CHAPTER FIFTEEN — “THE WAR CHOOSES ITS QUEEN”

The ground did not stop shaking when the first strike landed.

Aria felt it ripple through her bones, through the air, through the bond she shared with Luca. The man standing before them was no ordinary enemy. His presence bent the space around him, heavy with ancient authority.

Luca shifted subtly in front of her, protective instinct blazing.

“You should not have come here,” Luca said calmly, though danger coiled in every syllable.

The man smiled, slow and confident. “You misunderstand, Alpha. I did not come for you.”

His eyes locked onto Aria again. “I came for what was hidden.”

Aria stepped forward before Luca could stop her. “You keep talking like I am an object.”

The man tilted his head. “Not an object. A convergence.”

Her power stirred, reacting to the word.

Luca’s voice sharpened. “Speak clearly or leave in pieces.”

The man laughed softly. “Still territorial. Even now.”

He lifted his hands slightly, not in surrender but in invitation. “Long before your city existed, before packs and mafias learned to coexist, bloodlines were divided. Balance was fractured.”

Aria’s chest tightened. “You are one of them.”

“Yes,” he said. “A keeper of the old order.”

Luca scoffed. “An order that collapsed.”

“Because balance was stolen,” the man replied coolly. “Hidden away inside a child.”

Silence stretched.

Aria swallowed. “You mean me.”

“You are not just half anything,” he continued. “You are whole in a way this world has not seen in centuries.”

Luca turned to her. “Aria, do not listen to him.”

She met Luca’s gaze, steady and calm. “I need to.”

The man stepped closer. “Your mother understood. She knew awakening you would draw us out.”

Rage flared. “She used me as bait.”

“Yes,” he said simply. “And you came anyway.”

Luca growled. “Enough.”

He moved.

The clash was immediate and brutal. Luca struck with lethal precision, power rippling outward as he attacked. The man blocked effortlessly, smiling even as the ground fractured beneath them.

Aria felt panic surge. Luca had never been pushed back like this.

She lifted her hands instinctively, power rising to answer her fear.

“Good,” the man murmured. “Let it speak.”

Energy exploded from her, knocking both men apart.

Luca landed hard but rolled to his feet instantly. “Aria.”

“I know,” she said, breathless. “But I can feel it. He is connected to me.”

The man nodded approvingly. “She learns quickly.”

The battle escalated.

Hybrids flooded the compound, clashing with Luca’s guards in a storm of violence. The night filled with snarls, shouts, and the crack of power against stone.

Aria stood at the center of it all, heart pounding.

This was no longer about survival.

This was about choice.

She closed her eyes.

And listened.

The noise faded.

She felt the city. The people. The fragile balance holding everything together.

Her power responded, not wild, not destructive, but controlled.

Focused.

She opened her eyes.

“Stop,” she said.

The word carried weight.

The man froze.

So did everyone else.

Even Luca felt it, the command threading through the bond.

Aria stepped forward slowly. “You want balance restored.”

“Yes,” the man answered quietly.

“Then you do not start by tearing everything apart,” she said. “You do not threaten lives to prove your philosophy.”

The man studied her with new intensity. “You speak like a ruler.”

“I speak like someone who understands consequence,” she replied.

Luca watched her with a mixture of awe and something dangerously close to pride.

“You will leave,” Aria continued. “All of you. Tonight.”

“And if we refuse.”

She met his gaze without fear. “Then I will show you what balance looks like when it fights back.”

The silence was suffocating.

Finally, the man smiled again, but this time there was respect in it. “Very well. Queen of convergence.”

Luca stiffened. “She is not a queen.”

Aria glanced back at him. “Not yet.”

The man stepped back, signaling his forces. “This is not over.”

“I know,” Aria said. “Next time, we talk before blood is spilled.”

He inclined his head slightly. “Until then.”

They vanished into the night.

The compound slowly settled, the echoes of battle fading.

Aria’s knees buckled.

Luca caught her instantly, pulling her into his chest. “Do not ever do that again.”

She laughed weakly. “You should see your face.”

He held her tighter. “You scared me.”

She looked up at him. “I was scared too.”

His voice softened. “You stood anyway.”

Their bond pulsed warmly, steady and deep.

Later, as the city slept uneasily, Luca stood beside Aria on the balcony overlooking the lights below.

“They called you queen,” he said quietly.

She rested her head against his shoulder. “I do not want a throne.”

He kissed her hair. “Good. Thrones attract knives.”

She smiled faintly. “What happens now.”

Luca’s gaze hardened as he looked out at the city. “Now the world reacts to you.”

A pause.

“And there will be others.”

Aria straightened. “Then we prepare.”

He turned to her fully. “You are no longer hidden.”

She met his eyes, power steady within her. “I was never meant to be.”

Far away, deep beneath the earth, ancient seals cracked.

And something older than war opened its eyes.