CHAPTER 3

THIRD PERSON'S POV

The woods were colder than she remembered. Aria tore through the underbrush, her feet steady even as her heart cracked in silence. Cera and David trailed behind, saying nothing. They didn't need to. They had seen what happened.

They had heard the rejection.

The scent of pine and fire still clung to her skin- his scent. The Moon had branded it into her senses, and now it haunted her every breath.

She wanted to rip it out. Tear it from her lungs, do anything to erase the scent, erase him from her every sense.

"Aria." Cera called softly. "We need to stop." She says, looking at her with worried eyes.

"I'm fine." Aria replies, cold and steady, and continues walking down the path.

"You're bleeding." Cera again says, trying to convince her.

Aria looked down at her palm sliced from a sharp branch she hadn't noticed. Blood streaked her fingers, but she barely felt it. Not compared to the ache beneath her ribs.

She clenches her fists, her nails digging into her skin, over the wound and let the wound bleed and hurt her to erase the uneasiness in her heart.

"I said I'm fine." Aria snapped, looking back at them and glared in warning, as if they again speak a word she will rip them to shreds.

Cera said nothing more, nor did David say anything, as they continued walking towards their camp.

They reached the outer edge of the rogue camp just before dawn. There are no fires. No noise. Only shadows shifting in the trees. The others rose as she approached, sensing something was wrong.

Mira stepped forward, her brow furrowed as she looked at Aria's blank face and her hand bleeding. "What happened?" She asked.

Aria didn't answer. She walked past them, disappearing into her tent, leaving everyone puzzled and confused behind her.

Her brother, Alexander, looks at his sister disappearing in her tent, and he feels somehow uncomfortable in his heart. He has never seen her so silent or blank like this ever!

"What's wrong with my sister? Did something happen during the ceremony?" Alex asks, looking back at Cera and David.

"I think...it's best if she tells you herself." David says, and also walks back into his tent, so he doesn't have to answer their questions.

"Go and rest, we have a lot of work tomorrow." Cera says, before she also goes into her sleeping place.

Alexander looked back at their pack in confusion, but Mira and Jax were also as clueless as him. They also goes to rest, while Jax stays behind to keep an eye on their safety.

Aria settled in her tent, intending to fall asleep and forget everything that happened in the ceremony but she didn't sleep.

Instead, she sat before her mirror, staring at the bond mark on her collarbone- the faint silver thread that still shimmered, despite the rejection.

"It should've faded." She whispers to herself, touching her collarbone, and is lost in thoughts.

But it hadn't.

She lies in her bed, tossing and turning all night, trying to sleep but sleep was nowhere near her. The next morning, she wakes up irritated.

She walked through the heart of the camp. The rogues kept their distance. They respected her strength, her leadership, but now they feared her silence more than her rage.

She passed Jax, who's sharpening blades. Mira bundling herbs, Alex helping her, and Cera watching.

"Why won't you tell us what happened?" Mira asks, looking up at her.

Alex and others stop working and look at her, because in the morning Cera has explained what happened in the ceremony after being pressured by everyone for their leader's sour mood.

Aria didn't stop walking. "Because I don't owe anyone an explanation for being rejected." She answers without turning back.

"You rejected him too." Cera says, standing behind her and looking at her sharply.

"I had to." Aria replies, looking around the camp for any traces of intruder, but finds none.

"You wanted to?" Jax asks, cocking his eyebrows at her.

Aria turned sharply, glaring at them as she stated loud and clear. "What I want doesn't matter. What matters is that we don't fall apart. We keep moving. We stay alive."

Cera's gaze turns hard. "Then maybe it's time we stop hiding. Maybe it's time we fight." She says her voice shows the evidence of her anger.

"We're not ready." Aria sighs, shaking her head to calm her heightened nerves and try not to burst on their constant nagging.

Cera stepped closer. "Or you're not ready?" She says, looking into her eyes bravely, and tries not to quiver away in fear.

The silence stretched between them like a blade. Everyone held their breath, as only Cera has the audacity to question their leader, Aria, like this.

