CHAPTER 3

My body recoiled at the sound of his voice. “Talk?” I spat, stepping down the porch stairs toward him. “Like the way you ‘talked’ with my best friend between your sheets?”

Gasps rippled from the wolves around us, but I didn’t care. My anger tasted like iron on my tongue.

Ethan flinched, but he didn’t look away. “This isn’t about that. Not now.”

“Oh, yes it’s about that,” I snarled, closing the distance until I could feel the heat of him. My wolf clawed inside me, furious and wounded. “Don’t you dare act like what you did doesn’t matter. You ruined everything, Ethan. And you know I loved you so much.”

His lips pressed into a grim line. “I ruined us, yes. But your father? That wasn’t me.”

My stomach clenched. My mother’s sobs still rang in my ears. “Then who?”

Ethan leaned closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear. “The Council. And they’re not after him. They’re after you. It's you they really want.”

The ground seemed to tilt beneath me. My fists curled at my sides. “What the hell are you talking about?”

He swallowed, glancing around at the watching wolves before gripping my arm and tugging me towards the tree line. I wanted to fight him off. Oh God, I hated him right now, but curiosity and dread kept me moving.

When we were far enough that the pack’s whispers faded into the night, I ripped my arm free forcefully. “Start talking.”

His gaze locked on mine, intense and unrelenting. “Your father’s been hiding something. Something about your bloodline. The Council’s been watching you for months, Aria. Tonight was just the excuse they needed.”

Bloodline. The word rattled in my chest like a warning bell.

“You’re lying,” I snapped, though my voice shook. “This is just another way to hurt me, isn't it?”

“I wish it was.” His voice cracked for the first time, his hand raking through his hair. “The Council doesn’t waste Gammas on rumors. They only move when they’re certain. And they’re certain about you.”

I staggered back a step. The night air felt thinner, harder to breathe. “Why me?”

His jaw tightened. “Because you’re not just your father’s daughter, Aria. You’re something else. Something much more. Something they fear.”

My pulse thundered in my ears. “Stop speaking in riddles, Ethan! I'm not understanding you. If you know something, tell me!”

For a moment, the boy I once loved flickered through his cold mask. His eyes softened, just slightly, as if he hated being the one to say it.

“Your father… he wasn’t just protecting you from me, or from the world. He was protecting the world from you.”

My chest constricted. The earth felt like it was splitting beneath me. “What the hell does that mean?”

He took a step closer, his voice dropping to a whisper that still somehow sliced through the dark.

“It means, Aria… you’re not just a wolf. You’re something the Council thought died out centuries ago.”

The night roared around me. My body went cold. My legs felt heavy and my heart pounded in my chest.

“What… am I?” I forced out, barely more than a breath.

Ethan’s gaze flicked past me, scanning the shadows like he expected danger at any second. His next words were a dagger straight through my chest:

“You’re a blood heir. And if the Council’s right, you’re the last one left. No one is supposed to find out about it. Blood heirs aren't allowed to exist.”

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

Blood heir. The words sank into me like ice daggers, rattling every bone in my body.

Ethan’s face blurred, his lips moving, but I barely heard him any further. All I could hear was my father’s voice echoing in my memory. Warning me, shielding me, whispering half-truths I’d never understood.

My knees threatened to buckle, but then the air shifted.

A new scent laced the night air. Smoke, cedar, power. It wrapped around me before the sound of heavy footsteps followed.