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.Morning crept over the rogue camp with a slow golden hush, casting honeyed light on canvas tents and weapon racks slick with dew. Aria stood barefoot in the training ring, the cool earth grounding her beneath a sky that still wore streaks of pink.Every muscle in her body ached like old wood, worn and splintered, but she refused to show it.Selene stood across from her, arms folded, expression unreadable. No blood on her this time. No venom curling her lips. Just a quiet watchfulness.“You have potential,” Selene said, the words falling between them like stones into still water.Aria stared at her, still unsure whether to flinch or fight. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”Selene smirked faintly. “It’s a warning.”The bruises from their trial were still fresh. Aria could feel each one pulsing beneath her skin like echoes. She hadn't expected to see Selene again so soon, let alone like this.Maela had merely shrugged when she arrived at Aria’s tent before dawn and said, “Selene wan
The moment the crowd began to disperse, the ache in Aria's bones surged tenfold.She stood frozen in the center of the sparring ring, Selene’s blood staining her knuckles, mud in her hair, the bruises blooming across her ribs like war medals. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, not with adrenaline, but with a bone-deep exhaustion that made her sway.And then…The world tilted.Her knees buckled.Darkness rushed up to meet her.The scent of lavender and crushed pine brought her back first.Soft light filtered through the canvas walls of Maela’s tent, and the quiet murmuring of the camp beyond drifted in like a half-remembered lullaby. Aria’s throat was raw, her skin sticky with dried sweat and blood, and her limbs refused to move. A warm, callused hand pressed something wet against her cheek.“You passed out cold,” Maela said softly. “Twice.”Aria blinked.Maela leaned over her, face shadowed but gentle. Her hands moved expertly, cleaning the reopened gash on Aria’s thigh, checking the
Aria woke at dawn, breath tight in her chest.The cold air bit into her skin as she sat upright on the cot in Maela’s tent. The salve still tingled faintly on her healing thigh, but that wasn’t what kept her up. It was the heaviness pressing against her ribs like her body already knew.The second trial was coming.And this time, it wouldn’t just be blood that spilled, it would be truths.Outside, the camp was still and shadowed, yet not silent. Whispers moved like wind through the tents. Soft, cutting, dangerous. A stir of anticipation cloaked the rogue camp.Aria stepped outside, her boots crunching against damp earth. Her breath puffed white in the chill, rising like a ghost above the tents. Rogues emerged in pairs and small clusters, their eyes flicking to her with unreadable expressions.She didn’t need words to understand what they were thinking.She’s the reason this is all happening.Silverpine’s eyes are on us because of her.Why would Kael keep her after what she’s brought?T
The sky still black as Kael carries Aria into camp, her body limp on his shoulders, her cloak splattered with blood and pine resin. Maela waits at the clearing's edge, jaw set and a clump of herbs already in her hand."Inside," she orders, pushing aside the door to her tent. "Put her down."Kael obeyed without a word. His hands were gentle as he placed Aria on the cot, but his eyes were thunder. The tension in his body buzzed like a blade held too long to fire.“I’ll take care of her,” Maela said, not unkindly, but firmly.Kael hesitated, his gaze lingering on the blood seeping from Aria’s thigh. Then, reluctantly, he stepped back and disappeared into the night.Maela got to work in silence, her fingers deft as she removed Aria’s boot and began cleaning the gash. Aria flinched awake with a cry.“Easy,” Maela murmured, pressing a cloth soaked in numbing salves against the wound. “You’re safe now.”“I wasn’t supposed to survive,” Aria whispered, voice hoarse. “He sent someone… from Silv
The wind howled like a warning that morning.Aria stood at the edge of the training field, the cold air biting into her skin. Her breath came in soft, white puffs, but her heart was racing too fast to feel the chill. Around her, rogues gathered in tight groups, sharpening blades, wrapping hands, preparing. The air buzzed with anticipation and suspicion.She felt it in the glances. The unspoken question: Will she survive this?Kael watched from a distance, arms folded, muscles coiled beneath his dark shirt. He hadn’t said much since last night’s trial demand, but his presence was constant…silent, looming. Protective, even if he wouldn’t admit it.Maela was the first to approach.“You slept?” she asked, offering a thickly woven cloak.“A little,” Aria lied, tugging it over her shoulders.Maela raised a brow. “The dreams again?”“Not a dream,” Aria corrected softly. “She comes in pieces now. Fragments of words I don’t understand. Her voice echoes like it belongs in my blood.”Maela place
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 sl