Chapter Thirty - The Weight of Dawn ( Aria's POV )

The first light of morning was colorless, a dull gray that seeped through the trees like ash. The forest had gone still, unnaturally so. Not even the birds stirred. Every sound we made, the crunch of boots, the soft rustle of cloaks, felt like a violation of something sacred and dangerous.

Kael led the way. His steps were steady, silent, his blade strapped across his back. But I could feel the storm inside him. The revelation from Lyra, the whisper that Jaxon, his most trusted Beta, might be the traitor, had changed something in him. His movements were sharper, his words fewer. He was the Alpha now, entirely, and the man I loved was hidden somewhere behind the steel in his eyes.

Lyra walked a few paces behind me, hood drawn low. Her presence was quiet, almost ghostlike, but I could feel her gaze flicking around constantly, scanning the forest with some unseen sense. She’d said she could feel the threads of blood magic that bound the land, that Ronan used them to track me. The thought made my skin crawl.

The pack had split into two groups. Half guarded our flanks, the others covered our rear. Kael trusted no one now, not even those who’d fought beside him since the first war.

We were heading north, toward the ruins Lyra had spoken of, an ancient temple buried in the woods. She said the magic there was old enough to mask the bond between me and the child. But with every step, the air grew colder, heavier.

After an hour of silence, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Kael,” I said softly. “You haven’t spoken since we left. You need to.”

His eyes stayed forward. “About what?”

“About Jaxon.”

The name cracked something open. His jaw tightened, and I saw the flicker of pain beneath his control. “I don’t believe it,” he said. “I can’t believe it. Jaxon saved my life more times than I can count. He watched my back when every other Beta was dead or gone.”

“And yet Ronan knew about the child,” I said quietly. “Someone told him.”

He stopped, turning to face me. His golden eyes burned through the fog. “You think I don’t know that?”

I flinched but held his gaze. “I’m saying we need to be careful. If Jaxon is what Ronan says he is...”

Kael cut me off, his voice low and dangerous. “If Jaxon’s betrayed us, I’ll handle it. You just keep yourself and the baby safe.”

Lyra cleared her throat from behind. “If we’re being followed, it’ll show soon. The forest’s energy is shifting.”

Kael looked at her. “Meaning?”

“Meaning someone’s pulling at the threads again. I can feel it. The magic is… listening.”

He gave a sharp nod. “Then we keep moving.”

We reached the first ridge just before midday. The terrain rose sharply, the pines thinning as the ground turned rocky and slick with moss. Kael lifted his hand to halt the group.

“Rest here,” he ordered. “Ten minutes. No fires.”

The pack obeyed without question, spreading out in small clusters. Kael moved away from them, standing at the cliff’s edge, staring north. The wind caught his hair, the scent of storm and metal clinging to him like a second skin.

I joined him quietly, the sound of my boots soft on the wet earth. “You’re thinking about him,” I said.

He didn’t answer for a long time. Finally, he said, “He was there the night my father died. He’s the reason I survived. I don’t know how to hate him, not yet.”

I reached out, brushing my fingers against his hand. “You don’t have to hate him. You just have to know the truth.”

He looked down at me, eyes softening for the first time since the night before. “And if the truth kills me?”

“Then I’ll bring you back,” I said.

For a heartbeat, the tension between us broke. He leaned in and kissed my forehead, brief but grounding.

Then the forest changed.

Every wolf in the pack stiffened, their heads snapping toward the south. A sound, a low, keening wail, rippled through the air. Not a wolf. Not human.

Lyra froze, her face going pale. “He’s here.”

Kael’s blade was in his hand in an instant. “Positions!”

The pack scrambled into formation. The sound grew louder, like the hum of hundreds of bees under the skin of the earth. The mist thickened again, swirling in unnatural patterns.

I reached for Kael. “It’s him, isn’t it? Ronan?”

Lyra shook her head. “No. Something worse. He’s summoned the Wraiths.”

Before Kael could ask, the first shape appeared, tall, skeletal, cloaked in black smoke. Eyes like embers burned in the darkness beneath its hood. Then another. And another. A dozen.

The Wraiths didn’t walk, they glided, their touch leaving frost on the ground. The pack fell back, growling low.

