002

ARIA'S POV

Damon didn’t ask me to follow him.

He dragged me. Literally.

One second I was standing there, trying to make sense of the whole bloody werewolf WWE match I’d just witnessed, with a crazy humanoid chasing after me and the next, his hand clamped around my arm like a steel trap.

“Hey—HEY! I can walk!” I snapped, stumbling behind him as he stormed down the alley.

“Good,” he growled, not slowing down. “Walk faster.”

“Excuse you? Who the hell died and made you—”

“Aria.”

The way he said my name; flat, deep, and annoyed, it made every cell in my body pause for half a heartbeat.

Then I remembered who I am.

“Don’t use my government name like you pay my bills,” I said.

His jaw twitched. Good. Stress him.

He shoved open a metal door at the back of the auto shop, revealing a hallway that did NOT, emphasis on the NOT, belong in any normal garage. Dark walls, exposed brick, steel accents, the faint smell of smoke and motor oil…no, this was something else. I just couldn't place my finger on what it was.

“Uh… where are we going?” I asked.

“Inside.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re getting.”

He didn’t release my arm until we reached a second set of doors; huge, reinforced, and intricately marked with archaic symbols. He scanned his palm, it clicked and the doors slid open.

“Dude” I whispered, “This is giving ‘secret cult with expensive taste’ vibes.”

“It’s not a cult.”

“So… you’re saying that because it is a cult.”

He let out a frustrated breath that felt like it had been aging inside his soul.

We stepped into a massive warehouse-like interior; bikes lined in rows, steel rafters, neon strips glowing crimson, men and women in leather jackets turning to look at us. But they weren’t human. I knew that now.

And they knew I wasn’t supposed to be here.

“What the hell?” one of them snarled, rising to his feet. “Alpha, who is she?”

“She saw the shift,” Damon said, his voice low and lethal.

Instant silence.

Then the explosion:

“You brought her HERE?”

“Are you insane?”

“She’s human—”

“She should be dead!”

“Wow,” I said, waving loudly. “Hi. Yes. The extremely alive human is present. Maybe stop planning my funeral in front of me?”

Every head whipped toward me with expressions ranging from horror to disbelief. Damon pinched the bridge of his nose like he finally understood what migraines were invented for.

“She doesn’t obey alpha command,” he said. “I tried.”

A ripple of shock went through the room.

Someone whispered, “Impossible.”

Another muttered, “Not a single human—”

An older man stepped forward, tall, gray hair braided down his back, and eyes as sharp as broken glass.

“Alpha,” he said, “The council needs to hear this.”

“Oh good,” I muttered. “More angry werewolves. Great. Fantastic.”

Damon shot me a look. “Stay close.”

“Buddy, you’re the one who dragged me. I’m literally kidnapped proximity right now.”

———

The council chamber was a circular room lined with stone and steel, like a gothic court had a baby with a biker bar. Five elders sat around a long table.

The moment they saw me, the hostility filled the room like smoke.

The gray-braided elder spoke first. “Human girl. You witnessed the shift?”

“Yes,” I said. “And before you ask, no, I’m not traumatized, yes, I know what I saw, and no, I’m not signing any NDA.”

A woman elder hissed. “Execution. Immediately. The law is clear.”

I raised a hand. “Can we not jump to murder? Like maybe try… I don’t know… a warning letter first?”

Damon stepped in front of me, blocking their view.

“She didn’t respond to my alpha command,” he said in a tough guy voice. “Not even slightly.”

The room erupted.

“That’s not possible—”

“She’s lying—”

“No human can resist—”

“I’m right here,” I said. “Again.”

An elder slammed his fist on the table. “Alpha Black, she must die. Now.”

“No.” Damon’s voice sliced through the noise like a blade.

The elders stared at him like he’d grown two heads.

“Are you defying council law?” the woman demanded.

“I’m giving you an alternative,” Damon snapped. “Forty-eight hours. I’ll figure out what she is.”

“What she IS?” I echoed. “Hello? I’m literally just a girl who was trying to pay rent. That’s it.”

