Aria's POV
How many? I demanded, running to the window.
Kael was already moving, throwing open a weapons chest. Fifty. Maybe more. Marcus brought half his pack.
Why? Fear clawed at my throat. We just got married. The peace treaty
Was never real. Kael strapped on weapons with practiced speed. He wanted you here. Away from Silvercrest. Vulnerable.
The truth hit me like ice water. He wants me dead.
He wants your power. Kael's eyes met mine. But he can't let you use it to save my pack. If Shadowfang gets strong again, we're a threat to him.
Screams erupted from downstairs. The sound of fighting. Snarls and howls.
They're inside, Kael growled. His eyes blazed gold. Stay here. Lock the door. Don't come out until I come back for you.
No.
He froze. What?
I'm not hiding. My hands clenched into fists. The bracelet burned hot. These are my people now. I won't let them die protecting me.
Aria, you don't know how to fight
Then teach me. Fast.
Power crackled around my fingers. Silver light sparked in the air.
Kael stared at me. Then something shifted in his expression. Pride, maybe. Or respect.
You channel your power through emotion, he said quickly. Anger. Fear. Love. Feel it, then release it. Don't think. Just act.
A crash from below. Someone screamed.
That's all the training you get, Kael said. He grabbed my hand. Stay close to me. If I tell you to run, you run. Understand?
Yes.
We ran downstairs together.
The main hall was chaos. Shadowfang wolves fought desperately against Silvercrest invaders. Blood stained the floor. Bodies lay motionless.
I saw Dante fighting three wolves at once, his face savage. River was protecting injured pack members, using some kind of shield magic.
And in the center of it all stood Marcus.
He saw me and smiled. There she is. My dear daughter.
I was never your daughter, I spat.
No. You were my insurance policy. He gestured to his wolves. Kill the Alpha. Bring me the girl. Alive.
Ten wolves launched at Kael.
He shifted mid-leap, becoming the massive black wolf I'd seen before. He tore into them with brutal efficiency.
But three broke away from the fight. Coming straight for me.
Terror spiked through me. The bracelet flared hot.
STOP.
The command exploded from me. Not words pure power. Alpha command amplified a thousand times.
The three wolves froze mid-run. Their legs locked. Their eyes went wide with shock.
I could feel their minds. Feel their will bending to mine.
Kneel, I said.
They dropped to the floor, whimpering.
The entire room went silent. Everyone Shadowfang and Silvercrest alike stared at me.
Marcus's smile vanished. Impossible. She's untrained. She shouldn't be able to
You knew. Fury burned through me. You knew what I was. You kept me weak on purpose. The tea. The wolfsbane. You poisoned me for years.
His expression went cold. You were too dangerous to let develop naturally. Your mother made that mistake. Look where it got her.
My breath caught. What did you do to my mother?
What I had to do. Marcus pulled out a silver blade. The Moon Goddess herself ordered the First Luna bloodline destroyed. Your mother tried to hide you. She died for that defiance.
You killed her. The words came out as a whisper. You murdered my mother.
I executed a heretic. He started toward me. And now I'll finish the job.
Kael still in wolf form snarled and leaped between us.
Marcus smiled. Predictable. He made a gesture.
Silver nets dropped from the ceiling, tangling Kael. He howled in pain as the silver burned his fur.
No! I ran toward him.
Marcus grabbed me from behind, the silver blade pressed to my throat.
Don't move, he hissed in my ear. One wrong move and I paint the floor with your blood.
The fighting stopped. Shadowfang wolves froze, their eyes on their trapped Alpha and threatened Luna.
Here's what's going to happen, Marcus announced loudly. Aria comes with me. Kael lives. Shadowfang keeps its cursed existence for a few more months. Everyone wins.
Except me, I said.
You were never going to win, child. You're an abomination. A mistake the Moon Goddess tried to erase. I'm just finishing her work.
The bracelet pulsed against my wrist. Hot. Angry.
I could feel the power waiting. Begging to be released.
But the blade was at my throat. One wrong move and I'd bleed out before anyone could save me.
Kael struggled against the silver net, his golden eyes locked on mine. Through the mate bond, I felt his rage. His fear. His desperate need to protect me.
Trust yourself, his eyes seemed to say. Use your power.
I closed my eyes and reached for the bond connecting me to every wolf in the room.
Not just Shadowfang. All of them. Including Marcus's wolves.
You made a mistake, I said quietly.
What? Marcus pressed the blade harder.
You thought you could control me with fear. With poison. With pain. I opened my eyes. Silver light blazed from them. But pain is what awakened me.
I grabbed his wrist the one holding the knife and released everything.
Power exploded from me like a bomb. Pure Luna authority that made every wolf in the building drop to their knees.
Including Marcus.
The blade clattered to the floor. Marcus gasped, his legs buckling against his will.
You can't this is impossible
I am the First Luna reborn, I said. My voice echoed with power. And you. Will. SUBMIT.
Marcus screamed as his wolf forced him to the ground. His forehead touched the floor in ultimate submission.
Every Silvercrest wolf did the same. They couldn't help it. Their wolves recognized what I was. What I'd always been.
Their Luna. Their superior. Their queen.
The silver net around Kael dissolved I burned it away without even trying. He shifted back to human form and stood beside me.
Impressive, he murmured.
I looked down at Marcus, still forced into submission on the floor.
You killed my mother, I said. You poisoned me. Tortured me. Used me.
The Moon Goddess commanded it, he gasped. She told me in a vision that your bloodline had to end
The Moon Goddess. I knelt down so I was eye level with him. Tell me everything. Now.
She came to me twenty years ago, Marcus whispered. Said your mother was hiding a child of the forbidden bloodline. Said I had to take you in, keep you weak, and kill you when the time was right.
My blood ran cold. The Moon Goddess herself ordered my death?
She's been hunting your bloodline for three hundred years. Your mother was the last one left. And now He looked at me with terror in his eyes. Now you're all that remains.
The room spun.
The Moon Goddess the deity all werewolves worshipped wanted me dead.
Why? My voice cracked. Why does she want us destroyed?
Marcus's laugh was broken. Because the First Luna had power the Moon Goddess feared. Power to break her control over the wolves. To give them free will. To let them choose their own mates instead of the ones fate dictated.
The mate bond. The pull between Kael and me.
We're not fated mates, I whispered, looking at Kael. We chose each other. That's why it feels different.
Kael's eyes widened. The prophecy. The First Luna believed in choice, not fate.
And the Moon Goddess killed her for it, Marcus said. Just like she'll kill you.
Thunder cracked outside. The windows rattled.
A voice ancient, terrible, divine filled the air.
You dare invoke my name, child?
The temperature dropped. Frost spread across the walls.
And in the center of the room, light began to form.
A figure. Female. Glowing. Beautiful and terrifying.
The Moon Goddess herself had come.