Not even Alexander has that much audacity to stand across his sister and question her like Cera. Probably because Cera is the first one who joins their pack and fights along with Aria.

Across the lands, in Blackridge, Kaiden stood in the training yard, battling his sparring partner to the ground for the third time.

"She rejected you back." Elias said calmly from the sidelines.

"I don't care." Kaiden replies sharply, striking at him.

"Your wolf does." Elias says with a smug smile while defending himself from his strike.

Kaiden didn't respond. His breath was ragged, his fists aching. The bond should have severed completely. It should have faded.

But it hadn't.

He could still feel her like a ghost in his blood. His wolf paced beneath his skin, clawing, howling, to surface and go claim their mate.

At night, he dreamed of her. Not as she was but as she might have been, in another life. Kind, sweet, beautiful and his. His lovely wife. His beloved mate.

But that's not who they are right now, in this life.

His enemy. His mate.

The one the Moon had chosen.

The one he had thrown away.

He went to the Council the same morning and Garran greeted him with narrowed eyes.

"You rejected the Ashborne girl. Yet the bond remains." He says, gritting in annoyance.

Kaiden didn't flinch and coldly belittle him. "It means nothing."

"It means everything." Garran growled. "And if you don't resolve it, others will. The Ashborne bloodline was dangerous. If the girl is still alive, if she still carries that legacy-"

"I'll take care of it." Kaiden interrupted, feeling his wolf growling at the sense of their mate in danger.

"See that you do." Garran scoffs, glaring at him.

Kaiden left from there without another word. But as he crossed the courtyard, his steps slowed, when the realisation hits him.

Take care of it. How?

Kill her?

He couldn't.

Wouldn't.

But if not that then what?

In her tent, Aria stares at the blade in her hand. The dagger was old, etched with her father's sigil.

She closed her fingers around the hilt, holding it tightly in her grip.

"I am not broken." She whispered. "And I am not his." Her voice wavers but she holds a steady grip on the dagger like it's a promise.

But her wolf stirred at the lie.

Because somewhere in the back of her heart, she could still feel his name.

Kaiden.

And it ached.

CHAPTER 4

ARIA'S POV

I stood at the edge of the clearing as frost laced over the tree limbs, the chill of dawn brushing against my skin like a warning. The cold barely registered anymore, not when fire roared inside me.

My breath came steady, but every inhale felt like swallowing shards of ice. I couldn't shake the echo of Kaiden's voice from my head.

The way he said my name. The way he rejected me like I was nothing. Like I hadn't haunted his past as much as he haunted mine.

My arms were folded tight across my chest, fingers digging into the rough wool of my cloak as I tried to steal the fury writhing beneath my skin. My wolf prowled inside me, wounded and confused. She hadn't expected the rejection. I hadn't either.

Not from him.

"Wake up everyone!" I told David, who'd appeared without making any sound, like he always does. "We're training today. Hard."

He nodded once, his gaze lingering on my face. He didn't speak. He didn't need to.

By midmorning, the camp came alive with the grunts and growls of sparring. I walked the perimeter, correcting stances, shouting orders, watching bodies collide in the dirt with brutal rhythm. My voice cut through the air like a whip.

"Again, Cera! Put your weight behind it. Your enemy won't wait for you to commit." I shouted, looking at her incorrect posture.

She rolled her eyes, sweat beading on her brow. "I'm going to hit you in a second." She says in confidence and I scoff at her response.

I smirked, looking at her. "You can try, Sweety!" Provoking is not the best choice but it will help her in training.

I turned sharply when Jax stumbled, missing a defensive block. I was on him in a second. "Like this." I said, wrenching the blade from his hand and demonstrating with precision. "In and out. Quick. No hesitation."

He nodded quickly, his face pale. I didn't let up, pressing on him hard and leaving no place of mercy for them.

They needed to be ready. If Blackridge sent another wave of hunters... if he came- No! I couldn't let that thought take root.

"You're way too strong, Sis!" Alex growls when I give him a punch- not too hard, and tackle him to the ground.

