Aria had thought the forest's whispers and the Alpha's howl were the only things haunting her.
She was wrong.
Lydia returned from the woods that morning like someone else entirely. Her red hair, usually a wild, fiery halo around her face, hung limp as if weighed down by secrets. Her eyes, bright and sharp yesterday, were now distant, shadowed. She moved slowly, almost cautiously, as if treading on invisible cracks in the ground.
"Lila?" Aria called softly from the doorstep, heart lurching.
Lila froze mid-step. Her gaze snapped to Aria, wide with a mix of fear and relief, before darting toward the house. "Aria… you need to listen to me." Her voice trembled, quieter than usual.
Aria frowned. "What happened? You were just in the forest. Did something"
"Don't." Lila cut her off, shaking her head. Her hands fisted at her sides, knuckles white. "You don't understand. You can't… not yet."
Aria's pulse quickened. The forest. Damien. The howl. Everything that had been gnawing at her chest suddenly seemed to converge here, in Lila's strange, haunted eyes.
"Try me," Aria said, stepping closer. "I can't… I can't pretend anymore. Something's happening, Lila. Something's wrong with me. With the forest. With…" She swallowed, the words choking her. "With him."
Lydia's lips parted, then pressed together tightly. She shook her head again. "You don't know the half of it. I shouldn't even be telling you, but...." She exhaled shakily, then glanced over her shoulder, as though afraid someone or something was listening.
Aria followed her friend into the small living room. The sunlight streaming through the windows did little to chase away the chill that had settled between them.
Lila sank onto the couch, burying her face in her hands. "I saw something," she whispered finally. "In the forest. Near the old ruins. And it wasn't just wolves."
Aria's stomach clenched. "Not wolves?"
"No," Lila said, lifting her face. Her eyes were wide, haunted. "They weren't normal. They moved like shadows, but… bigger. Smarter. And the eyes… golden. They watched me. All of me."
Aria's breath caught. She wanted to tell herself it was a coincidence, or some trick of light. But deep in her bones, she already knew it wasn't.
"Lila… are you saying it was....."
"Yes," Lila interrupted, shaking her head frantically. "I don't even know how I got out of there. They circled me. Whispered… names. Secrets. Warnings. And then…" Her voice cracked. "I heard your name. Over and over. Aria, they called you. They said you're" She swallowed hard, unable to finish.
Aria felt a chill run down her spine. Every hair on her arms stood on end. She couldn't think straight, couldn't breathe properly. Her heart was a drumbeat in her chest, louder than ever.
"Stop," she whispered. "Just… stop. Tell me everything."
Lila hesitated, then exhaled as though she'd been holding her breath for hours. "They know. They know about you. About… what's inside you. And they're not alone."
Aria felt her knees weaken. "Not alone? Lydia, I"
"Yes," Lydia said, her voice firm now. "I've been trying to protect you. But I can't anymore. You have to understand, the forest isn't just trees and shadows. It's alive. And it's watching. Waiting. The wolves… the Alpha… they've been calling you."
Aria pressed her palms to her temples. The memories of dreams, golden eyes, the stranger's taunts they all slammed together like thunder inside her skull. Her chest felt tight, as though something was clawing to break free.
"And the howl last night," Lila continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "I felt it too. Every fiber of my body did. I've never… I've never felt anything like it. And it wasn't just sound. It… it touched me. Pulled at something. You can't ignore it, Aria."
Aria's mind spun. "I can't ignore it. I don't want to." She whispered it almost without thinking. The truth had lodged itself inside her, unshakable. I want it.
Lila's eyes widened. "You don't understand. Wanting it is dangerous. It's the kind of pull that can… consume you if you're not careful."
Aria flinched at the warning, but a small, defiant part of her stirred. I've never been careful anyway.
Lila looked at her, torn between fear and urgency. "There's something else," she said. "Something I should have told you before. My mother… she" Her words caught in her throat. "She always spoke of the wolves. Of the Alpha. She said that once a person hears the call, once they feel it… there's no turning back. That person… becomes marked."
Aria's pulse jumped. Marked. That was the word she had sensed. That was the unspoken truth of her dreams, the stranger's gaze, the howl. She swallowed, trying to steady herself, but her own voice trembled.
"Marked?" she whispered. "Like… chosen?"
"Yes," Lila said softly. "But it's not just… honor. It's danger. It's power. And it's not yours to control. At least, not yet."
Aria's head spun. Her hands shook, and she felt the heat rise beneath her skin again. Her chest ached with longing, confusion, and fear. And above all, a strange exhilaration she didn't understand.
"Why me?" she demanded finally. "Why would the Alpha… or the forest… or whoever, choose me?"
Lila's gaze softened, tinged with sadness. "Because you're different, Aria. Always have been. You feel more than most, see more than most. You… are meant for something greater. But that doesn't mean it's safe. And it doesn't mean you're ready."
Aria pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the pulse of something wild inside her. The dreams, the howl, the stranger in the forest they all pointed to one undeniable truth. She wasn't like other people anymore. She never had been.
And the forest, the Alpha… they knew it.
Her stomach twisted at the thought. She didn't want to be different. She wanted normal. And yet… she couldn't deny the thrill running through her veins. The pull she felt toward the forest. Toward the unknown. Toward him.
"Lila," she said finally, her voice trembling but determined, "I can't ignore it. I won't."
Lila's eyes filled with worry, but she didn't stop her friend. Instead, she reached out, gripping Aria's hands tightly. "Then you have to be careful," she said. "Promise me. Don't let the pull take you before you're ready. You need to understand yourself first. Otherwise…" She let the warning hang in the air, unspoken but heavy.
Aria nodded, though the truth was she wasn't sure she could keep that promise. Not after feeling the Alpha's howl in her bones, not after seeing the golden eyes and hearing her name called through the forest.
She woke in the stillness of the night, the kind of silence that pressed against the walls and made every breath sound louder than it should. The darkness of her room was familiar, yet it felt strangely foreign, as though he had been gone too long and returned to a place only half remembered.
For a moment, she told herself it had been a dream the vivid images, the voices that lingered, the weight of something that felt too real to belong to sleep. Dreams were supposed to fade, but this one clung stubbornly, etched into her as though it had been lived.
Deep inside, a quiet certainty stirred. It whispered that what she had seen, what she had felt, was no illusion. The night was real, the memory was real only the world around him insisted otherwise.
That night, Aria lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling the thrum of something alive and ancient running beneath her skin. The room felt smaller, constricted, like it could barely contain the fire growing inside her.
And somewhere in the darkness, beyond the edge of Ravenhill, a lone figure watched her from the forest, head tipped back, lips parted in a silent, commanding howl.
The call would come again.
And she would answer.