THE MOON’S CHOSEN MATE

CHAPTER 5: THE ALPHA’S RETURN

“Aria! Come out!”

The sound of his voice ripped through the night like lightning splitting a tree. I froze, breath caught in my throat. I hadn’t heard that voice since the night he shattered my world.

Alpha Damien Blackwood.

Kael’s posture changed instantly,his shoulders squared, his aura darkened, his wolf pushing at the surface. “Stay behind me,” he ordered, his tone sharp.

But I couldn’t move. My heart thudded painfully, each beat echoing the memory of the night he rejected me. His eyes cold. His voice steady as he tore the bond apart.

Outside, the guards shouted, footsteps, growls, chaos. Then silence. Heavy, dangerous silence.

Kael turned to me, his gaze hard. “Do you know him?”

I swallowed. “He was my Alpha.” My voice cracked on the last word. “My mate.”

Kael’s eyes flickered, surprise, then something darker. “The one who rejected you.”

I nodded once, shame and anger twisting inside me.

A fist slammed against the cabin door. Wood splintered.

Kael growled, low and warning. “He doesn’t get to come here uninvited.”

The door burst open.

And there he was.

Damien stood in the doorway, his presence filling the room like a storm rolling in. His black hair was damp with sweat, his gray eyes burning,wild, desperate. He looked different from the proud Alpha I remembered. His jaw was tense, his clothes torn from battle, his energy raw and violent.

For a moment, the world stopped.

His eyes locked on me. “Aria.”

The sound of my name on his lips made my stomach twist. It was softer than I remembered, but no less dangerous.

Kael stepped forward, blocking his view. “You’re trespassing, Alpha Blackwood. Leave now.”

Damien’s gaze snapped to him, his wolf flashing in his eyes. “You’re harboring what belongs to me.”

“Belongs?” Kael’s voice dripped with quiet threat. “She’s not your possession.”

Damien growled. “She’s my mate.”

The words hit me like a blow. My breath caught.

Kael smirked faintly. “Funny. I heard you rejected her.”

Damien’s jaw tightened. “I made a mistake.”

A bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “A mistake?” My voice trembled, not with fear, but fury. “You destroyed me, Damien.”

His head snapped toward me, the cold Alpha mask breaking for the first time. “I know.”

Kael’s hand brushed subtly against my arm, grounding me. “You don’t get to walk in here and claim her after what you did.”

Damien’s eyes darkened. “You don’t understand. My pack is falling apart. Wolves are dying. There’s something, something wrong in the Shadowclaw lands.”

My pulse quickened. “Wrong?”

He took a step closer. “A curse, spreading through the ranks. Wolves turning feral, killing their own. It started the night I rejected you.”

The room went cold.

Kael’s jaw clenched. “So now you think she’s the cure to your mistake?”

Damien didn’t answer. He looked at me instead, searching, pleading, the proud Alpha stripped bare. “I came because I felt your energy. The mark,the moonlight. You have power now, don’t you?”

I wrapped my arms around myself. “You think I owe you anything?”

“No,” he said quietly. “But my people don’t deserve to die for my pride.”

Silence filled the space. Outside, the wind howled through the trees like a warning.

Kael moved between us again, his voice firm. “You’re not taking her anywhere. You’ll leave, or I’ll make you.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed. “You think you can stop me?”

Kael’s wolf flared in his gaze, gold burning bright. “Try me.”

The air thickened, pulsing with Alpha energy. The floorboards creaked beneath their power, invisible forces pushing against each other.

I stumbled back, my mark burning again, the crescent on my wrist glowing silver. Both men turned toward me at once.

Damien’s expression shifted, realization dawning. “The Moon’s mark.”

Kael’s tone was wary. “You know it?”

“She’s the reason,” Damien said hoarsely. “The mark appeared the night the darkness began. She’s bound to the Goddess now,her power tied to the balance. If she dies… the curse will consume everything.”

I froze. “What?”

Kael turned to me, eyes searching. “Is that true?”

“I don’t know!” I snapped. “I didn’t ask for this!”

The mark flared brighter, so bright it filled the room with moonlight. My knees buckled.

Both Alphas reached for me at once.

I gasped, pain tearing through me as their hands brushed my skin. The world blurred, light exploding from my wrist.

And suddenly, I wasn’t in the cabin anymore.

I stood in the forest again, surrounded by silver mist. The white wolf appeared before me, her eyes glowing.

“Two paths cross, one heart divided,” she whispered. “But only one can walk beside you when the moon burns red.”

I shook my head. “What does that mean?!”

She didn’t answer. The ground trembled beneath us.

Then, her gaze turned behind me, and her voice darkened. “He’s coming.”

“Who?”

A growl echoed through the mist, low, ancient, terrifying. Shadows twisted together, forming a creature unlike anything I’d ever seen.

Black fur, eyes like blood.

It lunged.

I screamed,

And the vision shattered.

I gasped awake on the cabin floor, both Kael and Damien kneeling beside me, their hands glowing faintly with energy.

“What happened?” Kael demanded.

I looked at them, my voice shaking. “The darkness, it’s not just a curse. It’s alive.”

Damien’s face paled. “Alive?”

Before I could answer, a loud roar echoed from deep within the woods, powerful, unnatural, shaking the earth beneath us.

The guards outside shouted in terror.

Kael stood, pulling me to my feet. “Stay inside,” he ordered.

But I could already feel it, the pulse of that thing from my vision, drawing closer.

The mark on my wrist blazed white-hot.

And somewhere beyond the trees, glowing eyes opened in the dark.