The silence in the house should have been my first warning.
I'd slept for fourteen hours straight, waking to find the sun already high in the sky and my phone dead on the nightstand. When I finally made it downstairs—showered, dressed, and feeling almost human again—the entire estate felt like a tomb.
No staff bustling around with their usual morning routines. No pack members coming and going from Dad's study. Even the kitchen was empty, which was unheard of for a Tuesday morning.
The only sign of life was the low murmur of voices coming from the formal dining room. I followed the sound and found Dad sitting at the head of the table with Elder Patricia, Beta Samuel, and three other senior pack officials I recognized but couldn't name. They all looked up when I entered, and their expressions ranged from concerned to downright fearful.
"Good morning," I said, my voice coming out raspier than I'd intended. "Interesting breakfast meeting."
"Aria." Dad stood, his face carefully neutral. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a truck." I pulled out the chair across from him and sat down without waiting for an invitation. "But I'm guessing this isn't about my health."
The silence stretched long enough to become uncomfortable. Finally, Elder Patricia cleared her throat.
"We've been discussing last night's... incident."
"You mean when I nearly choked Kai Blackwood to death with my mind?" I reached for the coffee pot in the center of the table, pleased when my hand didn't shake. "Yeah, that was definitely something."
"Aria," Dad's voice carried a warning. "This is serious."
"I know it's serious." I poured myself coffee and added cream with deliberate calm. "I'm the one who manifested the power, remember? I'm the one who felt it."
"And that's exactly the problem." Beta Samuel leaned forward, his weathered face grim. "That kind of power, uncontrolled, untrained... it's a threat to everyone around you."
"A threat?" I set down my cup harder than necessary. "I'm a threat now?"
"You nearly killed the heir to Shadowmoon," one of the other officials said. "From three miles away. Without even trying."
"Trust me, I was trying."
The admission sent a visible ripple of unease around the table. Dad's jaw tightened, and I saw Elder Patricia make some kind of warding gesture with her hands.
"This is what I'm talking about," Beta Samuel said. "The power is already affecting her judgment. Making her more aggressive, more willing to use violence—"
"More willing to defend myself," I corrected. "Kai Blackwood humiliated me in front of both packs. He rejected our mate bond and then paraded his human girlfriend around like a victory trophy. What did you expect me to do, send him a thank-you card?"
"We expected you to show restraint," Dad said quietly. "We expected you to be better than this."
The words hit harder than a slap. "Better than what, exactly? Better than my grandmother?"
Another uncomfortable silence. I looked around the table at their carefully neutral faces and felt something cold settle in my stomach.
"That's what this is about, isn't it? You're all terrified I'm going to turn into Luna Celestine."
"The similarities are... concerning," Elder Patricia admitted. "The power manifestation, the rage triggers, the immediate escalation to violence—"
"I didn't kill anyone."
"You came close enough." Dad's purple eyes met mine across the table, and for the first time in my life, I saw something in them that looked like disappointment. "Aria, when your grandmother first manifested the Moonlight Bloodline, she was exactly your age. Exactly as angry. Exactly as convinced that she was justified in her actions."
"And look how that turned out," Beta Samuel muttered.
I turned to stare at him. "Excuse me?"
"The madness," he said, not backing down despite the way my eyes had started to glow. "The obsession with control. The complete inability to accept that maybe, just maybe, other people had the right to make their own choices."
"I'm not trying to control anyone—"
"Aren't you?" Dad's voice was soft, but it cut through my protest like a knife. "Last night, you used your power to hurt someone because they didn't want what you wanted. How is that different from what she did?"
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it again. Because the truth was, I couldn't think of a good answer.
"The power is seductive," Elder Patricia said gently. "It makes you feel justified. Like you know better than everyone else what's right and wrong."
"Maybe I do know better." The words came out before I could stop them, and I saw everyone at the table exchange meaningful looks.
"And that," Dad said, standing slowly, "is exactly why you're going to Cascade."
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. "What?"
"The Cascade pack has agreed to take you in temporarily. They have experience with... unusual bloodlines. Their Elder Celeste is one of the few people alive who actually knew your grandmother before the madness took hold."
"You're sending me away." I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing. "You're actually sending me away."
"I'm sending you somewhere you can learn to control your gifts before they control you."
"This is bullshit!" I shot to my feet, my chair scraping loudly against the hardwood floor. "I'm your daughter, not some dangerous animal you can just ship off when I become inconvenient!"
