CHAPTER 6; BLOOD IN THE SHADOWS
837 Words
*(Aria’s POV)*
*The past doesn’t let go easily… and neither does my old pack.*
I hadn’t taken more than twenty steps into the woods when the scent hit me — stale pine, worn leather, steel and blood. It wasn’t part of Kedrick’s pack. It was sharper. Familiar.
*Scouts. From my former pack.*
I froze, ears straining. Leaves rustled behind me. One breath… two… then the unmistakable c***k of a twig under boot.
They weren’t hiding well. They weren’t here to spy.
They were here to kill.
***
*Hours Earlier — In the Night shade Pack Hall*
*Lira’s POV*
"I want her gone."
Her voice was cold, clipped, as she stood before her father’s desk. The Alpha of the Nightshade Pack barely looked up, still scribbling notes.
“She’s already gone,” he replied.
“No. Not far enough,” Lira hissed. “She’s still alive. Still breathing. Still in his head.”
Alpha Morien narrowed his eyes. “You’re talking about Kade?”
“She’s his mate, father. He rejected her for the pack. For me. And now… he mourns her.”
“He made his choice.”
“He’s weak. Still holding onto her memory. As long as Aria breathes, Kade hesitates. You said it yourself — doubt is poison in leadership.”
Morien rose from his seat slowly. “You want to eliminate her?”
“I already sent the scouts,” Lira said coolly. “Night shade. They’ll finish it today.”
He looked at his daughter. No remorse. Just strategy.
“If this gets traced back—”
“It won’t. No one will find the bodies. And the exiled don’t matter.”
They stood in silence for a moment.
Then Morien said, “Do what you must.”
And so the kill order was sealed.
***
Back in the present
They struck like shadows — three of them, dropping from the trees in human form, their claws out, eyes glowing red with silver adrenaline.
I barely dodged the first attack. A blade grazed my shoulder. The second pinned me. The third circled, aiming for my neck.
This wasn’t a warning.
This was an execution.
I let instinct take over. I twisted, slamming my heel into the ribs of the one pinning me, throwing him off. I ducked, rolled, and grabbed a fallen branch, snapping it in half.
They laughed — until I struck.
One screamed as I stabbed the jagged edge into his side.
But I was bleeding now — ribs slashed, left leg dragging.
I wasn’t going to survive this.
And then—
Low, guttural, furious.
Alpha Kedrick.
He emerged from the trees like a storm — bare-chested, his eyes pitch-black, shifting mid-run.
One of the scouts lunged at him — and Kedrick caught him mid-air, crushed his shoulder with a single hand, and hurled him into a tree.
The others fled instantly.
I collapsed.
He was beside me in seconds.
“Arya!” His voice cracked.
I tried to sit up, but he pressed his hand against my shoulder gently. “You’re bleeding.”
“Did you—track me?” I asked, breathless.
“You weren’t in your quarters. I sensed something… wrong.”
I looked up at him. His jaw was tight, his hand trembling over my wound.
“They used silver,” I whispered.
His expression darkened. “They meant to kill you.”
“I didn’t provoke them.”
“I know.”
His voice shifted — from concern to fury.
“They wore Night shade pack markings.”
I blinked. “You recognized them?”
He stood slowly. “I’ve fought enough of them in rogue-border skirmishes to know who they train. These weren’t loners. They were sent.”
A pause.
“By Lira.”
My blood ran cold.
“She won’t stop,” I whispered.
“No,” Kedrick said. “But now… neither will I.”
***
*Later That Night – Kedrick’s POV*
I sat in my war room, still bloodstained from the fight.
I couldn’t get the image out of my head — Arya, half-conscious, still fighting, refusing to give in even when bleeding from a silver gash.
She didn’t flinch.
She didn’t beg.
She fought like a warrior.
And yet… someone sent killers after her. On my land.
My enforcer entered.
“We intercepted communication between Lira and her father,” he said, dropping a scroll on the table.
I scanned the lines quickly.
"Kade still hesitates. He still loves her. As long as she breathes, he will never be yours. Finish it."
Kedrick’s hand curled into a fist.
Kade still loved Arya. Even after rejecting her. Lira knew it, feared it, hated it.
So she sent death after her sister.
I’d seen petty politics before.
But this?
This was war disguised as jealousy.
And Arya… was at the center of it.
She was no longer just an exiled Luna.
She was bait in a power struggle.
And I wouldn’t let her bleed again.
Not without blood being spilled in return.
- Writer
