004

ARIA’S POV

Darkness didn’t feel like fading. It felt like drowning.

I moved upward mentally through the thick, suffocating nothing until sound finally returned; low growls, heavy breathing, and footsteps pacing around me like restless shadows.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in the Reapers’ compound anymore.

Stone walls. Flickering torchlighs. And a boho earthy smell. A circle of men—no, wolves…staring like I was meat on their table.

And in the center of them stood the biggest man I’d ever seen.

Tall. Broad. With pale scars across his jaw. And eyes like burning coal.

He stepped forward with the slow confidence of someone who owned the room, the people in it, and probably the entire world outside.

“Good,” he said, with a voice deep enough to vibrate my bones. “You’re awake.”

I pushed myself up on shaking elbows. “Uhm. Hi? You are—?”

“Your father.”

I blinked. Slow. Twice. “Yeah, no. Try again.”

He smiled, and it wasn’t kind. “You look like her. The same eyes. The same fire. You are mine, Aria.”

Every bone in my body iced over.

“Uhmm just because I have the same eyes as your imaginary kid, you think I'm yours. Yeah. I think you’ve got the wrong girl,” I said.

“My dad owns a hardware store and collects gnomes.”

His expression twisted. “The humans who raised you were placeholders. Nothing more. Your real bloodline… is mine.”

A murmur swept through the wolves around him.

Bloodmoon Alpha. The nightmare Damon had wanted to keep me away from.

My chest compressed. “You kidnapped me.”

“I reclaimed you.”

“I’m calling it kidnapping.”

“Call it whatever you wish.” He moved closer. “I knew you would awaken eventually. But I did not expect the Reaper Alpha to interfere.”

His gaze hardened. “No matter. You’re home now.”

I laughed; a high, borderline hysterical sound. “Home? You think THIS is home? Bro, this looks like a medieval cult bunker.”

Growls rose instantly.

Dad-of-the-Year lifted a hand and they silenced.

“You are bold,” he said. “Good. You’ll need that. A child of forbidden blood cannot afford fear.”

I froze. “Sorry—child of what now?”

He studied me with curiosity. “Your mother was a Seer. A powerful one. She tried to hide you. And defy the prophecy.” He leaned down. “But fate cannot be outrun.”

“Okay? And what prophecy are we talking about here?” I demanded.

“The one you were born to fulfill. The one that says you will end this war. You will reshape the packs. You will be our weapon.”

Weapon.

I felt the word like a slap.

“I’m not your weapon,” I snapped.

He chuckled. “Your power says otherwise.”

“My power? I don’t have powers! I can’t even afford unlimited data.”

Something flickered in his eyes…amusement? Interest? Madness? All of the above?

“You don’t feel it yet,” he said. “But they do.”

He gestured around. And every wolf took a step back. Because the air around me felt like it was moving.

A mild beat. It was beginning to feel like the room was breathing with me. I mean hypothetically speaking.

My hands trembled. “What—what is happening?”

“You are awakening.” His voice softened in a terrifying, reverent way. “Stress triggers your bloodline. Fear sharpens it. Rage feeds it.”

“I’m not—”

But my voice cracked as a faint glow ran under my skin, it looked like light trying to pop it's way out of my veins.

I stumbled backward, gasping.

The wolves around flinched.

“You see?” he murmured. “It responds.”

“I don’t want this!”

“You don’t have a choice.”

My breath shook violently. “Damon—he’s going to come for me.”

His expression darkened. “Let him.”

Meanwhile….

A deep, earth-splitting roar rattled the lair. Not here. But far away. And I felt it. Or rather recognized it.

Damon.

The Bloodmoon Alpha smirked. “Ah. The Reaper comes for his little miracle.”

“He’s not my—!” I started, then shut my mouth because the smug smirk got worse.

“He scents you,” my father murmured. “He feels the shift in your energy. Only an alpha tuned to you would react like this.”

Heat rushed up my neck. “Shut UP.”

“He’ll tear the city apart to retrieve you.” He tilted his head. “Interesting.”

“Let me go,” I said. “Now. Before he—”

“He can come.” The Alpha spread his arms. “I’ve been waiting for a war.”

Well. That’s comforting.

They dragged me deeper into the underground tunnels. Torches, stone, guards…so many guards.

“Stop moving,” one of them growled as I twisted against their grip.

“Stop touching me,” I snapped.

They shoved me forward, and I tripped. My hands slammed into the ground and cracks spiderwebbed across the stone beneath my palms.

I scrambled back in horror. “What the hell?!”

The wolves recoiled like I’d suddenly grown fangs.

My father watched with something close to pride. “Good. Very good.”

“It’s NOT good!” I shouted. “This is not good at all!”

“It is your nature,” he boomed. “Your birthright.”

“No. My birthright is anxiety and poor life decisions.”

He stepped forward. “Your mother’s line carried power beyond anything the packs have seen. Combined with mine, you are unstoppable.”

“I’m not unstoppable,” I yelled. “I’m terrified!”

“You won’t be for long.”

He raised a hand toward me.

The wolves bowed instantly, dropping to their knees around us.

“Bring her to the altar.”

A jolt of fear shot through me. “Excuse me—the what?”

No answer.

They dragged me to a flat stone platform carved with strange markings. My skin prickled as they forced me to kneel.

My father stood before me like a priest preparing a sermon.

“This is the moment fate has been building toward,” he said. “The moment your power awakens fully.”

“I don’t want it!”

“You don’t have to want it. You simply have to be born for it.”

“I said NO!” I yanked against their grip and the air around me trembled again, dust shaking loose from the ceiling.

The wolves holding me hesitated.

My father didn’t.

He stepped closer, towering over me, and placed one massive hand on my forehead.

His palm felt hot. Like very hot!

“Stop,” I whimpered. “Please—stop.”

He smiled.

“Awaken.”

The word slammed through me like a thunderbolt. I felt my heart beat a thousand times faster. Light surged under my skin, blazing bright.

A crack broke beneath my knees, the stone platform fracturing like glass under too much pressure.

Wolves stumbled back and the torches shook violently.

And my scream tore the air apart.