BLOOD RISING LUNA

Chapter Three - The Alpha's Mate

“Mate.”

The word echoed through Aria's mind.

She stared at Kael.

He stared back.

Neither of them spoke.

For eighteen years, Aria had imagined what it would feel like to finally awaken her wolf.

She had imagined the excitement.

The connection.

The sense of belonging.

She had never imagined standing in a room with the most feared Alpha in the region while he looked at her as though the world had just shifted beneath his feet.

“No,” Kael said.

Aria blinked.

“What?”

Kael took a step backward.

“No.”

Darius's expression hardened.

“You felt it.”

“I know what I felt.”

“Then you know.”

Kael's jaw tightened.

Aria looked between them.

“Would somebody explain what is happening?”

Nobody answered.

Her patience disappeared.

“I've had enough.”

She pointed at Kael.

“You say I'm your mate, then you start acting like that's the worst thing that could possibly happen.”

Kael's eyes met hers.

“You don't understand.”

“Then explain it.”

“I can't.”

Aria laughed without humor.

“Of course.”

She turned toward Darius.

“And you?”

Darius remained silent.

“You knew.”

“I suspected.”

Aria's eyes widened.

“You suspected?”

“The Blood Rising bloodline has records connected to unusual mate bonds.”

“That still doesn't explain anything.”

Kael interrupted.

“The bond is dangerous.”

Aria looked at him.

“Why?”

“Because of what you are.”

Her stomach tightened.

“So being the Blood Rising Luna makes me dangerous to you?”

Kael shook his head.

“Not to me.”

He paused.

“To everyone.”

Before Aria could respond, a loud explosion shook the building.

The windows rattled.

The lights flickered.

Then the entire room went dark.

Someone screamed outside.

Darius immediately drew his weapon.

“Everyone stay here.”

Another explosion sounded.

Closer this time.

Aria heard the guards shouting.

Then came the unmistakable sound of wolves moving through the courtyard.

Kael's expression changed instantly.

The uncertainty disappeared.

The Alpha returned.

“Rowan,” he said.

The elder looked at him.

“How many?”

“Impossible to tell.”

“Seal the eastern entrance.”

Darius frowned.

“You're giving orders in my territory?”

Kael didn't even look at him.

“Your guards won't hold them.”

Darius stepped closer.

“This is my pack.”

“And those are not ordinary attackers.”

Kael finally met his gaze.

“They came prepared.”

Darius looked toward the window.

Another crash echoed through the building.

He made his decision.

“Do it.”

Kael nodded.

Aria stared at him.

“You knew this would happen.”

Kael looked at her.

“I knew they would come eventually.”

“Eventually?”

His expression remained cold.

“I didn't know when.”

“You've been looking for me.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Kael hesitated.

“Because your parents left something behind.”

Aria froze.

“What?”

Kael glanced toward Rowan.

The elder looked uncomfortable.

“Not here,” Kael said.

“Then where?”

“We need to leave.”

Aria shook her head.

“No.”

Kael frowned.

“What?”

“I'm tired of everyone deciding where I should go.”

“We don't have time.”

“You've had eighteen years.”

The words came out sharper than she intended.

Kael stared at her.

Aria's hands curled into fists.

“You know things about my parents. You know about this Blood Rising thing. You know who is coming for me. And apparently, you're my mate.”

She swallowed.

“But nobody thinks I deserve the truth.”

Kael's expression softened for half a second.

Then the building shook again.

A c***k appeared across one of the windows.

Kael moved toward Aria.

“Arguing about the past won't keep you alive.”

“I can protect myself.”

“You don't know how to use your abilities.”

Aria's eyes flashed.

“You don't know me.”

“I know enough.”

Something about the way he said it irritated her.

Before she could answer, the window shattered.

A dark figure leaped through the opening.

Aria stumbled backward.

Kael moved in front of her.

The stranger attacked.

Kael blocked the strike and drove the attacker back.

The fight was fast.

Too fast for Aria to follow.

Another figure entered through the broken window.

Then another.

Darius and the guards rushed forward.

The room descended into chaos.

Aria backed toward the wall.

Her heart pounded.

She could hear everything.

Every footstep.

Every breath.

Every heartbeat.

Then something strange happened.

The attackers' heartbeats became louder.

Not just louder.

Clearer.

Aria could tell when each one was afraid.

She could sense anger.

Fear.

Determination.

And something else.

A connection.

A thin thread seemed to stretch from one attacker toward someone outside.

Aria stared.

She could see it.

Not with her eyes exactly.

It was more like she could feel it.

A blood bond.

Her hand lifted instinctively.

The thread trembled.

Aria gasped.

The attacker suddenly froze.

His eyes widened.

He dropped to his knees.

Everyone stopped.

Kael turned.

“What did you do?”

“I don't know.”

Aria stared at her hand.

The red mark on her palm had returned.

The attacker clutched his chest.

Kael moved toward him.

“Who sent you?”

The man refused to answer.

Aria could feel the bond again.

Someone was controlling him.

Without understanding why, she reached toward the invisible thread.

The moment her fingers closed, the connection snapped.

The attacker collapsed.