"I'm not strong, your moves are just a little slow." I replied, leaving him behind and moving to another person to train.

By midday, everyone collapsed by the fire pit. Mira passed around the water, pressing a small vial into my hand. "You're pushing too hard."

"I'm not pushing hard enough." I said, shaking her off, and taking a sip of water.

I stood off to the side, watching my pack breathe steam into the air like wounded animals. They were tired. But they were alive. And they were mine.

"We won't run next time!" I said, looking at all of them. "We will fight. I don't care who it is. We fight and we win." I announce and see their faces change their colour.

David's voice was low. "You mean if he comes." He cocks his eyebrows at me, desperately seeking out on my already wounded heart.

I met his eyes, my spine stiff. "I said what I meant." I said firmly, looking at him.

But inside, the words stung.

Because David is right. It was him I feared. Not for what he could do to my body, but what he already did to my mind.

I left them in the clearing and wandered to the stream at the camp's edge. The water ran clear and cold over the stone. I knelt and dipped my hands in, hoping the shock would clear my head.

Mira joined me some moments later. "You haven't shifted since the ceremony." She says, sitting next to me and dips her hands too.

"I don't want to." I muttered, feeling low and not willing to do anything except letting out the anger and frustration.

"Because of the bond?" She again asks, clawing at my wound, which I'm trying to hide.

I didn't answer her, and this gives her a new point to fire at me.

"You're afraid?" She said and I looked up at her with a frown.

"Afraid of what?" I ask, cocking my eyebrows at her.

"Of what he makes you feel." Mira not only knows about herbs to heal a wound, she clearly knows how to hit critical wounds too.

I laughed bitterly and shook my head. "He makes me feel like destroying everything. Even me."

Mira sighs, pressing a hand on my shoulder. "Anger is still a feeling. It means you care."

"I don't care." I retort, squinting my eyes at her.

"You do." She scoffs, smugly looking at me and gets up to leave. "Calm yourself down and come back, strong and independent, like always."

The moon had begun to rise by the time I left the stream. Pale silver light spilled over the camp, making the tents glow. I sat outside mine, watching the trees shift like shadows with secrets.

I pressed my fingers to the bond mark on my collarbone. It still pulsed faintly beneath the surface, like a warning I couldn't escape.

"I hate him." I whisper, don't know if I'm trying to convince myself or stating a fact.

But hate wasn't the same as indifference.

The sound of howling shattered the stillness, low and close. My heart leapt into my throat. I stood, drawing my dagger in my hand.

"Stay alert!" I called out.

Cera and Jax emerged, weapons in hand. David and Alex were already by the perimeter.

But the howling faded.

False alarm.

Still, my skin crawled.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I lay curled in my blankets, staring at the ceiling of my tent, every breath heavy. When I did drift off, my dreams were filled with fire. Smoke. My father's voice. And Kaiden's eyes, dark and full of something I don't understand.

Not rage. No pity.

It's like....Grief?

I woke up startled in the middle of the night, my heart racing against my ribcage, as I rubbed my collarbone to calm down.

The bond still burned. Low. Steady. Undeniable. The Moon had tied me to my enemy.

And I didn't know whether I wanted to kill him... or scream his name.

But I did know one thing. I would never let him be the one to break me.

Never.

CHAPTER 5

ARIA'S POV

The morning after the false howl, I woke before the sun, or to be specific I didn't sleep much peacefully.

Sleep had offered no solace. My dreams had been filled with flickers of firelight and ashes, my father's voice a fading whisper. Every time I reached for him, he disappeared. Always the same. Always gone.

I threw off my blanket and stepped outside my tent. The frost was heavier today. The earth was hard under my bare feet, grounding me in the moment.

Something inside me shifted last night. Not because of the howling or the bond, but because of the memory that came with it, a whisper of a place, a symbol carved into stone.

My father's study.

I hadn't thought about it in years. The last time I was in there, he was standing by the fire, cloaked in silence. I was just a girl then, clutching a broken arrow and tears I hadn't let fall. He told me stories of the High Council. Of betrayal. Of something hidden deep beneath the Ashborne estate.

