Aria POV
The silver chains burned against my skin.
I didn't scream. I'd learned not to give them that satisfaction weeks ago, when they first threw me into this cell. When the man I loved, my mate,turned his back on me and let them drag me away.
Now, kneeling in the pack square with my wrists bound behind me, I kept my chin high. Let them see. Let them all see that Aria Moonstone would not break.
"Any last words, traitor?"
Damien's voice cut through the crowd like a blade. Cold. Detached. Nothing like the warm baritone that once whispered promises against my skin.
I forced myself to look at him.
Alpha Damien Rivers stood on the platform above me, every inch the powerful leader our pack needed. Dark hair perfectly styled, jaw set with authority, those storm-gray eyes that used to look at me with such tenderness now hard as stone. He wore his ceremonial robes,the same ones he should have worn when he made me his Luna.
Instead, he'd chosen her.
My gaze shifted slightly to the left, where she stood. Sera. My half-sister. Her delicate features were arranged in a perfect mask of sorrow, I caught the gleam of triumph in her eyes. The slight curve of her lips.
She'd won.
"Aria Moonstone," Damien continued, his voice carrying across the silent crowd. "You have been found guilty of treason against the Silver Crest Pack. Of conspiring with our enemies. Of attempting to poison your Alpha."
Lies. All lies.
who would believe me? The elder council had "evidence." Sera had witnesses. And Damien... Damien had made his choice the moment he rejected our mate bond for a political alliance.
"The sentence is death," he said flatly.
A few gasps rippled through the crowd. Even for a traitor, execution was rare. I understood. They needed to make an example. Needed to show what happened to those who stood against the new Luna.
Against her.
"Do you have anything to say?" Damien asked, though his tone suggested he didn't care either way.
I laughed. The sound startled even me bitter and sharp, nothing like the girl who used to laugh in his arms.
"You want my last words, Alpha?" I met his gaze, holding it even as pain lanced through my chest. The mate bond, broken but not dead, thrummed with agony. "Fine. Here they are."
I rose to my feet, ignoring the guard who tried to push me back down. Let the chains burn. Let the whole pack see.
"I loved you," I said, my voice steady despite the tears threatening to fall. "I loved you with everything I had. And you threw it away for power. For a throne. For her."
Sera's mask slipped for just a second, her smile widening.
"You believe her lies," I continued, my eyes never leaving Damien's face. "You stand there in your fine robes, playing the righteous Alpha, you're just a coward. Too afraid to fight for what's real. Too weak to stand against the elders."
"Enough," Damien growled, I saw it, the flicker of something in his eyes. Doubt? Regret? It didn't matter anymore.
"You want to know what my last words are?" I felt my wolf, Lyra, stirring within me. She was weak from the silver, her fury matched mine. "If there is another life,if the Moon Goddess grants me one more chance. I will never make the mistake of loving you again."
Silence fell over the square.
Damien's jaw clenched. For a moment, just a moment, I thought I saw pain flash across his face. then it was gone, replaced by that cold mask of authority.
"Execute her," he ordered.
The guard beside me drew his silver blade. I closed my eyes, not in fear, but in exhaustion. I was tired. So tired of fighting, of hurting, of hoping he would see the truth.
I'm sorry, Lyra, I whispered to my wolf. I failed us.
No, she replied, her voice weak but fierce. He failed us. this isn't the end. I can feel it.
The blade rose.
I took a breath.
And then I heard it. A voice, soft as moonlight, warm as summer rain, echoing not in the square but in the depths of my soul.
"Child of mine, betrayed and broken. Do you wish for justice?"
The Moon Goddess.
Time seemed to slow. The blade hung frozen in the air. The crowd faded to shadows. Only that voice remained, ancient and powerful and impossibly gentle.
"Do you wish for another chance?"
Yes, I thought desperately. Yes, please.
"Then I grant it, daughter. Return. Become who you were meant to be. remember, revenge is a path walked in darkness. Choose wisely."
Light exploded behind my eyes.
The blade fell.
And everything went black.
Unknown
When the darkness finally receded, the first thing I felt was softness.
Silk sheets instead of stone floors. Warmth instead of the damp chill of the dungeons. The scent of jasmine and lavender, my room. My old room, from before...
My eyes snapped open.
I was staring at a ceiling I knew intimately. Every crack, every shadow. The ceiling of my bedroom in the pack house. I'd been moved out of here months ago, after Damien chose Sera. After he.
I sat up so fast my head spun.
My hands. I stared at my hands. No chains. No burns. Smooth, unmarked skin.
My room. My old room. Exactly as it had been before everything fell apart.
With shaking fingers, I reached for my phone on the nightstand. The date glowed in the darkness.
June 15th.
The day before the Luna ceremony.
The day before Damien rejected me in front of the entire pack.
The day before my life became a nightmare.
"No," I whispered. "No, this isn't possible."
it is, Lyra's voice sang in my mind, stronger than she'd been in months. We're back, Aria. The Goddess gave us another chance.
I pressed my hands to my face, feeling the warmth of my own skin, the steady beat of my heart. This was real. This was happening.
I had returned.
And this time, I looked at my reflection in the darkened window, seeing the determination burning in my own eyes,this time, I would not be the fool who loved an Alpha who didn't deserve her.
This time, I would be the one who walked away first.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and I could have sworn I heard a whisper on the wind. The Moon Goddess, perhaps, watching her daughter rise from the ashes.
"Make them pay," I whispered to my reflection.
And Lyra howled in agreement.
End of Chapter 1