ARIA'S POV
I wake up in a bed softer than anything I've ever felt in my life.
For one perfect second, I forget everything. Forget the battle. Forget my father trying to kill me. Forget that I'm in enemy territory.
Then reality crashes back, and I bolt upright.
The room is huge—stone walls, a fireplace crackling with warmth, furs piled on the massive bed. Moonlight streams through a window that overlooks mountains I don't recognize.
Nightshade territory. I'm in Kael's fortress.
I'm wearing a clean nightgown that isn't mine. Someone undressed me. Bathed me. Put me to bed while I was unconscious.
The door opens.
I tense, ready to fight, but it's just a young woman carrying a tray of food. She looks nervous.
"You're awake," she says quietly. "The Alpha said to bring you food when you woke up."
"How long was I out?"
"Six hours. It's past midnight now." She sets the tray on a table near the bed. "You should eat. The healers said you lost a lot of blood."
The arrow wound. I touch my shoulder—it's bandaged, but the pain is dull now. Healing.
"Thank you," I say.
She nods and practically runs out of the room, like being near me is dangerous.
Maybe it is. I just brought war to their doorstep.
I eat because my body demands it—roasted meat, bread, fruit. It's good. Better than the scraps I usually got in Silvercrest.
When I'm done, I try the door.
Locked.
My stomach drops. I cross to the window—bars on the outside, too high to jump from anyway.
I'm in a prison. A beautiful, comfortable prison, but a prison all the same.
Footsteps in the hallway. Heavy. Male.
The lock clicks. The door swings open.
Kael stands there, still covered in dried blood from the battle. His ice-blue eyes find mine immediately, and the mate bond flares so hot I have to grip the bedpost to stay standing.
"You locked me in," I say.
"I protected you." He steps inside, closing the door behind him. "My pack isn't ready to accept you yet. Some of them want you dead."
"So I'm a prisoner."
"You're my mate." His voice is rough. "There's a difference."
"Is there? Because prisoners and mates both get locked in rooms against their will."
Kael's jaw clenches. "You collapsed after using power you've never accessed before. You needed to heal. I wasn't going to risk someone attacking you while you were vulnerable."
He's right. I hate that he's right.
"The guards outside," I say. "Are they to keep people out or keep me in?"
"Both."
At least he's honest.
I sit on the edge of the bed, suddenly exhausted again. "What happens now?"
"Now you rest. Heal. Get stronger."
"And then?"
"Then we figure out how to survive the war you just started."
Anger flares. "I didn't start anything!"
"You showed your power!" Kael's voice rises. "You let every wolf on that battlefield see what you are. Your father won't stop now. He'll bring everything he has to kill you before you become strong enough to challenge him."
"I don't want to challenge him! I just want—" My voice breaks. "I just want to not be hunted by my own family."
Kael's expression softens. He crosses the room, kneels in front of me so we're eye level.
"I know," he says quietly. "And I'm sorry. But that option is gone now. You're Moonborn. You're powerful. And power like yours doesn't get to hide."
His hand reaches up, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. The touch sends electricity through me.
The mate bond roars to life—demanding, insistent, impossible to ignore.
I jerk back. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Touch me. The bond—" I close my eyes. "It makes everything confusing."
"It makes everything clear," Kael counters. "You're mine, Aria. The Moon Goddess chose you for me. Fighting it just makes it hurt more."
"You're the enemy," I whisper. "You killed my packmates."
"Your packmates tried to kill you first." His hand cups my face, forcing me to look at him. "How many times do I have to save your life before you stop seeing me as the villain?"
"You're not the villain," I admit. "But you're not the hero either. You're just... complicated."
His laugh is bitter. "Complicated. That's one word for it."
He stands, putting distance between us again. The loss of contact makes the bond ache.
"Get some sleep," Kael says, heading for the door. "Tomorrow I'll introduce you to the pack properly. They need to see you're not a threat."
"I am a threat," I say. "You said it yourself. I'm Moonborn. I'm powerful."
"You're a threat to Silvercrest," Kael corrects. "Not to us. As long as you stay here, stay with me, my pack will learn to accept you."
"And if I don't want to stay?"
The question hangs in the air.
Kael's eyes meet mine, and there's something raw in them. Vulnerable.
"Then you leave," he says quietly. "The mate bond doesn't make you my prisoner, Aria. You always have a choice."
"But the guards—"
"Are there to protect you. Not to keep you captive." He opens the door. "If you really want to leave, I won't stop you. But I think we both know where you'd go. Back to Silvercrest. Back to your father. Back to your death."
He's right. Again.
"So I'm trapped either way," I say bitterly. "Stay here as your mate or go back and die."
"Or," Kael says, "you stop seeing this as a trap and start seeing it as a chance. A chance to become who you were meant to be. A chance to claim your power. A chance to—" He stops himself.
"A chance to what?"
"To be happy," he finishes. "With me. As my mate. My equal. My Queen."
The words hit like a physical blow.
"I don't even know you," I whisper.
"Then get to know me." He steps back into the hallway. "The door will be unlocked. You can explore the fortress tomorrow. Talk to my pack. See for yourself that we're not the monsters you were taught to fear."
He starts to close the door.
"Kael," I call out.
He pauses.
"Thank you," I say. "For saving me. Again."
Something softens in his expression. "Always, little mate. Always."
The door closes. I hear his footsteps fade down the hall.
And then I'm alone.
I lie back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. My body aches—not from injuries, but from the mate bond. It's like a constant pull, a hunger that won't quit.
I want him. My wolf wants him. Every instinct screams to go after him, to complete the bond, to give in to what the Moon Goddess clearly intended.
But my mind rebels. He's Nightshade. The enemy. The Alpha who's killed hundreds of my pack.
Except they're not my pack anymore, are they? Silvercrest abandoned me. Sent me to die. My own family tried to murder me.
Nightshade is all I have now.
And Kael... Kael saved me. Protected me. Called me his Queen.
The mate bond pulses, sending heat through my body. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to fight it.
It doesn't work.
I can feel him. Feel his presence somewhere in this fortress. Feel his own struggle with the bond.
We're both fighting it. Both suffering.
How long can we keep this up?
Hours pass. I can't sleep. The bond is torture—making my skin too tight, my body too hot, my wolf restless and desperate.
Finally, near dawn, I hear it.
Footsteps. Coming back to my room.
They stop outside my door.
I hold my breath, waiting.
The doorknob turns slowly.
Kael stands in the doorway, shirtless and breathing hard. His eyes are wild—part man, part wolf, all Alpha.
"I can feel you," he growls. "Feel you fighting the bond. It's driving me insane."
"Then stop feeling it," I whisper, even though I know that's impossible.
"I can't." He takes a step inside. "Can you?"
No. I can't. The bond is everywhere—in my blood, my bones, my soul.
"This is wrong," I say desperately. "We barely know each other."
"The Moon Goddess knows us." Another step closer. "She chose us for each other. Who are we to question her?"
He's right in front of me now. So close I can feel the heat radiating off his skin.
"If you don't leave right now," I whisper, "I won't be able to stop myself."
Kael's hand reaches up, fingers ghosting along my jaw.
"Then don't stop," he murmurs.
His lips crash into mine.
And the world catches fire.