A secret he said would change everything.

And suddenly, I knew I had to go back.

'Cera." I called, ducking into her tent. She groaned and pulled a blanket over her head, as I tried to pull away.

"It's barely dawn." She mutters sleepily, irritation dipping from her tone.

"I need you with me. We're going back to the ruins." I say, tucking her blanket.

That got her attention.

"You mean... Ashborne lands?" She asks and I nod my head, looking at her with determination. If she doesn't agree to go with me then, I will go alone, but I will definitely go.

She sat up, all traces of sleep gone as she looked at me with widened eyes. "Why? I mean all of a sudden!" She asks in confusion and curiously.

"I need to find something. Something my dad left for me." I said. Cera quickly gets up and we get ready to leave, strapping weapons for any situation and tricks to get away if there's any problem.

We left before sunrise, just the two of us. I told David to hold camp until we returned, but I saw the concern in his eyes. "Don't get caught." He warned, before we left.

The Ashborne lands were half a day's run northeast. We shifted at the edge of camp, our wolves tearing through the frost with practiced ease. Mine, silver gray eyes like storm clouds, was silent, focused. Cera's was smaller, faster, but never strayed far.

By the time we reached the outer ridge, the sun was rising in the sky and the wind was sharp.

The Ashborne estate was barely recognizable. Vines choked the blackened walls, and the stone steps were cracked with age. But the bones of the house remained.

My chest ached just looking at it. It's in the worst situation ever. My home. I couldn't believe that my home, where I grew up, is in this state.

"Are you sure?" Cera asked.

"No..." I whispered. "But I have to try." I say, taking a deep breath and stares at the house.

We crept through the remains, the echoes of my childhood everywhere. The great hall where I'd learned to fight. The library where my mother read ancient scrolls to me by candlelight. All of it ruined.

But the study....

It was mostly intact.

The heavy desk still stood, charred but solid. Bookshelves lined the walls, some crumbling, others still holding scraps of parchment.

I crossed to the far wall.

There, hidden behind a shattered painting, was a crest carved into the stone: Ashborne's true sigil. Not the one the Council approved, but the original. The forbidden one.

A crescent moon flanked by twin wolves.

I pressed my hand to it.

Click!

A small panel slid open in the wall, revealing a black leather book and a wrapped bundle of parchment.

My hands trembled as I opened the book first. It was my father's journal.

The first few pages were filled with battle maps, political names, and then... his words:

"The High Council knew. They feared the prophecy. They feared the Ashborne bloodline would awaken what they buried. But the Blackridge Alpha... he knew the truth. He knew, and still, he chose silence. Kaiden Blackthorn's father made a deal to keep the secret buried. And Kaiden was just a boy. But he watched. And one day, he will have to choose."

I froze. My mind numb, I can't think of anything but the words and the man, who knew everything and has a part in it too.

Kaiden knew.

He knew what they did to my father. He knew the truth behind the betrayal. He fucking knew that my dad was innocent.

And he said nothing.

Kaiden fucking Blackthorn hadn't said a word in favour of my father. He took his father's side and watched my father suffer and my whole family's downfall.

My breath caught, anger rising fast. He watched my family fall and said nothing. He stays silent, and watches, just watches.

But do you know the worst part?

Something in me still wanted to believe he could have chosen differently. He could have his own reason.

I unwrapped the bundle. A map leading deep beneath the estate, marked only with a phrase: "To awaken the old bond, find the fire buried in shadow."

"What is it?" Cera asked, looking over my shoulder in the map, and frowning not understanding anything.

"Proof." I said. "And maybe something more." When I stood, the wind had shifted. Snow began to fall. But my rage was hotter than ever.

Kaiden had rejected me. But now... I would uncover the secrets he helped bury. The secret, he doesn't let it out, but not anymore.

Because now I'm standing in his way, ready to bring out every secret he has buried, and I will not stop at anything.

Even if it meant destroying whatever was left of the bond.

Even if it meant to destroy him.