Chapter 3
The night air was sharp against Aria’s skin as she stood at the edge of the Silvercrest Pack’s territory, staring out into the dark wilderness beyond. The dense forest stretched endlessly before her, a labyrinth of towering pines and jagged cliffs, their shadows twisting under the pale glow of the moon.
The wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of damp earth and pine needles, but it wasn’t strong enough to drown out the murmurs of the pack behind her.
They had all gathered to watch.
To witness her final humiliation.
“Leave,” Celeste’s voice rang out, cold and triumphant. She stood beside Killian on the stone steps of the packhouse, draped in a crimson cloak that only made her look more regal, more untouchable. The perfect Luna.
Killian was silent, his expression unreadable. His dark eyes flickered toward Aria for the briefest of moments before turning away, as if he couldn’t bear to look at her.
As if she was nothing.
Aria clenched her hands into fists at her sides, trying to steady her breathing, trying to keep her legs from trembling beneath her.
She had known this moment was coming.
Ever since Celeste had summoned her to her quarters that morning and delivered her cruel ultimatum, she had known she wouldn’t be allowed to stay. Celeste wanted her gone, and Killian—Killian would never defy the woman he had chosen.
But that didn’t make this any easier.
The murmurs of the pack grew louder, their voices laced with judgment, amusement, and pity.
“She really thought she could be our Luna…”
“A rejected mate is worthless. She should be grateful we’re letting her leave alive.”
“I heard the rejection didn’t even break the bond completely. How pathetic.”
The words cut through her like shards of ice, each one a reminder of just how little she meant to them.
Just how little she meant to him.
Her gaze flickered back to Killian, her heart hammering painfully against her ribs. He was standing still, his posture rigid, his jaw locked tight as if he was fighting some unseen battle within himself. But he didn’t stop this.
He didn’t fight for her.
He didn’t speak for her.
He had made his choice.
And she would not beg.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Aria lifted her chin, forcing herself to meet Celeste’s smug gaze. “Fine,” she said, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her. “I’ll go.”
A ripple of surprise flickered across Celeste’s face, but she masked it quickly, her smirk widening. “Good girl.”
Lena, the head servant, stepped forward with a small, tattered bag—the only thing Aria was allowed to take with her. She shoved it into Aria’s hands, her expression twisted with a mixture of distaste and satisfaction.
“No food, no supplies,” Lena sneered. “Consider yourself lucky we’re not chasing you out with the rogues.”
Aria’s fingers curled around the bag’s thin strap, her stomach twisting. She had nothing. No money, no allies, no home to run to.
But she wouldn’t let them see her break.
With a deep breath, she turned toward the forest, her heart pounding louder with every step she took. The weight of the pack’s gazes burned into her back, but she didn’t stop.
She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her hesitate.
The moment she crossed the boundary—the invisible line that separated the Silvercrest Pack’s land from the rest of the world—a sharp, searing pain shot through her chest.
She gasped, stumbling slightly as an unseen force tore through her body, yanking something vital from her soul.
The pack bond.
It was breaking.
Her wolf whimpered inside her mind, curling into itself as the last ties to her home, to her people, were severed.
She was no longer one of them.
She was alone.
The realization hit her harder than she expected, knocking the air from her lungs as she kept walking, her footsteps uneven, her body trembling from more than just the cold.
She didn’t look back.
She couldn’t.
Because if she did, she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep going.
The forest swallowed her whole, its shadows stretching out like long, clawed fingers, whispering secrets of the unknown.
And for the first time in her life, Aria had nowhere left to go.
The further she walked, the colder it became.
The moon was high in the sky now, casting a ghostly glow over the treetops, but its light did little to ease the gnawing fear creeping into her bones.
The forest was dangerous at night.
Rogues lurked in the darkness, waiting for a lone, vulnerable wolf to stumble into their territory. Wild animals prowled the undergrowth, their sharp teeth and hungering eyes hidden just out of sight.
And worse than all of that, she was weak.
Killian’s rejection had drained her, left her body sluggish, her limbs heavy. Her wolf—once a quiet but steady presence in the back of her mind—felt distant, her energy depleted from the severed bond.
She wasn’t sure how much further she could go.
She needed to find shelter.
Her eyes scanned the shadows, searching for anything that could offer protection. A fallen tree, a cave, even a thick patch of brush—anything that would keep her hidden until daylight.
Her heart pounded as she pushed forward, her hands trembling from exhaustion.
And then she heard it.
A low, guttural growl.
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, every instinct screaming danger as she froze, her breath hitching.
The sound came from the darkness ahead.
Slowly, she turned her head—and her blood ran cold.
Glowing eyes stared back at her from the shadows, golden and wild. A wolf. No, not a wolf. A rogue.
Its fur was matted, its body lean with starvation, its lips curled back to reveal sharp, glistening teeth.
It was hunting her.
Aria took a step back, her pulse hammering against her skull. She wasn’t strong enough to shift, wasn’t strong enough to fight.
She had to run.
Her feet barely touched the ground before she bolted, her heart slamming against her ribs as she weaved through the trees, her breaths ragged.
The rogue snarled behind her, and then she heard it—pounding footsteps, the sound of something massive tearing through the underbrush.
It was chasing her.
Aria pushed herself harder, ignoring the burning in her legs, the stitch forming in her side. She couldn’t stop.
She wouldn’t survive if she stopped.
A fallen tree loomed ahead, its thick trunk blocking her path. She gathered all the strength she had left and leapt, barely clearing it as her body crashed onto the damp earth on the other side.
Pain exploded in her palms, but she scrambled to her feet, ignoring the sting.
The rogue was close.
Too close.
She could feel its hot breath at her back, its presence like a storm closing in—
And then, out of nowhere, a blur of movement.
Something massive shot past her, a shadow so fast she barely registered what was happening before a deafening snarl tore through the night.
A second wolf had entered the fight.
Not just any wolf.
This one was enormous, its fur a deep, obsidian black that gleamed beneath the moonlight. Power radiated off of it in thick waves, the sheer force of its presence nearly knocking the air from her lungs.
Alpha.
Not Killian.
Someone else.
Aria stumbled back as the black wolf lunged, its massive form colliding with the rogue in a brutal clash of teeth and claws. The rogue let out a choked yelp, but it was no match for the sheer force of the Alpha’s attack.
Blood sprayed across the forest floor. The rogue’s body went limp.
Silence.
Aria’s breaths came in sharp gasps, her vision swimming as she stared at the black wolf standing over the rogue’s body, its golden eyes glowing as it slowly turned toward her.
And in that moment, she knew.
Whoever this wolf was…
He had just changed everything.
