Aria's POV
I woke to freezing water hitting my face.
Sputtering, I jerked upright on the cold floor where I'd collapsed after training. The scarred man—I'd learned his name was Riker—stood over me with an empty bucket, grinning.
"Boss says you've got five minutes to get to the training room. Move it."
My body ached everywhere. Every muscle screamed in protest as I dragged myself to standing. I'd spent yesterday learning to sense blood, to feel the threads connecting me to other wolves. It had left me so drained I'd barely made it back to my cell before passing out.
And now Cade wanted more.
Riker shoved me down the hallway. Other slaves watched from their cages, their eyes hollow. Zara was among them—Cade had moved her to a cleaner cell like I'd asked, but she still looked at me with something between hope and fear.
I was becoming something they didn't recognize. Something even I didn't recognize.
The training room was empty except for Cade, who stood in the center holding a knife.
"You're late," he said.
"I was unconscious."
"Excuses." He tossed the knife at my feet. "Pick it up."
I bent slowly, my muscles protesting. The blade was sharp and cold in my palm. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Cut yourself."
I stared at him. "What?"
"You heard me. Make a cut on your palm. Deep enough to bleed properly." When I didn't move, his voice hardened. "Do it, Aria. Or I'll do it for you, and I won't be gentle."
My hand shook as I pressed the blade to my palm. Pain bloomed sharp and bright as blood welled up, dripping onto the concrete.
"Good. Now feel it."
"Feel what?"
"Your blood. It's part of you, even when it leaves your body. Blood witches can sense their own blood anywhere, can call it back, can use it as a weapon." He moved closer. "Close your eyes. Feel the blood on the floor."
I closed my eyes, trying to ignore how crazy this sounded. But as I concentrated, I felt it—my blood on the concrete below, warm and alive, still connected to me by invisible threads.
"Now call it."
"How—"
"Stop asking how and just do it!"
I reached for the blood with my mind, with my power, with whatever this new thing inside me was. The blood responded, trembling on the concrete. Then it moved—sliding across the floor like it was alive, defying gravity to crawl back toward my hand.
My eyes snapped open in horror. The blood was pooling at my feet, waiting.
"Excellent." Cade's smile was sharp. "Now the hard part. Make it a weapon."
"I don't understand—"
He moved faster than I could track, grabbing my bleeding hand and slashing his own palm with the knife. Our blood mixed before I could pull away.
And suddenly I was drowning in his presence. I could feel everything—his heartbeat, his wolf, his thoughts pressing against mine like a living thing. It was intimate and terrifying and overwhelming.
"This is blood bonding," Cade's voice came from far away. "When blood witches mix their blood with others, they create a temporary connection. You can sense them, influence them, control them." His grip tightened. "But it works both ways. Right now, I can feel you too. Your fear. Your anger. That pathetic longing you still have for your mate."
The mate bond flared in my chest at the mention of Dominic, and Cade laughed.
"There it is. Even after everything he did, you still want him." His voice was cruel. "Pathetic."
Rage exploded through me. I shoved against the connection between us, pushing with all the power I could gather. Cade's eyes went wide as he stumbled backward, our hands breaking apart.
"Good," he gasped, actually looking pleased despite the pain I'd caused. "There's the fire. That's what you need to survive."
I was shaking, my power crackling under my skin like lightning. "I hate you."
"I don't care if you hate me. I care that you're getting stronger." He wiped the blood from his hand. "Every day you'll train. Every day you'll push your limits. And every day you'll become more dangerous." He moved to the door. "Because in two weeks, we're going to Silver Crest territory."
My heart stopped. "What?"
"There's a Council meeting. All the major Alphas will be there, including your precious Dominic." Cade's smile was vicious. "And you're coming with me. It's time to show everyone what the unremarkable little wolf has become."
The next two weeks were hell.
Cade pushed me harder every day. I learned to sense wolves from greater distances, to read their emotions through their blood, to inflict pain with just a thought. I learned to call my own blood back to me, to use it as a weapon, to create barriers and bindings.
