Chapter 4

Aria’s footsteps were hesitant as she walked through the rogue camp. Wolves glanced at her, their eyes sharp with suspicion, some openly hostile. Rogues lived by strength, not tradition, and in their eyes, she was nothing more than a discarded mate — weak, fragile, unworthy.

Every whisper cut her deeper.

“Rejected…”

“Alpha Kael brought back a broken Luna?”

“She won’t survive here.”

Her chest ached, but this time it wasn’t the ache of heartbreak. It was the spark of something new. Something raw and burning.

Anger.

Her mate had humiliated her before the pack. Her step-sister had stolen her place, her crown. And her people had stood by and let it happen.

The pain of rejection still throbbed inside her, but beneath it pulsed a flame she hadn’t felt before. I will not stay broken. I will not be forgotten.

---

Kael watched her from a distance, his golden eyes unreadable. He saw the tremor in her hands, the stiffness in her shoulders. Most wolves crumbled after rejection — some even died. But Aria’s spirit was different. Fragile on the surface, but beneath… it was sharpening into steel.

When she passed by him, Kael called out.

“Walk with me.”

Aria hesitated but obeyed, her heart thundering as she fell into step beside him. His presence was commanding, but there was no cruelty in his voice — only quiet authority.

They walked into the forest, leaving the camp behind. Birds sang faintly in the distance, their melodies oddly out of place with the storm brewing in her chest.

Finally, Kael broke the silence. “Your pack betrayed you. Your mate rejected you. What are you going to do about it?”

Aria stiffened. The words sliced into her like a blade. She clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. “What can I do? He’s an Alpha. I’m… nothing now.”

Kael stopped, turning to face her. His golden eyes blazed with intensity. “Wrong. You are not nothing. You’re still alive. And as long as you’re alive, you’re not finished.”

She swallowed hard, her throat tight. “You don’t understand. He made me feel worthless. Like I was never meant to stand at his side.”

Kael stepped closer, his voice low but fierce. “Then stop trying to stand at his side. Stand above him. Make him regret ever casting you aside.”

The words struck her like lightning. Her breath caught, and for the first time since the rejection, she lifted her chin, meeting his gaze with trembling defiance. “You’re saying… I should fight back.”

Kael’s lips curved faintly, a shadow of a smile. “Revenge can be a dangerous fire. But if you control it, if you let it forge you instead of consume you… it can make you unstoppable.”

Her heart pounded. The fire in her chest roared higher, fed by his words. She pictured Rion’s cold eyes, Bethanie’s triumphant smirk. Hatred coiled in her stomach, sharp and searing.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I want him to feel what I felt. I want him to burn.”

Kael studied her, silent for a long moment. Then he nodded. “Good. Then I’ll help you.”

Her eyes widened. “Why? Why would you help me?”

His expression darkened, shadows flickering across his face. “Because I know betrayal. I know what it’s like to be stripped of everything. You have a choice, Aria. Drown in your grief… or rise and take back what was stolen.”

The bond inside her chest stirred — faint, but undeniable. Her wolf stirred too, restless, drawn to the golden-eyed Alpha who stood before her like a flame in the darkness.

She looked down, afraid he’d see the confusion in her eyes. “And if I choose to rise?”

Kael’s voice was like a promise. “Then I’ll make sure no one ever breaks you again.”

---

That night, Kael summoned her to the training grounds outside camp. A ring of dirt marked the sparring circle where rogues often fought to prove strength. Wolves gathered, curious, some smirking, others scoffing.

“Alpha’s charity case is going to train?” one jeered.

“She’ll collapse in minutes.”

Aria’s stomach twisted, but Kael’s hand rested lightly on her shoulder. “Ignore them. Tonight isn’t about them. It’s about you.”

She stepped into the circle, her bare feet pressing into the dirt. Kael faced her, standing tall, his golden eyes glowing faintly in the torchlight.

“Show me your strength,” he said.

“I… I don’t know how.”

“You’ll learn.”

He lunged suddenly, not to hurt, but to test. Aria gasped and stumbled back, nearly falling. Laughter rippled through the crowd. Heat flushed her cheeks.

Kael straightened, his voice sharp. “Again.”

This time, she braced herself. When he moved, she dodged — clumsy, but quick. He pressed harder, striking fast but controlled. Aria blocked once, then twice, surprising even herself.

Her chest burned, her muscles screamed, but she refused to fall. Each time he pushed, she pushed back harder.

And then, for a split second, something changed.

As Kael swung toward her, a strange energy surged in her veins — cold and burning all at once. Her vision sharpened, her movements quickened. She ducked and swept at his legs with a speed she didn’t know she had.

Kael shifted his weight just in time, but his golden eyes widened in surprise. The faintest glow shimmered in Aria’s icy blue eyes.

The crowd fell silent.

Breathless, Aria stared at her own trembling hands. “What… what was that?”

Kael’s expression was unreadable, but there was something like recognition in his gaze. “Power,” he said quietly. “More than you realize.”

Her heart raced. For the first time since her rejection, she didn’t feel weak. She didn’t feel broken. She felt alive.

The crowd muttered, unease spreading through them. A rejected Luna wasn’t supposed to fight like that. She wasn’t supposed to shine.

But Kael only stepped closer, his voice low so only she could hear. “Remember this feeling. This is who you are. Not Rion’s discarded mate. Not Bethanie’s shadow. You are something greater.”

Aria met his gaze, and for a heartbeat, everything else faded — the crowd, the pain, the past. All she saw were golden eyes, steady and unwavering, pulling her in with a force she couldn’t deny.

Her wolf howled softly within her, not in sorrow but in recognition.

And deep down, though she couldn’t name it yet, Aria knew this man would be more than just her savior.

He would be her future.