The forest was alive with silence the kind that comes before a storm. Every tree seemed to hold its breath, every shadow stretched longer, deeper, as if the earth itself knew what was about to happen.
Aria crouched low on the ridge, her gray eyes scanning the valley below. The hunters' camp sprawled at the edge of the clearing, crude fires burning, their weapons glinting faintly in the moonlight. They thought themselves hidden, safe. But they had no idea the wolves were watching.
Behind her, the pack was restless, paws scraping against dirt, claws flexing, low growls rolling through the night air like thunder just beneath the surface. They were ready. Hungry.
Damien moved up beside her, golden eyes sharp and unyielding. "This is it," he murmured. "The hunters are weakest here. Viktor's arrogance will be his downfall."
Aria's heart thudded, not from fear but from the weight of what was to come. She had risen. The pack had accepted her. Now, she had to lead them into the fire.
Her gaze swept over the wolves gathered behind her scarred warriors, grieving families, the young and the old. Their faces told stories of loss and resilience, but their eyes all carried the same thing: belief. In Damien. In her.
She stood, her voice carrying clear across the ridge. "Tonight, we end this. Not for revenge. Not for blood. But for freedom. For every wolf taken, for every life shattered. No more hiding. No more chains. Tonight, Ravencrest rises."
A chorus of growls answered her, rising in intensity until it was nearly deafening. The energy surged through her veins like lightning, feeding her fire.
Damien's lips curved in a small, fierce smile. "Luna," he said, with a nod that was both acknowledgment and trust.
She nodded back. Then she shifted.
Her body melted into fur and muscle, her storm-gray wolf bursting forth with a power she had never fully embraced until now. She stood taller than before, her aura fierce, her howl a call that made the hunters below pause in their movements, confusion rippling through their camp.
The pack shifted with her, their forms exploding into fur, claws, and fangs. An army of shadows, their eyes glowing in the night.
"Now," Damien's Alpha voice cut through the tension like steel.
And the wolves descended.
The forest erupted into chaos. Hunters scrambled for their weapons, shouting commands, but they were too late. Wolves burst into their camp like a tidal wave, ripping through tents, scattering men. The clash of steel against claw rang through the clearing.
Aria fought with fire in her veins. Every movement was instinct sharpened by fury. She tore through a hunter's blade with her jaws, leaping onto another before he could raise his crossbow. Around her, the pack fought as one, a storm of teeth and fury.
Then she saw him.
Viktor.
He stood at the center of the camp, towering, armored in black, a cruel smile on his face as if the chaos around him were a game. His eyes locked on hers, gleaming with malice.
"So," he sneered, drawing a massive blade that gleamed with silver edges, "the little girl thinks she can play Luna."
Aria growled, the sound reverberating from her chest, low and deadly. She stepped forward, every muscle coiled, ready. Damien was at her side instantly, but Viktor only laughed.
"Two wolves, one heart. I'll tear it out of both of you."
The battle around them blurred. The noise, the screams, the clash of metal it all fell away as Viktor advanced. He was the storm they had been preparing for, the shadow Lydia had warned her of, the darkness that had hunted them for years.
But Aria was no longer a girl haunted by fear. She was the Luna of Ravencrest.
And tonight, she would end this.