Dorian awoke with a jolt, heart racing, a phantom pain stabbing through his chest. His breath came in short gasps as he sat up in his tent, surrounded by the silence of his temporary encampment at the borderlands.
The bond had shifted.
No—fractured.
He felt it like a blade buried in his sternum, something sacred buckling under pressure. Aria was slipping through his fingers.
He shoved the blanket off and stormed from the tent, ignoring his packmates' questions. They were loyal. But they didn't know what was at stake. Not really.
The witch's glade was cloaked in mist and silence, the air always too cold. He found her near the blackened altar, feeding bones into a low fire.
"She's pulling away," he growled.
The witch didn't look up. "You knew she would."
"You said the binding would hold."
"I said it would buy you time. But you were too slow. She's awakening, and he's found her."
Dorian's fists clenched. "Kael."
The witch smirked. "Selene's stray hound. She raised him to protect the Sacred Luna. I warned you she wouldn't stay docile forever."
"I just needed her power," he snapped. "One surge. One ritual. I could bring Carys back."
"Could. Past tense."
He turned on her. "You promised me—"
"I promised nothing," the witch hissed, eyes glowing faintly red. "You came to me, grieving and weak. I offered you a path. You chose betrayal. And now the Sacred Luna begins to rise—and not for you."
Dorian's hands shook with rage. "I still have time. I can win her back."
"She won't be won. Not anymore. She's touched the old light. She's remembering."
The fire in the pit flared suddenly—shimmering silver for a moment before fading back to ash.
The witch looked at it, then back at Dorian.
"You've lost your hold, little Alpha. And now you have a choice."
"What choice?"
"Let her go… or break her."
His breath caught.
Break her?
He thought of Aria's smile. Her fire. Her warmth beneath his hands. Her eyes the moment she realized she was his mate.
Then he thought of Carys.
Cold. Lifeless. Gone.
Dorian stepped into the circle of bone-dust without hesitation.
"Then show me how to finish what we started."