The day after the attack at the Alpha's Feast, the Lycan Kingdom stood on edge.
Servants cleaned blood from the banquet hall floors while soldiers doubled the guard around the palace. The air was heavy with distrust. Tension rippled through the packs like an approaching storm.
In the war council chamber, Lucien addressed his commanders. Aria stood beside him, no longer just the Luna by name—but a queen forged in blood.
"We now have proof Selena has allied with vampires," Lucien said, his voice like thunder. "This is treason not just against the crown, but against every pack under our protection."
Aria stepped forward, holding the blood-soaked scroll they had retrieved from one of the fallen attackers. It bore Selena's personal seal, a snake wrapped around a moon.
"She planned this to fracture us," Aria said. "But it's not over. Her next strike will be bolder."
Isolde, arms crossed, studied her. "Then what do you propose, Luna?"
"I'm going to find her," Aria answered. "And I'm going to end this war before it begins."
Gasps and murmurs echoed through the room.
"You want to leave the palace?" Isolde asked. "That's a trap."
Lucien turned to Aria, concern flickering behind his composure. "You don't need to risk yourself."
Aria met his gaze. "I've been hunted, rejected, poisoned. And I survived. I won't sit behind palace walls while Selena builds an army."
Lucien stared at her for a long moment, then gave a slow, solemn nod. "Then I'm coming with you."
"No," she said gently. "They'll expect you. But not me. I'll take Riven and Nox. We'll move quietly."
He growled low in his throat. "You ask too much."
Aria cupped his cheek. "You taught me how to lead. Now trust me to do it."
That night, Aria prepared for the journey. Dressed in dark leathers, her silver crescent hidden beneath a leather bracer, she met with Nox and Riven under the crescent moon.
They moved through the secret tunnel Riven had mapped weeks before—one that led beyond the palace walls, through the forest, and toward the eastern ruins of the Bloodfang Pack.
There were whispers that Selena had retreated there, gathering those discontented with Lucien's rule—rogue wolves, outlaws, and now… vampires.
They traveled in silence, only stopping to rest briefly near a riverbank under cover of nightfall.
"I still don't understand why you chose me," Nox said quietly as they rested.
Aria turned toward him, watching the firelight flicker across his hardened face. "Because you chose truth. You could've stayed loyal to Bloodfang, but you didn't. That takes strength most men don't have."
Nox looked down, silent.
Riven returned from the treeline, crouching beside the fire.
"There's movement up ahead. Wolves. But they're not patrolling. They're… hunting."
Aria stood, tightening her cloak. "Then let's not be the prey."
At dawn, they reached the outskirts of the ruins—jagged stones and broken buildings, choked by vines and ash. The bones of Bloodfang.
But it wasn't dead.
Fires burned deep within the rubble, voices carried on the wind—an encampment. Armed and active.
Aria narrowed her eyes. "She's here."
As they observed from a cliffside, they spotted Selena emerging from a collapsed tower, flanked by masked warriors and what appeared to be… a vampire noble.
"She's already merged with them," Riven muttered. "That's no alliance. That's surrender."
Aria clenched her fists. "She's betrayed her own kind."
Suddenly, a branch snapped behind them.
They turned—but too late.
A dart struck Nox in the neck, and he slumped forward.
"Ambush!" Riven shouted.
Aria dodged a second dart, shifting partially as her claws burst forth.
But figures were already circling them—cloaked, masked, and grinning with fanged delight.
From below, Selena's voice echoed, laced with malice.
"Well, well… the little Luna brought herself right to my door."