Aria's POV
We walk for three days.
Luna supports me when I stumble. Feeds me when I'm too weak to eat. Keeps watch while I sleep.
She never complains. Never regrets leaving her pack. Her home. Her son.
Dominic.
I try not to think about him. About those cold golden eyes watching me get exiled.
But at night, when I sleep, I dream of him.
Of the way he touched me that one night. The way he whispered my name.
The way he destroyed me.
"We're close," Luna says on the fourth morning.
I look up from the rabbit she caught for breakfast. My stomach isn't as hollow anymore. My strength is returning.
The baby is safe. For now.
"Close to what?" I ask.
"Crossroads Town." She points through the trees. "Neutral territory. No pack laws. No Alphas ruling everything."
"A human town?"
"Mostly." Luna helps me stand. "But there are wolves there too. Rogues. Exiles. People who don't fit anywhere else."
People like me.
We reach the town by midday. It's small. Just a few buildings clustered around a main street. But it's bustling with life.
Humans and wolves mixing freely. No one bowing to anyone else. No hierarchy.
It's strange. Foreign.
But also... freeing.
"There's an inn," Luna says. "We can rest there. Figure out our next move."
"What is our next move?" I ask.
She's quiet for a moment. Then she pulls me aside, away from the crowds.
"I've heard rumors," she says quietly. "About a place called Moonstone Refuge. A sanctuary for rejected she-wolves. For omegas who've been exiled or abused."
My heart skips.
"A sanctuary?"
"It's run by a powerful Alpha. Someone who believes in protecting the vulnerable instead of exploiting them." Luna's eyes are intense. "If we can find it, you'll be safe there. You and the baby."
"Where is it?"
"I don't know exactly. But people here might." She squeezes my hand. "We're not dying out here, Aria. We're going to find you real safety. A real family."
A family.
The word makes my chest ache.
I've never had a real family. The Winters took me in, but they never truly loved me. Victoria made sure I knew that every single day.
And my birth family...
"Luna," I say slowly. "Do you know what pack my parents came from? Their names?"
She pulls out the birth certificate again. The one she risked everything to steal.
"Your mother was Luna Celeste Moonwhisper," she reads. "Your father was Alpha Rowan Moonwhisper."
The names mean nothing to me.
I was three when they died. I don't remember their faces. Their voices.
Just fire and screaming.
"The Moonwhisper Pack was legendary," Luna continues. "They were the strongest pack in the region. Some say in the entire continent. Their Alphas had power that others couldn't match."
"Then why were they killed?" I whisper. "If they were so strong?"
"That's what I don't understand." Luna frowns at the certificate. "It would have taken incredible force to destroy them. Multiple packs working together, maybe. Or..."
"Or what?"
"Or someone with inside information. Someone who knew their weaknesses."
Betrayal.
Just like Marcus betrayed me.
Just like Dominic betrayed me.
"We need to find out who ordered the massacre," I say.
"Aria—"
"They killed my family. My entire pack." My hand moves to my stomach. "And now they want to kill me. Kill my baby."
Luna's face softens with understanding.
"You want revenge."
"I want justice." I meet her eyes. "And I want my child to be safe. The only way to do that is to find out who's behind this and stop them."
She studies me for a long moment. Then she nods.
"We'll need information. Resources. Allies."
"Moonstone Refuge," I say. "If it's real, if it's safe—we can start there."
"Agreed." Luna rolls up the certificate carefully. "But first, we need to eat a real meal. Sleep in real beds. You need to get your strength back."
We head toward the inn. It's small but clean. The woman running it barely glances at us before handing over a key.
No questions. No judgment.
Just a room and a price.
I've never felt so grateful for anonymity.
That night, after eating until I'm full for the first time in weeks, I lie in an actual bed and stare at the ceiling.
Luna is asleep in the other bed, her breathing steady.
Safe.
We're actually safe.
For now.
I close my eyes and let myself imagine the future. A world where my baby grows up protected. Loved. Where no one can hurt us.
A world where I'm strong enough to face Dominic again.
Not as a broken exile.
