KILL ORDER

Kira wouldn't stop staring at her.

Aria tried to ignore it. Focused on walking. One foot in front of the other. Away from the howls. Away from the hunters. But the girl's eyes were burning holes in the side of her head.

"What?" Aria finally snapped.

 

 

Kira jumped. "Nothing. Sorry. I just—" She looked away. "Your hands are glowing."

Aria looked down. The silver light was back. Pulsing under her skin. Great. "Yeah. They do that now."

"Is it the curse?"

 

 

"It's not a curse." The words came out harsher than she meant. "It's—never mind. Just keep moving."

They'd been walking for hours. Maybe more. Aria couldn't tell anymore. Everything looked the same. Trees. Darkness. More trees. Her feet hurt. Her ribs hurt where the book kept digging in. Everything hurt.

Kira stumbled. Caught herself on a tree. "Can we stop? Just for a minute?"

"No."

 

 

"Please. I haven't eaten in two days. I can't—"

"If we stop, they catch us. If they catch us, we die." Aria kept walking. "So we don't stop."

Kira made a sound. Small. Broken. But she kept walking.

Guilt twisted in Aria's stomach. The girl was exhausted. Starving. Running on fumes. But they didn't have a choice. The Blackwater wolves were still out there. Still hunting.

And now she had someone to protect. Someone who looked at her as if she were worth following.

No pressure.

The trees started thinning ahead. Aria slowed. Held up a hand for Kira to stop.

Voices. Male. Multiple.

 

 

"—shouldn't even be out here. This is Blackwater territory."

"Council orders override territory rules. You know that."

"Still feels wrong. Hunting a girl."

"She's not a girl. She's a threat. Killed Alpha Ronan with dark magic. You saw the bodies."

Aria's blood went cold. She gestured for Kira to get down. They both crouched behind a fallen log.

Through the trees, she could see them. Four wolves. Not Blackwater. Different pack colors. Armed with silver weapons.

 

 

Hunters. Looking for her.

"The Council's offering fifty thousand for her head," one of them said. "Dead or alive. Preferably dead."

Fifty thousand. They'd put a bounty on her.

Kira's hand found Aria's. Squeezing. Terrified.

"We should split up," another hunter said. "Cover more ground."

"Bad idea. She killed six Blood Hunters. We stay together."

 

 

"Fine. Let's check the river. Girl's gotta drink sometime."

They walked off. Heading east.

Aria waited until their voices faded completely. Then waited some more. Finally stood.

Kira stood too. Shaking. "Fifty thousand?"

"Don't."

 

 

"They're going to kill you."

"They're going to try." Aria pulled Kira forward. "Come on. We need to find shelter before dark."

"Where? We're in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing out here."

Aria pulled out Lyra's book. Flipped through pages. "There has to be something. Safe houses. Hideouts. The old Lunas had to have—" She stopped. Stared at a page. "Here."

"What?"

"Sanctuary locations. Places protected by old magic. The Council can't track us there." Aria traced the symbols. "There's one two miles north. Abandoned temple."

"How do you know it's still there?"

 

 

"I don't." Aria shoved the book back in her dress. Started walking north. "But it's better than nothing."

They walked in silence. Kira is struggling to keep up. Aria's mark is burning hotter with every step.

Something was wrong. The forest felt wrong. Too quiet. No birds. No animals. Just silence.

"Aria." Kira's voice was small. "I think we're being followed."

Aria stopped. Listened.

Nothing.

But Kira was right. She could feel it. Eyes watching. Something in the shadows.

"Run." Aria grabbed Kira's hand. "Run now."

They ran.

 

 

Behind them, something moved. Fast. Too fast to be human.

Aria risked a look back. Saw nothing. Just trees and darkness and—

A wolf burst from the shadows. Massive. Black fur. Red eyes.

Blood Hunter.

How? Ronan was dead. His pack should've scattered.

The wolf lunged.

Aria shoved Kira aside. Threw up her hands. Shadows exploded outward.

The wolf hit them. Bounced back. Snarled. Circled.

Another wolf appeared. Then another. Three total.

Kira screamed.

 

 

"Stay behind me." Aria's hands were glowing bright now. The shadows are responding. "Don't move."

The wolves attacked together.

Aria didn't think. Just reacted. Shadows shot out. Wrapped around the first wolf. Squeezed. Bones cracked.

The second wolf got through. Claws raked across Aria's arm. Pain. Hot and sharp.

She screamed. Grabbed the wolf by the throat. Silver light burned from her palm. The wolf's eyes went wide. It dropped. Dead.

The third wolf hesitated. Looked at its dead packmates. Looked at Aria.

Smart wolf.

It ran.

Aria stood there. Breathing hard. Blood running down her arm. Two dead wolves at her feet.

Kira was staring at her. Eyes wide. "You just—"

 

 

"I know." Aria's hands were shaking. "Come on. More will come."

They ran again. Aria is holding her bleeding arm. Kira was crying silently beside her.

The temple appeared after another mile. Old stone. Covered in vines. Half-collapsed. But it was there.

They stumbled inside. Aria collapsed against a wall. Her arm was bad. Deep cuts. Still bleeding.

"Let me see." Kira knelt beside her. Looked at the wounds. "Oh god."

"It's fine."

 

 

"It's not fine. You need stitches. You need—"

"I need to not die." Aria pulled off what was left of her sleeve. Started wrapping it around her arm. "This'll work."

It wouldn't work. But she didn't have options.

Kira was crying harder now. "This is my fault. If I hadn't slowed you down—"

"Stop." Aria tied off the makeshift bandage. "You didn't do this. They did."

"Who?"

