Chapter Thirty One The Gathering Storm ( Aria's POV )

The fog refused to lift.

It lay thick across the forest floor, wrapping around trunks and stones like something alive. Every sound was muted , the drip of water, the scrape of boots, the distant groan of shifting trees. Kael’s pack moved cautiously now, wounded and weary, the scent of burnt air still lingering from the fight with the Wraiths.

Kael hadn’t spoken since we’d regrouped. He walked ahead, blood drying dark against his shirt, eyes fixed on some invisible point in the distance. I could feel the rage in him like heat rolling off a fire , silent, controlled, dangerous.

Lyra moved beside me, her face pale but focused. The runes etched into her arms still glowed faintly, the residue of the spell she’d used to hold back the last of the Wraiths. Her voice was low when she finally spoke.

“He knows where you are now,” she said.

I didn’t ask who. We both knew she meant Ronan.

Kael’s ears twitched at the words. He didn’t turn, but his voice came sharp and cold. “Then we make sure he doesn’t find her again.”

Lyra’s gaze slid toward him, unimpressed. “You can’t keep her hidden with brute force, Alpha. Not from someone who commands death itself.”

Kael stopped abruptly, turning to face her. “And what do you suggest, witch? We just sit here and wait for him to come?”

“No,” she said evenly. “We move faster. The temple isn’t far, but once we reach it, we’ll have one chance to seal the bond, to cut his link to her blood. After that, you’ll have to decide whether to fight or flee.”

“I don’t flee,” Kael growled.

Lyra’s lips curved faintly. “I didn’t think you did.”

I stepped between them before his temper flared further. “Enough,” I said. “We can argue after we’re safe.”

He looked at me then, not as Alpha, but as Kael, and for a fleeting moment, I saw the exhaustion behind his fury. He nodded once, curtly, and turned back toward the path.

The forest thinned as we moved north. The mist broke in slow waves until, finally, the ruins appeared through the trees, a crumbling stone temple half-buried in the earth. Vines had reclaimed its walls, and shattered pillars jutted from the ground like bones. The air here was heavy with power. Even without Lyra’s gift, I could feel it humming beneath my skin.

“This is it,” she said softly. “The old sanctuary of the Moonblood. It was built to honor the first Seer who defied the Alpha Lords. It’ll protect you, if it still remembers how.”

Kael’s eyes swept the ruins, alert for danger. “If?”

Lyra gave him a grim smile. “Magic forgets when it’s not fed. Like wolves, it needs loyalty to survive.”

Kael motioned for the others to form a perimeter. “Then let’s remind it who we are.”

We entered the temple together. The roof had collapsed centuries ago, and the sky above was a pale gray wound. In the center stood an altar of white stone, cracked but still gleaming faintly in the dim light. The floor was carved with symbols that pulsed faintly when I stepped across them, as if recognizing something in me.

Lyra’s eyes widened. “It knows you.”

I swallowed hard. “What do I do?”

She motioned to the altar. “Place your hands there. Let it see your blood.”

Kael stiffened. “No.”

“She won’t be harmed,” Lyra said. “But it needs proof. The bond between her and the child, it has to be acknowledged by the old gods before I can weave the seal.”

Kael hesitated, then gave a curt nod. “If she feels even a tremor of pain, I end this.”

I nodded and stepped forward. The stone was cold beneath my palms, smoother than I expected. For a moment, nothing happened, then light spread across the carvings like veins of fire. The ground vibrated softly.

Whispers filled the air. Faint, ancient voices speaking in a tongue I didn’t know but somehow understood. Daughter of the bloodline… vessel of the moon… guardian of the lost light.

The light grew stronger. It sank into my skin, wrapping around me in a silver glow. I gasped as warmth spread through my body, settling low in my stomach where the child rested.

Then, as quickly as it began, the light dimmed. Silence fell again.

Lyra stepped closer, awe flickering across her face. “It accepted you.”

Kael reached for me, his hand steadying me when my knees threatened to buckle. “What happens now?”

“Now,” Lyra said, “we seal the bond.”

She began tracing runes in the air, her voice rising in a chant that made the air hum. The markings shimmered, spiraling around me like a cage of light. My heartbeat quickened. The child stirred inside me, reacting to the magic.

