ARIA'S POV
Pain woke me.
Not the sharp, immediate kind. The deep, bone-aching exhaustion that comes from pushing your body past every limit. I felt hollowed out, like someone had scooped everything important from inside me and left only the shell.
I tried to open my eyes. My eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.
"Don't move." Kael's voice. Rough, quiet, close. "You almost died."
That got my eyes open.
I was lying on something soft—furs, piled thick and warm. A small fire crackled nearby. The shelter was cramped but clean. And Kael was sitting right beside me, silver eyes watching my face like he was afraid I'd disappear.
"Lyra?" I croaked. My throat felt like sandpaper.
"Alive. Healed completely. The black veins are gone." He held a waterskin to my lips. "Drink slowly."
The water was cool and perfect. I drank greedily until he pulled it away.
"How long was I out?"
"Two days."
"Two DAYS?" I tried to sit up. My arms shook and gave out immediately.
Kael caught me, easing me back down. "Your body needs rest. You absorbed the Fading into yourself. It should have killed you."
"But it didn't." I looked at my arms. The black veins were gone, but faint silver scars remained where they'd crawled up my skin. "What happened?"
"We don't know. The poison just... burned away inside you. Like your body destroyed it." His fingers traced one of the silver scars gently. "You're stronger than you look."
"I'm a nurse. We're all stronger than we look." I managed a weak smile. "Where are we?"
"Safe house in Silverwood territory. Ryder's guards are outside." Kael finally pulled his hand back, like he'd just realized he was touching me. "Zephyr took Lyra to his den. She's asking for you."
Warmth spread through my chest. "She's really okay?"
"Better than okay. She's the first female to fully recover from late-stage Fading. You performed a miracle." His silver eyes were intense. "Every pack in the territory knows about it now."
The warmth turned cold. "That's bad, isn't it?"
"Yes." He stood, moving to the fire. "They're calling you the Last Lifebringer. Saying you're the key to saving all females. Packs are forming alliances. Others are preparing to fight. Everyone wants you."
"I'm not a prize to be won," I said, anger giving me strength. I pushed myself up to sitting, ignoring the way my vision swam. "I'm a person who happened to help someone. That's it."
Kael turned back to me. "In the Beastworld, there is no 'just helping.' Everything has consequences. You saved Lyra, and now you've given everyone hope. Hope makes people dangerous."
"So what, I should have let her die?"
"No." His voice softened. "You did the right thing. You're just paying the price for it now."
I hated that he was right. Back in my world, saving lives was celebrated. Here, it made me a target.
"I miss my old life," I whispered. "Where things made sense."
Kael crouched beside me. "Tell me about it. Your world."
"Why?"
"Because you look like you need to remember who you were. Before this."
Something about his quiet understanding made my throat tight. When was the last time someone actually cared what I was feeling?
"I was an ER nurse," I said. "I worked ridiculous hours, saved people who sometimes tried to kill me, and went home alone to microwave dinners." I laughed bitterly. "Not exactly a fairy tale."
"But you loved it," Kael said. Not a question.
"Yeah. I did. Even when it was horrible, at least it was MY horrible, you know?" I looked at him. "What about you? Who were you before the curse?"
Pain flashed across his face. "A son. A brother. Part of a family." He sat down heavily. "My mother was a healer—not like you, but she knew herbs and medicine. She taught me to care for the sick. Then the Fading took her. Then my sister. The pack said I brought bad luck. They exiled me."
"That's horrible."
"It's survival. In the Beastworld, weakness gets you killed." He met my eyes. "That's why I need to teach you to protect yourself."
"I have magic hands. Isn't that protection enough?"
"Your power drains you. If you're exhausted, you're defenseless." He stood, offering his hand. "Can you walk?"
I took his hand and let him pull me up. My legs wobbled but held. "Where are we going?"
"Outside. You need to see how we live. How we fight. How we shift." He paused. "It will scare you."
"Everything about this place scares me."
"Good. Fear keeps you alert." He led me to the entrance. "Stay close."
