Ash hadn't slept in days.
The moment Aria disappeared, the world tilted off its axis. He'd sent every warrior, scout, and tracker across Blackfang territory. Still no trail. Still no scent.
Now he stood alone at the edge of the same forest where he last saw her—his eyes bloodshot, his claws extended, his breathing uneven. The bond between them tugged at him, growing fainter by the hour.
But not gone.
"She's still alive," he whispered.
And he'd burn the world to find her.
Meanwhile…
Aria stirred in her prison. Her limbs were weak, but her mind was racing.
The red sigils pulsed around her, and every few hours, someone brought her food laced with something bitter. It dulled her senses, fogged her instincts.
Still, something had changed.
Last night, during a brief moment of sleep, she'd seen a vision—a dream unlike any before. A woman with silver eyes, standing in the moonlight, whispering her name.
"You are not only of the wolves… Your mother was the last of the Bloodborn."
Aria sat up with a gasp. That name—Bloodborn—rang in her bones like thunder.
Was that why her powers felt… different?
She looked down at the bloodstone pendant. It pulsed, glowing faintly. A heartbeat. Hers.
Suddenly, the chamber door creaked open.
A girl stepped inside—not much older than Aria—with raven hair and eyes too ancient for her age. She walked slowly, placing down a tray.
"You're not like them," the girl said, voice flat. "You're something else. That's why they fear you."
Aria narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"
The girl looked at the pendant. "That stone isn't just for protection. It's a key. And when the time comes… you'll either unlock salvation—" she paused "—or destruction."
Then she vanished, as silently as she came.
Elsewhere…
Ash moved through the rogue trails like a phantom. Then—finally—his head snapped toward the wind.
A scent.
Faint. Buried under enchantments. But unmistakable.
Aria.
He shifted into his wolf form, massive and sleek, and bolted through the trees. Every instinct roared to life. The closer he got, the colder the air became.
He reached an old ruin carved into the mountain.
Just before he could shift back, shadows rose from the ground. Rogues.
At least five.
An ambush.
Ash shifted mid-air, claws bared, fangs gleaming. The battle was brutal. Blood sprayed across stone. He tore through two rogues, but a third sank a poisoned blade into his side.
He staggered.
Another blow landed across his jaw, sending him crashing into the stone wall near a sealed door—Aria's door.
Inside…
Aria felt it. A tremor through the stones. The bond.
She stood. "Ash…"
Then—BOOM—the door exploded inward.
Ash stumbled through, bloodied but standing.
"Aria," he gasped.
She ran to him, catching him just before he fell to his knees.
His hand reached for her cheek. "I found you."
Behind them, the red sigils flared to life. The pendant around her neck surged. And suddenly—
The air cracked like lightning.
Aria screamed—not in fear, but in something deeper. A pressure inside her burst free. Power unlike anything she'd known exploded from her chest, throwing Ash back with a blast of red energy.
The cave shook.
Aria collapsed.