Aria's POV
The walk back to the ranger station passed in a blur of numbness and disbelief. Every step felt mechanical, like my body was moving through muscle memory while my mind tried to process the impossible truth I'd just witnessed.
My mother wanted me dead.
Not just dead—eliminated as part of a systematic restructuring of Lycan society. A restructuring she was orchestrating.
"Aria." Caspian's voice seemed to come from very far away. "We need to tell the others what we learned."
I nodded without really hearing him. The details of the meeting replayed in my head on an endless loop. My mother's clinical tone as she discussed termination protocols. The casual way she'd condemned Caspian to death for the crime of caring about me.
The ranger station came into view, warm light spilling
