Chapter Four: The Price of FireAria's POV
I was still rinsing the scent of Kael from my skin when the knock came again.
Not a hard slam this time. Not Elder Bram or Lucian.
This knock was silent authority soft but commanding. The kind that didn't need to announce itself to be obeyed.
I knew before I opened the door that it was over.
Two guards waited outside. Their heads were bowed, but their eyes were cold and unreadable.
"The Elders request your presence," one of them said.
I didn't ask why. I didn't need to. The air in the compound had shifted like a blade drawn from a sheath. Everyone knew something had happened. Everyone could feel the weight of a secret crawling across their skin.
I followed them in silence, barefoot, the hem of my robe trailing behind me like a ghost. Every step forward tasted like betrayal.
They led me not to the Hall of the Elders but to the stone chamber beneath it.
The trial chamber.
I stiffened. "Why are we going down here?"
No answer.
Just the grinding sound of the iron door opening ahead.
And the scent.
I caught it before I saw him.
Kael.
Blood. Chains. Pain.
I rushed forward, but the guards blocked my way.
Through the bars of the holding cell, I saw him shirtless, wrists bound in silver shackles, his skin cut and bruised. His eyes found mine instantly, and even in the low light, I saw it:
He wasn't afraid.
He was furious.
"Aria," he rasped, voice hoarse. "You shouldn't be here."
"I had to be here," I whispered. "What have they done to you?"
"I surrendered," he said. "To protect you."
The words struck me like a blow.
I turned to the guards. "Let me speak to the Elders. Now."
As if summoned by my voice, Elder Bram emerged from the shadows, hands clasped behind his back. Calm. Controlled. Cruel.
"There is nothing left to discuss, Lady Aria," he said. "Kael Darkwood is charged with betrayal of the Alpha line, violation of sacred bonds, and high treason against the future of this pack."
I stepped between Kael and the bars, planting myself like a shield.
"And what is my charge?" I asked coldly. "Loving the wrong brother?"
"You were never in danger," Bram replied smoothly. "But he… he corrupted a fated match. He's a threat to our bloodline."
"He's not a threat," I snapped. "He's a better man than all of you combined."
Bram's eyes flicked to the guards. "Remove her."
Kael's voice cut through the air like a blade. "Don't touch her!"
The guards hesitated.
Bram stepped forward. "You will bond with Lucian tonight, Aria. As the Moon Decree demands. This boy's life ends with the ceremony."
"No," I whispered. "You don't decide my future."
"We do," he said, eyes hard. "That's what it means to be born under the Moon Law. You were chosen. You belong to the Alpha heir."
"I don't belong to anyone."
I turned back to Kael, hands gripping the cold bars. His forehead leaned against mine, the iron between us burning both our skin.
"I will stop this," I said, my voice trembling. "I'll do whatever it takes. I won't let them kill you."
His hand reached through the bars, fingers bruised, shaking, but he touched my face like I was still something soft and sacred.
"They'll destroy you for choosing me," he whispered. "Don't make my mistake."
"This isn't a mistake," I said, tears burning my throat. "You're the only thing that's ever felt real."
The guards stepped forward again. This time, I didn't resist. I let them drag me away from the bars, my fingers sliding from Kael's.
But before I was pulled through the door, I turned to Bram.
"This bond means nothing if it's sealed in blood," I told him. "You can chain us, silence us, threaten us but you can't control what's in our hearts."
Bram smiled faintly. "Hearts are easily silenced, child. All it takes is a blade."
I was dressed in ceremonial white.
The fabric clung to me like it was sewn from snow and lies. Soft, pure, suffocating.
They braided silver chains into my hair. Laced me with moon-oil. Painted sacred symbols down my spine marks that meant obedience, devotion, submission.
And through it all, I said nothing.
I let them prepare me for a ritual I no longer believed in. I let them whisper prayers I'd stopped believing as a girl. I let them wrap me in silk and silver and pretend I was a gift not a prisoner.
Because I had a plan.
Because I had fire in my blood now, and love in my bones, and I would not walk to that altar quietly.
As the drums began, and the moon rose above the trees, I stepped out onto the platform.
The entire pack was gathered. Lucian stood beneath the Moon Arch, draped in black and gold. He didn't smile when he saw me.
Good.
I didn't smile either.
Bram stood beside the High Priestess, hands raised. "Tonight, we bind Alpha to mate, future to present, tradition to legacy"
"Stop."
My voice wasn't loud.
But it silenced the clearing.
All eyes turned to me.
"I will not be bonded," I said. "Not tonight. Not to him."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Lucian's jaw clenched. "Aria, don't do this."
"I'm already doing it," I said, stepping forward. "You think you can kill Kael and expect me to stand here like a silent bride? You think I'll smile while his blood stains the altar? You don't know me at all."
Bram raised his hand. "Guards"
I raised mine first. "If you touch me, I'll make sure the whole pack hears what happened in that prison cell. What you did to Kael. The beating. The chains. The execution planned like a sacrifice."
They hesitated.
Whispers broke out.
Doubt had begun to spread.
Lucian stepped forward. "You're mine, Aria."
I turned to him slowly. "No. I was never yours. You wanted obedience. I gave you silence. You wanted a queen, but I am not built for your throne. I was built for war."
A beat of silence passed.
Then I dropped the ceremonial dagger at his feet.
"I choose my own fate," I said.
And then I ran.
Not away from the pack.
But toward the prison.
Toward Kael.
Toward the only future I had left worth fighting for.
Suddenly my eyes began to blurrr
I fell on the floor and my eyes shut