The forest didn't smell like life anymore.
It smelled of iron and smoke and death.
The Hollow, once sacred ground where wolves had gathered for generations, was now nothing but ruin. Trees lay splintered, their bark scorched black. The moonlight flickered through the drifting ash like dying embers.
Aria walked among the bodies in silence. The Hunters she'd slaughtered were sprawled in grotesque stillness — eyes open, faces twisted in terror. But worse were the wolves. Some had been caught in her fury, their bodies torn apart by the same surge that had saved her.
Her hands trembled. The blood on her skin had dried to rust, yet she could still feel its warmth. Still hear their screams.
Lucian stood a few paces away, leaning against a fallen trunk. His ribs were bound, his breathing rough. But he didn't speak. He just watched her, like a man who'd seen too many ghosts.
Finally, Aria whispered, "They were innocent."
Lucian's voice came low, steady. "So were you."
She turned sharply. "Don't. Don't make excuses for what I did."
"I'm not. I'm reminding you who forced you to do it." He pushed away from the trunk, every movement pained but deliberate. "The Hunters came to kill you. They left you no choice."
Aria laughed bitterly, brushing her hair from her face. "No choice? Lucian, I didn't fight them. I ended them. I felt their fear, their pain — and I didn't stop."
Lucian took a step closer. "Because it wasn't just you."
Her eyes flicked to his.
"It was her," he said softly. "The thing inside you. The Blood Queen."
The words hung between them, heavy and poisonous.
Aria looked down at her trembling hands. "She's not a thing. She's a hunger. A voice that whispers when I breathe. And every time I listen, it feels… right."
Lucian clenched his jaw. "That's what she wants."
"And what if it's what I want too?" Aria asked, voice cracking. "What if I'm tired of being hunted, of bowing to fate, of bleeding for a world that would rather see me burn?"
Lucian froze. The pain in her voice gutted him. She wasn't just becoming something darker — she was starting to believe she deserved it.
He moved closer, reaching out to touch her face. But the air between them pulsed, a faint red shimmer pushing his hand back. The mark burned against his skin.
"Don't," she whispered. "The mark doesn't recognize you anymore."
He lowered his hand, his chest tightening. "Maybe not the mark. But you do."
She looked away.
In the distance, a single howl pierced the silence — long, low, mournful. Then another joined it. And another. Soon, the night was alive with the sound of wolves mourning their dead.
Lucian's eyes darkened. "The packs know."
"They'll come for me," Aria said.
"They'll come for both of us," he replied. "You think they'll believe I didn't help you do this?"
A flicker of guilt crossed her face. "Then you should leave. Before they find you."
"I'm not leaving you."
"Lucian—"
"Don't ask me to walk away again," he snapped, his voice breaking. "Every time I try, you pull me back. Even when the world calls you monster, I see you."
Her lips parted, her breath catching. For a second, the old warmth flickered — the bond they'd shared before blood and prophecy tore it apart.
But it didn't last.
The ground trembled. The air thickened with power. The ashes around them began to swirl, drawn into a spiral that pulsed with red light.
Lucian's head snapped up. "Aria… what's happening?"
Her eyes widened as whispers filled the clearing — countless voices speaking in a language older than time. The ashes gathered, rising higher and higher until they formed a figure cloaked in smoke and shadow.
A woman's voice echoed through the night. You've spilled the blood, child. Now claim the throne.
Aria stepped back. "Who are you?"
You know me, the shadow said. You carry my name. You wear my mark.
Lucian bared his teeth. "The Blood Queen."
The figure smiled, her face half-formed but beautiful in a way that made the heart ache. You've freed me from the Hollow. My spirit walks again because you were strong enough to destroy mercy.
"I didn't want this," Aria whispered.
Then why does your soul sing with my power?
Aria trembled. "What do you want from me?"
Everything, the Queen said simply. The packs are leaderless. The Alphas divided. The Hunters will return. Take what's yours — before they take your heart.
Lucian moved in front of her, defiant. "She's not yours to command."
The Queen tilted her head. Oh, she's more mine than yours ever were. You were born to protect her… or to die by her hand.
Before he could react, the Queen dissolved into red mist — and sank into Aria's body.
Aria screamed, collapsing to her knees. Her veins lit up like fire, the mark blazing so bright it illuminated the night. Lucian caught her before she hit the ground, his heart pounding.
"Aria!" He shook her shoulders. "Stay with me!"
Her eyes flew open, glowing brighter than the moon itself. When she spoke, it wasn't her voice anymore.
"The Queen has risen."
And then everything went still.
Lucian stared at her, chest heaving, as the moon dimmed above them — as if bowing to a new ruler.
He knew then what the Hollow's seers had whispered centuries ago was true.
The Blood Queen wasn't just a story.
She was reborn in the woman he loved.
And the world would never be the same again.