The air split with chaos. Damien's roar shook the clearing as he ripped through the hunters, golden eyes blazing like fire against the night. His massive wolf form was a storm of claws and fangs, tearing weapons apart, snapping steel as though it were twigs. Blood sprayed, screams echoed, and still the hunters came driven by greed, hatred, and the promise of silver.
Aria pressed her back against the rough bark of a pine, her heart hammering so violently she thought it might break her ribs. Her breath came sharp, uneven, but her body trembled with something other than fear. It was power wild, primal, desperate surging in her veins. Her senses flared: she smelled the sharp bite of silver, the tang of blood, the bitter smoke of gunpowder. She heard every heartbeat in the clearing, every rasp of breath, every crack of bone.
And beneath it all, she felt Damien. The mate bond pulsed between them, raw and unyielding. Every strike he endured echoed in her chest like a wound. Every growl of rage vibrated in her bones. She couldn't wouldn't just stand by.
Another arrow streaked toward Damien, silver gleaming under the moon. Aria cried out instinctively, throwing her hand up. Heat shot down her arm, bursting from her fingertips in a flare of searing light. The arrow disintegrated mid-air, shattering into dust before it could strike him.
She froze, staring at her hand. It glowed faintly, veins lit like molten fire beneath her skin.
"What?" she whispered, breathless.
But there was no time to question. Another hunter lunged at her from the side, blade gleaming. She stumbled back, but the power in her veins surged again, instinctive. Her palm flared and the air cracked, hurling the man backward into a tree. His weapon clattered uselessly to the ground.
Aria's chest heaved. She hadn't meant to do it but she had. For the first time, she wasn't the helpless girl who needed saving. She was something more.
Damien's wolf slammed another hunter into the earth, teeth tearing through armor. His golden gaze flicked to her for a brief second shock, pride, relief all tangled in that glance before he turned back to the fight, unrelenting.
But the hunters hadn't come alone.
The crack of thunder split the sky not from the heavens, but from the edge of the clearing. Flames erupted suddenly, orange and violent, devouring the undergrowth. Trees lit like torches, smoke curling thick into the night. The hunters weren't just here to kill. They were here to burn it all.
Aria choked on the smoke as the fire spread with unnatural speed, racing through the clearing like it was alive. Heat licked at her skin, making her stumble backward. The sacred lake shimmered with reflected fire, silver light drowned by orange fury.
Damien howled, a sound of rage and anguish that tore through the night. This place their sanctuary was being destroyed before his eyes.
And then she heard it: another howl. Lower, darker, crueler. It rolled across the burning trees like thunder, silencing even the hunters for a moment. The sound made Aria's blood run cold. It was primal, commanding, and full of vicious delight.
From the inferno's edge stepped a wolf larger than any she had ever seen. Black as shadow, eyes burning red like coals. His fur seemed to drink in the fire, his presence suffocating. Around him, more wolves followed warriors, scarred and snarling, their allegiance clear.
Viktor.
Aria's breath caught. She had only heard whispers of him, Lydia's warnings murmured in hushed tones. A rival Alpha, ambitious and merciless, hungering for power. And now, here he was his crimson gaze fixed squarely on Damien.
"Damien!" Aria shouted, fear slicing through her voice.
Damien's wolf lifted his head, lips curling back in a feral snarl as he locked eyes with his enemy. The hunters fell back immediately, their purpose fulfilled. The fire was their weapon; the rest was Viktor's.
The black wolf padded into the clearing with slow, deliberate steps, savoring the destruction. His voice rumbled through the bond between Alpha wolves, low and mocking. "Still clinging to hope, old friend? Or should I say… old rival?"
Damien's growl was pure fury, vibrating through the flames. "You should never have come here."
Viktor's laugh echoed like a crack of thunder. "This forest, this land, this power it was wasted on you. But no longer. Tonight, the fire cleanses, and the pack will kneel to me." His gaze slid to Aria then, and his lips curled in a hungry smile. "And as for her… fate has delivered me a gift."
Aria's stomach turned. The bond between her and Damien flared with protective fire, a tether pulling her closer to him. She didn't need to hear words to know his thoughts: You're mine to protect.
The two Alphas circled, flames dancing around them, their massive forms casting monstrous shadows. Damien's golden eyes never left Viktor's crimson ones, each step a silent promise of violence. The pack's future balanced on the razor's edge between them.
The black wolf lunged first. Their clash was cataclysmic. Fang met fang, claw against claw, their roars shaking the burning forest. Sparks rained as their bodies crashed against the earth, each strike echoing like thunder. Damien fought with ferocity born of love and desperation, every movement fueled by his need to shield Aria. Viktor fought with cruel precision, every strike calculated to kill.
Aria's hands burned with power, trembling as firelight caught the gold flickering in her irises. She wanted to rush in, to fight beside Damien but the sheer force of the two Alphas locked in combat froze her. It was like watching gods collide, unstoppable and terrible.
Around them, lesser wolves clashed with hunters in the burning woods, screams and howls blending into a single chorus of war. The sacred lake hissed as flames licked its edge, steam rising in ghostly clouds. The night was no longer silent it was a battlefield.
Damien staggered as Viktor's jaws tore into his shoulder, silver-coated teeth leaving a searing wound. He roared in agony but retaliated immediately, slamming Viktor to the ground with brute strength. The earth shook beneath them. Aria cried out, her body lurching forward, but the bond between them screamed at her to stay back to trust him.
But could she? Could she just stand there while he bled for her?
Her vision blurred, her skin burning with the force of the power inside her. She felt it building, wild and untamed, threatening to burst free. Smoke filled her lungs, heat scorched her skin, but her focus locked on Damien his blood, his pain, his unwavering fight. And something inside her snapped.
Her scream tore through the clearing, and with it, a wave of raw energy erupted from her body. Flames bent away from her, curving back on themselves as though repelled. The ground shuddered, cracks splitting through the soil as the very air ignited with golden light.
Both Alphas froze mid-clash, eyes snapping toward her. For a heartbeat, the entire battlefield stilled, every wolf, every hunter, staring at the girl standing in the center of the fire, her body glowing like the moon itself.
Aria's chest heaved, her hair whipping wildly in the heated wind. Her hands burned with light, golden veins shimmering through her skin. The power wasn't just hers. It was ancient, primal, echoing with the voice she had heard in dreams.
"You will not take him from me!" she cried, her voice reverberating like thunder.
The flames recoiled violently, surging upward into a towering wall that cut the clearing in two. Damien on one side, Viktor on the other. The fire roared like a living beast, obeying her will.
Viktor's red eyes narrowed, gleaming with something darker than rage hunger. "So. The little flame awakens."
Damien's wolf staggered to her side, golden eyes wide with shock but fierce with pride. He pressed close, his massive body trembling with blood and exhaustion, but unbroken. His gaze told her what words could not: You are more than I ever imagined.
The flames raged higher, the battlefield illuminated in orange and gold. The war had begun. And nothing would ever be the same again.