The night was silent. Too silent.
Kael sat at the edge of the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, hands knotted together so tightly the veins in his arms bulged.
Aria slept behind him.
Her body curled beneath the silk sheets, her breathing slow and even—like nothing had happened.
But something had happened.
She had said a name in her sleep. Not his.
She'd moaned.
Clawed at the pillow.
Whimpered like she was being touched… worshipped… possessed.
By something that wasn't him.
And when she woke, eyes wide, breath ragged, she didn't look scared.
She looked changed.
Kael dragged a hand down his face, swallowing the growl bubbling in his throat.
She'd told him about the shadow-man. The voice in the flame. The seductive presence that lived inside her magic—and how it had kissed her, touched her, marked her in a dream so vivid it left her trembling.
Mate, she'd said.
Not in love.
Not in bond.
But tied to her in power.
Kael's wolf paced restlessly, snarling at the idea.
Another force claiming her.
Another male—thing—inside her soul.
Not just threatening her body.
But threatening them.
Their bond.
Their future.
His control.
He hated that word. Control. It didn't belong in love. But it did belong in power. And Kael knew—deep in the marrow of his bones—that the pack wouldn't follow a Luna they feared. Not for long.
And if Aria's power kept growing, if she let this thing inside her rise…
They'd either worship her—or try to burn her.
He couldn't let either happen.
Kael stood and walked to the window. The moon hung low and full, casting a silver glow across the mountains. Wolves howled in the distance—scouting teams still out after the tremor that had shaken the castle.
He could still smell the scorch marks in the halls.
Still taste the metallic tang of power when he kissed her after she woke.
Her magic was changing. Deepening. Becoming hungry.
He'd felt it in the way her body responded. The way she arched into him, begged him to take her—as if trying to erase something else.
The ghost of a dream.
Kael clenched his jaw, staring into the night.
He had to find out what she was becoming. Before it was too late.
---
The next morning, Kael ordered Riven to double the guard around Aria's chambers.
"Discreetly," he said. "She's not a prisoner."
Riven gave him a long look. "But she's a threat?"
"She's not," Kael snapped, then lowered his voice. "But if someone tries to manipulate her again, we'll be ready."
Riven nodded and left, leaving Kael alone in the War Room.
He pulled out the scroll again—the one Darion had almost died for. The blood rune was still glowing faintly, responding to the remnants of magic in the air.
Kael stared at the markings, trying to decipher them.
They weren't just about sealing power.
They were instructions.
Awaken the moon-blood. Bind her through flame. When her heart burns, the gate will open. The queen will rise.
His blood ran cold.
Gate.
The same word Aria had whispered in his arms after the explosion.
That couldn't be a coincidence.
But more than the prophecy—more than the danger—it was her he couldn't stop thinking about.
Her eyes when she looked at him now. Like she was slipping away.
He'd spent weeks building trust between them, letting her in, even surrendering parts of himself he swore no one would ever see again.
But now…
She had secrets again. Not lies—but something worse.
Truths she didn't think he could handle.
And maybe he couldn't.
Because if she was right—if this… entity was claiming her as his mate in some supernatural way—then Kael wasn't just fighting to protect her.
He was fighting to keep her.
And something deep in him—something primal and jealous and very much Alpha—refused to lose.
He would chain the gods themselves if it meant she stayed his.
Even if he had to become something darker than she could love.
---
Later that night, Kael went to the archives.
Few dared enter alone after dark, but he needed answers.
Deep in the restricted section, he found the old tomes.
Books bound in dragonhide, locked with runes, sealed by alpha blood.
He slit his palm and let a drop fall on the seal.
The pages opened.
And there she was.
The original Feral Queen.
Gold eyes. Dark hair. A beast cloaked in beauty and fire.
The story said she was half-wolf, half-spirit. Born of a celestial storm, too powerful for any pack to hold.
She ruled. She burned. She devoured kings.
And when she fell in love with a mortal Alpha, she tried to suppress her power for him.
It didn't work.
She lost control.
He tried to kill her.
She killed him instead—and wept for a hundred years.
The parallels were… undeniable.
Kael stared at the drawing.
Aria looked just like her.
Same fire.
Same ache.
Same doomed love.
He slammed the book shut and cursed.
This wasn't just about Aria anymore.
It was a cycle.
And it always ended in blood.
---
When he returned to their room, Aria was awake, sitting by the window, her hair bathed in moonlight. She didn't turn when he entered.
"I felt you… dreaming last night," she said softly. "It wasn't peaceful."
Kael stood in the doorway, heart tight.
"I saw you," she added. "In the flames. Watching me."
His brow furrowed. "You… saw me?"
"Not you exactly. But a version. You were made of shadow and smoke, like him."
Kael walked slowly toward her. "Do you think… he's taking my face now?"
"I think he knows what you mean to me," she said. "And he's using it. Twisting it."
She turned to face him finally. Her eyes glistened with uncertainty. "I'm scared, Kael. Not of him. Of what he's awakening in me."
He cupped her face, thumbs brushing her cheeks.
"You're stronger than this thing."
"What if I'm not?" she whispered. "What if I want what he offers?"
His grip tightened. "Then I'll fight for you. Every piece. Every dark corner. You will not lose yourself. I won't allow it."
Tears slid down her cheeks.
"You sound like him."
Kael's heart cracked.
She didn't mean it cruelly.
She meant… he was trying to own what wasn't his to control.
And maybe she was right.
Maybe loving her meant letting her choose—even if what she chose wasn't him.
But he couldn't do that.
Not yet.
Not when the shadow's claws were already inside her heart.
"Then I'll prove I'm not him," he said, brushing his lips against hers. "I'll never force you. But I will protect you. From anything. Even yourself."
Aria nodded against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her.
They stood there in silence for a long time.
But as Kael looked past her shoulder into the dark sky…
He felt it.
A pulse.
Not in the castle. Not in the woods.
On the cliffs.
A new mark had been carved into the stone.
A gate.
And it was starting to glow.