as she tore through a rogue, her claws dripping crimson. Killian was beside her, his wolf a hulking shadow of fury, his growls rolling like thunder across the battlefield. They moved in sync, their bond pulling them together as though some invisible thread wove their every strike. And still, the tide pressed harder.Then the air shifted. Cold, sharp, unnatural.Aria froze, her wolf bristling. From the center of the field, the red-eyed stranger raised a hand. The rogues faltered, their movements jerking unnaturally, as if pulled by invisible strings. Then his voice cut through the din, low and sharp, reverberating in her skull.“You can fight until dawn, but you will break. The bond will