005

ARIA’S POV

The world explodes inside my skull before it explodes outside it.

Heat and pressure. A long, tearing pain behind my eyes and head.

“Aria......focus.”

My father’s voice is a command made of gravel and dominance. “Let it rise.”

“I’m not letting anything rise!” I snap back, stumbling away from him. Except the ground trembles under my feet like I just slapped the earth awake.

The Bloodmoon wolves circle me, their posture lowered, with glowing eyes.

Submission…to me! And that… that can’t be right.

“What are you doing to me?” I demand, clutching my chest as my heartbeat keeps beating fast, making it even more painful to endure.

“I’m not doing anything,” he says calmly. “You are. I told you, your blood was never human.”

“My blood is none of your business!”

“It is the only business that matters.”

I feel my insides crack, as loud as a gunshot in my bones. Another surge of heat blasts outward. The wolves surrounding me yelp and drop. The air warps. The ground fractures.

“What….what’s happening….” My breath stutters. My veins glow faintly through my skin. On a normal day this would feel like a heroic becoming, but right now I feel like a villan unraveling. “Stop it. Make it stop.”

“You were born for this power,” my father says, stepping toward me.

“I don’t want it!”

“You don’t get to want. You obey.”

“I’d rather die.”

He sighs, annoyed. “You sound just like your mother.”

My vision begins to blur, turning white at the edges. The world tilts. And a metallic taste fills my mouth and a line of blood drips from my nose.

Great. Superpowers and internal bleeding. Peak life choices.

A distant howl slices through the night and every wolf stiffens.

My father’s eyes narrow. “He’s here.”

Damon.

My heart reacts before my brain does, lurching so violently I drop to one knee.

No. No, absolutely not. I am not reacting to that rude, infuriating, bossy wolf like—

“Bring her inside,” My father commands. “Now.”

“I can walk on my own!” I hiss, trying to stand.

My legs give out immediately. Perfect.

Two guards reached for me.

And the night explodes—again!

Wolves growl and the sound of clashing metal fills the night. Someone flies past me and slams into a wall.

“ARIA!”

His voice hits me like a physical blow.

Damon storms through the shattered boundary like a demon straight out of supernatural jail. His eyes are pitch black, his pupils blown wide with a feral gaze. His claws aren’t out yet, but his jaw is half-shifted, with terrifying gleaming teeth.

He’s not just angry. He’s unhinged.

And he’s looking at me like he’ll burn down the whole world if I don’t answer him.

“Damon—” My voice cracked.

He moves toward me, and every cell in my body reacts. Heat floods me. Electricity arcs under my skin. The glowing in my veins intensifies. Great now I feel like superman reacting to kryptonite.

“What did they do to you?” he growls, with murder clearly in every syllable.

“My blood is… having a mental breakdown,” I mutter. “Also, I might be dying.”

He steps closer, and as if my night couldn't get any worse, a thread snaps between us.

An violent invisible pull. A bond….wait… bond?!

My breath stalls and his entire body jolts.

He whispers, barely audible, “Oh… hell no.”

“Yeah,” I choke out. “Tell me about it.”

The bond surges like a tidal wave—heat shooting up my spine, tearing the air between us.

“We need to get out of here,” Damon says roughly.

“Right now.”

“No!” a Bloodmoon warrior roars, rushing him.

Damon doesn’t even look

.

He grabs the wolf mid-lunge, slams him into the ground so hard the earth cracks, and throws him aside.

More wolves charge.

Damon lets them.

He moves like a storm; cold, brutal, and terrifyingly efficient. Every time one gets close to me, he snaps. Literally snaps; a bone, a neck, a jaw. It’s messy. It’s primal.

It’s… way hotter than it should be.

Not the time, Aria. Focus.

“Stop staring at me like that,” Damon snaps without looking at me, ripping a wolf off his back.

“I’m not—”

I absolutely am.

“You’re glowing,” he growls, in a strained tone.

“I’m traumatized! People glow when they’re traumatized!”

“No one glows when they’re traumatized.”

“Well I do!”

Before he can respond, the earth shakes violently again. My knees buckle again. Damon lunges, catching me before I hit the ground.

Skin. Contact.

The bond detonates.

His breath catches. Mine disappears completely.

Up close, he smells like smoke and leather and blood and war…. and recognition, I think.

“Aria.” His voice is a rasp. “Don’t you dare pass out.”

“I’m not fainting,” I lie, swaying in his grip. “I’m just…temporarily allergic to existence.” I mean normally wouldn't try to fall into the arms of someone I've just met, but he's hot so I'll let it slide.

He bares his teeth. “We are not leaving without you.”

“…we?”

He hesitates. His fingers tighten on my waist like he’s already regretting whatever he’s about to say.

But before he can finish—

A massive explosion erupts behind us.

The shockwave slams into us like a freight train.

Damon grabs me, twisting his body to shield mine, but the blast sends us flying apart. I slam into the ground. Pain stabs through my side and the smoke blinds me.

“Damon!” I try to stand, coughing, and stumbling forward through the fire and chaos. “Damon!”

But I can’t reach him. Wolves pile between us. The smoke hides everything. Someone yanks me backward, strong hands clamping over my arms, dragging me deeper into the stronghold.

“No—NO! Let go! DAMON!”

My throat shreds from screaming.

I fight, kick, and scratch.

But my power sputters, burning through me too fast, and untamed. Blood runs from my nose again and my vision doubles over.

Through the smoke, I hear him scream my name, in an agonized, and desperate way.

“ARIA!”

I lunge toward the sound. But the wolves pulling me don’t stop until I’m thrown at someone’s feet.

Boots step toward me.

There were not Damon’s.

My father crouches down, gripping my jaw and my my face to his.

“You are the prophecy, Aria Vale,” he says softly.

“And you will obey me.”

My vision begins to blur at again. And my veins blaze brighter, a more gold like tone.

The feeling of untouched power moves under my skin.

I glare up at him; bleeding, shaking, and glowing like a bomb seconds before detonation.

“Watch me,” I whisper.