CHAPTER 22

Aria's POV

I had doubts about myself, but the world around me was no longer what it used to be.

The lines had blurred between darkness and duty. And between love and loyalty. Between prophecy and power.

I waited even longer. I knew the choice would no longer be mine to make.

I stood at the edge of the Crimson Pack’s council chamber, looking at the only three wolves I trusted left in this world.

Elias, the old Seer, sat down quietly at the head of the stone table. His blind eyes glowed faintly, but his face was still unreadable.

Cato, battle-hardened and stubborn all the time as always, leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and his jaw set tight.

And Dorian…,

Dorian was standing close to the hearth, his eyes staring at me like they always did, quiet, steady, unflinching. Like he’d already seen what I was about to say.

I stepped into the circle of candlelight.

“I have made a decision,” I said. My voice didn’t shake, but my heart thundered in my chest.

Cato raised an eyebrow. “What kind of decision?”

I looked at all of them, my eyes lingering on each face.

“I will claim my role,” I said. “As Luna Sovereign," I added, as the words settled in the room like thunder, low and final.

Elias nodded once, but slowly. “Then we must prepare the Grove.”

Cato stood straighter. “Now? You’d perform the binding ritual before the Eclipse?”

“I have to,” I muttered. “The Eclipse is a doorway. After that, something will shift, and if I haven’t anchored myself to the power of the Luna line by then, we’ll lose everything. The darkness that rose beneath the temple? It’s not waiting.”

Dorian walked toward me, his expression unreadable. “Once the ritual is done, everything changes. Are you ready for that?” He asked quietly.

“No,” I said. “But I’ll do it anyway.”

That night, we rode to the Moon Grove in silence.

It was deeper in sacred territory, only the Sovereigns and bonded Alphas were given freedom to step within its circle. The trees around it glowed faintly in the dark, their bark threaded with silver veins. The ground itself shimmered, a reflection of the full moon’s power.

Everything felt alive. Breathing and waiting.

I stepped forward, the ceremonial cloak trailing behind me. It was heavy with history—stitched with threads soaked in ash and blessed with the blood of the first Lunas.

I knelt in the center of the Grove, inside the circle of stone pillars. The wind slowed, and the moon held its breath.  Then Elias began the rite.

He was the first to kneel before me. He pressed his old hands to the earth and whispered words in the old tongue, the language of the Moon Queen.

“I give healing,” he said in a voice that echoed from someplace far older than him. “Not just of body—but of spirit. Let her remember who she is when the world forgets her name.”

A circle of light bloomed under me, cool and gentle. It wrapped around my chest like a warm river, soaking into my bones. My scars didn’t disappear. But I felt them soften. I felt myself breathing differently—more fully.

Then Dorian stepped forward.

He carried his blade, and a gift passed through his Alpha line. With quiet reverence, he drew it across his palm and let his blood drip into the soil at my feet.

“I give strength,” he said, gazing at the surroundings. “In battle, in will, and in the face of darkness.”

Suddenly, I grabbed the blade. Without delay, I sliced a shallow line across my own palm and let our blood mix in the earth.

As it did, the wind stirred again. A pulse of heat filled the air. Fire danced behind my eyes, but it didn’t burn me. It *fueled* me.

Lastly, Cato approached.

He didn’t carry anything. He didn’t need to.

He walked slowly and stood close. He placed one hand behind my neck and brought his forehead to mine. Our breaths mingled.

“I give mind,” he whispered. “Clarity. Strategy. There was calm beneath the storm. Let her lead without losing herself.”

The world around us seemed to be still. As my thoughts sharpened, the fog in my mind cleared. I could hear everything—the rustle of leaves, the far-off howl of a wolf, the slow beat of three hearts around me.

They had given me their sacred bonds.

Each one wove itself through me—threads of silver magic wrapping around my spirit.

I felt myself being… rewritten.

But even as the new bonds formed, one thread still pulled at me.

Kael.

His bond hadn’t broken.

Even after the years, the exile, and the betrayal. The pain.

It was there.

But now, something was different.

As the final words of the ritual were spoken, the three new bonds overpowered the old one. Not erasing Kael’s connection, but dimming it. Weakening it like a dying star swallowed by the rise of a new sun.

I gasped.

Magic surged around me—lifting me off the ground, and light poured from the stones, converging above my head.

And then—

The Crown. Was not metal, and ot physical.

But light itself—woven into a circlet of moons and flame.

It didn’t stay on my head. It hovered above it, glowing brighter with each second.

Three points burned brighter than the rest: healing, battle, and mind.

I reached up—not to take it, but to feel it.

And the moment my fingers brushed its energy—

The trees shivered as the wind howled.

And there was a voice echoing very low, cold, ancient—slithered through the air like a blade in the dark.

“She rises… but one still falls.”

I froze, and the moon flickered.

The crown above me shimmered—and one of its points pulsed dark.

Cato was already scanning the trees. “What was that?”

Elias dropped to one knee, gripping his chest. “Something’s pushing back. Something doesn’t want her crowned.”

Dorian unsheathed his sword. “It’s here. Whatever it is—it’s watching.”

The trees at the edge of the Grove shifted, not from wind—but something else. Something was crawling beneath the bark.

I stepped forward, hands out. “Show yourself!”

The only answer was silence.

Then—

A sudden *snap* of energy cracked through the air. The light around us twisted immediately, as the crown flickered.

And then a beam of silver shot from the sky—eastward. Toward the mountains.

I gasped. “Kael.”

I didn’t know how I knew. But I did.

The old mate bond, though faint, still responded to his energy, and I felt it. Pain, fear, and change.

Something was happening to him.

Something very dark.

The voice returned—this time behind my ear.

“Three are bound. One still breaks.”

Dorian grabbed my arm. “We have to go. Now.” But I couldn’t move. Because I saw something no one else did.

In the trees, just beyond the sacred stones—

I saw a woman standing, wearing my face. Her eyes were glowing black. But she didn’t say a word, she only smiled.

And in her hands—she held the Crown.

A second one.

Made not of moonlight… but *shadow*.