The clearing still echoed with the pack's howls when the first arrow fell.
It struck the earth just inches from Aria's feet, quivering in the blood-soaked soil. She froze, her heart leaping into her throat. The arrow gleamed under the blood moon's light not wood, not stone, but pure silver.
"Hunters!" someone screamed.
Chaos erupted. From the treeline, dozens of figures emerged, their crossbows loaded, blades glinting, eyes cold with merciless intent. These were not frightened villagers with makeshift weapons they were trained, armored, and prepared.
The hunters had been watching. Waiting. And now, with Damien weakened and the pack distracted, they struck.
Silver rained down like a storm. Arrows hissed through the air, embedding in the ground, the trees, the flesh of wolves who hadn't moved fast enough. Painful yelps filled the night as some collapsed, writhing, silver burning through their veins.
Damien's golden eyes blazed. He shoved Aria behind him, his body trembling with both exhaustion and fury. "Stay with the others!" he barked, before shifting once more, despite the fresh wounds still bleeding from his duel.
Aria's chest ached at the sight of him, her Alpha, her mate throwing himself into another battle without rest. His golden form clashed with the hunters, teeth snapping, claws rending, his roars shaking the clearing.
But there were too many.
Wolves leapt to fight at his side, yet for every hunter they took down, two more pressed forward. Silver swords slashed, silver chains whipped, and the air filled with the stench of blood and burning fur.
Aria's heart pounded wildly. She wanted to run to Damien, to shield him, but Lila grabbed her arm, eyes wide with fear.
"You can't!" Lila hissed. "If they get you, Damien will break, he'll lose himself. You have to stay hidden."
But how could she hide while the man she loved bled for her?
Suddenly, a hunter broke through the chaos, lunging straight toward her. His blade flashed, silver catching the moonlight. Aria stumbled back, fear clawing up her throat. Before she could scream, a wolf barreled into the man, knocking him aside it was Lila. She shifted mid-leap, her body breaking, reforming, until sleek fur covered her. Her wolf eyes glowed, and she snarled, protecting Aria with everything she had.
Aria's breath caught. She had never seen Lila's wolf before, she didn't even know she had one.
But the hunters weren't aiming only for Damien or Lila. Their eyes were fixed on Aria. They knew who she was. They knew what she meant.
A man with cold, silver-ringed eyes stepped from the trees, taller and broader than the rest, his armor etched with ancient symbols. He leveled a silver spear at her.
"The half-blood," he spat. "Kill her, and the Alpha falls."
Damien heard. His roar tore through the night like a promise of death. He charged, tearing through hunters with unstoppable rage, his golden fur now slick with blood. But even as he closed the distance, the leader's spear flew straight at Aria.
Time slowed.
Aria felt her heart stop, her breath freeze, her body too slow to move. The silver spear spun toward her chest, carrying with it death, destiny, the end.
Then fire erupted in her veins.
Her vision sharpened, her body surged with a strength not her own. She raised her hand instinctively, and with a crack like lightning, the spear froze midair hovering inches from her. The metal glowed, trembling, before shattering into fragments of silver dust that rained harmlessly to the ground.
Gasps filled the battlefield.
Aria staggered, clutching her chest, breath ragged. Power still pulsed through her, terrifying and wild, like a storm she couldn't control. The hunters faltered, their eyes wide. Even the wolves turned, staring at her in shock.
Damien bleeding, panting, golden eyes locked on her whispered her name like a vow. "Aria…"
The tide shifted. The pack, renewed by awe and fury, rallied around their Alpha and his mate. Howls filled the night, rising in a chorus that drowned out the hunters' shouts. Wolves lunged, tearing into their enemies with newfound strength.
But Aria barely heard them. Her body trembled with the remnants of power, her mind reeling. She didn't know what she had done. She didn't know how.
All she knew was this something inside her had awakened. Something that made her more than wolf, more than human.
And under the blood moon, with silver burning in the ground and bodies strewn across the clearing, both hunters and wolves realized the same truth.
Aria was no longer just caught between two worlds.
She was becoming the storm that could destroy them all.