The walk back to the pack house was silent.
Not the comfortable kind of silence — the kind that presses against your skin, heavy, expectant, as though every step you take is a countdown to something you won't like.
Kael kept pace beside me, his strides long, his jaw tight. His hand brushed my arm once — not by accident — and I caught the faint scent of pine and smoke that had haunted my dreams for years. I hated that it still made my chest ache.
The pack house loomed ahead, a sprawling structure of stone and glass, glowing faintly in the early dawn. Once upon a time, it had been my safe place. Now, it felt like a gilded cage.
The moment we stepped inside, the murmurs started. Warriors in training gear, omegas carrying breakfast trays, high-ranking wolves moving between offices — they all looked at me. Some curious. Some… wary.
I didn't belong here anymore, and we all knew it.
Kael ignored the stares, guiding me toward his office. He opened the door, gestured for me to enter, then shut it with a click that sounded a lot like a lock sliding into place.
"Sit," he ordered.
I didn't. "If you think locking me in here is going to make me—"
"Sit, Aria." His voice had that Alpha edge that could make most wolves obey without thought. I wasn't most wolves anymore.
But I sat anyway, if only because my legs were shaking from the fight in the forest.
He moved behind his desk, leaned forward, and pinned me with that storm-gray stare. "You're going to tell me exactly what happened out there."
"I already told you. I don't know what that thing was. I don't know why it was after me."
His eyes narrowed. "It called you the Moon's Fire."
I swallowed hard. "So?"
"So," he said slowly, "that's not a name anyone just makes up. It's tied to an old prophecy. One my father used to warn me about before he died. A prophecy about a wolf born with fire in her blood. A wolf who could either unite the packs… or burn them to ash."
A chill skated down my spine. "And you think that's me?"
"I don't think," he said. "I know."
I pushed to my feet. "Then you also know why I can't stay here. I'm a target. If I'm here, your pack is in danger."
"You're not leaving."
The words were a command, not a request.
I laughed without humor. "You don't get to decide that anymore."
He was around the desk before I could blink, his body heat swallowing mine, his hand braced against the wall beside my head. "Until I'm sure you're safe, you stay. If that thing comes back, I'm the only one strong enough to fight it."
My heart was racing, but I held his gaze. "You rejected me, Kael. You don't get to act like you care now."
His jaw flexed, and for a moment, the Alpha melted away, leaving the man I'd once loved. "I never stopped caring," he said quietly. "I stopped believing I could keep you safe."
The words hit me harder than I wanted them to. I stepped away before he could see it.
"Keep me safe, then," I said. "But don't expect me to forgive you."
I left his office before he could respond, pushing past the tension that hung between us like a live wire. The hallways of the pack house were wide, lined with polished wood and family portraits. I tried not to look at the ones where my younger self stood beside Kael, smiling like the world was perfect.
It wasn't. It never had been.
Voices drifted from the war room — low, urgent, too sharp to ignore. I paused outside, ears straining.
"…another attack, Alpha," a deep voice said. I recognized it immediately — Darius, Kael's Beta. "That's the third sighting in a week. The rogues are moving closer to the heartland."
"Not rogues," Kael's voice rumbled. "Something else. That thing in the forest wasn't wolf, and it wasn't alone."
"You think it's hunting her?"
A pause. Then Kael said, "I know it is. And if it's tied to the prophecy, the other packs will come for her too. Some to protect her… others to use her."
My stomach twisted.
"What about the council?" Darius asked. "If they find out she's here—"
"They won't," Kael cut in sharply. "No one outside these walls can know Aria's awakened. If word gets out, we'll have more enemies than allies."
I pressed a hand to my chest, trying to steady my breathing. Awakened? Was that what he thought had happened to me?
Footsteps sounded inside. I darted back around the corner just as the door opened. Kael and Darius emerged, both wearing the same grim expression. Darius's gaze flicked to me briefly, unreadable, before he walked away.
Kael didn't stop me when I slipped past him and headed toward the training grounds. I needed air. I needed space.
The scent of pine and earth greeted me as I stepped outside. Warriors sparred in the open yard, their grunts and the clash of claws on claws ringing through the morning. My body ached to move, to work off the restless energy building in my veins.
I didn't get the chance.
A shadow fell over the ground in front of me. When I looked up, a woman stood there — tall, cloaked in deep green, her face hidden beneath a hood.
"Aria of the Moon's Fire," she said, her voice carrying an accent I couldn't place. "You have no time to waste."
My pulse skipped. "Who are you?"
"A friend. For now." She glanced toward the pack house. "Your power is stirring. It will not be contained for long. When it bursts, it will either shield this place… or destroy it."
I shook my head. "I didn't ask for any of this."
"Destiny rarely waits for permission," she said. "And yours has already begun."
Before I could demand answers, a sudden heat flared in my palms. I looked down — fire danced across my skin, bright and wild. I staggered back, panic clawing up my throat.
The woman's gaze sharpened. "Control it, or someone will get hurt—"
Too late. A young warrior had run forward, maybe to help me. My power surged outward in a blinding arc, sending him flying into the dirt. Gasps echoed around us.
The scent of scorched earth filled the air.
Kael's voice thundered from behind me. "Aria!"
Kael was beside me in a heartbeat, his hand closing firmly around my wrist. The heat vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving only the tingling aftermath and the pounding of my heart.
The warrior I'd hit groaned from where he lay sprawled on the training ground. Darius and two others rushed to his side, helping him to sit up. His arm hung limp, already beginning to swell.
"I didn't—" My voice broke. "I didn't mean to."
But the whispers had already started.
"She attacked him."
"No, it was an accident… wasn't it?"
"Moon's Fire. Just like the old stories say."
Each word was a dagger in my skin.
Kael turned, his voice cracking through the murmurs like a whip. "Enough. Training is over for today."
The yard emptied quickly, though I could still feel their eyes on me. Judging. Fearing.
When I glanced back, the cloaked woman was gone. Vanished as though she'd never been there at all.
Kael's grip didn't loosen until we were back inside the pack house. He shut the door to his office with more force than necessary, the sound reverberating in my bones.
"What happened out there?" he demanded.
I met his gaze, my voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know. She—she said my power was stirring, and then it just… happened. I couldn't stop it."
"She?"
"The woman in the green cloak. She called me Moon's Fire, too. She knew about—about this." I lifted my hands, still faintly warm.
Kael swore under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "That was Elara. The Seer."
"A seer? As in, visions of the future?"
"Yes. And if she came here, it means things are worse than I thought." He stepped closer, his voice dropping. "Aria, you need to understand something. This power of yours—it's not going to fade. It's growing. And if you can't control it…" He hesitated, as though weighing the next words carefully. "The council won't just come for you. They'll kill you."
The weight of his words settled heavily in my chest. "So what? You're going to lock me up? Hide me until I magically learn control?"
"No." His expression was fierce. "I'm going to train you myself."
I blinked. "You?"
"You think I'm going to hand you over to anyone else? No. If anyone's going to see you through this, it's me."
My throat tightened. "Why? Why now, after everything?"
His eyes held mine, steady and unflinching. "Because losing you once was the biggest mistake I've ever made. I'm not going to make it again."
Something in my chest shifted at his words — something I didn't want to name.
Before I could respond, Darius burst into the room, his face grim. "Alpha. There's been another attack. This time… it's not just the rogues."
Kael straightened. "Who?"
Darius's gaze flicked to me. "The Shadow Court."
A chill ran down my spine. I didn't know exactly who they were, but the way Kael's expression hardened told me everything — this wasn't just another enemy. This was war.
Kael looked at me, his jaw set. "Training starts at dawn."