Aria's POV
I dropped to my knees, cleaning the blood from the training room floor with shaking hands. My own blood. I'd been practicing fighting moves alone for hours, falling and getting back up so many times that my knees were raw and bleeding.
"Just a little longer," I whispered to myself. "Get bigger. Show them you're not weak."
The door slammed open, making me jump. Jessica stood there with her arms crossed, looking at me with disgust.
"You're bleeding all over the clean floor," she snapped. "Can't you even practice without making a mess?"
"I'm cleaning it up," I said quickly, scrubbing harder.
"You shouldn't be in here anyway," Jessica continued. "Combat training is for real wolves, not pathetic rogues who can't even throw a punch."
Her words stung, but I kept scrubbing. I'd heard worse things over the past month. Much worse.
Jessica left, but her cruel laughter echoed down the hallway. I finished cleaning and stumbled to my feet, my legs wobbling from tiredness. I'd been training for six hours straight, trying to get good enough to prove I belonged here.
As I walked toward my room, I heard voices coming from Damon's office. The door was slightly open, and I recognized his deep voice instantly. My heart skipped like it always did when I heard him speak.
I knew I shouldn't listen, but I couldn't help myself. Maybe he was talking about pack business I could help with. Maybe he was finally going to give me a shot.
"She's becoming a problem," Damon's voice said coldly.
I froze. Were they talking about me?
"She tries so hard it's embarrassing," Damon continued. "Following me around like a lost puppy, volunteering for every mission, working herself to death trying to impress everyone."
"She's your mate," Beta Marcus replied. "She loves you."
My heart stopped. They were definitely talking about me.
"Love?" Damon laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. "She doesn't love me. She's desperate for respect. There's a difference."
"Damon-"
"No, listen to me," Damon interrupted. "I've made my choice. I'm going to reject her."
The words hit me like a physical blow. I grabbed the wall to keep from falling, my chest suddenly unable to get enough air.
"You can't be serious," Marcus said.
"I've never been more serious about anything," Damon responded. "She's weak, Marcus. Pathetic. She killed her own sister and has been living in guilt ever since. That's not Luna stuff."
"She made a mistake as a child-"
"A mistake that cost a life!" Damon's words got louder. "Do you know what she did today? She offered to go on the dangerous border patrol mission. She can barely throw a punch, but she wants to guard the pack. It's ridiculous."
"Maybe she's braver than you think," Marcus said softly.
"She's not brave. She's stupid. And I won't be tied to someone so... broken."
Each word felt like a knife in my heart. Broken. Pathetic. Weak. Was that really how he saw me?
"When will you tell her?" Marcus asked.
"Soon," Damon said. "I can't stand watching her embarrass herself anymore."
I couldn't listen to any more. I turned and ran down the hallway, tears blurring my vision. I made it to my small room and fell on the bed, sobbing into my pillow.
Broken. He thought I was broken.
Maybe he was right. Maybe I was stupid for thinking I could ever be good enough for someone like him.
But even as my heart broke, something else grew inside me. A stubborn light that refused to go out.
I wasn't giving up. Not yet.
The next morning, I woke up before dawn and went straight to the kitchen. If Damon thought I was weak, I'd prove him wrong. I'd work harder than anyone in this pack. I'd show him I could be strong.
I made breakfast for sixty pack members, cleaned the entire first floor, and arranged the supply closets. By lunch time, I was tired but determined to keep going.
"Aria," Mrs. Chen said softly, "you need to rest. You've been working for eight hours straight."
"I'm fine," I lied, even though my hands were shaking from tiredness.
That afternoon, I went to fight training again. This time, I asked one of the fighters to spar with me.
"Are you sure?" Jake asked, looking worried. "I don't want to hurt you."
"I need to get stronger," I said strongly. "Please."
Jake agreed, but he was too gentle. I could tell he was holding back, treating me like I might break.
"Hit me harder," I ordered.
"Aria-" "I said hit me harder!" I shouted, shocking both of us. "I'm not made of glass!"
Jake looked nervous but threw a real punch. It hit with my shoulder and sent me flying backward. I hit the ground hard, my teeth rattling.
But I got back up.
"Again," I said, wiping blood from my mouth.
We sparred for an hour. I lost every single time, but I kept getting back up. By the end, I was covered in bruises and could barely stand, but I felt proud. I hadn't given up.
"You're tougher than you look," Jake admitted as we finished.
"Thanks," I said, finding a smile despite the pain.
That evening, I was setting the table for dinner when Damon walked into the dining room. My heart still jumped when I saw him, even though I knew he was going to reject me.
"Aria," he said coldly. "I need to speak with you."
This was it. He was going to reject me right here, in front of everyone.
"Okay," I whispered.
He led me to his office, the same place where I'd heard him call me stupid. My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself to walk tall.
"Sit down," he said.
I sat in the chair across from his desk, my hands folded in my lap to hide their shaking.
"I've been watching you," Damon said, his green eyes cold. "Your behavior lately has been... concerning."
"I'm just trying to help the pack," I said quietly.
"You're trying too hard," he snapped. "It's embarrassing. Following me around, volunteering for missions you're not suited for, working yourself to death. It's pathetic."
There was that word again. Pathetic.
"I just want to be a good mate for you," I said, my voice barely a whisper.
"You can't be," he said simply. "You're weak, Aria. Broken. You killed your own sister, and you've been carrying that guilt like a badge of honor ever since."
Tears started flowing down my face, but I didn't look away from his eyes.
"I know I made a terrible mistake," I said, my voice getting stronger. "But I'm trying to be better. I'm trying to show that I can be worthy of you."
"You can't," he repeated. "You'll never be worthy of being Luna. You're just a rogue who doesn't know her place."
His words should have destroyed me. They should have made me run away crying, just like I'd done a month ago.
Instead, they made me angry.
I stood up, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. "You're right," I said, startling him. "I am broken. I did kill my sister. I am just a rogue."
Damon's eyebrows rose slightly.
"But you know what?" I continued, my voice getting stronger. "I'm still here. I'm still trying. I'm still trying. And if that makes me weak, then fine. I'll be sad. But I won't give up."
I turned to leave, but Damon's voice stopped me.
"Where do you think you're going?"
I looked back at him, my head raised high. "To prove you wrong."
I walked out of his office with my head held high, even though my heart was breaking. I'd heard every cruel word he'd said about me, but I wasn't going to let them kill me.
I was going to work harder than ever. I was going to get stronger, tougher, better. And someday, maybe Damon would see that I wasn't the broken girl he thought I was.
I was halfway to my room when I heard a sound that made my blood freeze.
A howl. Long, haunting, and definitely not from our pack.
Then another. And another.
The pack house erupted into chaos as fighters ran toward the sound. Someone was attacking our area.
But what made my heart stop wasn't the howls.
It was the voice I heard calling my name from the forest.
"Aria! Big sister!"
A voice I recognized. A voice that should have been impossible.
Maya's voice.
My dead sister was calling for me.