"You nearly killed someone last night!" Dad's composure finally cracked, his voice rising to match mine. "You reached across miles of empty space and choked a man unconscious because he hurt your feelings!"
"He didn't hurt my feelings, he destroyed my life!"
"So you decided to destroy his?" Dad shook his head, looking older than I'd ever seen him. "Do you hear yourself, Aria? Do you understand how you sound?"
"I sound like someone who's been pushed too far!"
"You sound like your grandmother."
The words hung in the air between us like a physical blow. I felt the silver light start to pulse beneath my skin, felt the familiar tingle that meant my power was responding to my emotional state.
"Don't," Elder Patricia said sharply. "Don't you dare use your gifts on your father."
The warning snapped me back to myself. I looked around the table at the faces of people who'd known me my entire life—people who'd watched me grow up, who'd celebrated my birthdays and comforted me when I'd cried over scraped knees and broken hearts.
Now they were all looking at me like I was a loaded gun that might go off at any moment.
"You're afraid of me," I said quietly.
"Yes," Dad admitted. "We are."
The honesty was brutal, but somehow it hurt less than the lies would have.
"How long?" I asked.
"What?"
"How long am I supposed to stay in exile?"
"It's not exile," Beta Samuel protested. "It's training. Education. Learning to control—"
"How long?"
Dad sighed, suddenly looking every one of his forty-eight years. "Until you can prove that you won't use your power to hurt innocent people."
"Kai Blackwood is hardly innocent."
"He rejected a mate bond, Aria. That's his right. Painful as it might be, that's his choice to make."
"So I'm supposed to just accept it? Accept that the Moon Goddess gave me a fated mate who wants nothing to do with me?"
"You're supposed to accept that other people have free will," Elder Patricia said. "Even when their choices cause you pain."
I stared at her for a long moment, feeling something fundamental shift inside me. "And if I refuse to go?"
"Then we'll have to consider other options," Dad said quietly.
"Other options?"
"Binding your power. Like they did to your grandmother."
The threat was delivered so calmly, so matter-of-factly, that it took me a moment to process what he'd actually said.
"You would do that to me? Your own daughter?"
"If it meant saving innocent lives? If it meant preventing you from becoming a monster?" Dad met my eyes without flinching. "Yes. I would."
The words hit me like ice water. I looked around the table one more time, taking in their unified front, their shared determination to remove me from the equation.
"Fine," I said, proud that my voice remained steady. "When do I leave?"
"Tomorrow morning," Dad said. "Beta Samuel will drive you. It's about a four-hour trip to their territory."
"Of course it is." I turned to go, then paused at the doorway. "Just out of curiosity, did anyone think to ask me what I wanted? Or was this decision made entirely without my input?"
"Your wants became irrelevant the moment you nearly committed murder," Dad said. "I'm sorry, Aria. But this is bigger than what you want."
I nodded slowly, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. "Got it. Pack first, personal feelings second. Just like always."
"Aria—"
But I was already walking away, my head held high despite the fact that my heart was breaking all over again.
I spent the rest of the day packing, trying not to think about the fact that I was essentially being banished from my own home. Sophia came by around noon with red-rimmed eyes and a fierce hug that lasted almost five minutes.
"This is so unfair," she whispered into my hair. "You're not a monster, Aria. You're hurt and angry and you made a mistake, but you're not a monster."
"Maybe I am," I said, my voice muffled against her shoulder. "Maybe they're right to be afraid."
"Don't say that." She pulled back to look at me, her dark eyes blazing with loyalty. "You're my best friend. You're the girl who cried when we had to put down that injured bird we found in the garden. You're the girl who spent her sixteenth birthday volunteering at the homeless shelter instead of having a party."
"That was before I nearly killed someone with my thoughts."
"So what? People make mistakes. Even big ones." She grabbed my hands, squeezing tight. "Promise me you won't let them change who you are. Promise me you'll come back as yourself."
I wanted to promise her that. I really did. But the truth was, I wasn't sure who I was anymore.
That evening, as I was folding clothes into my suitcase, my phone rang. The caller ID showed an unknown number, but I recognized it from the texts that morning.
Kai.
I let it ring four times before answering.
"What do you want?"
"To apologize." His voice was hoarse, strained in a way that made me wonder if his throat was still bothering him. "And to make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine."
"Aria, please. Don't do this. Don't shut me out."
"Shut you out?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You rejected me, remember? You chose someone else. You don't get to worry about me anymore."
"I know you're angry—"
"Angry?" I set down the shirt I'd been folding and paced to my window. "Kai, I nearly killed you last night. That's not anger, that's something else entirely."