"Everyone." Aria leaned her head back. Stared at the crumbling ceiling. "The Council. The Elders. The Alphas who built this whole system on lies. They did this."

 

 

Silence.

Then Kira spoke. Quiet. "What are you going to do?"

Aria looked at her. This kid. Sixteen. Scarred. Abandoned. Following a cursed wolf because she had nowhere else to go.

"I'm going to survive," Aria said. "And then I'm going to make them pay."

"How?"

Good question.

Aria pulled out the book. Flipped to a new section. "Building Your Pack: Step One—Find the broken ones. Step Two—Make them believe. Step Three—Train them to fight."

She looked at Kira. "Can you fight?"

 

 

"No."

"Can you learn?"

Kira wiped her eyes. "Yes."

"Good." Aria stood. Her arm screamed in protest. "Because we're not running anymore. We're building something."

"Building what?"

Aria looked at the temple. At the old symbols carved into the walls. At the magic still humming in the stones.

"An army."

 

The Council meeting room was all dark wood and old money. Twelve chairs around a massive table. Eleven Alphas. All of them stared at Thorne like he'd lost his mind.

"You want us to retract the kill order." Elder Marius's voice was flat. "On a girl who murdered Alpha Ronan. Who's been confirmed using dark magic. Who's a verified threat to every pack in the region."

"Yes." Thorne kept his voice steady. "I do."

"Why?"

Because she's my mate. Because I made a mistake. Because killing her would destroy me.

He couldn't say any of that.

 

 

"Because we don't have all the information," Thorne said instead. "Ronan attacked her first. His Blood Hunters hunted her in the Forbidden Forest. She defended herself."

"With forbidden magic." Another Alpha. Older. Scarred. "Shadow manipulation. Death touch. That's not defense. That's dark Luna power."

"Luna power isn't dark. It's just power." Thorne looked around the table. "We've been suppressing it for three hundred years. Calling it a curse. Making sure no Luna ever got strong enough to challenge us. But maybe—"

 

 

"Careful, Alpha Blackwater." Marius's eyes were cold. "You're starting to sound sympathetic."

"I'm being logical. We kill her now, we prove she was right to fear us. We make her a martyr. But if we bring her in alive, question her, understand what she can do—"

"She killed an Alpha!" Another voice. Female. Alpha from the eastern territories. "She's too dangerous to keep alive."

"She's too valuable to waste." Thorne leaned forward. "Think about it. Luna power hasn't been seen in centuries. If we can control it, study it—"

 

 

"You can't control her." Marius stood. "I've seen the reports. She's getting stronger every day. Building followers. The longer we wait, the more dangerous she becomes."

"Then let me find her." Thorne stood too. "Give me two weeks. I'll bring her in alive. Contained. No more deaths."

"Why?" Marius's smile was thin. "Why do you care so much about keeping this girl alive?"

Every Alpha in the room was watching him now. Waiting.

 

 

Thorne chose his words carefully. "Because if we kill every wolf that scares us, we're no better than the humans we hide from. We're supposed to be better than that."

Lies. Pretty lies. But they seemed to work.

 

Marius sat back down. "Two weeks. But Alpha Blackwater—" His voice went hard. "If you fail, if she kills one more wolf, the bounty doubles and we send everyone we have. Understood?"

"Understood."

 

 

Thorne left before they could change their minds.

Kieran was waiting outside. "How'd it go?"

"I bought us time. Two weeks." Thorne pulled out his phone. Or what was left of it. The screen was cracked from when he'd crushed it earlier. "Find her. I don't care what it takes. Find her before they do."

"And when we find her?"

 

 

Good question.

Thorne thought about Aria's face in that photo. Cold. Powerful. Nothing like the girl he'd rejected.

"We bring her home."

"She's not going to come willingly."

"I know."

 

 

"She might try to kill you."

"I know that too." Thorne started walking. "Do it anyway."

Back at the temple, Aria woke up to Kira shaking her.

"Someone's here." The girl's voice was panicked. "Outside. I heard voices."

Aria sat up fast. Her arm throbbed. The bandage was soaked through with blood. Great.

She moved to the doorway. Looked out.

 

 

Three figures standing in the clearing. Not wolves. Human form. But the way they moved—predators.

One of them spoke. Female. Loud enough to carry. "We know you're in there, cursed Luna. Come out. We just want to talk."

Aria's mark burned. "Like hell you do."

She stepped out. Hands already glowing. "You've got thirty seconds to leave before I make you leave."

The woman smiled. Young. Pretty. Wearing leather that looked expensive. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to offer you a deal."

"Not interested."

 

 

"You don't even know what it is yet."

"Don't care." Aria's shadows stirred. "Twenty seconds."

"The Council wants you dead. Fifty thousand on your head." The woman took a step forward. "But I can make that go away."

That got Aria's attention. "How?"

"Join us. There are others like you. Wolves the Council has targeted. Outcasts. We're building something. A pack outside their control." The woman's smile widened. "We could use someone with your power."

"Who's us?"

 

 

"Does it matter? We're offering protection. Resources. A chance to hit back at the people who hurt you." She gestured to the temple. "Or you can stay here. Hiding. Waiting for them to find you. Your choice."

Aria looked at Kira standing in the doorway. Terrified. Starving. Depending on her.

Looked at her own bleeding arm. At the bodies she'd left behind. In the impossible situation she was in.

"If I say yes," Aria said slowly, "what do you want in return?"

"Simple." The woman's eyes gleamed. "Help us kill some Alphas."

 

 

Aria should say no. Should run. This was obviously a trap.

But she thought about Thorne. About the Council. About everyone who'd thrown her away.

"Which Alphas?" she asked.

The woman's smile turned sharp. "All of them."