CHAPTER SIX - BENEATH THE MOONLIGHT TRUTHS

---

Chapter Six: Beneath the Moonlight Truths

The storm had faded into silence. The woods were eerily calm now, the kind of stillness that made Aria’s skin prickle. She stood frozen by the window, watching as Kade slowly shifted back into his human form in the clearing beyond the cabin.

He was bloodied. Bruised. Beautiful.

The way he moved—each muscle tight with pain but dripping with power—made her chest ache. He had fought for her. Protected her with everything he had.

And now, he was walking back to her.

Aria rushed to the door and flung it open. The night air hit her bare skin like a slap, but she didn’t care. She ran barefoot across the wet grass until she reached him.

“Kade!” she whispered, catching him just before his knees buckled.

He collapsed against her, his arms still strong around her waist. “They’re gone. For now.”

“You’re hurt,” she said, voice breaking as she helped him back toward the cabin. “You need help.”

“I heal fast,” he murmured, but he didn’t fight her. He leaned into her warmth, his body trembling slightly from the shift and the fight. “Just… need a second.”

Once inside, she wrapped a thick blanket around his shoulders and sat him down by the fire. The cuts on his torso were already beginning to scab over, but the dark bruises across his ribs made her stomach twist with worry.

She grabbed a clean towel and began wiping the blood from his skin. He didn’t stop her.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Until Kade finally broke the silence.

“You should know everything, Aria,” he said, his voice raw. “All of it.”

She looked up at him. “Start wherever you need to.”

He exhaled slowly. “Three years ago, my pack was ambushed. Betrayed. I was the Alpha’s son—meant to take over. But Damon… he was jealous. Twisted. He made deals with rogues, lured them into our territory, and opened our borders from the inside.”

Her hands stilled on his chest. “He turned on his own people?”

Kade nodded. “They slaughtered most of us. My father died protecting the den. My mother… I don’t even know what happened to her. I led the survivors into exile. There weren’t many left.”

Aria swallowed hard. “So… Damon became Alpha?”

“No. He fled before I could kill him. But now he’s back—and he wants power. He thinks taking you from me will break me.” Kade looked into her eyes. “He’s not wrong.”

Her throat tightened. “But why me? Why would he care about a human?”

Kade reached for her hand, threading his fingers through hers. “Because you're not just human anymore. You're bonded. My mate. That bond gives you a connection to our world—and if you were marked by someone else, if a rogue claimed you forcefully…” He trailed off, his jaw clenching.

“What happens?” she whispered.

“They could use your bond to weaken me. Twist your connection. Control my instincts. It’s not just emotional—it’s spiritual. Wolves have gone mad over things like this.”

Aria stared at him, heart thudding. “So you’re saying… I’m a weapon. Just by existing.”

“No,” he said fiercely. “You’re mine. That’s all that matters.”

The fire cracked between them. Outside, the wind had died completely, as if even nature was holding its breath.

“You said something earlier,” she whispered. “That the mark makes it permanent. That it ties us… forever.”

Kade’s expression softened. “Yes.”

“But you didn’t mark me.”

“I wanted to,” he admitted, brushing his thumb over her cheek. “But I need you to be sure. Because once I do, there’s no walking away. You’ll feel what I feel. My pain. My desires. My instincts. You’ll crave me constantly—body and soul. There’s no undoing it.”

Her skin heated at his words. Not out of fear. But something deeper. Something that trembled through her entire being.

“I’m not scared of you,” she said softly.

“You should be,” he whispered. “I’m not just a man who can shift into a wolf. I’m an Alpha. Dominant. Territorial. And when it comes to you…” He exhaled sharply, struggling for control. “I burn, Aria.”

She could see it—see the restraint in every muscle of his body. His jaw was tight, his hands clenched.

“I don’t want your restraint,” she said boldly, her voice shaky but determined. “I want your truth. All of it.”

He looked at her like she’d just given him permission to breathe.

Slowly, he leaned in, their foreheads touching. “I dreamt of you before I even met you,” he confessed. “For months, I saw glimpses—eyes like fire, a voice calling my name in the dark. I thought I was going insane. But the second I saw you in town… I knew. My soul knew.”

Her breath caught in her throat.

“I’ve spent my life fighting fate,” he whispered. “But you… you’re the one thing I don’t want to fight.”

He pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her like she was the only anchor he had. She melted into him, letting her body press against his, her heartbeat syncing with his pulse.

“I want to mark you, Aria,” he murmured into her ear. “But not because of danger. Not because of Damon. I want to do it because you want it. Because you choose me, the same way I chose you.”

Aria pulled back slightly, staring into his eyes.

“I already did.”

He stilled.

“No matter what happens next,” she said, cupping his jaw, “I’m not walking away from you, Kade.”

The tension in his body shattered.

He kissed her again—slower this time, deeper. Their connection was no longer just instinct. It was choice. Love, blooming through chaos.

The kind that could rewrite destinies.

Outside, the moon rose higher, bathing the forest in silver.

Inside, beneath flickering firelight, a bond stronger than blood took root.

And somewhere in the shadows… Damon watched.

His smile? Cruel.

Because the war for Aria had just begun.

---

Ready for Chapter Seven? Things are about to escalate—Kade’s pack members return, Damon m

akes his next move, and Aria begins to feel the true effects of their bond.