The gray-braided elder pointed at me.

“No human survives an alpha command without kneeling.”

I crossed my arms. “Maybe your WiFi was down.”

Damon shot me a glare. “Stop talking.”

“Then stop handing them reasons to kill me.”

One elder stood, eyes burning. “Forty-eight hours is too long. The Bloodmoon Pack will sense the disturbance by dawn.”

Damon’s expression darkened, dangerous and feral. “Then you should pray I solve this before they find her.”

The room fell deathly silent. The council exchanged glances.

Finally, the oldest elder nodded reluctantly.

“Forty-eight hours,” he said. “And if you fail—”

“I won’t,” Damon growled.

“You will bring her back for execution.”

Damon didn’t answer.

I did.

“Yeah, no thanks. Not signing up for that field trip.”

---

He dragged me out of the chamber the second the meeting ended. We walked through the hall, and I pulled my arm out of his grip.

“Stop yanking me around like I’m some A****n package you’re trying to deliver.”

He turned sharply.

“I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“By locking me up?”

“By stopping my people from ripping you apart.”

“Well, your people need therapy.”

He exhaled loudly, rubbing his forehead. “Aria… I need answers.”

“Get in line, dude. I also have questions like; why didn’t your mind trick work on me? Why is your entire biker gang allergic to my existence? Why did I see your bones rearrange like you were auditioning for a horror movie?”

His jaw tightened.

“I’m going to look into your records.”

“My what?”

“Your past. Your adoption. Your parents. All of it.”

“Uh, no. You’re not hacking my life like it’s a spy movie—”

“It’s not hacking,” he said, already moving. “It’s survival.”

“And you think my adoption papers are gonna tell you why your alpha voice didn’t work?”

His silence answered that question too well.

---

He locked me inside a room.

Like… fully locked.

Metal door, reinforced walls, a small windowslit, bed, dresser and no visible bathroom. I looked around, unimpressed.

“Wow. My kidnapper has interior design taste. How progressive.”

The intercom crackled.

“Stay inside,” Damon ordered.

“Or what? You’ll growl at me again?”

“You’re insufferable.”

“And you’re bossy.”

Silence. Then the intercom clicked off.

I smirked.

Time dragged. Maybe an hour. Or two.

Then—

The door slammed open.

Damon walked in, holding a file. His expression was different. Not just annoyed, but disturbed.

“What?” I frowned. “What now?”

He held out the file. “Your adoption papers.”

I crossed my arms. “Okay… and?”

“They’re fake.”

I blinked. “Fake like… forged?”

“Fake like they were never real to begin with.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the dates don’t match. Signatures shift when scanned. The documents glitch, literally glitch, like they’re… tampered with by someone who knew how to hide you.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking.”

A chill slid down my spine.

“No birth records,” he continued.

“No hospital files. No biological information. It’s like you appeared out of nowhere.”

“That’s—no. I have memories—”

“Planted memories can feel real.”

I stepped back. “Don’t say that.”

“I need you to understand the danger we’re in.”

“We? Or me?”

He looked at me, frustration and fear….I think.

Before I could ask anything else—

The gray-haired elder rushed into the room.

“Alpha!” he barked. “We have a problem.”

Damon straightened. “What now?”

“The Bloodmoon Pack knows she’s alive.”

My stomach dropped.

“They sent scouts into the city,” the elder said.

“They’re searching for the human girl who resisted alpha power.”

I gulped. “Okay, so that’s… great. Wonderful. Can today get worse?”

The elder ignored me completely as he stepped closer to Damon.

“There is something else,” he said quietly.

“Something you should hear.”

Damon stiffened. “What?”

The elder lowered his voice, but I heard every word:

“There is an old prophecy….A child of forbidden blood will awaken immune to all alpha power. A child who will disrupt the balance of every pack in across the globe.”

He turned to look at me.

His eyes widened.

“It’s her,” he whispered.

Damon’s head snapped toward me slowly, like realization hit him in the chest.

And for the first time since meeting him…

He looked truly afraid.