The fire still coursed through Aria's veins.
Even after the ashes of the Wraith had fallen and the temple itself had fallen silent, she could not get it out of her head—how it had been, her power, untrammeled. How the flames had danced for her as though they remembered her before she remembered herself. It was unnerving her.
She was not reborn, merely.
She was something else now.
Something divine. Something deadly.
Lysandra had called it the First Aspect, but Aria sensed the fires writhing beneath her flesh like they had a mind of their own—waiting for the wrong sensation to slip and consume all once again.
She stood at the temple's edge, wind tussling her newly-clean robes, ash in her hair. The night was still.
Until it wasn't.
A scratching in the trees.
Aria turned, springing into tension. The flames didn't come this time—her control had become stronger—but her gut screamed that something was wrong.
A wolf stepped into the clearing.
Jet-black coat. Gilded ringed eyes. And it shifted.
Muscle contorted, bones creaked, and in the wolf's place stood Kael Thorne—crown prince of the Dominion of Shadowfang. Her mate. Their would-be assassin.
Aria's breath was frozen.
He was taller than she remembered, broader in the shoulders, his dark hair shorter now. The familiar royal cloak fluttered around him, blood-red and heavy with silver embroidery. He looked like a man shaped by war and ruled by secrets.
And when his eyes met hers, they widened.
Not with recognition.
But with instinct.
"You," he breathed, stunned. "You're—" He took a step forward. "It's you. The one who summoned the flame."
She said nothing. Could not.
Kael raised a hand. "Wait—I won't harm you."
His voice was soft, commanding. One that had once melted her into a pool. Now, it only served to remind how quickly it had turned to venom.
"I observed the blaze at Umbrahold," he continued. "No one should have survived that. And yet here you are. Alive. Unscathed."
Aria gritted her teeth. "You don't remember me?"
Kael hesitated. "Should I?".
Of course. The blood-bonded lie. The false Luna.
Aria's scent remained concealed. Her voice, with the change of power. Her face now with a faint glow of divine rebirth. To him, she was nothing but another anomaly. A danger to control.
"Who are you?" Kael demanded again, eyes narrowing. "Which pack do you belong to?"
Aria found it difficult to keep her voice down. "I don't belong to any pack."
His eyes grew narrow. "That's not possible. You carry magic—power like this does not just appear.?"
"No. It's born of treachery."
There flashed across Kael's face a moment of emotion. Guilt? Uncertainty?
Behind him, more men emerged from the trees. Soldiers. Four of them—royal guard by the look of the armor. They closed in around Kael in silence, weapons drawn but not raised.
Kael repeated himself, his voice quieter now. "Come with us. I do not want to hurt you."
Aria almost laughed again.
How many times had she wished for this moment? To hear his voice soften? To see his eyes search hers, uncertain and maybe… curious?
But not like this.
Not as a stranger. Not when he stood with men who would burn her alive if they knew what she truly was.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said quietly.
His expression darkened. "You don't understand—there are individuals who will hurt you. What you are, you lit a flame across the world. The High Priestess has already made you an adversary."
"She would," Aria said sullenly. "She tried to burn me once."
Kael frowned. "What was what?"
She opened her mouth, but one of the guards stepped forward. "Your Highness—there's another pulse. Something east of us. It's moving."
Kael didn't take his eyes from hers. "Then get out there. Scan the perimeter."
The guards scattered.
Aria recognized she had seconds.
"You're not safe here," Kael echoed. "If you come voluntarily, I can protect you. Whoever you are."
Liar, she longed to scream. You couldn't save me when I needed you most.
Instead, she met his eyes and drew a deep breath, "You already failed me once, Kael Thorne."
His entire body tensed.
"What…"
She threw out her hand. Flame exploded up around her, a wall between them.
Not to kill him.
To escape.
She whirled and ran—barefoot, fast, the temple dwindling behind her as the forest closed in.
...
She ran until the trees merged into one another, until her lungs seared more than ever her magic had.
Behind her, Kael shouted, wolves howled, limbs snapped.
She was running from them again.
She ran through thickets, across streams, each step pushing her further from him, further from the only place that was safe. A branch scraped against her shoulder—blood erupted. She kept running.
At last, the forest ended. She emerged onto a steep hillside above the remains of an abandoned village—half-eaten by nature and half-hidden in mist.
It was there that her knees buckled.
Her fire wavered slightly in her hands.
She dropped to her hands, panting, vision blurring. Her power was draining fast—too fast. The escape spell had taken more than she realized.