But the hardest lesson was control.
One afternoon, Cade brought in three rogues—thieves caught stealing supplies. "Practice on them," he ordered.
I made the first one kneel without thinking. The second one, I forced to tell the truth about where they'd hidden the stolen goods. But the third one fought back, struggling against my control.
So I pushed harder.
Too hard.
The rogue screamed, blood pouring from his nose and ears as I crushed his will completely. By the time I pulled back, he was a broken shell, staring at nothing with empty eyes.
"What did I do?" I whispered, horrified.
"You broke his mind." Cade examined the rogue with clinical detachment. "Push too hard and you don't just control them—you destroy who they are completely."
I stared at my hands. They were clean, but I could still feel the rogue's blood, the moment his mind shattered under my power.
"I'm becoming a monster," I breathed.
"No." Cade grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. "You're becoming powerful. There's a difference. Monsters enjoy the destruction. You're horrified by it. Hold onto that horror, Aria. It's the only thing that'll keep you human."
But every day, it got a little easier. Every day, the power felt a little more natural. Every day, I felt a little less horrified and a little more... hungry.
Zara noticed. "You're changing," she said one night through the bars of our cells. "Not just your power. You."
"I have to change to survive."
"Just don't lose yourself completely." Her voice was soft. "I've seen what happens to people who give in to darkness. They become the thing they were running from."
Her words haunted me. But I pushed them aside. I had to be strong. Had to be powerful enough to face everyone who'd hurt me.
Finally, the day came.
Cade brought me new clothes—dark and elegant, nothing like the rags I'd been wearing. "You need to look the part," he said. "Can't have them thinking you're still a helpless slave."
I dressed in silence, my hands steady even though my heart was racing. Today I'd see Dominic again. Today I'd face the pack that laughed at me.
Today they'd learn the truth.
Cade and I climbed into a sleek black car with four of his strongest wolves as guards. The drive to Silver Crest took three hours. With every mile, the mate bond grew stronger, pulling me toward Dominic with desperate intensity.
But underneath the bond's pull was something new—cold rage and power that made my blood sing.
We arrived at the Council grounds just as the sun was setting. Alphas from every major pack were gathering for the meeting. I recognized the Silver Crest wolves immediately—their proud postures, their expensive clothes, their disdainful looks at the Blood Moon rogues.
Then I saw him.
Dominic stood on the steps of the meeting hall, Lyssa beside him looking beautiful and perfect. He was laughing at something another Alpha said, his face relaxed and happy.
He looked like he hadn't thought about me in weeks.
The mate bond flared so bright it hurt, and Dominic's head snapped up. His eyes found me across the crowd, and I watched every drop of color drain from his face.
He took a step forward, his lips forming my name.
But before he could speak, before anyone could react, another wolf emerged from the crowd.
Elder Thaddeus Kane.
The ancient wolf who supposedly remembered the blood witch purge. The one who'd helped write the laws that made my existence illegal.
He looked at me with eyes that had seen centuries, and his voice carried across the silent crowd.
"Blood witch."
Every Alpha turned to stare at me. Hands reached for weapons. Wolves began to shift, snarling.
And Cade, damn him, just smiled and pulled me closer.
"Gentlemen," he announced. "Let me introduce Aria Blackwood. Former slave, current blood sovereign, and the most dangerous wolf you'll ever meet." His arm around my waist was possessive. "And she's mine."
Dominic's roar of rage shook the ground.
The mate bond screamed as he shifted, his massive wolf form charging toward us with murder in his eyes.
But Elder Thaddeus raised one hand, and Dominic froze mid-leap, held in place by ancient magic I didn't understand.
"Fascinating," the Elder said, studying me like I was a rare specimen. "I've been searching for you for a very long time, child." His smile was cold as winter.
"Your mother made a deal with me twenty years ago. And now it's time to collect."