"I know. And I deserved it."
The admission caught me off guard. "What?"
"I said I deserved it." He sighed, and I heard the sound of sheets rustling, like he was adjusting his position in bed. "The way I handled things yesterday... it was cruel. Unnecessary. I was trying to make a point, and I ended up humiliating you instead."
"So you admit it."
"Of course I admit it. I'm not stupid, Aria. I knew exactly what I was doing when I brought Madison to that meeting. I knew it would hurt you."
"Then why did you do it?"
Silence stretched between us for so long that I thought he might have hung up. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.
"Because hurting you was easier than admitting how much you terrify me."
My heart did something complicated in my chest. "I terrify you?"
"The mate bond... it's so strong, Aria. Stronger than anything I've ever felt. When I'm near you, I can barely think straight. All I want to do is claim you, protect you, keep you safe." He paused. "And that scares the hell out of me."
"Why?"
"Because I can't afford to want something that much. Not when wanting it could destroy everything I've spent my life building."
"Your pack would really disown you?"
"My father would disown me," Kai said quietly. "And without his support, I'd have no claim to leadership. The pack would fracture, probably end up absorbed by one of the larger territories. Everything my family has built for generations would be gone."
I closed my eyes, feeling the weight of his words. "So you chose duty over love."
"I chose survival over fantasy."
"Fantasy?" The word came out sharper than I'd intended. "That's what I am to you? A fantasy?"
"You're a dream I can't afford to have."
The honesty in his voice made my chest ache. "And Madison?"
"Madison is... safe. Uncomplicated. She doesn't make me question everything I thought I knew about myself."
"How romantic."
"Aria—"
"No, I get it." I sank down onto my bed, suddenly exhausted. "She's the practical choice. The one who won't turn your life upside down."
"Something like that."
"Well, congratulations. You made your choice, and now I'm making mine."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm leaving tomorrow. Going away for a while to figure out how to control this power before I accidentally murder someone."
"Leaving?" The panic in his voice was immediate and visceral. "Where? For how long?"
"That's not really your concern anymore, is it?"
"Aria, please. Don't leave because of me. Don't let my mistakes drive you away from your home."
"This isn't about you," I lied. "This is about me learning to control abilities that could seriously hurt people if I'm not careful."
"The power you used last night... it was incredible. Terrifying, but incredible."
"I'm glad you were impressed."
"I'm not impressed, I'm worried. That kind of power, without proper training..." He trailed off. "Just be careful, okay? And come back."
"Why do you care?"
"Because despite everything, despite the impossibility of it all, I still—" He cut himself off abruptly.
"You still what?"
"Nothing. Just... be safe."
The line went dead, leaving me staring at my phone and wondering what he'd been about to say.
I still what? Cared about me? Wanted me? Loved me?
Not that it mattered. Tomorrow I'd be gone, and Kai Blackwood could go back to his safe, uncomplicated life with his human girlfriend.
And maybe, if I was lucky, I'd figure out how to stop caring about what might have been.
Later that night, I was lying in bed staring at the ceiling when I felt it—a sudden, sharp spike of pain that wasn't my own.
The mate bond.
I sat up, my heart racing as I tried to make sense of what I was feeling. Physical pain, but not mine. Fear, confusion, and underneath it all, a steady pulse of concern that felt distinctly like—
My phone rang.
"Aria?" It was Madison's voice, high and panicked. "Oh God, I don't know who else to call. Kai gave me your number for emergencies, and I think this qualifies—"
"What's wrong?" I was already out of bed, pulling on clothes.
"It's Kai. He collapsed about an hour ago. We're at Seattle General, and the doctors are saying..." Her voice broke. "They're saying his throat is damaged. Like someone tried to strangle him."
Ice flooded my veins. "Is he going to be okay?"
"They don't know. The swelling is so bad they had to intubate him, and there's some kind of nerve damage..." She was crying now, the words coming out in gasps. "I'm so scared, Aria. I don't know what's happening to him."
I did. This was my fault. My power, my rage, my complete loss of control.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes," I said.
"You don't have to—"
"Yes, I do."
I hung up and grabbed my keys, not bothering to leave a note for Dad. He'd figure out where I'd gone soon enough.
And if seeing Kai in a hospital bed because of what I'd done to him didn't prove I needed to leave town, nothing would.
The silver light pulsed beneath my skin as I drove through the empty streets, and for the first time since my power had manifested, I was truly afraid.
Not of what I might do to my enemies.
But of what I might do to the people I loved.