Chapter 17: Rise of the Shadow Alpha
475 Words
The forest was silent.
Too silent.
Kael, Jace, and Aria stood at the border of Stormfang as the fog curled unnaturally around their ankles.
Then… a voice.
Low.
Dark.
Familiar but impossible.
“You’ve grown, little Luna.”
Aria’s heart stopped.
Out of the mist came a man cloaked in black, his aura darker than anything she’d ever felt.
His wolf didn’t just radiate power.
It radiated death.
Kael shifted in front of her immediately, a snarl ripping from his throat. “Name yourself.”
The stranger smiled.
“I am Vareth. Son of the Flame Pact. Born of shadows. And Aria’s cousin.”
Kael growled louder. “You’re lying.”
Vareth tilted his head. “Am I?”
He reached into his coat and tossed a small, bloodstained pendant onto the ground.
Aria’s eyes widened.
She had one just like it. A family heirloom worn by her real mother in the Seer’s vision.
Kael picked it up, jaw clenching.
“Why are you here?” Aria asked, stepping forward.
Vareth’s eyes gleamed. “Because your birthright comes with more than a crown. It comes with enemies. And I’m the only one who can help you survive them.”
“I don’t trust you,” she said.
“Good,” he said, grinning. “Then maybe you can wear the Bone Crown.”
Back at Stormfang, Sierra watched the border through the surveillance spell she'd secretly planted before she was removed from the inner circle.
She saw Vareth.
She saw Aria talking to him.
And that was all she needed.
Stormfang would never accept a Luna with a traitor’s blood.
She whispered her final spell into the air—and sent her message to the rest of the Alphas.
“Stormfang’s Luna consorts with the Shadow.”
That night, Aria couldn’t sleep.
Kael sat beside her in bed, his arm around her waist, his thumb gently stroking the mark he’d left on her neck.
“He’s dangerous,” Kael said.
“I know.”
“You felt something, though,” he added. “Didn’t you?”
Aria looked at the ceiling, voice low.
“I felt a connection. Like a bond of blood. Not like ours. Not even close. But… real.”
Kael rolled on top of her, staring down into her eyes.
“You are mine, Aria.”
“I know.”
“I don’t care if you’re royal. I don’t care what prophecy you fulfill. If you fall, I fall with you.”
She pulled him down into a kiss so deep it made her toes curl.
“Then stand with me,” she whispered.
“Always.”
Far away, Vareth stood in the ruins of an ancient temple, lighting a dark flame.
Behind him, cloaked figures knelt.
“The Luna rises,” he said. “And with her… the war begins.”
- Writer
