THE WOLFLESS LUNA

CHAPTER 13: CLAIMED BY THE ENEMY

Darkness came first. Then pain with cold alongside. Aria’s eyes snapped open. She gasped sharply, her body was jerking as consciousness slammed back into her like a violent wave. Her head throbbed, her limbs were heavy, and her power was silent.

She tried to move.

But the chains around her hands were tight.

Cold iron bit into her wrists.

Her breath hitched.

“What?”

Her voice came out hoarse, barely a whisper.

Memory crashed into her all at once.

The forest and the fights from the past.

Her eyes widened.

“No”

Well, a voice drawled lazily from the shadows, “You woke up faster than I ever expected.”

Aria’s face snapped back towards the sound.

Ronan stepped forward slowly, emerging from the darkness like something that belonged to it.

“Where am I?” she demanded.

Ronan tilted his head slightly, studying her.

“My territory.”

Instantly, her stomach dropped.

The surrounding room came into focus; stone walls, dim torchlight, and no windows.

It wasn’t just a room, it was a cell.

And not just any cell, a well-prepared one meant for her.

“You planned this,” she said, loudly.

Ronan smiled faintly.

“Of course I did.”

I have been waiting for you.

A chill ran down her spine.

What do you want from me?

Ronan stepped closer.

“You,” he said.

The word lingered.

Heavy and possessive.

Aria’s jaw clenched.

“I’m not something you can take.”

Ronan stopped just in front of her.

Close enough that she could feel the weight of his presence.

Close enough that her instincts screamed danger.

“Everything can be taken,” he murmured.

His eyes dropped briefly to the chains around her wrists.

And right now, you have already been taken.

Her power stirred.

But when she tried to reach for it.

Her breath hitched.

What did you do to me?

Ronan’s smile deepened.

“Those chains?” he said casually. They suppress unstable energy.

Her heart pounded.

“That’s impossible!”

Not for someone who understands your kind.

Her blood ran cold.

You know what I am?

Ronan’s eyes darkened with interest.

I know more than anyone else alive.

“Then say it,” Aria challenged. Say what I am.

Ronan leaned closer.

His voice dropped.

“You’re not just a hybrid,” he said.

“You’re the last living conduit.”

The words didn’t just echo.

They sank deep.

Aria stared at him, with her pulse roaring in her ears.

“The last what?” she demanded, with her voice trembling despite her effort to stay strong.

Ronan didn’t answer immediately.

It felt deliberate…Like he was enjoying the whole scene.

“To everything they tried to control,” he said finally.

Stop speaking in riddles, she said. “If you know something, say it!”

Ronan chuckled softly.

You’re asking the wrong question.

Aria ignored him.

Her entire focus was locked on him now.

“You know what I am,” she said, her voice breaking slightly.

Then tell me why?

Ronan’s look sharpened.

“Because you were never meant to live freely,” he said.

The world before Aria suddenly became still.

“What?” she whispered.

“You were meant to be taken,” he continued.

Her stomach twisted violently.

By who? she demanded.

Ronan’s smile faded slightly.

“The ones who understand power better than your precious pack ever could.”

Her heart pounded harder.

“The Council” she breathed.

Ronan didn’t deny it.

They don’t fear power, he said quietly.

They fear power they can’t own.

Her breath came faster.

And my parents? She asked, her voice barely holding together.

What did they do?

For the first time.

Ronan’s expression shifted.

They ran, he said.

Her chest clenched painfully.

“They hid you. Suppressed you. Made you weak in the eyes of everyone else.”

Aria’s eyes widened.

“That’s why” she whispered.

“That’s why I didn’t have a wolf.”

Ronan stepped closer again.

“They didn’t make you weak,” he said.

They kept you human.

The words shattered something inside her.

All those years.

All that rejection.

All that pain.

It wasn’t because she was broken.

It was because she was hidden.

Her breath shook.

They let everyone believe I was nothing” she whispered.

“Yes.”

Tears burned behind her eyes.

They chose your survival over your power, Ronan continued.

His eyes darkened.

“You’re finally becoming what they tried to bury.”

Her chest tightened painfully.

