Chapter 57: Blood.It dripped slowly from Aria’s palm, trailing down her fingers and onto the cold stone floor.The ancient dagger trembled in her grip.She’d found it buried beneath the altar of the Moon Temple, deep inside the Midnight Pack's sacred ruins. It was far older than any artifact she had seen before, carved with forgotten runes that pulsed with a sickly silver light.This dagger was forged to break bonds, the scroll had read. The Bond Breaker—it severs even the ties fated by the Moon Goddess.And now… she stood alone with it, the scent of her own blood in the air, and Kael’s mark still burning on her neck.Aria clenched her jaw. “What the hell were you hiding, Kael?”Behind her, footsteps echoed.She spun around fast, ready to strike only to find Lucien.His eyes locked on the dagger. “You weren’t supposed to find that.”Aria’s heart skipped.She took a step back, blade raised. “You knew about this? About the prophecy? About her?”Lucien didn’t answer. His silence was l
Chapter 56: The blackened sky above Midnight territory split with a crack of thunder. Aria stood at the training grounds, her bare feet rooted in the cold dirt, blood still drying on her knuckles. The scent of burning herbs and singed fur from the earlier battle still lingered in the air. Her heart pounded not from the fight but from what Kael had said just minutes ago.“She’s alive, Aria.”The words refused to stop echoing in her mind.Kael’s so-called true mate.The ghost who'd haunted their bond, their bed, their every heated argument and stolen moment of peace she wasn’t a ghost after all.She was real.Alive.And walking toward the Midnight Pack.Aria had barely slept since the battle. She had led the charge while Kael lay unconscious from Zane’s blade. The warriors had rallied behind her, howling her name like it meant something. Like she belonged.But now?Everything felt like it was breaking apart again.The door to the Alpha’s war room creaked open, and Aria didn’t turn as
Chapter 55: The moon was high, casting silver shadows over the Midnight Pack’s war-torn grounds. Aria stood on the balcony of the Alpha's chamber, her hair whipping in the cool wind, Kael’s blood still staining her hands. He lay unconscious behind her, his wounds slowly mending thanks to her bond thanks to the curse she had finally broken. But peace hadn’t followed. No, it had only cracked open a darker truth.A messenger's scroll trembled in her grip, sealed in the crimson wax of the Royal Court."By order of the Alpha King, you are summoned to the Highlands within three days. Refusal will be treated as rebellion."Aria’s breath caught. The seal bore the insignia of the Obsidian Crown, a symbol lost for decades. No one had dared use it, not since the Alpha King went silent. Rumors swirled that the throne had fallen, that the Alpha Kingdom fractured beyond repair. Yet now, here it was. A royal summon... to Kael and her.Behind her, Kael stirred. His voice was hoarse, but steady.
Chapter 54– The scent of blood still lingered in the air.Aria stood at the edge of the battlefield, her fingers trembling around the hilt of her dagger, her heart thudding like war drums in her chest. The full moon hung low in the sky, casting a ghostly glow over the Midnight Pack’s grounds, where the soil was soaked with both victory and loss.Behind her, healers scrambled. Warriors groaned. And somewhere deep in the packhouse, Kael Blackthorn was fighting for his life.She should be with him.But she couldn’t move.Not yet.Because the letter the cursed, blood-marked letter still burned in her hand. He is mine, Aria. He always has been. You were just a shadow passing through.The seal had matched the one from Kael’s past. The woman who claimed to be his true mate… was alive. And she had returned with vengeance in her eyes.“Luna,” Beta Lucien's voice broke through her spiraling thoughts. “The Council demands your presence.”“I don’t answer to them,” Aria muttered, her voice sha
Chapter 53: Aria woke with a jolt.The sheets were drenched in sweat. Her heart thundered like it wanted out of her chest. The dream or was it a vision? still clung to her skin like smoke.A pair of glowing silver eyes.A voice in the dark whispering her name.And blood… her own blood glowing like moonfire.She reached for her chest, half-expecting to find a wound. Nothing. But something was burning inside her.She slipped out of bed, ignoring the ache in her muscles. Kael was still asleep on the couch nearby, arms folded, a faint scar visible beneath the fabric of his shirt. He hadn’t left her side since the attack at the border.He’d nearly died.Because of her.Aria moved to the balcony of the Alpha’s quarters, letting the cold night air bite into her skin. Below, the Midnight Pack was still recovering wolves rebuilding, warriors sharpening blades, Luna guards circling the halls. The attack had changed everything.They’d won.But the cost was still unfolding.A sharp voice sna
Chapter 52: The wind howled like a restless spirit, rattling the Midnight Pack's stone walls as if warning them of something no one could yet name. The air was sharp with tension, and the moon, an eerie silver coin in the dark sky, looked fuller than it should have been.Aria stood barefoot on the training grounds, her body aching but her eyes fierce. Blood stained the hem of her tunic, some hers, most not. Around her, warriors moved like shadows, silently preparing for what they didn’t understand.What none of them could understand.Because tonight, something ancient stirred in her veins.She could feel it pulsing under her skin. A burn. A whisper.“You were never just a warrior, Aria,” Kael had told her only hours ago. “You were born to end this.”But how could she believe that when her life had been shaped by rejection, betrayal, and scars that still bled on the inside?She looked across the field where Kael now spoke with Elder Mirka. His brows were furrowed, mouth tight. Alwa