DARIUS'S POV
Aria hits the ground, and my world narrows to a single point.
I shift mid-leap, my wolf exploding out with a roar that shakes the trees. Celeste turns toward me, those black eyes gleaming with triumph, and I see it clearly now—she's not just using magic. She's been changed by it. Twisted into something that shouldn't exist.
"Darius, don't—" Magda's warning comes too late.
I crash into Celeste with everything I have. We roll across the clearing in a tangle of fur and claws, her laughter ringing in my ears even as I tear into her shoulder. But she doesn't bleed red. She bleeds black, and the substance burns my mouth like acid.
I release her, gagging, and she kicks me off with inhuman strength.
"Stupid rogue." She stands, her wounds already closing. "Did you really think you could stop me? I've been preparing for this my entire life. I've drunk the blood of five Primordials. I've survived rituals that would kill normal wolves. I'm beyond anything you can imagine."
She's right. Every instinct screams at me to run, to grab Aria and flee. But Aria's unconscious, surrounded by Celeste's army, and running means leaving her to a fate worse than death.
I've never been good at running anyway.
"Then you'll have to kill me first," I growl, circling her.
"Gladly."
She moves like lightning, but I'm faster. Years of surviving as a rogue Alpha taught me to fight dirty, to use every advantage. When she lunges, I drop low, using her momentum to flip her over my back. She lands hard, and I'm on her instantly, teeth aiming for her throat.
But she catches my jaw with both hands, those black claws digging into my face. The pain is excruciating, but worse is the cold spreading from her touch. It feels like death itself seeping into my bones.
"You're strong," she admits, straining against my weight. "But strength isn't enough. Not against magic this old. This hungry."
The black veins from her claws start spreading across my face. My vision blurs. My wolf whimpers in my mind, feeling something fundamentally wrong poisoning our system.
Then Rowan slams into Celeste from the side, breaking her grip.
"Get away from them!" He's shifted fully now, a massive Alpha wolf with gray fur and rage in his eyes. "Celeste, stop this! Whatever you've become—"
"What I've become?" She laughs, standing between us. "I've become powerful. Something you never let me be when you were too busy pining over your broken Omega."
"She was never broken!" Rowan's roar is raw with pain. "I was! You made me broken!"
"Oh please." Celeste rolls those dead black eyes. "You were always weak, Rowan. That's why you needed me. That's why you'll always need me."
She gestures, and half her army moves forward. Not toward us—toward Aria's unconscious form.
"No!" I lunge, but Magda's voice cuts through the chaos.
"Enough!"
Power explodes from the old woman like a nuclear blast. Every wolf in the clearing—including me—drops to their knees. Even Celeste staggers, her black eyes widening.
"You dare use Primordial blood for your twisted rituals?" Magda's voice echoes with ancient fury. "You dare defile their sacrifice for your ambition?"
"I dare more than you can imagine, old woman." But Celeste's confidence wavers. "You're one Elder against my army. You can't—"
"I can buy time." Magda slams her staff into the ground, and a barrier of pure silver light erupts around Aria's body. "Darius! Take her and run!"
"I'm not leaving you—"
"Run!" Magda's command is absolute. "She needs you alive more than she needs me! Go!"
The barrier flickers, opening just long enough for me to grab Aria's limp form. She's so light, so fragile in my arms. The mating mark on her neck is angry and red—rejected but still visible.
Someone loved her enough to mark her. Then threw her away like trash.
The thought makes my wolf snarl with rage.
I run.
Behind me, I hear Celeste screaming orders, Magda chanting in a language older than memory, and Rowan roaring challenges. The forest explodes with the sounds of battle, but I don't look back.
I can't.
Aria's breathing is shallow, her skin cold. Whatever Celeste injected into her is spreading—I can see black veins crawling up her neck, heading toward her heart. If they reach it, she'll die. Or worse, she'll become like Celeste. Twisted. Wrong.
"Stay with me," I whisper, pushing my wolf harder. "Don't you dare give up now."
I run for twenty minutes before my legs give out. We collapse in a ravine far from the battle, and I shift back to human, cradling Aria against my chest.
The black veins have reached her collarbone. Minutes, maybe. That's all she has.
"Think, Darius." I press my hand to her forehead, and she's burning up. "There has to be something—"
Her eyes snap open. But they're not amber anymore.
They're black. Just like Celeste's.
"No." I grab her shoulders. "Aria, listen to my voice. You're stronger than this. Fight it."
"Darius?" Her voice sounds wrong. Distant. "Why does everything hurt?"
"Because you're being poisoned. But you're going to fight it, understand? You're going to—"
She screams.
It's not a human sound. It's something primal and terrible, full of agony and rage. Her body convulses in my arms, and I hold on tighter even though her skin is burning hot enough to blister.
"I've got you," I promise, even though I have no idea if that's true. "I've got you, and I'm not letting go."
The convulsions stop suddenly. Aria goes limp, and for one terrible moment, I think she's dead.
Then her eyes open again.
Still black. But something else swims beneath the darkness. Something fighting to surface.
"Darius." Her hand grabs my wrist with inhuman strength. "You need to... run. Before I... before she takes control."
"Who takes control?"
"The darkness." Tears stream from those black eyes. "Celeste didn't just poison me. She's trying to... possess me. Her consciousness is in this poison. She wants my body. My power."
Horror floods through me. "That's impossible."
"It's blood magic." Aria's grip tightens, her claws cutting into my skin. "Ancient blood magic. She can't kill a Primordial, but she can take one over. Wear me like a suit. And when she does... she'll use my power to destroy everything."
"Then we'll stop her." I pull Aria closer. "Magda will know what to do—"
"Magda's probably dead!" Aria sobs. "Celeste brought an army. She planned this perfectly. And I... I was so stupid. I walked right into her trap."
"You tried to save everyone." I wipe the tears from her cheeks, and my hand comes away black. "That's not stupid. That's brave."
"Brave gets you killed." She's shaking now, fighting something inside herself. "Darius, listen. When she takes over, you have to kill me. Promise me."
"Absolutely not."
"Promise me!" Her voice breaks. "If Celeste gets control of a Primordial's power, she'll be unstoppable. She'll destroy every pack that ever rejected her. She'll burn down the world. You have to stop her. Even if it means—"
She screams again, and this time when her eyes open, they're empty. Hollow.
Someone else is looking out.
"Hello, Darius." Celeste's voice comes from Aria's mouth, and my blood runs cold. "Thank you for bringing my new body somewhere private. This transition works better without distractions."
I scramble backward, but Aria's body—Celeste's body now—stands with predatory grace.
"You can't have her," I growl.
"I already do." She stretches Aria's arms, testing the new form. "Mmm. So much power. I can feel it sleeping just beneath the surface. Once I fully integrate, I'll be—"
Aria's hand suddenly clamps around her own throat.
"No." Aria's voice breaks through, desperate and fierce. "My body. My choice. Get. Out."
For a moment, two consciousnesses war in one body. Black eyes flicker to amber and back. Aria's face contorts with effort.
Then she looks at me with pure desperation.
"Run," she gasps. "Before I can't stop her anymore. Run and find Finn. Protect my son. Please. It's the only thing that matters now."
"Aria—"
"GO!"
Her scream becomes a roar, and power explodes from her body like a shockwave. I'm thrown backward, crashing through trees.
When I finally stop rolling and look back, Aria is standing in the ravine, her body surrounded by swirling darkness and silver light—two forces fighting for control.
And I have no idea which one will win.