Aria's heart hammered as she stared at the bleeding claw marks.
Someone was stuck inside the castle. Or worse— someone was trying to escape something terrible.
"Liana," she whispered, but when she turned around, Liana was already pushing open the heavy wooden door.
"Come on," Liana called happily. "Everyone's waiting for you inside."
The door creaked open. Darkness swallowed the opening like a hungry mouth. Aria's Moon Wolf senses screamed danger, but Caden was already moving forward.
"Wait," Aria grabbed his arm. "Something's wrong."
"I know," he breathed. "But we need to see what she's planning."
They stepped inside. The hallway stretched ahead of them, lit by flickering flames that cast dancing shadows on the stone walls. Their footsteps echoed weirdly, like they were walking through a tomb.
"The council chamber is just ahead," Liana said, her voice too bright. "Alpha Magnus is waiting with the others."
But as they walked deeper into the house, Aria noticed something else. The air smelled wrong. Not like the normal stone and wood smell of the castle. It smelled like fear. And blood. Fresh blood.
They turned a corner and froze. The tunnel ahead was destroyed. Furniture lay scattered and broken. Deep gouges marked the walls. And in the middle of it all, a figure sat slumped against the stone.
"Caleb!" Aria cried, running forward.
The eldest Draven brother looked up with dull golden eyes. His dark hair was messy and his clothes were torn. Blood streaked his knuckles like he'd been hitting walls.
"You shouldn't be here," he said quietly. "None of you should be here."
"What happened?" Caden ordered, kneeling beside his brother.
"I lost control." Caleb's voice was flat and empty. "My dog tried to break free. I've been fighting it for hours."
Aria could see the truth in his face. The careful mask he always wore was completely gone. For the first time, she saw the real Caleb underneath. Scared. Desperate. Barely holding on.
"Why?" she asked softly.
Caleb laughed, but it sounded broken. "Because of you. Because every second I'm near you, my wolf wants to take you. And every second I fight it, I get weaker."
"Then stop fighting," Aria said simply.
"You don't understand." Caleb stood up, his golden eyes blazing. "If I give in, if I let myself love you, I'll become soft. Weak. The pack needs a strong Alpha, not someone who puts his mate before everything else."
"Who told you that?"
"Everyone. My father. The adults. The whole pack." Caleb's hands shook. "An Alpha who chooses love over duty destroys everything."
"That's garbage," Caden snapped. "Look at Mom and Dad. They love each other and they've led this pack for twenty years."
"They're different," Caleb said desperately. "Mom was already strong. Already Luna stuff. But Aria's just an omega—"
The words hit Aria like a slap. She stepped back, silver light swirling around her fingers.
"Just an omega?" she repeated dangerously.
Caleb realized his mistake instantly. "I didn't mean—"
"Yes, you did." Aria's voice was deadly quiet. "You think I'm too weak to be your mate. Too low-born to stand beside an Alpha." "That's not what I—"
"Then what did you mean?" Silver light blazed brighter around her hands. "Say it clearly, Caleb. Tell me exactly what you think of me."
For a moment, nobody moved. The only sound was their heavy breathing and the faraway roar of the Primal Alpha somewhere above them.
Then Caleb broke. "Fine!" he shouted. "You want the truth? I'm afraid of you! Every time I look at you, my wolf goes crazy. I can't think. Can't think. Can't be the boss everyone needs me to be."
His voice cracked. "I've trained my whole life to be Alpha. Studied every rule, every tradition, every battle strategy. But none of that matters when you're around because all I want to do is protect you and hold you and forget the rest of the world exists."
Aria stared at him. "And that scares you?"
"It terrifies me!" Tears ran down his face. "Because the last Alpha who loved his mate more than his pack got everyone killed. The rogues struck while he was distracted, and half our people died because he wasn't paying attention."
"When did this happen?" Caden asked quietly.
"Fifty years ago. Before we were born. Dad made me read every report, study every mistake." Caleb wiped his eyes roughly. "He said I had to learn from it. Had to be better."
"So you decided never to love anyone," Aria said.
"I chose to put duty first. Always."
"And how's that working out for you?"
Caleb laughed bitterly. "I'm sitting in a destroyed hallway, bleeding from fighting my own wolf, while the pack faces its worst danger in generations."
Behind them, Liana cleared her throat. "This is all very touching, but we really should get going. The council is waiting."
Something cold slithered down Aria's spine. In all the stress with Caleb, she'd forgotten about Liana. And about the trap they were going into.
"Actually," Aria said slowly, "I think we should go back outside."
"Nonsense." Liana's smile was sharp. "You came here to show you're not a threat to the pack, remember? Running away now would look very strange."
"She's right," Caleb said, stumbling to his feet. "If the pack thinks you're hiding something—"
"They already think I'm hiding something." Aria's Moon Wolf senses were howling now. "Liana, what's really going on here?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"The blood claw marks outside. The smell of fear in the air. The fact that this whole place feels like a trap."
Liana's mask finally slipped. Her honey-colored eyes turned cold and calculating. "You always were too smart for your own good."
"What did you do?" Caden demanded.
"Nothing yet." Liana pulled something from her pocket. A small silver knife that gleamed in the torchlight. "But I'm about to fix the pack's biggest problem."
"Liana—" Aria started.
"Shut up!" Liana's pretty face twisted with rage. "Do you have any idea what you've done? You destroyed everything! I was going to be Luna someday. Me! I've worked for it, planned for it, earned it!"
"I never wanted—"
"I don't care what you wanted!" Liana raised the knife. "You took my life away just by existing. Well, now I'm taking it back."
She lunged forward, the silver blade flashing toward Aria's heart. But Caleb moved faster. The knife meant for Aria sank itself in his chest instead. He gasped, golden eyes going wide with shock and pain.
"Caleb!" Aria screamed.
He fell to his knees, blood spreading across his shirt like spilled ink.
Behind him, Liana stood frozen, the bloody knife still in her hand. "I didn't mean—" she whispered. "I wasn't aiming for—"
Footsteps thundered down the hallway. Voices shouted in the distance. The whole house was waking up.
"They'll think you did it," Liana said suddenly, her voice turning sly again. "An omega with silver light around her hands, standing over a dying Alpha heir. Who do you think they'll believe?"
Aria looked down at her glowing fingers, then at Caleb bleeding on the stone floor, then at Caden's terrified face.
Outside, the Primal Alpha roared again. Closer this time.
And down the hall, armed pack members were running toward them, ready to find someone to blame for everything that had gone wrong.