Aria's POV
"A blood witch?" I stumbled backward, my hand still tingling where it had touched Cade's. "That's impossible. Blood witches are—they're extinct. The Council killed them all centuries ago."
"Apparently not all of them." Cade circled me slowly, studying me like I was a puzzle he was trying to solve. "Your parents knew. That's why they kept you suppressed. Blood witch children show signs early—unusual healing, sensing other wolves, small moments of control. They must have noticed and started dosing you with suppressants when you were young."
My mind spun back through my childhood. The special tea Mom made me drink every morning. "For your health," she'd always said. The herbs Dad mixed into my food. "To make you strong."
They'd been poisoning me my whole life.
"That's why you're so weak," Cade continued. "Why your wolf never developed properly. Why you couldn't heal from the silver burns. The suppressants crippled you." He grabbed my arm again, examining the cuts that were now slowly starting to close. "But now that it's wearing off, your real power is waking up."
"I don't want this power!" My voice cracked. "Blood witches are monsters. They're—"
"They're dangerous to people who want to control others," Cade interrupted. "The Council didn't kill them because they were evil. They killed them because blood witches can't be forced to obey. Can't be dominated by Alphas. Can't be chained by pack bonds." His smile was cold. "They were free. And that made them a threat."
I thought about the mate bond that still ached in my chest. Dominic's rejection. The way he'd looked through me like I was nothing.
If I'd had this power then, he couldn't have ignored me.
"What happens now?" I whispered.
"Now?" Cade released me and walked back to his desk. "Now I make you an offer. Blood witches are illegal. The Council has a standing execution order for anyone with blood magic. If I turn you in, they'll kill you immediately. No trial. No mercy."
My stomach dropped. "You're going to kill me."
"I didn't say that." He sat down, steepling his fingers. "I said I could turn you in. But I'm a businessman, Aria. And you're worth far more to me alive."
"What do you want?"
"Your power. Your loyalty. Your complete cooperation." His eyes were sharp as broken glass. "Work for me. Use your abilities to help Blood Moon expand our territory and protect our operations. In exchange, I'll keep you hidden from the Council, train you to control your magic, and give you protection."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I deliver you to the Council and collect the reward they're offering for blood witches." He shrugged like it was nothing. "Your choice."
Some choice. Death or servitude.
But then I thought about my parents. About Dominic. About everyone who'd thrown me away like garbage. They'd all assumed I was weak. Powerless. Nothing.
What would their faces look like when they found out what I really was?
"If I agree," I said slowly, "I want something in return."
Cade raised an eyebrow. "You're not really in a position to negotiate."
"You need me cooperative, not resentful." I forced my voice to stay steady even though I was shaking. "I want my friend Zara moved to better conditions. I want to learn everything about what I am. And I want..." I hesitated. "I want revenge on the people who did this to me."
"Your parents?"
"Everyone." The word came out sharper than I intended. "My parents. The pack that laughed at me. The Alpha who rejected me. Everyone who made me feel worthless."
Something like approval flickered across Cade's face. "Now you're talking like someone who wants to survive." He stood and extended his hand. "We have a deal, Aria Blackwood. You work for me, I protect you and help you become powerful enough to destroy everyone who wronged you."
I stared at his hand. This was a deal with a devil. Cade Winters was dangerous, ruthless, and probably had his own dark agenda. But he was also the only person offering me a way forward instead of a grave.
I took his hand.
The moment our skin touched, that strange sensation flooded through me again. I could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady. Could sense his wolf, powerful and controlled. And underneath it all, something else—a darkness that matched the growing darkness in my own chest.
"Good girl," Cade said softly. "Now let's see what you can really do."
He took me to a different part of the warehouse—a training room with concrete walls and drains in the floor. The scarred man brought in a rogue wolf, hands bound, looking terrified.
"This is Vincent," Cade said casually. "He tried to steal from me last week. Normally I'd just kill him, but today he's going to help with your education."
"What?" I backed away. "I'm not going to hurt him—"
"You already are." Cade gestured to Vincent, who was now staring at me with wide, fearful eyes. "He can feel it. Your power calling to his blood. Every wolf in this building can feel it now that you're awake."
I concentrated, trying to sense what he meant. And there it was—a connection between me and Vincent, thin as a spider's thread but real. I could feel his pulse. His fear. His life.
"Blood magic isn't just about control," Cade explained. "It's about connection. Every drop of blood is a doorway. You can sense through it, influence through it, take through it." He moved behind Vincent. "Now, make him kneel."
"I don't know how—"
"Yes, you do. The power knows. You just have to let it work."
I looked at Vincent. He was trembling, sweat running down his face. I didn't want to hurt him. Didn't want to be the monster everyone said blood witches were.
But I also remembered kneeling in front of Dominic while the pack laughed. Remembered begging my parents not to sell me while they looked away.
I was tired of being powerless.
I reached for that thread connecting me to Vincent's blood and pulled.
He dropped to his knees with a cry of pain, his body obeying me instead of his own mind.
"Good," Cade said. "Now make him bow."
"Cade, please—"
"Do it, Aria. Or I'll assume you're too weak to be useful."
The threat was clear. Be the weapon he needed or become disposable.
I pulled harder on the thread. Vincent's head bent forward until his forehead touched the concrete. He was shaking, whimpering, completely under my control.
And God help me, part of me liked it.
"Excellent." Cade's voice held satisfaction. "You're a natural. Now release him."
I let go, and Vincent collapsed, gasping. The scarred man dragged him out while I stood there, staring at my hands. They looked normal. But I could still feel the echo of Vincent's blood, the memory of that absolute control.
"How do you feel?" Cade asked.
"Powerful." The word slipped out before I could stop it. "And terrified."
"That's the right response." He handed me a towel to wipe the sweat from my face. "Power without fear makes monsters. Fear without power makes victims. You need both to survive what's coming."
"What do you mean, what's coming?"
Cade walked to the door, then paused. "Your awakening wasn't subtle, Aria. Every sensitive wolf within a hundred miles felt that power surge when the suppressants broke. Which means others know a blood witch has emerged." He looked back at me, his expression serious. "The Council will send hunters. Other packs will want to either capture you or kill you. And your old pack..." He smiled coldly. "Well, Alpha Thorne is going to realize exactly what he threw away."
My heart stuttered at Dominic's name. The mate bond flared with pain and longing, but underneath it now was something new. Something dark and hungry.
"Let them come," I heard myself say. "Let them all come."
"That's my girl." Cade opened the door. "Get some rest. Training starts at dawn, and it won't be gentle. You have a lot to learn and not much time."
He left, the door clicking shut behind him.
I was alone in the training room, blood still singing in my veins, power still crackling under my skin. I looked at my hands again—hands that could make wolves kneel, that could sense life and take it.
Somewhere far away, I felt the mate bond pulling me toward Dominic. Toward the man who'd rejected me, humiliated me, destroyed me.
I smiled.
He had no idea what was coming for him.
None of them did.