Chapter 16: The Bone Crown
502 Words
The morning after the vision, Aria stared at her hands like they weren’t hers.
The blood had vanished.
But the feeling hadn’t.
Kael watched her from across the chamber, silent. Calculating.
“Another nightmare?” he asked.
She shook her head. “Not a nightmare. A message.”
Nyra, her wolf, stirred under her skin.
“It’s coming.”
Later that day, the Council reconvened.
But this time, it wasn’t about questions or insults.
It was about truth.
The High Seer a silver-haired woman with eyes that glowed white was brought forward at the request of the youngest Alpha.
“I want to confirm something,” he said. “If she really is the Luna from the prophecy… we need proof.”
Kael tensed beside Aria, but she stepped forward.
“I’m not afraid of truth.”
The Seer placed her hands on Aria’s shoulders and began to chant.
A pulse of energy shot through the chamber.
Wind.
Whispers.
And then a vision.
Projected into the air above the room.
A young she-wolf with wild dark hair. A woman bleeding in childbirth. A mark on her shoulder identical to Aria’s.
Gasps echoed.
“That’s… not her mother,” one Alpha whispered.
The Seer’s voice rang out like thunder:
“Born of royal blood, hidden by shame.
Daughter of the Flame Pact.
The Bone Crown is hers to claim.”
The room erupted.
“You’re royalty?” Kael asked, stunned.
Aria staggered back.
“I don’t understand…”
The Seer’s eyes burned.
“You were switched at birth. Sent to Bloodroot to hide your bloodline. Because the real Luna of Stormfang was too dangerous to be raised under the moon.”
Kael’s wolf roared inside him.
Aria? She just stood still frozen in a storm of truth.
She wasn’t just a Luna.
She was descended from the first Luna Queen.
The one who wore the Bone Crown.
The one who united or destroyed entire kingdoms.
Back at Stormfang, Sierra recovering and still spiteful received word of the revelation.
And she smiled.
“If she’s royalty,” she whispered to herself, “she has enemies she doesn’t even know yet.”
She pulled out a black crystal and whispered a name.
“Vareth.”
The shadows stirred.
That night, Aria stood with Kael in front of the war table.
The council had granted her full Luna status.
But more than that… they gave her access to the Flame Pact vaults.
Where the Bone Crown if it still existed was said to be hidden.
“I didn’t ask for any of this,” she whispered.
Kael pulled her close. “Doesn’t matter. You were meant for it.”
“What if I destroy everything?”
He tilted her chin.
“Then we destroy it together.”
And just before they locked lips again, Jace burst in breathless.
“Stormfang’s border just triggered,” he said.
Aria froze. “Who is it?”
Kael’s eyes flashed gold.
“Someone claiming to be the Shadow Alpha.”
- Writer
