Aria's POV
The silver writing was gone when I woke up.
I grabbed the photograph, flipped it over, searched every inch. Nothing. Just old, yellowed paper. No glowing words. No magic.
Had I imagined it? Was I losing my mind?
But the message was burned into my memory. When the wolf comes for you, don't run.
Two days. I had two days until the wolf came for me.
My door burst open without warning. Lyanna swept in, holding something hideous and white.
Your wedding dress, she announced with fake cheerfulness. I picked it out myself.
She held it up. It was the ugliest thing I'd ever seen shapeless, colourless, more like a sack than a dress. The fabric was rough and cheap.
It's perfect for you, Lyanna continued. Simple. Plain. Forgettable. Her smile was poisonous. Just like you.
I wanted to throw it back in her face. But what was the point? I'd wear it once, and then I'd probably be dead.
Thank you, I said quietly.
Lyanna's smile faltered. She'd wanted a fight. Wanted tears. When she didn't get them, her eyes narrowed.
Everyone's talking about you, you know. Poor Aria, being shipped off to the monster. Some think you'll be dead within a week. Others give you a month if you're lucky. She leaned close. I give you three days.
Then I guess we'll see, I said.
She left in a huff, slamming the door behind her.
I looked at the dress crumpled on my bed. It didn't matter what I wore. None of this mattered except one thing: surviving long enough to find out what power slept in Kael Thorne's shadow.
The next two days blurred together in a nightmare.
Pack members who'd ignored me for years suddenly paid attention. They whispered when I walked by. Some looked at me with pity. Others with satisfaction, like I was finally getting what I deserved.
I kept my head down and tried to be invisible, like always.
On the second day, while getting water from the kitchen, Mrs. Helen grabbed my arm.
Mrs. Helen was the cook. She'd been kind to me over the years slipping me extra food when no one was looking, giving me a smile when everyone else looked through me like I was glass.
Now she looked terrified.
Come with me, she whispered. Quickly.
She pulled me into the pantry and closed the door. Her hands shook as she reached into her apron pocket.
I should have given this to you years ago, she said. I was supposed to give it to you on your eighteenth birthday, but I was scared. Marcus threatened me. But you're leaving tomorrow, and I can't let you go without it.
She pressed something small and cold into my hand.
A bracelet. Silver, delicate, with strange symbols carved into it. The same bracelet the woman in my photograph wore.
My breath caught. Where did you get this?
Your mother gave it to me the night she died, Mrs. Helen whispered. She made me promise to keep you safe, to give you this when you were old enough. She said it would protect you when the time came.
You knew my mother? My voice cracked. Tell me about her. Please.
Mrs. Helen's eyes filled with tears. I can't. Marcus will kill me if he finds out I told you anything. All I can say is you're not what he's told you. You're not just human. Your mother was
Footsteps in the hall. Mrs. Helen went pale.
Hide it, she hissed. Never let Marcus see it. Promise me.
I promise.
She shoved me out of the pantry seconds before Lyanna appeared.
What are you doing lurking around? Lyanna snapped at me. Don't you have packing to do? Oh wait you don't own anything worth packing.
I slipped past her, the bracelet burning against my palm where I'd hidden it.
Your mother was what? What had Mrs. Helen been about to say?
That night was the worst.
Lyanna threw a party. A farewell party for me, she announced. But it was really just another way to humiliate me.
The great hall was decorated. Food and drinks were laid out. Lyanna stood at the center in a beautiful dress, holding court like a queen.
I stood in the corner in my old clothes, watching.
Barely anyone came. A few pack members showed up because Marcus ordered them to. They ate the food and avoided looking at me.
Lyanna made a speech. Let's raise a glass to Aria, who's so bravely sacrificing herself for peace. It takes such courage to marry a monster. She smiled at the crowd. I could never do it. But then again, I have so much to live for.
Polite laughter. Pitying looks. I felt like an animal in a cage.
I left before the speech was over. No one noticed.
In my room, I packed my few belongings. Two sets of clothes. The photograph. A hairbrush. That was it. Twenty-two years of life fit into one small bag.
I pulled out the silver bracelet and studied it. The symbols carved into it looked ancient, like a language I should know but didn't.
Wear it. It might protect you.
From what? From Kael Thorne? From whatever I was about to become?
I took a breath and slipped it onto my wrist.
The effect was instant and overwhelming.
Power exploded through my body like lightning. Every nerve lit up. My skin buzzed. The room spun.
I stumbled to the mirror, gasping.
My reflection stared back at me but different. My eyes blazed pure silver, glowing like twin moons. My dull brown hair shimmered with hints of silver light.
And I could feel them.
Every wolf in the house. Their emotions crashed into me like waves Lyanna's cruel satisfaction, Marcus's cold calculation, the pack members' indifference.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The worst part was the pull. A magnetic force dragging at something deep inside me. Pulling north. Toward Shadowfang territory.
Toward him.
I ripped the bracelet off. The power cut off instantly. My eyes faded to normal. The pull vanished.
I collapsed on my bed, shaking.
What was I? What had my mother been?
The bracelet lay on my nightstand, innocent-looking. But I could still feel its energy humming, calling to me.
Your power sleeps in his shadow.
The message had said my power was connected to Kael Thorne. But I'd just felt power from the bracelet alone. Which meant
A howl split the night. Long, haunting, impossibly loud.
I ran to my window. In the distance, at the edge of Silvercrest territory, I saw them.
Wolves. Dozens of them. Their eyes glowed in the darkness like stars.
And at the front stood the biggest wolf I'd ever seen. Pure black, massive, radiating power that I could feel even from here.
He lifted his head and howled again. The sound shook me to my bones.
Then he shifted. The wolf became a man.
Even from this distance, I could see him clearly in the moonlight. Tall. Powerful. Dangerous.
Kael Thorne.
He'd come early. He wasn't waiting for the wedding.
He was here. Now.
My door slammed open. Marcus stood there, his face pale.
Get dressed, he ordered. He's here. He's demanding to see you. Tonight.
But the wedding isn't until tomorrow
He doesn't care! Marcus grabbed my arm, his grip bruising. You meet him now, or he burns this entire pack to the ground looking for you. Move!
He dragged me toward the door.
I looked back at my room at the bracelet still lying on the nightstand.
Wait! I pulled free and ran back, snatching the bracelet.
We don't have time
I slipped it on my wrist. Power flooded through me again, but this time I was ready for it. This time I held onto it.
My eyes met Marcus's. For the first time ever, I saw fear in them.
Let's go, I said. My voice sounded different. Stronger. I'm ready to meet my future husband.
Marcus stared at me like he'd never seen me before.
Maybe he hadn't.
Because the girl he'd spent twenty-two years breaking was gone.
And something else was waking up in her place.