We stepped outside. The forest was beautiful in daylight—towering trees with silver bark, flowers that chimed softly in the breeze, and those three moons still visible in the purple-blue sky.
But it wasn't the beauty that caught my attention.
It was the males.
At least twenty of them, in various forms—some fully human, some fully beast, some in between. They were training, fighting, wrestling. Practicing for something.
They all stopped when they saw me.
Every single eye locked onto me. The air went heavy with attention.
"Ignore them," Kael said quietly. "They won't approach without permission."
"Why not?"
"Because Ryder declared you under pack protection. And because I'm standing next to you." He stepped slightly in front of me. "They know I'll kill anyone who touches you."
A shiver ran through me. Not fear. Something else.
One of the males—a huge guy with brown hair and bear-like features—called out: "Is she really the Lifebringer?"
"Show them," Kael said to me. "Let them see the mark."
I hesitated. Then lifted my palm. The golden symbol blazed bright in response to my nerves.
Every male dropped to one knee.
The gesture was instant, synchronized, absolute. Like I'd flipped a switch.
"What are they doing?" I whispered.
"Showing respect. You're the most valuable thing in this territory now. More precious than gold, more important than territory, more desired than power." Kael's voice was grim. "And everyone here would die to possess you."
My stomach twisted. "I don't want that."
"You don't have a choice anymore." He turned to face me fully. "Which is why you need to learn to shift."
I blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You have the mate bond with me. Our energies are connected. Which means my leopard is inside you now." He said it like it was the most normal thing in the world. "If you can learn to access it, you can defend yourself."
"I'm not a shifter. I'm human—"
"You were human. But you died in your world and were reborn here. The Old Gods don't do things halfway." His silver eyes were serious. "Try. Close your eyes and feel for it. The leopard. My leopard."
This was insane. But everything here was insane.
I closed my eyes. Tried to feel... something. Anything.
At first, nothing. Then—
There. A presence in the back of my mind. Wild. Fierce. Silver-bright. It felt like Kael, but also like me. Like we'd been stitched together.
"I feel it," I whispered.
"Good. Now call to it."
I reached for the presence. It surged forward eagerly, wrapping around my consciousness. Power flooded through me—strong, fast, predatory.
My body started changing.
Panic hit me. "Kael, I can't—it's too much—"
"Don't fight it! Let go!"
But I couldn't let go. The sensation was overwhelming—bones shifting, muscles morphing, instincts that weren't mine flooding my brain.
I screamed.
The shift reversed violently. I collapsed, gasping. Kael caught me before I hit the ground.
"I can't do it," I panted. "I can't—"
"You will. It takes practice." He held me steady. "But you felt it. That's enough for now."
A slow clap echoed across the training ground.
Zephyr emerged from the trees, amber eyes gleaming. "How touching. The Lifebringer trying to become a predator. This should be entertaining."
Kael's grip on me tightened. "What do you want, fox?"
"Just delivering a message from your Wolf King." Zephyr's smile was sharp. "He's calling a gathering. All three tribes—Wolf, Leopard, and Fox. Tomorrow at sunset."
"Why?" I asked.
"To decide your fate, of course." Zephyr's gaze was intense. "Every alpha will be there. They'll each make their case for why you should belong to their tribe. And you, little Lifebringer, will have to choose."
"And if I don't want to choose?"
"Then they'll choose for you. Violently." He tilted his head. "Politics in the Beastworld are usually settled with blood. I suggest you pick someone strong enough to keep you alive."
He walked away before I could respond.
I looked at Kael. "Tell me he's joking."
"He's not." Kael's face was stone. "The gathering is a challenge. Every alpha will fight to prove their worth. The winner gets the right to claim you."
"That's barbaric!"
"That's the Beastworld." His silver eyes met mine. "And I'm not strong enough to win against three alphas."
My heart sank. "So what happens to me?"
Before Kael could answer, a massive howl split the air. Then another. And another.
Ryder burst from the pack house in wolf form, his black fur bristling. He shifted to human mid-run, his face dark with fury.
"They're here," he snarled. "The Dragon Lord just landed in the north field. And he brought an army."