Kael moved in front of me. “Stay behind me, Aria.”

I swallowed hard. “You can’t fight them with steel.”

“I can try.”

He lunged at the nearest Wraith, blade flashing in a clean arc. The strike connected, and passed through like air. The creature turned, its mouth opening in a soundless scream that made the world itself shudder.

Kael staggered back, clutching his head. I felt the vibration of the sound in my bones.

Lyra shouted something, raising both hands. The air shimmered around her fingers, runes glowing faintly in the mist. “They’re bound by Ronan’s blood!” she yelled. “They’ll feed on the strongest energy nearby!”

Her words froze my blood.

Me.

They were feeding on me.

The nearest Wraith turned toward me, its eyes burning hotter. The air around it bent, rippling like heat from a forge.

Kael saw it. “Aria!”

He moved, but too late. The Wraith lunged.

Instinct took over. My hands flared with silver light, the same wild, living power that had burst from me before. The ground shook as I released it. The Wraith screamed, its body tearing apart in shards of shadow.

But the light didn’t stop there. It poured from me, uncontrolled, sweeping across the clearing like a storm. The Wraiths shrieked and dissolved, but the blast knocked Kael and the others off their feet. The ridge cracked beneath us.

“Aria...!” Kael’s voice cut through the roar as the ground gave way.

I fell.

The world spun in a blur of silver and black. I hit the earth hard, the breath torn from my chest. My vision went white, then dimmed.

Somewhere above, I heard Kael shouting my name, his voice raw, desperate.

When the world steadied, I was lying among the roots of a massive oak, my hands still glowing faintly. The forest was silent again, as if holding its breath.

Then I heard movement, soft, deliberate.

A figure stepped from the shadows. Not Kael. Not one of the pack.

Jaxon.

His armor was scuffed, his expression unreadable. “Aria,” he said quietly. “You’re hurt.”

I pushed myself up, wincing. “Where’s Kael?”

He hesitated. “Alive. For now. The Wraiths scattered the others. I followed your trail.”

Something in his tone made my stomach twist. “You followed me,” I repeated. “Or you were sent to find me?”

His eyes flickered, a flash of guilt, or calculation. “I’d never hurt you or Kael.”

“But you told Ronan about the child.”

His silence was answer enough.

I stood slowly, my hand instinctively moving to my stomach. The baby kicked, faint but fierce.

“Why?” I whispered. “He trusted you.”

Jaxon’s gaze softened, almost sorrowful. “Because I thought I could protect you both. Ronan promised he only wanted the prophecy, he said he’d spare Kael’s pack if I helped him find you.”

“Do you even believe that?”

His jaw tightened. “Not anymore.”

The air shifted again. Kael’s voice echoed faintly through the trees, calling my name. Jaxon looked up sharply.

“He’s coming,” I said. “And when he finds out...”

“I know.” His expression hardened. “That’s why you have to go. Now. Before he sees me.”

“I’m not running.”

“You don’t understand,” he said, stepping closer. “He’ll kill me before he listens. And maybe he should. But not before I tell you this, Ronan isn’t just hunting you. He’s after what’s inside the child. The essence of the Moonblood. It’s what gives you power. It’s what ties you to the prophecy.”

My heart pounded. “Then what happens if he gets it?”

Jaxon’s eyes met mine, full of something like regret. “Then he doesn’t just rule the packs. He ends them.”

Kael’s voice was closer now, the sound of breaking branches echoing through the fog.

Jaxon backed away, his face shadowed. “Tell him whatever you must. But don’t let him come for me, not yet. There’s something I have to fix first.”

And before I could stop him, he was gone, vanishing into the mist as Kael burst through the trees, blood streaked down his arm, eyes wild.

“Aria!” He caught me in his arms, his hands trembling as he checked me for wounds. “You’re bleeding, gods, I thought...”

“I’m fine,” I gasped. “Kael, we need to talk...”

He pulled me close, silencing me with a rough breath. “No more running,” he said. “No more hiding. Ronan wants war? Then we’ll give him one.”

But as he held me, I looked into the mist where Jaxon had vanished, and knew that war had already begun.

And this time, it would not spare any of us.