Chapter 13: The moment the world Tilted
872 Words
(Aria POV)
I knew something was wrong the moment the wind changed.
Not the direction but the weight of it.
The air pressed heavier against my skin as I stepped out of the healer’s hut, the silver thread of dawn just barely touching the edges of the sky. Wolves moved through the courtyard as usual, talking, training, living.
But the pack didn’t feel the same anymore.
It hadn’t since Mara woke.
It hadn’t since truth gained a pulse.
I paused at the edge of the stone steps and closed my eyes, letting my senses stretch not outward like an Alpha’s dominance, but inward, where instinct met something far older and quieter.
Fear lingered.
Not mine.
Someone else’s.
Sharp. Sudden. Unfinished.
My chest tightened.
Lara.
I was moving before logic caught up, my steps quickening as I crossed the courtyard. A few wolves glanced at me, their gazes lingering longer than before. Not with disdain.
With uncertainty.
That was new.
I reached the path near the training grounds and stopped short.
A small crowd had formed near the storage sheds.
Too quiet.
Too contained.
I pushed through just as two wolves stepped aside, revealing Lara on her knees in the dirt, hands bound in front of her, face pale and streaked with tears she was fighting desperately not to shed.
My heart dropped straight into my stomach.
“What is this?” I demanded.
Several heads snapped toward me.
Selena stood at the front of the group.
Calm.
Concerned.
Perfect.
“We found her near the healer’s hut at dawn,” Selena said gently. “Lurking.”
Lara shook her head violently. “I wasn’t—I swear I was just bringing herbs, she asked me to—”
Selena laid a hand on Lara’s shoulder, soft but restraining. “Easy. No one is accusing you.”
Lie.
“That’s exactly what you’re doing,” I said coldly.
Selena turned to me with a look of mild surprise. “You misunderstand. Given the recent… incident, we must be careful.”
“Careful,” I echoed. “Or convenient?”
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Lara’s eyes lifted to mine, wide with terror. “I didn’t do anything,” she whispered.
I believed her without hesitation.
Selena sighed softly. “No one said you did. But poison was found near the hut this morning. Whoever placed it intended harm.”
She let the implication hang.
My pulse slowed.
Not from calm.
From focus.
“You inspected her?” I asked.
Selena nodded. “I had no choice.”
Her scent remained smooth. Controlled.
Practiced.
“She has no poison,” Selena continued, turning to the group. “But intent matters too. Proximity matters.”
The old rules.
Twisted beautifully.
I felt it then, a subtle shift inside me. Something uncoiling, ancient and patient, as though it had waited long enough.
Enough hiding.
I stepped forward.
Every eye tracked me.
“Untie her.”
Gasps.
Selena’s eyes darkened just slightly. “You overstep.”
I smiled.
Not kindly.
“You forget,” I said quietly, “who I am.”
The words weren’t spoken with dominance—but something deeper answered them.
The ground beneath my feet trembled.
Just once.
Small.
Controlled.
Lara’s whimper faltered.
The pack felt it.
I felt their attention snap fully to me, instincts stirring without command.
“I am not accusing,” I continued. “I am stating fact. Lara did nothing.”
Selena straightened. “And on what authority do you claim that?”
I raised my gaze slowly.
On instinct.
On truth.
On power I had refused to name until now.
“On mine.”
The air thickened.
A low hum resonated around us—not audible, but felt, like the moment before lightning strikes.
Selena’s breathing hitched.
Just once.
Enough.
“You’re frightened,” I said calmly. “Because you know something you planted has begun to grow roots.”
Her smile tightened. “This is ridiculous—”
“Untie her,” I repeated.
No order.
No Alpha note.
And yet—
The wolf holding Lara’s restraints swallowed hard and stepped forward, fingers shaking as he cut the rope.
Lara collapsed into my arms.
I held her easily.
Naturally.
The crowd backed away without thinking.
Selena stared.
For the first time since I met her, her control cracked.
“What are you?” she whispered.
I leaned closer, voice low enough that only she could hear.
“Not your scapegoat.”
The wind surged suddenly, rippling outward in a controlled wave that sent dust skimming across the yard. No destruction. No chaos.
Precision.
Respect.
Fear.
Alpha Liam appeared at the edge of the crowd.
He stopped when he saw me.
Not because I demanded it.
Because something in the air commanded acknowledgement.
I met his gaze.
Did not bow.
Did not seek permission.
He understood.
Slowly.
Finally.
Selena took a half-step back.
Too late.
“You wanted to draw me out,” I said calmly. “Congratulations.”
The pack stood frozen, the hierarchy silently rewriting itself without ceremony.
I turned away first, guiding Lara gently from the circle.
Behind me, Selena’s perfect mask shattered completely.
And Alpha Liam—
He did not stop me.
- Writer
