CHAPTER 4

Darkness closed around her like velvet. Soft, but suffocating.

Aria’s breath hitched as her feet sank into an endless pool of black water, moonlight shimmering faintly on the surface. Somewhere in the distance, a howl pierced the stillness… it was long, aching, and ancient. Her heart beat like war drums in her chest.

“Aria...”

A whisper, not quite a voice, it was low, feminine, and... broken.

She turned. The shadowy figure of a she-wolf emerged from the fog, eyes glowing silver like stars drowned in sorrow. Her fur rippled like mist. She was beautiful and terrifying, regal yet untamed.

“Who are you?” Aria asked, her voice trembling. “Why do you keep calling me?”

The wolf tilted her head, stepping closer. “You already know me. You’ve always known me.”

“I don’t…”

“Awaken,” the she-wolf interrupted. Her voice was softer now. Urgent. “Before they do.”

Aria reached out to her but the moment her fingers brushed the shadow, the vision shattered like glass.

She woke with a loud gasp, heart slamming in her chest, sweat dampening her forehead. The small, makeshift tent Kael had given her suddenly felt too small, the air became too thick. Her lungs fought for breath, but it wasn’t just the nightmare that choked her. It was fear. A fear older than memory.

Kael was already there, crouched by the entrance.

Watching.

Their eyes met, and for a moment, Aria saw something flicker in his eyes, worry, concern, maybe. Even something... tender. But as quickly as it appeared, he blinked it away and rose to his feet, and for a second Aria thought she was hallucinating. The walls slamming back up behind his gaze.

“You were thrashing in your sleep,” he said gruffly. “Scared Nessa.”

Aria’s eyes softened. “Is she okay?”

Kael nodded, folding his arms across his chest . “She wanted to sleep beside you again, but Maela stopped her.”

Maela. The sharp-eyed rogue woman with a scar across her brow and secrets that leaked from her silence. The one who had given Aria her mother’s letter, the warning: Run before they find out.

“She knew,” Aria whispered, still reeling from the dream. “My mother… she knew something was coming.”

Kael didn’t answer.

Aria sat up slowly, brushing her hair away from her face. “You don’t have to act like you care, Kael. I already know you don’t.”

His jaw tightened. “It’s not about caring. You’re in my territory. If you die in your sleep, it becomes my problem. And I dislike problems.”

That stung, more than it should’ve.

She rose to her feet, anger boiling under her skin. “Right. I'm just a problem to manage. Nothing more.”

He stepped closer, voice low. “Don’t twist my words.”

“Don’t make me.” Her eyes locked with his, raw and fierce. “You claim to hate me. You act like I’m a burden. But then you sleep near my tent. You fight Rhys like your life depends on it. You look at me like….like you want to burn the world for me.”

Silence fell between them.

Then, softly, he said, “That’s the problem, Aria. I do.”

Before she could speak, a horn blared across the clearing, low and deep. A rogue signal.

Kael’s expression darkened. “Get dressed. Now.”

Minutes later, Aria stepped into the cold air, Nessa running to her with wide, frightened eyes.

“Is it a raid?” Nessa asked, clutching her sleeve tight.

“No, sweetheart,” Maela said from behind, placing a protective hand on the girl’s shoulder. Her eyes met Aria’s. “It’s a trial.”

“A what?”

But Kael was already gone.

A circle had formed in the heart of the camp. Rogues surrounded the fire pit, whispering, their gazes sharp and suspicious. Kael stood at the center, arms crossed, expression unreadable. An older rogue, gray-bearded with a voice like gravel, stepped forward.

“She is marked!” he barked, pointing at Aria. “And because of that mark, she puts all of us in danger!”

A ripple of murmurs echoed through the crowd.

“She didn’t choose the bond,” Maela said firmly.

“She surrendered to it,” the man snapped. “Her wolf accepted him before the entire camp.”

“And what would you have her do?” Kael growled. “Reject fate?”

“Survive,” the elder said simply. “And we survive by staying hidden. She’s the Luna of a royal pack. The daughter of the Beta family. If they come looking….”

“They already are,” Aria cut in, stepping into the center. “Rhys came. And he left with a threat.”

“You brought war to our doorstep,” another rogue spat.

“She brought the truth,” Maela countered, voice rising. “And a warning none of you had the courage to say out loud.”

The elder rogue ignored her. “Then let her prove her loyalty to us.”

Aria’s breath caught. “How?”

“You want to stay here? You want our protection? Then earn it. Spill blood with us. Take from the land. Suffer as we have. Live like a rogue.”

A hush fell.

Kael turned to her, eyes stormy. “You don’t have to do this.”

But Aria looked at the crowd, their fear, their doubt, the way Nessa clung to Maela’s leg.

“Yes,” she whispered, stepping forward. “I do.”

The elder nodded grimly. “Then tomorrow at dawn, you’ll begin your trials.”

And with that, the circle broke.

Aria stood frozen, heart hammering, breath shallow.

Kael approached, voice low. “They don’t trust easily.”

“I don’t blame them tho.”

He reached out, almost touching her hand, but stopped. “You’re not like them, Aria. You still smell of silk and roses and full moons.”

“Then I’ll bleed it out,” she said, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “One trial at a time.”

Their eyes held. The distance between them was still there, but something deeper pulled tight, a bond neither of them wanted, but both could no longer deny.

As Kael walked away, Maela approached.

“You’ve stirred the shadows,” the woman said quietly, handing Aria a small bundle of herbs. “For your dreams.”

“You know what they mean?”

Maela nodded once. “That she-wolf? She’s not a dream. She's a memory.”

Aria swallowed hard. “Whose memory?”

“Yours,” Maela whispered. “And hers.”

The fire behind them cracked.

But Aria’s world had already begun to burn.