The gates of Blackspire creaked open as Aria approached, flanked by Kael and two of Everpine's most trusted warriors—Gamma Nessa, armed to the teeth, and Elder Wren, cloaked in silver runes.
They entered in silence.
No welcome. No ritual.
Just a hundred eyes watching from the shadows.
The territory felt… wrong. The air was thick. The trees twisted unnaturally. And the wolves who watched them didn't look away—they stared, like their instincts were being overridden by something colder.
"Stay close," Kael whispered. "This place is tainted."
Aria didn't reply. Her wolf was already bristling, but her spine was straight. Her jaw locked.
She would not show fear.
Alpha Bastian waited on a raised platform outside his hall, draped in black leathers. He was young for an Alpha—but power clung to him, raw and heavy.
"My honored guests," he said smoothly, his voice slick with false charm. "The Sacred Luna graces us with her presence."
"I came to talk," Aria replied. "Not be flattered."
His smile didn't reach his eyes. "Of course."
He led them into the great hall, its walls carved with strange runes—not Selene's. Hollow marks. Twisted echoes of the truth.
Aria could feel the pull.
Something beneath the floorboards wanted her.
They dined in tense silence.
Every bite tasted of ash.
Every cup of wine felt like blood.
And then a girl—a servant, no more than seventeen—slipped behind Aria as she rose to excuse herself.
She pressed a note into Aria's palm.
"Not all of us want this. He's listening through the walls. Don't drink the tea."
The girl vanished before Aria could react.
Kael caught the shift in her posture. "What is it?"
"Later," she mouthed.
That night, they were "offered" guest quarters inside the northern tower.
The rooms were sealed with strange iron locks—meant to hold, not protect.
Wren warded the doors. Nessa stayed by the window, sharpening her blades.
Kael sat beside Aria as she read the note again under moonlight.
"There's something under this place," she whispered. "And Bastian's feeding it."
Kael's eyes met hers. "Or it's feeding him."
Then the air shifted.
Everything froze.
And in the center of the room, a circle of black ash began to bloom.
Aria stood slowly.
A whisper filled her mind—soft and sweet and poisoned.
You could be more. You could be everything. Let me in…
Her mark burned—but it was a cold fire now, like frost.
Kael grabbed her wrist. "Don't listen."
"I'm not."
But part of her wanted to.
Just for a second.
Then her wolf howled—pure and furious—and the whisper shattered.
Aria dropped to her knees, gasping.
Kael knelt with her, voice low. "You saw it, didn't you?"
She nodded. "The Hollow's not waiting anymore."