Aria's POV
I woke up in a dim room.
It was late maybe past midnight. The faint cry of owls echoed outside while the air hung thick with the scent of herbs and smoke. My body ached as though every muscle had been scorched from the inside.
My mind was foggy. I could barely remember what happened after the explosion only flashes of silver light, screams, and the taste of fear on my tongue.
The door creaked softly. Lara slipped inside, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.
"Everything's in chaos," she whispered. "No one knows what to believe anymore. Even the council can't explain what happened."
Pandemonium. That was what she meant.
I stared at my trembling hands. "Did I hurt anyone?"
She hesitated, glancing at the floor. "Two assassins didn't make it. Some say you saved lives, others say you're cursed. They're calling you the Moon Blessed and the cursed one."
The words struck like knives.
The cursed one.
Monster.
Lara reached for my arm. "Don't listen to them. You were scared. You didn't mean to...."
But I wasn't listening anymore. Her words blurred into a dull hum that faded the moment she left.
And that was when I started to hear it.
A whisper. Faint at first, almost hidden behind the silence.
"It's not over yet....."
I froze. My heart thudded hard against my ribs.
The silence should have comforted me, but it didn't.
" You can't hide forever...."
My breath caught. The voice was soft, familiar like a memory whispered from a dream but it wasn't mine.
"Who's there?" I whispered, scanning the corners of the room. Shadows swayed, but nothing moved.
I pressed my palms against my ears. "It's just stress. Just… everything catching up."
But then the words came again, curling through my mind like smoke.
"Remember the moon…"
My breath hitched.
That voice....
It was the same one I'd heard in the hall, the same voice that had spoken through me.
And for the first time, I wasn't sure if it was trying to warn me or control me.
Ares' POV
The council room reeked of fear and burnt wax.
Their voices were sharp, slicing through the air like blades. They were afraid of her, of what they'd seen and somehow I was the one expected to control it.
"You know what she is," one of the elders said. "Why protect her when she could destroy us all?"
I met his gaze, steady but burning. "Aria isn't what you think. Those assassins came for her, not for us."
James slammed his fist on the table. "You're risking everything, Ares! By protecting her, you're turning the entire council against you."
"Then so be it," I said flatly.
The words came before I could stop them. The room fell silent.
Their fear disgusted me. They spoke of restraint and execution as if she hadn't just saved their lives.
I was Alpha. Duty meant protecting the pack.
But I couldn't shake the memory of her face before the blast the fear, not fury, in her eyes.
She wasn't a weapon. She was a girl who'd been hunted and cornered, punished for something she
couldn't control.
You can't serve two masters, I thought.
You can't be their leader and her protector.
Maybe defending her meant betraying everything I'd built my title, my loyalty, my pack.
But every time they called her a curse, rage burned deeper inside me, drowning out reason.
Duty demanded I stay neutral.
My heart refused to.
I was still lost in that thought when the doors opened and Clara stepped in.
Her steps were slow, deliberate, her eyes glinting with satisfaction. She smiled a small, poisonous curve of her lips.
And in that moment, I knew she'd been waiting for this.
Clara's POV
They pitied her.
Even after seeing that explosion of power with their own eyes, they pitied her.
The council's voices droned in the background, talking of mercy, of understanding as if the creature who burned my men alive deserved to live.
"Pathetic fools all of them"
I stood at the balcony above the chamber, watching them tear themselves apart.
Fear raw, unfiltered hung in the air like smoke, and I breathed it in.
It was beautiful.
Fear was the only language I ever needed, and tonight, everyone was fluent.
Every glance they threw at Ares was laced with doubt. Every whisper about her dripped with suspicion.
Perfect.
The plan had unfolded exactly as I imagined.
I had waited years for the Moon blessed to reveal herself. And now she had.
The moon outside looked exactly as it had the night everything died.
Same glow.
Same pull.
Maybe she was laughing at me, reminding me of the storm I once unleashed.
They still pitied her even now. Fools. Every last one of them.
I kept my expression smooth, almost pleasant, while rage coiled beneath my skin. They didn't understand what she was.
They thought she was a frightened servant who lost control.
But I knew better.
I remembered that light the same silver flame that once consumed everything I loved.
And this time, I swore on her herself, I would snuff it out before it ever rose again.