Morning light streamed through Aria's window, waking her from troubled thoughts. All night she'd tossed and turned, haunted by Marcus's words in the library. The brother she'd felt such wild connection with was working for the Syndicate.
His mission: to break her. A knock heard at her door. Aria tensed, reaching for the Ruby Wolf seal hidden under her pillow. "Who is it?" she called. "It's Selene." Aria opened the door. Selene slipped inside, her face pale with fear. "Guards are everywhere," she whispered.
"Alpha Raphael has called a war council. Something's happened at the borders." "What about my father?" Aria asked. "Still locked up. No one is allowed to see him." Aria paced the small room.
"Selene, I need to trust you. Can I?" Her half-sister's blue eyes filled with tears. "I want to say yes, but the curse... I can feel it pushing me to hurt you." "Then we need to break it." Aria took Selene's hands. "Tobias found writings about our bloodlines.
Together, we might have the power to end this." Hope flashed across Selene's face. "How?" "We need to find the true moonstone.
It was stolen during the attack." "I can help," Selene said. "My mother taught me tracking magic before she died. With a piece of the moonstone, I might find the whole." Aria pulled out the broken charm Rowan had given her. "Will this work?" Selene nodded, taking the piece carefully. "I'll need herbs from my room and" The castle shook with a thunderous boom.
Shouts echoed through the halls. "What was that?" Aria gasped. They ran to the window. Smoke rose from the northern wall. Warriors ran toward it, weapons drawn. "We're under attack again," Selene said. Aria grabbed her leather vest. "I need to find out what's happening." "It's not safe!"
"Nowhere is safe anymore." Aria headed for the door. "Start working on tracking the moonstone. I'll be back soon." The castle hallways were chaos. Aria ducked behind columns and drapes, making her way toward the great hall. There, Alpha Raphael stood with his leaders around a large map. Dorian paced beside them, his face dark with anger.
"How did they breach the northern wall?" Raphael demanded.
A blood-spattered guard bowed shakily. "They came from underground, Alpha. Tunnels we never knew existed."
"Syndicate tactics," another guard added. "They left this." He put a blood-stained cloth on the table. Aria recognized the same sign that had been on Marcus's orders in the library. Dorian slammed his hand down. "We should have killed them all after the first attack!" "Control yourself," Raphael warned.
"Control?" Dorian's voice rose dangerously. "While we sit here, they destroy our home! They killed Rowan Vale!" Aria noticed the scar on Dorian's eyebrow glowing brighter, pulsing with strange light. His body shook as if fighting something inside. "Son," Raphael said, his voice softening slightly, "we must be strategic." "Strategy hasn't worked!" Dorian roared.
The room fell silent. The scar now blazed with fiery light. Dorian's eyes flashed red, and his fingers curled into claws. The guards stepped back in panic. Without thinking, Aria steps from her hiding place. "Dorian." All eyes turned to her. Raphael's face darkened. "This is no place for you, girl."
But Aria kept going toward Dorian, whose breathing had become ragged. The air around him shimmered with heat. "Get back," he growled, but there was pain in his voice. "I can'tI can't control it." Something in his tone broke her heart. Aria reached out, touching his cheek softly. "Breathe, Dorian. I'm here." The moment her fingers touched his skin, a current passed between them.
The birthmark on her shoulder warmed, and Dorian's eyes opened in surprise. The blazing light in his scar dulled slightly. "What are you doing?" he whispered. "I don't know," she answered frankly. "But I can feel your pain." Their eyes locked.
In his gaze, Aria saw not just rage but terrorfear of something inside him that he couldn't control. "Everyone out!" Raphael commanded suddenly. The guards paused. "NOW!" As the room emptied, Raphael neared them slowly.
"How are you calming him?" Aria didn't look away from Dorian. "I'm not sure. I just... can." "The Ruby Wolf blood," Raphael whispered, almost to himself.
This caught Aria's attention. "You know about that?" A shadow crossed the Alpha's face. "More than you realize." Dorian's breathing had steadied, but the scar still glowed slightly. "Father, what's happening to me?" Raphael sighed loudly.
"The linking rune is failing. Rowan Vale put it there when you were a child, to control your temper." "My temper?" Dorian echoed. "This is more than temper!" "It's the Blackwood curse," Raphael said. "Rage that eats from within. Your grandpa died from it.
I've fought it my whole life." Aria kept her hand on Dorian's face, feeling the heat beneath his skin. "And you never told him?" "I hoped he would be spared." Raphael looked older suddenly, the weight of lies heavy on his shoulders. "Rowan's magic was keeping it contained."