But as an Alpha's daughter.
I drift off to sleep with that thought warming me like fire.
In the morning, Luna shakes me awake.
"Get dressed," she says urgently. "Quickly."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." Her eyes are bright with excitement. "I asked around last night. About Moonstone Refuge."
I sit up fast. "Did you find it?"
"Better." She grins. "Someone from the Refuge is here. In this town. Right now."
My heart pounds.
"Who?"
"A recruiter. She comes to places like this looking for she-wolves who need help." Luna pulls me to my feet. "She's leaving at noon. If we want sanctuary, we need to meet her now."
I dress faster than I've ever dressed in my life.
We rush downstairs and out into the street.
"Where—" I start to ask.
But Luna is already pointing.
At the edge of town, near the forest line, a woman stands beside a wagon. She's tall. Elegant. Power radiates from her even from this distance.
An Alpha.
We approach carefully. The woman turns, and I get my first good look at her.
She's beautiful. Maybe forty years old. Silver hair—pure silver, not gray—pulled back in a braid. And her eyes...
They're violet.
I've never seen violet eyes before.
"Luna Catherine," the woman says, her voice rich and warm. "I heard you'd left Silvermoon Pack. Caused quite the scandal."
Luna bows her head slightly. "Alpha Thorne."
"No titles here." The woman smiles. "Just Thorne." Then her violet eyes find me. "And you must be Aria."
I freeze.
"How do you know my name?"
"Word travels fast in our world." Thorne steps closer. "A pregnant omega exiled from Silvermoon. Accused of lying about an Alpha's child. It's the kind of story that reaches even isolated sanctuaries."
"Then you know about Moonstone Refuge," Luna says.
"I run Moonstone Refuge." Thorne's smile widens. "And I've been looking for you, Aria."
"For me?" My voice comes out as a squeak. "Why?"
Thorne's expression turns serious.
"Because sixteen years ago, I made a promise to a dying friend. A Luna who begged me to protect her daughter if she ever survived the massacre."
The world stops spinning.
"My mother?" I whisper.
"Luna Celeste Moonwhisper." Thorne nods. "Your mother and I were best friends. And when I heard whispers of a girl with silver fur and Moonwhisper eyes appearing in Crossroads Town..."
She reaches out and gently touches my cheek.
"I knew my friend's daughter had finally come home."
Tears pour down my face.
"You knew her? You knew my mother?"
"I knew your whole family." Thorne's voice cracks with emotion. "And I've been waiting sixteen years to find you."
"But how—" Luna starts.
Thorne holds up her hand.
"There's much to discuss. Much to explain. But not here." She gestures to the wagon. "Come with me to Moonstone Refuge. Both of you. You'll be protected there. Hidden. Safe."
"From Marcus?" I ask. "From whoever ordered the massacre?"
Thorne's violet eyes flash with something dangerous.
"From everyone who wishes you harm. I swear it on your mother's grave."
I look at Luna. She nods.
We climb into the wagon.
As we travel away from Crossroads Town, deeper into the forest, Thorne begins to speak.
"There's something you need to know about your family, Aria. About why they were killed."
"What?"
She meets my eyes.
"The Moonwhisper Pack wasn't just powerful. Your bloodline carries something rare. Something that appears once every hundred years."
"What?" I whisper.
"Do you know what pack your parents came from?" Thorne asks. "What bloodline runs in your veins?"
I shake my head.
Thorne takes a deep breath.
"Your family descended from the original Moon Goddess's chosen. The first werewolves to walk the earth. And in your DNA, dormant until awakened by extreme stress or..." she glances at my stomach, "...pregnancy... lies a power that no Alpha can match."
"What power?"
Thorne's voice drops to barely a whisper.
"You're not just an Alpha's daughter, Aria. You're a True Luna. And the baby you carry will be the first True Heir born in a century."
The wagon hits a bump.
And as I grab the side to steady myself, my hand starts to glow.
Bright silver light pours from my palm.
Just like in my dreams.
Just like the night I was exiled.
"What's happening?" I gasp.
Thorne smiles.
"You're waking up."