White.
It was all she could see. All she could feel. All she could hear.
The dungeon, the shadows, Malachai's voice, Kael, Lyra, Caelum, they all seemed distant, drifting at the edges of her vision like ghosts she couldn't reach.
Her chest heaved. The air thick with iron and fear burned her lungs.
A soft voice, hesitant and familiar, whispered in her mind.
"Aria…"
Her eyes snapped open. Cold stone beneath her, dampness in the air, and the sharp scent of iron. She shivered.
"You're awake."
Caelum emerged from the shadows. Relief radiated off him, but there was something tighter around his jaw, a tension in his shoulders, anger, fear, both tangled together.
"You scared me," she whispered, voice breaking.
"I should be the one saying that," he muttered, brushing his hand over hers. "The shadows… they didn't just touch you. They wanted you. And they weren't playing."
Her stomach twisted at the memory of Malachai's obsidian eyes, the way he'd reached for her with that slow, obsessive hunger. Smoke curling around her chest, suffocating.
"Why… Why is he after me?" she asked, trembling.
Caelum's amber eyes darted around the dungeon, restless, calculating. "Because of who you are," he said finally. "Because of what you're meant to be. And because he can feel it in you."
Her brow furrowed. "What… I'm meant to be?"
"You've always been more than anyone sees." He knelt beside her, hands brushing her shoulders. "Your wolf… it's not just a wolf. You're not just someone trying to survive. You carry something old. Something powerful. Something your ancestors fought to protect."
Her chest tightened. Flashes of faces she couldn't name, a woman smiling at her when she was barely five, a city of silver light—memories she didn't understand but knew were hers.
"Who… who am I?"
"You're the last Moonblood. The last of her line. And if Malachai gets his hands on you…" He didn't finish. I didn't need to.
Her wolf growled inside her chest, claws of light snapping at the edges of reality. Fear surged but beneath it, anger, wild and unrecognizable.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Her voice rose, jagged and raw. "Why was I left to wander like… nothing?"
"Some truths aren't safe until you're ready," Caelum admitted. "Until you can survive knowing them."
"I've survived worse."
"You have," he whispered, almost reverent. "But not like this. Not with him out there."
Aria swallowed. Malachai's obsession… his need to control her wolf… it wasn't just terrifying. It was personal. But why? There had to be more.
"Tell me something. Anything," she demanded.
Caelum hesitated, then spoke softly. "Long ago, Malachai tried to overthrow the balance. Humans and supernatural beings… he wanted everything. But your ancestors, your bloodline stopped him."
"My ancestors?" Her voice barely carried above a whisper.
"The first Moon Queen. Your wolf… it's tied to them. To you. And only someone from your line can unlock what he lost."
The air trembled with that knowledge. Obedience? Power? He wanted control over her because she carried what even centuries couldn't recreate. Her wolf growled in defiance. She wouldn't obey him. She couldn't.
"Not now. Not ever," Caelum added.
Chains scraped across the floor. Kael and Lyra appeared at the far end of the dungeon. Kael's glacier-blue eyes were distant, unreadable. Lyra's gaze pierced Aria with unmistakable disdain.
"You have a lot of nerve," Lyra said, voice sharp as glass. "Bringing chaos into my Alpha's halls."
"I didn't" Aria began.
"You're a storm," Lyra interrupted, her hands clenching around her dagger. "And I've been trying to keep the pack from drowning in it."
Kael said nothing. He just watched, his presence tense, the rejection still palpable. The mate bond still screamed violently, unfairly, deep inside her chest.
Caelum's hand found hers. "Ignore them. Not now. Focus."
Malachai's shadow lingered outside, a static pulse of hunger she could feel in her bones.
Time blurred.
"You need to know something about your wolf," Caelum murmured. "You can't just let it loose. Not yet. But there are ways to guide it."
"Guide it?" Aria scoffed bitterly. "You mean control it?"
"Not control. Connection. Trust. Power."
She met his eyes, amber warmth against the storm inside her. Somehow, in the chaos, he felt… safe. A lifeline.
"You saved me once," she whispered, voice cracking. "I… I remember the fire."
He stiffened. "Aria…"
"I remember your voice. You were there. You"
"No. Not now." His eyes flinched, the calm mask slipping. "I'm here now. That's what matters."
Her chest ached. Everything is too fast, too alive, too much.
The shadows trembled. Whispers slithered through cracks in the stone.
"Moonblood… awaken," Malachai hissed.
Her wolf surged. White fire flared in her chest. Visions flickered: her ancestors, crowns, battles, shadows spilling over cities.
A scream ripped through the dungeon, not hers, not Caelum's, not Kael's. Something massive, faster than thought, moving from shadow to shadow.
Lyra raised her dagger. Kael's wolf flared. But it was too late. Tendrils of shadow coiled around every surface.
Aria's scream was defiance. Her wolf snapped at the darkness, pure white fire flaring. She realized she wasn't just fighting Malachai. She was fighting for everyone in the room.
A tendril wrapped around her ankle. Caelum dove, breaking her fall, but the shadows split, reaching for Kael, for Lyra, for everyone.
Malachai's voice whispered inside her head:
"You cannot hide. I will claim what is mine. And when I do… everything you love will burn."
Breathless, bleeding from scrapes, Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Aria and Caelum saw a brief opening, a sliver of shadow-dampened corridor. Without hesitation, they ran.
Kael's figure remained at the far end, his eyes locked on hers for a fraction of a second, warning, longing, confusion. Lyra's dagger remained raised, but she didn't move to stop them.
"Take it far from here!" Caelum shouted. "You'll die if you stay!"
Aria's wolf surged once more, bending shadows away just enough to clear their path. Together, they burst from the dungeon, into the neon-lit night of Lunarhaven. Rain slicked streets reflected the city's chaos, but for now, they were free.
Panting, hearts hammering, they crouched behind abandoned crates on the outskirts of Silvercrest territory. The shadows of Malachai's influence lingered in the distance, slithering like smoke, waiting but they were not close enough to strike.
Caelum's hand found hers again. "We need help," he said, voice low. "There's someone… an elder. Rowan Vartek. He can help you connect with your wolf, guide your power. He has someone with him, Serin Vale, a healer. She's… complicated, but she's powerful."
Aria exhaled shakily. "And you're sure he'll even want to help me?"
"He'll want to see what's left of your line," Caelum said. "And if we do this right, you won't be alone in what comes next."
The neon rain pounded around them. The city seemed endless, alive with danger. And yet, for the first time, Aria felt something else: possibility. Power. Control. If she could only learn it.
Her wolf stirred, silver fire flickering, impatient, hungry. She knew survival alone would never be enough.
Somewhere in the distance, Malachai's voice lingered, a soft echo in her mind:
"Moonblood… awaken. You cannot hide."
And Aria understood with cold certainty: the storm had only begun.