เข้าสู่ระบบI don't tell Kael.Not that morning.Not that afternoon.Not that night.The secret stays inside me, growing heavier with every breath.I am carrying his child.And he has no idea.I wake before sunrise and stare at the ceiling of Selene's cottage, listening to the soft crackle of the fire.The old woman—Selene, I now know her name—had insisted that I sleep.I tried.But every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kael.His face when he smiled at me.His hands around my waist.The way his voice softened whenever he said my name.And then I remembered his warning.Aria... run.My hand moves instinctively to my stomach."I wish you could tell me what to do."My wolf stirs.You already know."What?"Protect the pup.I swallow."And Kael?"Silence.I already know the answer.Protecting Kael may mean staying away from him.For now.I step outside.Cold morning air brushes my face.Selene is already waiting in the clearing.She holds two wooden staffs.I stare at them."What's that?""Your first les
The word follows me long after the cart begins moving again.Home.I told the old woman that I would eventually return to Bloodmoon.But the truth is, I don't know if I can.Not yet.Not while Kael's warning still echoes inside my head.Aria... run.I sit beneath the blankets, one hand resting over my stomach.His child.My child.Our child.The realization still feels impossible.I look down at myself.Nothing has changed on the outside.I don't look pregnant.I don't feel like a mother.And yet, everything has changed.There is a life growing inside me.A tiny piece of Kael.A tiny piece of me.My throat tightens."What am I going to do with you?"The old woman hears me from the front of the cart."You don't have to know everything today."I look toward her."How do you know?""Because I raised three children.""Three?"She smiles."Two survived."The smile fades."I'm sorry.""Don't be."She keeps her eyes on the road."Loss teaches you something.""What?""That love doesn't become
I don't move for several seconds.Kael's warning still echoes inside my head.Aria... run.Then the bond goes silent.I press my hand against my chest."Kael?"Nothing."Kael, answer me."Still nothing.Panic rises.I look toward the mountain path.Selene.That's where I need to go.If my mother's message was real, Selene may be the only person who can explain what is happening.I pull my cloak tighter and start walking.But after only a few steps, nausea rises again.I stop beside a tree.My stomach turns violently.I bend over, breathing through it."Not now."My wolf stirs.We need to know."Know what?"The pup.I close my eyes.I already know.At least, I think I do.But thinking something doesn't make it real.I need proof.I need certainty.And suddenly, I remember the village.The old woman.The herbs.The small shop I passed earlier.There may be something there.A healer.A midwife.Someone who can tell me if what I'm feeling is truly what I fear.I turn around.It takes near
The first thing I smell is smoke.My eyes snap open.For one terrifying second, I don't know where I am.Then I remember the cabin.Marcus.The shrine.Kael.The baby.My hand flies to my stomach."I'm still here."The words come out as a whisper.My body feels heavy, but there is something different inside me now. Something I cannot explain and cannot ignore.A life.Kael's child.Our child.I sit up slowly.The cabin is cold.The fire has died sometime during the night, leaving only grey ashes behind. My clothes are damp from yesterday's rain, and my muscles ache from running.I need food.Water.A safe place.I can't stay here.I push myself to my feet.The moment I stand, the room tilts.I grab the edge of the table."Whoa."My vision blurs.I close my eyes and breathe slowly.It passes."I'm fine."My wolf doesn't answer.Instead, she presses close inside me.You need food."I know."And rest."I know."And we need to protect the pup.I freeze.The word echoes through my mind.Pu
Darkness.That is the first thing I know.Not pain.Not fear.Darkness.I float inside it, unable to move, unable to speak.My body feels heavy.My mind feels distant.Then I hear a voice."Wake up."I try to open my eyes.Nothing happens."Wake up, little queen."Marcus.My heart jolts.I force my eyes open.The ceiling above me is made of rough wooden beams.A cabin.Not the shrine.I try to sit up.Pain shoots through my head.I groan.My wrists are tied.My ankles too.Panic explodes through me.I pull against the ropes.Nothing."Don't waste your strength."Marcus steps into view.I freeze.He looks almost amused."Where am I?""You don't need to know.""What did you do to me?""Nothing permanent."I glare at him."Untie me."He laughs."You still think you can order me around.""I'll kill you.""Perhaps."He walks closer."But not today."I look around.There is one window.One door.No other way out."Where are the warriors?""Sleeping."My blood turns cold."You drugged them."
Kael doesn't wake.For hours, I sit beside him while the healers work.They clean the blood from his wounds.They stitch the deepest cuts.They force herbs between his lips.They whisper to one another whenever they think I am not listening.But I hear everything."His pulse is weak.""The bond is unstable.""We need to keep him unconscious.""He could wake at any moment."Or he might not.Nobody says those words.They don't have to.I can see it in their eyes.I hold Kael's hand beneath the blanket.His fingers are cold.Too cold."Come back to me," I whisper.Nothing.I close my eyes.Our bond feels like a thin thread stretched across a bottomless darkness.Still there.But barely.I don't understand what happened.One moment he was fighting.The next, he collapsed.And before he lost consciousness, he warned me.Don't trust anyone.Why?Who was he talking about?Elias?Vera?The healers?Or me?The thought makes my stomach twist."No," I whisper.My wolf growls.He was afraid."Of
Kael came back three days later.I felt him before I saw him. The bond — the thing he kept calling a bond — pulsed in my chest like a second heartbeat. Warm. Demanding. Pulling me toward the front door.I was in the kitchen. Eating bread I didn't taste. Drinking tea that had gone cold an hour ago.
The kiss followed me to bed.Not Kael. Just the memory. Just the way his mouth felt against mine. Just the sound he made when I didn't push him away.I lay on the left side of his bed. The same spot as last night. The same clothes. The same bite mark throbbing on my neck.Kael wasn't here.He'd dis
His room smelled like him.Smoke. Leather. Pine. Blood. It was everywhere — in the sheets, the walls, the air. I couldn't escape it. Didn't try. I just sat on the edge of his bed with my back straight and my hands in my lap like my mother taught me.One chair by the window. One dresser. One bed big
Three hundred wolves watched my life end. Not with blood. With seven words.Dane stood on the ceremonial platform, his silver eyes fixed somewhere above my head. He couldn't even look at me.I, Alpha Dane of Silver Crescent, reject you, Aria Gray, as my fated mate and Luna.His voice echoed off the







