Aria felt like winter hit her face with the bucket of ice-cold water.
"Get up, rogue scum!"
The sound of Martha's words cut through the early morning air. "Today's your birthday, but that doesn't mean you get to sleep in like some princess."
Aria gasped and rolled off her thin mat, water dripping from her tangled red hair. She quickly looked down after her angry silver eyes flashed. Getting mad at Martha never ended well. Aria had learned a long time ago that fighting back only made things worse. The older woman ran the rogue camp with an iron hand.
"I'm sorry," Aria whispered, climbing to her feet. "I'll get the firewood right away."
Martha wasn't done yet, though. Aria had to look up because she grabbed her chin hard. "Today I am eighteen years old. Your wolf should be coming any minute now. When it does, you better hope it's strong enough to be useful. Otherwise..." She didn't finish the threat. She didn't need to.
Aria's heart hammered in her chest as Martha walked away. Today was the day she'd been fearing and hoping for at the same time. Every werewolf got their wolf on their eighteenth birthday. But what if hers was weak? What if it never came at all? Rogues without strong wolves didn't last long in the woods.
She hurried toward the trees to gather wood, her bare feet silent on the rough ground. Ten years of living here had taught her how to move without making noise. Ten years since that terrible day at the river. Ten years since she'd lost everything.
*Don't think about it,* she told herself. *Don't remember.*
But the memories came anyway, like they always did on her birthday. She was seven again, holding her little sister's hand. Lyra was only six, with golden hair that sparkled in the sunlight and blue eyes full of trust.
"Come on, Aria," Lyra had said. "Let's go to the pretty river. You promised we could play there."
Aria had looked back at their father's house one last time. Alpha Jarek was inside, possibly working on pack business like he always was. He wouldn't miss them for a few hours. And Lyra had been asking to see the forbidden river for weeks.
"Okay," Aria had whispered. "But we have to be careful. Daddy said never to go there alone."
"We're not alone," Lyra had giggled. "We have each other."
The river had been beautiful, just like Lyra said. Crystal clear water ran over smooth rocks, and flowers grew along the banks. They had played for what felt like minutes but must have been hours. Then Lyra had seen something shiny in the deep part of the river.
"I can get it!" she had called out, running toward the water.
"No, Lyra, wait!" Aria had screamed, but it was too late.
The current had been stronger than it looked. Much stronger. Lyra had fallen in, and the water had swept her away so fast that Aria could barely see her golden hair disappearing around the bend.
Aria had jumped in after her, but she was only seven. The water had been too strong, too cold, too angry. By the time she'd managed to pull herself out downstream, wet and shivering, there was no sign of Lyra anywhere.
She'd run home crying, screaming for help. The whole pack had looked for days, but they never found Lyra's body. And when the search stopped, her father had looked at her with eyes full of pain and said the words that still haunted her dreams:
"Why did she die but not you?"
He'd sent her away the next morning. Too broken to look at the daughter who reminded him of his failure to protect them both. Too guilty to say he should never have left two little girls alone. So he'd blamed Aria instead.
A sharp pain in her chest snapped her back to the present. She was eighteen now, not seven. But the pain never got better.
She bent down to pick up a fallen branch, and that's when it happened.
Fire burst through her body. Aria screamed and fell to her knees as every bone felt like it was breaking and repairing at the same time. Her skin burned, her muscles cramped, and her mind filled with a wild, fierce presence that wasn't her own.
*Finally,* a voice said inside her head. Not her voice. A wolf's voice. *I've been waiting so long to meet you, Aria.*
"Who... what are you?" Aria gasped between waves of pain.
*I'm Storm. I'm your wolf. And we are much stronger than anyone thinks.*
The change hurt worse than anything Aria had ever felt, but when it was over, she was no longer alone in her head. Storm's presence felt warm and protective, like having a fierce older sister who would never leave her side.
*We need to run,* Storm said urgently. *Something's coming. Something that's been looking for us for a very long time.*
"What do you mean?" Aria whispered.
But before Storm could answer, the forest around them went totally silent. No birds. No insects. Even the wind stopped blowing.
That's when Aria smelled it. A scent that made her heart race and her stomach flip at the same time. It was wild and dangerous, like pine trees and lightning storms. It was getting closer.
*Mate,* Storm whispered, and her voice sounded excited and scared at the same time.
"Mate?" Aria's eyes went wide. "But that's impossible. I'm just a rogue. No one would want—"
Heavy footsteps crashed through the trees behind her. Getting closer. Fast.
Aria spun around and saw him.
The most beautiful and terrifying man she'd ever seen was walking toward her through the trees. He was tall with broad shoulders, black hair, and bright eyes that seemed to look right through her soul. He wore all black, and power radiated from him like heat from a fire.
She knew who he was. Everyone knew who he was.
Kael Thorn. Alpha of the Shadow River Pack. The most feared leader in all the regions.
And he was looking at her like she was the most important thing in the world.
"Mine," he said, and his voice was rough like gravel. His golden eyes flashed with something that made Aria's knees weak.
*Run,* Storm whispered urgently. *Something's wrong. This isn't how it should happen.*
But before Aria could move, Kael was standing right in front of her. He reached out and touched her face with startling gentleness.
"You're coming with me," he said. It wasn't a question.
And as his fingers brushed her skin, Aria felt the mate bond snap into place like a chain around her heart. But instead of feeling happy, Storm was screaming warnings in her mind.
Something was very, very wrong with their fated mate.