You're not ready yet.
Lysandra's voice echoed in her head.
But there was no turning back now.
She crawled into the ruins of a chapel, the roof broken, vines curling down like the fingers of a dying god.
And there—she collapsed.
...
She dreamed of fire and silver. Of a child born under a shattered moon. Of a hand smothering her cradle in blood and stars.
She dreamed of him—Kael—again kneeling in the same vision as before, his head bowed, saying her name.
But this time, she wasn't reaching out to him.
She was walking away.
A voice as wind whispered behind her:
> "The fire burns for balance. And balance requires sacrifice."
She had no idea.
But the fire inside her ignited.
...
Aria woke to a face hovering over hers.
Not Kael's.
A stranger. A girl, no older than sixteen, with green-dyed hair and wild eyes too large for her scattering of freckles.
"Holy crap," the girl growled. "You're awake."
Aria tried to sit up.
The girl pushed her back down. "Nope. Easy. You're lucky I caught sight of you before the patrols did. That fire trail you left? Not exactly low-key."
Aria blinked. "Who."
"Name's Liri. Ex-Moon Acolyte. Now criminal. Would-be healer. You're welcome."
Aria frowned. "You found me?"
"Yeah. Passed out and bleeding under a half-dead tree. Thought you were some cursed spirit at first."
Aria grunted, sitting herself upright. "I have to keep moving. They'll be back.".
Liri snorted. "Yeah, well, good luck with that. You nearly burned out your entire aura. Whatever you did, it torched your channels. You won't be calling fire for a few days, at least."
Aria's eyes widened.
No fire?
Not now. Not when she was exposed.
Not when Kael was on the loose outside, probably discovering exactly who she was.
"How long was I out?"
"About… twelve hours. Maybe thirteen."
Panic spiked. "Lysandra—
"Gone," Liri whispered. "The runes in the Moon Temple fell at dawn. I could feel the pulse. Whatever was guarding you? It's shattered."
Aria swallowed.
The temple lost. Her guide killed. Her abilities drained.
She was once more alone.
Except…
Liri tilted her head. "You're the Oracle, aren't you?"
Aria tensed.
"I've studied the texts," Liri continued. "The fire, the timing, the moon splitting… it all makes sense. And your aura—it's crazy. Old. Divine."
"I'm nobody."
"Liar," Liri smiled. "You're her. Or rather, her vessel. Which means you've got a hell of a journey ahead of you. Good news is—I know where you need to go next."
Aria furrowed her brow. "Why are you helping me?"
Liri's face darkened. "Because my sister believed in the Oracle. She tried to protect a scentless girl once. They murdered her for it. Said she was consorting with demons."
Aria's chest ached. She knew that pain.
"I promised," Liri breathed, "if the Moon ever unleashed her fire once more, I'd follow it. Even if it burned me too."
Aria looked down at her hands—still sensitively charred.
She could still feel Kael's eyes on her. Still feel his voice.
He didn't know who she was.
It wasn't time yet.
But he would.
They all would.
She stood up, clenching.
"Where do we go?
Liri's eyes lit up. "East. Toward the Echoing Vale. There's a seer there—one of the old ones. If Sight is your next Aspect, she'll awaken it. But we'll have to be fast. Rumor is, the false Luna is about to be crowned."
Aria's blood ran cold.
"She's not Kael's mate."
Liri raised a brow. "You are?"
"I was."
"No," Liri said, shaking her head. "You are. Bondmarks don't lie. Only people do."
Aria closed her eyes.
For a moment, she let herself sense it—the severed connection, still pulse with a soft, obstinate life under her skin like a festering wound.
Kael had chosen wrongly.
Fate had not.
And she would make them all remember what they attempted to forget.
---
In a far-off location, in the grand marble halls of Umbrahold, Kael stood before the Moon Altar, a gold diadem held in his fist.
The High Priestess hovered beside him, her voice sharp.
"You saw her?"
Kael nodded slowly. "I don't know what she was. But she… knew my name. She spoke like someone who had been betrayed."
The High Priestess's eyes narrowed. "You're imagining ghosts."
"I'm not so sure," he said, gaze distant. "There was something about her. Something… familiar."
The High Priestess stepped back. "It does not matter. The Luna Ceremony resumes tomorrow. Lady Thalia will sit beside you."
Kael snarled at the crown in his hands, teeth clenched.
Deep in his heart, a voice stirred.
A flame that would never be doused.