The moon hung low, casting pale silver light across the training grounds behind the Crescent Pack's stronghold. The air was thick with smoke from the torches lining the perimeter. Aria stood in the center, her limbs sore from hours of relentless sparring. Sweat clung to her skin, but her heart beat with something far stronger than fatigue — determination.
Kael had pushed her harder than ever. No gentle glances tonight. No teasing smirks. Just sharp commands and brutal, precise strikes. She knew why — the Elders were coming. They needed to see her strength. They needed to believe in the prophecy's girl.
"I don't want them to believe," she muttered under her breath. "I want them to fear me."
"Good," Kael said behind her, his voice low and unreadable. "Then you're finally understanding what it takes to survive in this world."
She turned to face him. His golden eyes gleamed beneath the moonlight, unreadable but watching — always watching. "Survive, yes. But I also want to win."
Kael stepped closer, sweat glistening along his arms, the scent of ash and steel on him. "Then stop holding back."
His sudden nearness pulled something taut in her chest. Her wolf stirred.
But before she could respond, the wind shifted — and with it came a scent that didn't belong. Something old. Cold.
She and Kael both turned simultaneously.
"Vampire," he growled. "And not the kind that asks for permission."
Aria followed his gaze to the tree line. A figure emerged, tall and cloaked in black. His skin was pale as bone, and his eyes burned red — not with bloodlust, but something more ancient.
Kael stepped in front of her instinctively.
"Get back inside," he ordered.
"No," Aria said firmly. "I need to see this."
The vampire didn't attack. He stopped several feet away, hands raised in a mock gesture of peace. "I mean no harm," he said, voice silken and laced with a dark accent. "I came to speak to her."
Kael snarled, but Aria stepped around him.
"I don't take orders from your kind," she said, folding her arms. "So speak."
The vampire smiled — not kindly. "You have no idea what's coming, girl. The prophecy the wolves cling to? It's flawed. Incomplete. You're a piece of something much older… and far more dangerous."
"What do you know about the prophecy?" she demanded.
He tilted his head. "Only that if you keep trusting the wrong people, you'll never live to see its fulfillment."
"What do you mean wrong people?"
The vampire's gaze flicked to Kael — briefly, deliberately. "He's not the only one keeping secrets from you."
Before Kael could lunge, the vampire vanished into mist, leaving the air colder and heavier.
Kael swore under his breath. "You should've let me kill him."
Aria faced him. "What is he talking about, Kael? What secrets?"
Kael's jaw tightened. "It's not the time."
She stepped closer, fists clenched. "Make it the time."
But he just turned and stalked off toward the barracks.
Aria stood alone, heart pounding, smoke curling around her. The world was shifting beneath her feet — and she wasn't sure who to trust anymore.
From the shadows, someone else was watching.
Darian.
His violet eyes flickered with something like sorrow. He had heard it all.
And he knew she'd come to him soon.
Because secrets always crave the light.
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