The storm had quieted, but inside me, everything screamed.
The world was spinning when the light finally faded. My lungs burned, my head pounded, and my hands… my hands were glowing. Thin veins of red light pulsed beneath my skin, crawling up my arms like living fire.
"Kael?" I whispered, coughing through the smoke. "Kael!"
Silence.
The Alpha's room was in ruins. The floor was cracked, the walls scorched black, and the window shattered into a thousand glittering shards. Only the echo of the storm outside answered me.
I pushed myself to my feet, shaking, scanning the room for him. Nothing — no scent, no shadow, no trace. Just that faint metallic tang of blood and magic.
Then I saw it — a mark burned into the wooden floorboards. A symbol I recognized from the ritual circle. Only this one glowed brighter, fresher… alive.
I stepped closer. The mark pulsed once, twice, and then a voice — Kael's voice — echoed faintly through my mind.
"Don't follow me."
I froze. It wasn't a memory. It was him.
The bond had awakened fully.
Tears stung my eyes. "Kael, where are you?"
No answer this time. Just the cold wind whispering through the broken window.
I wrapped a cloak around my shoulders and stepped into the hall. The packhouse was eerily silent, too silent. The guards were gone, doors open, candles extinguished. Something had happened — something bigger than the attack.
I descended the stairs and entered the main hall. There, scattered across the marble floor, were claw marks — deep and fresh. Blood smeared the walls. But the scent wasn't Kael's.
It was mine.
"What…?" My voice shook. I stared at my hands again — the faint red glow had faded, but the blood beneath my nails was real.
Had I done this?
The thought made my stomach twist. No. I wouldn't believe it. I couldn't. But the whisper that followed me through the corridors said otherwise.
You are your mother's daughter.
I turned sharply, searching the shadows. "Who's there?"
Nothing.
Only a flicker of movement near the window — a figure cloaked in black, watching me.
"Show yourself!"
The figure tilted its head. When it spoke, its voice was soft, female, almost familiar.
"You shouldn't have touched the blood, Aria. It called to you because it's part of you."
I took a step back. "Who are you?"
The hood slipped slightly, and I saw a pair of silver eyes — just like Kael's, but colder. Older.
"I'm what your mother feared you would become," the woman whispered. "The true Blood Luna."
Before I could move, she raised her hand — and the air around me froze. My body locked, my breath caught in my throat.
"You were supposed to die the night of the fire," she continued. "But your mother interfered. She bound half the curse to Kael, and the other half to you. Now the bond is complete again… and the curse will claim what it's owed."
She stepped closer. I could feel the chill radiating from her, smell the faint metallic scent of magic.
"You can't run from this," she said. "Not anymore."
And just like that — she vanished into smoke.
The air released me, and I fell to my knees, gasping. My whole body trembled.
Kael was gone. The curse was awake. And now… someone else knew who I really was.
I pressed a shaking hand against my wrist, feeling the pulse of that red mark beneath my skin.
It didn't hurt anymore.
It hummed. Like it was alive. Like it was waiting.
The door burst open — a young pack warrior stumbled in, his face pale, his uniform torn.
"Luna—" He froze when he saw me. "You're alive."
I stared at him. "Where is Kael?"
His throat bobbed. "He's gone. The Alpha… he vanished into the forest. The Blood Moon took him."
The Blood Moon.
My mother once said the moon didn't curse — it chose. And if that was true, then maybe this wasn't punishment. Maybe it was a test.
I looked out at the storm still raging beyond the gates.
If the Blood Moon had taken Kael, then I would bring him back.
Even if it meant facing the darkness that wanted me dead.