Then something shifted. The air turned cold, sharp as knives. Lyra’s chant faltered.

Kael’s hand went to his weapon instantly. “What is it?”

“Someone’s breaking through,” she whispered. “Something powerful.”

The sky above the ruins darkened. The wind screamed through the trees. Shadows spilled across the ground, twisting, taking form.

Kael grabbed me and pulled me behind him as a voice, smooth and venomous, echoed through the temple.

“You’ve hidden well, little seer. But the moon always finds its shadow.”

Ronan.

He stepped out of the darkness like a nightmare given flesh. Tall, graceful, dressed in black armor that shimmered faintly like oil in the dim light. His eyes, cold silver, inhuman, locked on me first, then drifted to Kael.

“Alpha,” he said with mock respect. “Still clinging to lost causes?”

Kael’s blade flashed free. “You’re a long way from your throne.”

“I go where my blood calls me,” Ronan said. “And you, my dear Aria, have something that belongs to me.”

“You’ll never touch her,” Kael snarled.

Ronan smiled faintly. “You say that as though you could stop me.”

The air rippled. Power rolled off him in waves, dark and suffocating. Kael lunged without hesitation, steel meeting magic. The impact was deafening, a shockwave that sent dust and debris raining from the walls.

Lyra shouted a spell, light flaring from her hands. It collided with Ronan’s magic, forcing him back a step. For a moment, I saw his expression twist, not in pain, but in surprise.

“Old magic,” he said softly. “I thought it was lost.”

Lyra gritted her teeth. “It is, for monsters like you.”

Kael struck again, his movements a blur. Every blow that landed sparked against Ronan’s shadow, forged armor. The ground cracked beneath them, ancient stone giving way under their power.

I wanted to move, to help, but the seal Lyra had begun still glowed faintly beneath me, anchoring me in place. The child kicked hard, as if sensing the battle. The light around the runes flickered.

Ronan noticed. His gaze snapped back to me.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” he said softly. “The prophecy made flesh.”

He raised his hand, and the world went white.

Kael roared, stepping between us. The blast hit him full-force, throwing him across the altar. The sound of his body striking stone tore through me like a blade.

“Kael!” I screamed.

Ronan advanced, unhurried, eyes gleaming. “You should be proud,” he murmured. “Even the gods fear what grows inside you.”

I felt something inside me break then, not in pain, but in defiance. The same power that had saved me from the Wraiths surged again, unbidden. Silver light burst from my skin, meeting his darkness in a violent clash.

The shockwave obliterated what was left of the roof. Ronan staggered, snarling, as the light tore into him. He lifted a hand, shielding his face.

Lyra shouted over the roar, “Now, Aria! Finish it!”

“I don’t know how!”

“Then feel it! The temple will guide you!”

I closed my eyes. The world dissolved into sound and heat. I reached inward, past fear, past exhaustion, into that place where the child’s heartbeat echoed with mine. The light flared again, pure and blinding.

And I felt the bond lock into place.

Ronan screamed, the sound inhuman, as the magic tore through the air. His shadow form flickered, twisting, unraveling. Then he was gone, pulled back into the void like smoke on the wind.

Silence.

Only the sound of rain dripping through the broken roof remained.

I fell to my knees, gasping. Lyra rushed to my side, catching me before I hit the stone. “You did it,” she breathed. “The bond is sealed. He can’t reach you now, not without breaking the veil.”

Kael stirred nearby, groaning as he pushed himself up. Blood streaked his face, but his eyes were clear. He crossed the distance between us in two strides, gathering me into his arms.

“You’re safe,” he murmured against my hair. “It’s over.”

But Lyra’s expression darkened as she looked toward the shattered altar.

“No,” she said quietly. “It’s only begun.”

I followed her gaze, and saw the faint black scorch mark burned into the stone, still pulsing with a heartbeat that wasn’t mine.

Ronan’s voice whispered faintly through the ruin, carried on the wind.

You can’t seal what was born in blood, little seer. The bond is mine too.

Kael’s grip on me tightened.

And I knew, with cold certainty, that Ronan wasn’t gone. He was waiting, and this time, he would come for all of us.