CHAPTER 12

Aria's POV 

Lilith stood in the doorway like she belonged to another world. Her eyes glowed—hot, golden, sick with something that wasn’t just magic. Her smile stretched wide as if her skin was trying to hold in like a monster lived underneath.

"You can’t keep her from me," she whispered again.

My hand flew to my stomach. My baby kicked hard—like she felt the danger too. Yuna stepped between us. “Leave. Now.”

Lilith tilted her head. “You don’t understand, do you? This child will end everything. Or begin it. Either way, she doesn’t belong to you.”

I took a step back, the walls suddenly too tight around me. “She’s mine.”

Lilith’s eyes flicked to me. “That’s what you think.”

The air shimmers around her like heat rising off the stone. Her presence was heavy, wrong. She took a step closer—and then a gust of wind slammed the door shut in her face. It wasn’t me. I knew it wasn’t Yuna either.

It was her.

The baby.

That night, the moon rose red. I woke to pain ripping through my body. Not dull. Not slow. It was sharp and fierce—like my insides were breaking apart and rebuilding at the same time.

Blood Moon. Is what I saw outside the window, glowing like an open wound in the sky. The trees were bathed in red. The stars had disappeared and everything was quiet, except my ragged breathing.

Then the next wave hit. I screamed.

Yuna rushed in, already knowing. “It’s too soon,” she said. “But she’s ready. We don’t have a choice.”

I was drenched in sweat like rainwater, barely able to stay upright. I held onto the wooden frame of the bed, my knees shaking and my heart racing.

“She’s coming,” I gasped. “She’s not waiting.”

Yuna lit candles, mixed herbs, and whispered old chants. The floor of the cabin trembled beneath us.

Elias burst in, his face pale, eyes wide. “The veil’s thinning. The whole pack feels it.”

“I need her out of me,” I screamed as the next wave hit, my whole body curling inward.

Outside, the wind howled. Trees groaned. Something in the sky cracked.

The Blood Moon burned brighter.

Time folded. Pain turned into light. My vision blurred. I was floating, falling, rising all at once.

And then—I let go.

A burst of magic tore through the room, so bright I couldn’t see. I heard Yuna cry out. I felt something leave my body.

A scream filled the air—but it wasn’t mine.

It was hers.

My daughter.

I collapsed backward, lungs empty, heart full.

Then everything changed.

I could hear thoughts—not spoken words, but thoughts. Yuna’s voice in her head, calming herself: She’s stronger than I thought.

Elias, stunned and afraid: She’s Luna-born. There’s no denying it now.

I reached for my child with trembling hands. She was warm. Soft. Heavy with power. The moment I touched her, I felt something inside me—like a match to dry leaves.

The pain was gone. My muscles healed. My mind—sharp. Clear.

I looked into her eyes.

Silver, but not grey silver.

She blinked up at me, calm now. Her tiny chest rose and fell, steady. As if she'd always belonged in this world.

At the back of her neck, a mark shimmered. It looked like a crescent moon curled around a star, but the star was moving, pulsing with gold and violet light.

Yuna fell to her knees. “The Luna Sovereign,” she whispered. “The mark hasn’t been seen in a thousand years.”

Elias started. “Magnus will come. He’ll feel her power and he will come.” He said while shaking his head.

I clutched my baby tighter.

“Let him come,” I said, and I am waiting.

By morning, the cabin was surrounded.

Not enemies—but wolves from the Crimson Pack.

They had felt the magic, drawn by instinct and power. Dozens of them, in fur and skin, had come to witness whatever had shaken the woods.

They stood silent outside the clearing, staring at the blood moon still hovering above.

Then one of them stepped forward—Alric, the old Beta I hadn’t seen in years.

He bowed to me.

“The Queen has risen,” he said, bending down his head.

Murmurs broke out. A ripple of belief. Or fear.

Yuna wrapped the baby in a mooncloth and placed her in my arms. “It’s already begun. You’re no longer hiding Aria.”

I didn’t speak. I was still hearing every thought around me. Their wonder. Their doubt. Their hope.

Then I heard one voice I hadn’t expected.

She’s more than a Queen. She's a prophecy.

It came from someone far beyond the pack. I turned my head toward the cliffs.

Far away, close to the mountain, a shadowy figure stood watching. He wasn’t in the pack. I couldn’t see his face. But his eyes glowed—dim gold, flickering like candlelight in a storm.

He was tall, unmoving. I wasn't Kael. Not Elias. Not even Magnus. Something older. Something different.

Even from this distance, I could feel the pull of his gaze.

He knows her, I thought.

Then the wind shifted.

My baby stirred in my arms.

She turned her face toward the cliffs—toward him.

And smiled.

The next moment, the figure was gone.

Just vanished.

No scent. No sound. No trace.

But I knew he’d be back.

That night, I held my daughter close, still glowing with quiet power. The mark on her neck pulsed like a heartbeat.

The wolves stayed outside. They didn’t speak. They're just standing guard, waiting for something.

Inside, I couldn’t sleep. My mind raced with images. Visions.

I saw Magnus in his throne room, pacing like a wolf caged. And Lilith whispering to shadows. Then Kael was standing on a cliff not far from where the figure had stood, holding something glowing in his palm.

And I saw fire.

A city burning.

My daughter stood in the middle of it, grown and crowned, her silver eyes filled with sorrow and wrath.

Then her voice echoed inside me—not out loud, but inside my soul.

“Don’t fear what I am, Mother. Fear what I must become.”

I jolted awake, breathing shallowly.

She was asleep in my arms. Peaceful. Innocent.

But not ordinary.

Never ordinary.

And then I heard footsteps echoing outside the door.

Firm. Heavy.

One set.

The wolves didn’t growl and didn’t move.

A knock. So gentle just once. I rose slowly, heart thudding.

“Opened the door,” I said.

And standing there, blood on his shirt, dirt on his boots, storm in his eyes—

Was Kael.

He looked at me.

Then he looked at the baby.

And his knees buckled