ARIA’S POV

Warmth.

That was the first thing I felt.

A strange, gentle warmth spreading through my veins, like fire wrapped in silk.

I wasn’t dead.

I could feel it pain and all.

The side of my neck throbbed sharply, but pain meant life.

My eyes fluttered open.

The ceiling above me wasn’t the cracked wood of my aunt’s house. It was smooth stone, carved neatly, glowing faintly with lantern light.

I blinked again, confused, breathing in scents unfamiliar pine, smoke, and something wild.

“She’s awake!”

The voice came from somewhere nearby.

I jerked upright.

My head spun. When my vision steadied…

Wolves were staring at me.

Not just one.

Not two.

A group of them some in human form, some standing behind in full wolf forms eyes wide, silent, tense.

They were staring as though I were something dangerous, unnatural.

My heartbeat raced.

“Where… am I?” I whispered.

No one answered. They only whispered among themselves.

“That’s impossible…”

“She should be dead…”

“No human survives an Alpha’s bite.”

“What is she?”

Their words made my blood run cold.

Alpha? Bite? Dead?

I pressed my fingers to my neck. It burned beneath my touch a deep, pulsing heat.

Before I could gather my thoughts, the door opened. Every wolf in the room bowed instinctively.

He walked in.

Lucar.

Not the monstrous wolf this time, but the man. Tall, broad, every step slow and controlled like he was wrestling something inside himself.

His silver eyes locked on me immediately.

My breath caught.

He wasn’t just striking.

He was overwhelming.

Strong jaw, dark hair slightly messy, muscles shifting under his clothes.

But it was his eyes… those silver eyes I’d seen in dreams, glowing in my mind every night.

And now they were looking straight at me.

He approached, and the room felt smaller. Tighter. Warmer. My heart thumped painfully against my ribs.

He looked at me as if he already knew every piece of me.

As if he was drawn to me and fighting it.

“Are you in pain?” he asked, low and deep.

I swallowed. “My neck… it burns.”

He tensed visibly, jaw clenching.

“It should,” someone muttered behind him. “She shouldn’t even be awake.”

Lucar turned sharply. His growl rumbled low in his throat, deep, animalistic. The wolves behind him dropped their eyes.

He looked back at me, softer this time.

“You’re safe here,” he said.

But the way the pack stared at me, the whispers, the fear in their eyes… I didn’t feel safe. I felt exposed, watched, like I didn’t belong.

“Why are they staring like that?” I whispered.

Lucar hesitated.

And then Mira the woman from earlier spoke quietly:

“Because no human has ever survived an Alpha’s bite. You’re the first.”

My blood froze.

The first? That meant…

“What happens to the others?” I asked shakily.

Lucar’s voice was low, almost a whisper of thunder:

“They die.”

Silence slammed into the room.

My breath stopped halfway. My hands trembled. Every wolf in the room stared at me as if I were something unnatural.

I forced myself to speak, even though my voice cracked.

“How?”

No one answered.

So I lifted my head, looking around at all of them.

“How do they die? Someone tell me.”

Mira, the healer who had been at my side since I opened my eyes, stepped forward. Her hands were clasped in front of her, but her eyes were full of fear… fear for me.

“The Alpha’s bite releases raw wolf energy,” she explained softly.

“A force meant only for wolves. When it enters a human body, it burns through the blood. The heart stops. The organs fail. Humans… they can’t survive that kind of power.”

A chill ran up my spine.

Jayce nodded slowly.

“Most die within minutes. The stronger ones last an hour.”

My stomach twisted.

Then a sharp scoff sliced through the air.

It was her.

Zari.

She stepped forward, arms crossed, chin lifted proudly like she owned the room.

Zari wasn’t just any female wolf.

She was the girl who had grown up beside Lucar, the one who had loved him since childhood. Everyone in the pack knew it. And she never missed a chance to remind them.

For years, she had paraded herself as the future Luna, walking around with a confidence she never earned.

“I told everyone from the beginning,” Zari said, looking at me like dirt. “Humans don’t belong here. They’re weak. That’s why they die.”

Mira shot her a glare.

“Zari enough!”

But Zari only smirked, tossing her long hair over her shoulder.

“She shouldn’t be alive,” she continued coldly. “And she definitely shouldn’t be in this pack. Her eyes dragged over me.

The room tensed.

Lucar turned his head sharply toward her.

When he spoke, his voice was calm but the kind of calm that made the floor vibrate.

“Zari.”

Her smirk faltered.

“You will not speak to her like that again.”

Zari’s jaw clenched, jealousy burning openly in her eyes.