“I didn’t ask for this,” she whispered.

Ronan’s expression didn’t soften.

“It doesn’t matter what you want.”

Aria let out a shaky breath.

Her mind refused to settle.

Everything felt like it was breaking apart.

And reforming into something she didn’t recognize.

I was alone, she said quietly.

The words slipped out before she could stop them.

Ronan’s eyes didn’t waver.

“You were hidden,” he corrected.

That’s not the same thing.

“No,” he agreed.

It’s worse.

The honesty alone hit harder than cruelty ever could.

Aria looked away, with her chest tightening painfully.

“All those years” she whispered. “They watched me suffer. They let them treat me like I was nothing.”

Her voice cracked slightly.

They could have told me.

Would you have understood? He asked.

She didn’t answer.

Because deep down.

She knew the truth.

“No,” he continued. “You would have awakened too soon.”

Her breath hitched.

“And then?” she asked.

Ronan’s expression darkened slightly.

Then you wouldn’t be here, he said.

Aria’s fingers curled into her palms.

So what now? she demanded. “You keep me here? Trained me? Used me?”

Ronan didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he stepped closer again.

You think too small, he said quietly.

Her heart pounded harder.

“I don’t want to be part of any of this,” she said.

His eyes locked onto hers.

“That stopped being your choice the moment you survived.”

The words landed like a final verdict.

Aria’s breath came faster.

“I won’t let you control me,” she said.

Ronan’s lips curved faintly.

“Good.”

She blinked.

What?

“I don’t want to control you,” he said.

“I want you to choose.”

Choose what?

Ronan leaned in slightly.

His voice is dropping.

“Who you become.”

Something inside her stirred.

Not fear this time.

Something else.

Something dangerous.

The words hit her like a shockwave.

“What?”

Ronan straightened slightly, watching her reaction with clear satisfaction.

Your power doesn’t belong to you alone, he continued. It channels something older. Something that can influence every wolf it touches.

Aria’s mind raced back.

Selene’s words echoed.

“A trigger.”

“No” she whispered.

This is a mistake.

Ronan shook his head slowly.

“No, Aria.”

His voice softened.

But it wasn’t kindness.

It was certain.

“You’re the beginning of something far bigger than you understand.”

Her chest tightened painfully.

I don’t want that.

Ronan’s expression didn’t change.

It doesn’t matter what you want.

Aria flinched as his fingers brushed her jaw, tilting her face up slightly.

Her power reacted instantly.

Flaring beneath her skin.

Ronan’s eyes lit up.

There it is, he murmured.

“Beautiful.”

“Don’t touch me,” she snapped, jerking back.

But the chains held her in place.

Ronan didn’t move away immediately.

But his gaze lingered.

Studying her like something rare.

Something valuable.

“You’re afraid of yourself,” he said.

Aria’s breath shook.

I’m afraid of what you will turn me into.

And that made him smile.

“I won’t turn you into anything,” he said.

I’ll just help you become what you already are.

Her heart pounded harder.

Because part of her.

A small, terrifying part.

Felt drawn to that idea.

“No,” she whispered.

I’m not like you.

Ronan stepped back slowly.

“Not yet.”

The words sent a chill down her spine again.

A sudden crash echoed from somewhere above.

With voices screaming and shouting.

Aria’s head snapped up.

What was that?

Ronan didn’t look concerned.

If for anything.

He looked amused.

“Right on time,” he said.

Her breath caught.

“Kael”

Ronan’s smile sharpened more.

You really think he came here to save you?

Hope flared in her chest again.

Before doubt crushed it.

What do you mean?

Ronan’s eyes locked onto hers.

“Tell me, Aria” he said softly.

If he had to choose”

Would he save you?

Or would he finally do what your parents couldn’t?

Her heart stopped.

Footsteps thundered closer.

The ground shook slightly with the force of power clashing above it.

Kael was here.

She could feel him.

Relief surged.

Then twisted into something else.

Something darker.

Because for the first time.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to reach her.

Heavy footsteps stopped just outside the door.

The door cracked open.

Aria’s breath caught.

Then her eyes lifted slowly and froze.

Because the man standing there…wasn’t Kael.