Silence filled the room.

Kael stared at Aria.

“So the legends were true.”

Aria looked at him.

“What?”

“You can break blood bonds.”

Darius's face had gone pale.

“That's impossible.”

Kael didn't respond.

Instead, he grabbed Aria's wrist.

“Come.”

She pulled away.

“Don't touch me.”

Kael released her immediately.

His expression remained controlled.

“Fine.”

He pointed toward the door.

“But we're leaving.”

Aria looked at Darius.

“Where?”

“Somewhere they can't reach you,” Darius said.

Kael shook his head.

“There is nowhere in this territory they can't reach.”

“Then where?”

“My pack.”

Darius immediately objected.

“No.”

Kael's eyes hardened.

“Then suggest somewhere better.”

Darius said nothing.

Aria looked at Kael.

“The Nightfang Pack.”

“Yes.”

“The pack everyone says is responsible for my parents' deaths?”

Kael's expression changed.

“They weren't.”

Aria stepped closer.

“Then tell me what happened.”

Kael looked at her for several seconds.

“My father was Alpha when your parents died.”

Aria's breath caught.

“You knew.”

“Yes.”

“And you still came here?”

“I came because I know what really happened.”

Aria waited.

Kael looked toward the door.

“We don't have time for the entire story.”

“Then give me enough.”

His eyes met hers.

“My father didn't kill your parents.”

Aria's heartbeat quickened.

“He was framed.”

“By whom?”

Kael's expression darkened.

“The council.”

Aria felt the room spin.

The same council.

The people who apparently knew about her.

The people her parents had supposedly been hiding from.

The people who had now sent attackers to find her.

She suddenly understood.

Her parents hadn't been hiding from the Nightfang Pack.

They had been hiding from something much bigger.

“Why would the council kill them?”

Kael's voice dropped.

“Because your mother refused to give them something.”

“What?”

He looked directly at her.

“You.”

Aria couldn't breathe.

Her entire life had been built on a lie.

She had believed her parents abandoned her.

She had believed they were criminals.

She had believed nobody wanted her.

But if Kael was telling the truth, her parents had died protecting her.

A strange warmth spread through her chest.

Then pain followed.

Aria grabbed the edge of the table.

Kael noticed immediately.

“What is it?”

“My head.”

Her vision blurred.

The room disappeared.

Again, she was standing in the dark forest.

The red moon hung above her.

The mysterious woman was there.

But this time, she wasn't alone.

A little girl stood beside her.

The girl couldn't have been more than six years old.

Aria looked closer.

She recognized the face.

Her own.

The woman knelt before the child.

“Listen to me.”

The little Aria began crying.

“You must never let them find your blood.”

The vision shifted.

A man appeared.

Aria's father.

He was holding the little girl.

Behind him stood another person.

A tall figure wearing a black cloak.

The figure's face was hidden.

Her father looked terrified.

“Take her,” he whispered.

“No,” the woman said.

“They'll find her.”

“We have no choice.”

The vision shattered.

Aria gasped and returned to the room.

Kael was standing in front of her.

“Aria.”

She looked at him.

“My father.”

“What did you see?”

“He was trying to save me.”

Kael's face became unreadable.

“Tell me.”

Aria shook her head.

“I don't know what it means.”

A horn sounded outside.

Then another.

Darius looked toward the door.

“The eastern wall has fallen.”

Rowan's expression tightened.

“They're inside.”

Kael turned to Aria.

“We leave now.”

This time, Aria didn't argue.

She followed him through the corridor.

The halls were filled with chaos.

Guards ran past them.

Wolves shouted warnings.

Smoke filled the air.

As they reached the back entrance, Aria stopped.

Someone was standing at the end of the corridor.

Lucas.

Her guardian.

He was holding a sword.

His face was covered in fear.

“Aria.”

She ran toward him.

“Lucas!”

He caught her shoulders.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

His eyes moved toward Kael.

The warmth disappeared from his face.

“You.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“Lucas.”

Aria looked between them.

“You know each other?”

Neither answered.

Lucas suddenly pulled Aria behind him.

“Stay away from him.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Still protecting her with lies?”

Aria froze.

“Lucas?”

Her guardian looked at her.

“Aria, you need to trust me.”

She stared at him.

“I trusted you my entire life.”

His expression broke.

“And I would do anything to keep you alive.”

Kael stepped forward.

“Then tell her the truth.”

Lucas looked at him.

“You're not the one who gets to decide when she learns it.”

A strange silence settled between them.

Aria felt the pieces of her life shifting again.

There was something between these two men.

Something neither wanted her to know.

Then Lucas whispered something that made Kael's face go completely still.

“They've already found the second Blood.”

Aria's blood ran cold.

“The second what?”

Lucas looked at her.

“The second Blood Rising heir.”

Before anyone could say another word, a howl tore through the night.

It was followed by dozens more.

Kael's expression became grim.

“They're here.”

Aria looked toward the darkness beyond the doorway.

For the first time, she wasn't afraid of what she was.

She was afraid of what else might be out there.

And somewhere in the distance, hidden beyond the trees, another wolf opened its eyes beneath the red moon.