Aria's legs gave out just as a massive gray wolf leaped over her head. She hit the ground hard, rolling behind a thick tree as chaos exploded around her.
Wolves were everywhere—snarling, fighting, bleeding. The forest had turned into a battleground in seconds.
*Get up!* Storm screamed in her mind. *We have to run!*
But Aria couldn't move. She was frozen, watching in horror as rogues and pack wolves tore each other apart. This was all her fault. If she hadn't been here, none of this would be happening.
A brown wolf with blazing eyes spotted her and charged straight at her, teeth bared. Aria closed her eyes and waited to die.
The attack never came.
Instead, she heard a bone-crushing impact and opened her eyes to see the brown wolf flying through the air. Standing over her was the biggest black wolf she'd ever seen, his golden eyes blazing with fury.
Kael.
Even in wolf form, she knew it was him. The black wolf turned to look at her, and his fierce expression softened. Then he shifted back to human form, and Aria quickly looked away. Werewolves didn't wear clothes when they transformed.
"Don't look at me like that," Kael said, and she could hear him pulling on pants. "I just saved your life."
"I didn't ask you to," Aria snapped, but her voice was shaking.
"Too bad. You're my mate, which means protecting you is my job now."
The word 'mate' hit her like a punch to the gut. She'd been hoping it was all a mistake, some kind of weird magical fluke. But the way her heart raced every time he spoke proved it was real.
"I don't want to be anyone's mate," she said.
"Tough." Kael grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "The Moon Goddess doesn't ask for our opinion."
Around them, the fighting was getting worse. Aria could see Martha in the distance, trying to help injured rogues escape. But there were too many pack wolves, and they were losing badly.
"Please," Aria begged, grabbing Kael's shirt. "Tell your wolves to stop. These people took care of me."
Kael looked down at her hands on his chest, and something strange crossed his face. "They took care of you by making you live like an animal?"
"They kept me alive when my own father wanted me dead!"
The words slipped out before Aria could stop them. She saw Kael's eyes widen with shock.
"Your father tried to kill you?"
Aria realized she'd said too much. "Forget I said anything."
But Kael was looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. "What's your last name, Aria?"
She didn't answer.
"Tell me your last name," he ordered, using his Alpha voice.
The power in his voice made her wolf submit instantly.
"Blackwood," she whispered.
Kael went completely still. "Alpha Jarek's daughter."
It wasn't a question. Aria's heart sank. Of course he knew her father. All the Alphas knew each other.
"You're supposed to be dead," Kael said slowly. "Everyone thinks you died with your sister ten years ago."
"Maybe I did die," Aria said sadly. "Maybe this is just my ghost."
Kael stepped closer, and she could feel the heat radiating from his body. "You're very much alive. I can smell your blood, hear your heartbeat, feel the mate bond pulling me toward you."
"Stop talking about the mate bond!" Aria tried to back away, but he caught her wrist.
"Why? Because it scares you? Because you know you feel it too?"
She did feel it. That was the worst part. Every time Kael touched her, lightning shot through her entire body. Every time he looked at her, her stomach did flips. And when he'd saved her from that brown wolf, she'd felt safer than she had in ten years.
But feeling safe with someone and trusting them were two different things.
"Let me go," she said.
"No." Kael's grip tightened. "I've been looking for my mate for eight years. Now that I've found you, I'm not letting you disappear again."
"You don't understand. I'm not Luna material. I'm broken."
"You're perfect."
The way he said it made tears spring to Aria's eyes. No one had ever called her perfect before. But he didn't know the truth about what happened to Lyra. He didn't know about the nightmares or the guilt or the way everyone she'd ever loved had abandoned her.
"I killed my sister," she whispered.
Kael's face went hard. "That's impossible."
"Ask anyone. Ask my father. I took Lyra to the forbidden river, and only I came back. She drowned because of me."
"You were eight years old."
"So was she. But she's dead and I'm not, and everyone knows it's my fault."
For a moment, Kael looked like he might argue. Then his expression shifted to something that looked almost like... doubt?
"The forbidden river," he said quietly. "Near the old forest temple?"
"How do you know about that?"
But before Kael could answer, Damon came running toward them with blood on his face.
"Alpha, we need to go. Now."
"What's wrong?"
"It's not just the Moonstone Pack," Damon said, breathing hard. "There are wolves here from three different packs. And they're not fighting each other. They're working together."
Aria felt ice form in her stomach. "Working together against who?"
Damon looked at her with something that might have been pity.
"Against you, I think."
The forest went quiet around them. Even the fighting seemed to pause.
"That's impossible," Kael said. "Why would three packs unite to hunt one rogue?"
"Because she's not just any rogue," said a new voice.
They all turned to see a man stepping out from behind the trees. He was tall and thin with white hair and red eyes that seemed to glow in the dim light. Aria had never seen him before, but something about him made her skin crawl.
"Who are you?" Kael demanded.
The man smiled, and his teeth were too sharp. "I'm someone who's been looking for this girl for a very long time. And now that I've found her, I'm going to finish what should have been done ten years ago."
*Run,* Storm whispered urgently. *Run now.*
But it was too late. More wolves were emerging from the trees, surrounding them completely. At least fifty of them, from different packs, all looking at Aria like she was the most dangerous thing in the world.
"You see," the man continued, "little Aria here isn't just Alpha Jarek's daughter. She's the last of the forest bloodline. The one the prophecy spoke about."
"What prophecy?" Kael asked, but his voice sounded strange.
"The one that says she'll either unite all the packs under one rule... or destroy them completely."
The man's red eyes fixed on Aria. "And I'm betting on destroy."
Aria felt power stirring under her skin, just like before. The silver flowers were blooming at her feet again, glowing brighter and brighter.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.
"Don't you?" The man laughed. "Then why can you make things grow with just a thought? Why do the trees bend toward you? Why did your sister really die that day at the river?"
"Lyra drowned!"
"Did she?" The man's smile grew wider. "Or did something else happen? Something you've blocked out because the memory was too terrible to bear?"
Images flashed through Aria's mind—images she'd buried so deep she'd forgotten they existed. The river. Lyra's hand in hers. A blinding light. A voice that wasn't human. And Lyra disappearing into that light, screaming Aria's name.
"No," Aria whispered, falling to her knees as the memories came flooding back. "No, that's not what happened."
But even as she said it, she knew the man was telling the truth. She hadn't killed her sister by accident.
She'd traded her sister's life to save her own.
And now, ten years later, something was coming to collect the debt.