She had spent her whole life believing she would be Lucar’s mate. That the pack would crown her Luna. That the Alpha would one day choose her.

And now a human who should have died was lying in his bed, under his protection.

I looked at Lucar again.

His voice softened when he turned back to me, something almost protective in his silver eyes.

“Your survival isn’t a weakness,” he said quietly. “It means something no one understands yet.”

“What does it mean?” I whispered.

Mira lowered her gaze.

“We don’t know.”

Jayce exhaled, studying me like I was a brand-new creature.

“You survived a bite that kills every other human. And you’re not showing any signs of failing. It shouldn’t be possible. But…” His eyes narrowed. “Maybe you’re not like the others.”

Zari scoffed loudly.

“Or maybe she’s just unnatural.”

“ZARI!” Lucar growled this time deep, sharp, Alpha-deep.

She went silent instantly.

I swallowed hard, heartbeat racing.

If all humans died…

If Lucar’s bite should’ve killed me…

If Mira couldn’t explain it…

Then what was I?

“What do you think I am?” I whispered.

They all looked at me.

But none of them had an answer.

Silence pressed on my chest until I couldn’t breathe anymore.

Everyone was staring at me like they expected me to drop dead at any moment.

Zari looked like she wanted me to.

I couldn’t lie in the bed any longer.

“I… I need air,” I whispered, pushing the blanket down.

Mira stepped forward. “Aria, wait….your body is still weak…,”

But I swung my legs off the bed anyway.

Bad idea.

My knees buckled immediately.

The world tilted. The floor rushed up toward my face

I didn’t hit it.

Strong arms caught me fast, steady, warm.

Lucar.

His grip locked around my waist as if I weighed nothing, pulling me tight against his chest.

His breath hitched. Mine stopped completely.

The room froze.

Zari actually gasped out loud.

“L-Lucar?” she stammered.

“You’re….you’re carrying her?”

Lucar didn’t even look at her.

His eyes were glued to me, silver-dark and unreadable.

“You shouldn’t stand yet,” he murmured, voice low enough that only I could hear.

“I’m fine…” I lied.

“No,” he said simply. “You’re not.

My heart hammered so loudly I was sure the whole pack heard it.

Zari stormed forward, her voice rising.

“Alpha, she’s HUMAN! You can’t….. you can’t just touch her like that! Let Mira carry her!”

Jayce raised an eyebrow. “Mira weighs less than Aria. You want her to break her back?”

Mira snorted. “Please. Sit down, Zari.”

Zari ignored them, glaring at me like I stole her entire life.

“She’s manipulating you,” Zari spat.

“Humans always do. She wants your attention, your pity….your position!”

Lucar’s head snapped toward her, eyes flashing silver pure, then he screamed

“ENOUGH!”

The word hit the room like a shockwave.

Several wolves lowered their heads instantly.

A few whimpered.

Zari flinched backward, face twisted with humiliation.

“Aria is under my protection,” Lucar said. “Anyone who challenges that…”

His gaze darkened.

“…challenges me.”

Zari’s mouth dropped open.

“But…but Lucar, YOU said it yourself! No human survives your bite! She…she shouldn’t even be here!”

I looked around.

The pack was whispering now soft, nervous, uncertain murmurs.

“She survived…”

“How?”

“What is she?”

“No human can do that…”

“Is she dangerous?”

My chest tightened painfully.

I whispered again, barely audible

“What if you made a mistake saving me? What if I’m not supposed to be here?”

Lucar turned back to me sharply.

“There was no mistake,” he said.

“If you weren’t meant to survive… you wouldn’t be breathing.”

His expression softened just slightly.

“Aria, look at me.”

I did.

His voice dropped, deep and steady.

“You’re alive for a reason.”

Zari let out a bitter laugh.

“Yeah. A cursed reason.”

Lucar growled.

Not at me.

At her.

A real Alpha growl low, deadly, and promising consequences.

“Zari,” he said in a voice that made the walls vibrate

“This is your final warning.”

Her bravado crumbled.

She bowed her head, shaking with anger she couldn’t risk showing.

Lucar slid one arm under my knees and lifted me higher into a full bridal carry.

My breath caught.

“W-what are you doing?” I whispered.

“Taking you somewhere safer,” he said.

“Somewhere quieter.”

“Where?”

“My room.”

Zari choked.

“YOUR WHAT!?”

Jayce actually bit his lip to hide his laugh.

Lucar ignored all of them and walked out with me in his arms like the entire pack didn’t exist.

My heart thundered.

Because even though I was scared…

even though I didn’t understand anything…

even though this world wasn’t mine…

Lucar held me like I belonged to him.

And deep inside him…

something responded.