"And now Rowan is dead," Dorian said sadly. A new explosion rocked the house. Dorian pulled away from Aria, the glow in his scar burning brighter again. "I have to help defend the pack," he said. "Not like this," Aria objected.
"You're not in control." "She's right," Raphael agreed. "In this state, you're a danger to yourself and others." Dorian's hands curled into fists. "So I'm supposed to hide while our people die?" Aria stepped close again, taking his hands in hers. "Let me help you." As their fingers intertwined, the warmth from her birthmark spread through her arm and into him.
The red glow in his eyes faded. "How are you doing that?" he asked, voice filled with wonder. "The Ruby Wolf blood," Raphael said again. "It balances the Blackwood curse." "Is that why the triplet bond formed?" Aria asked. "Because my blood can help him?" Before Raphael could answer, the door burst open. Tobias rushed in, his glasses askew, scrolls held to his chest. "Attack at the eastern border!" he gasped.
"Marcus is leading the defense, but they're outnumbered!" Dorian pulled away from Aria, his face stiffening with resolve. "I have to go." "No," she grabbed his arm. "Let me come with you. I can help keep your rage in check." "Absolutely not," Raphael said. "You will stay here where it's safe." Tobias caught Aria's eye, a silent word passing between them. Marcus was with the Syndicate.
This could be part of his plan. "Please," Aria begged. "Dorian needs me." Something in her voice must have reached Raphael. After a long moment, he nodded. "Stay with Dorian at all times. If his control slips" "It won't," Aria promised. As they rushed from the hall, Tobias fell into step beside her. "This is dangerous," he whispered.
"If Marcus sees us" "He can't know we suspect him," Aria whispered back. "Act normal." They reached the armory where fighters prepared for battle. Dorian grabbed a sword, his moves tense and controlled. The scar on his brow pulsed with each beating. "Stay close to me," he told Aria, his green eyes fierce.
"The battlefield is no place for" "If you say 'for a girl,' I might let your rage loose myself," she cut in. A smile tugged at his lips the first she'd seen in days. "I was going to say 'for someone untrained.'" Aria lifted her chin.
"Then train me. Quickly." Dorian hesitated, then gave her a small dagger. "Aim for the throat or heart. Don't hesitate." As they moved toward the eastern wall, Aria noticed how soldiers stepped aside for Dorian, fear in their eyes.
They'd seen his rage before. At the wall, chaos ruled. Syndicate dogs attacked in human form, armed with strange weapons that glowed blue. In the midst of the fight, Marcus fought with ferocious skill, his battle axe cutting down enemies. "Something's wrong," Tobias mumbled. "Why would he fight against his own allies?" Before Aria could reply, a Syndicate warrior spotted them and shouted a command. Suddenly, many of the attackers turned their attention toward Aria.
"They're targeting her!" Tobias cried. Dorian pushed Aria behind him just as three fighters charged. The scar on his brow flared brightly. With a roar that sounded more wolf than human, he met their charge.
His movements became a blur of rage. The Blackwood rage overwhelmed him, turning his eyes blood-red. Enemy fighters fell beneath his sword, but Dorian showed no sign of stopping. He turned toward more opponents, his face transformed with rage.
"He's losing control," Tobias said, fear in his voice. Across the battlefield, Marcus locked eyes with Aria. For a heartbeat, confusion crossed his face, then understandingand something like fear. Aria pushed past Tobias, running toward Dorian. "Stop! You have to stop!" But Dorian couldn't hear her.
The rage had taken over completely. As he raised his sword against another opponent, Aria grabbed his arm. "Dorian, please!" The moment her skin touched his, something electric passed between them.
The scar on her shoulder burned hot. Dorian froze, his sword inches from hitting. Slowly, he turned to her, anger battling with recognition in his eyes. "Aria?" he whispered, voice ragged. She put her palm against his cheek. "Come back to me." The red glow in his eyes flickered, then faded.
The scar's light dimmed to a soft beat. Around them, the fight continued, but in that moment, they stood in a pocket of stillness. "You saved me," Dorian said softly. "And I'll keep saving you," she promised. From the corner of her eye, Aria saw Marcus watching them, his face unreadable. When their eyes met, he smiledbut it wasn't the wild, free smile she remembered.
This smile held secrets and shadows. As the Syndicate forces withdrew, a chilling howl rose from the foresta signal Aria didn't understand. But Marcus did. His body tensed, and he glanced toward the trees with desire. "The betrayer," Tobias whispered beside her. "We need to tell Dorian." But looking at Dorian's tired face, the fading light in his scar, Aria shook her head.
"Not yet. Not until we have proof." As warriors cheered their win, Aria couldn't shake the feeling that this battle was just the beginning. The blood moon drew closer, and with it, a decision she wasn't ready to make.