Aria's POV
The wedding gown felt like a shroud as I made my way back to my chambers, the fabric swishing against the stone floors like a ghost. As I went, Raine's warning lingered in my mind: Stay out of my way. Do what is required, nothing more.
I closed the door behind me, leaning against it as the weight of the day crashed over me.
Luna.
The title meant nothing here—not without love, not without trust.
I stripped off the gown, letting it pool at my feet like discarded dreams, and slipped into a simple nightdress. The fire in the hearth had burned low, casting flickering shadows that danced in the room.
I climbed into the bed, pulling the covers tight, but sleep wouldn't come. The silence was too loud, too empty.
Lira, I whispered inwardly, reaching for that faint spark within me. Please… say something. Anything.
Nothing. Only a weak flutter, like a bird with broken wings, too scared to fly. She'd been like this for years—silent, dormant, a shadow of what a wolf should be. I closed my eyes, willing her to respond, but the darkness pulled me under instead, dragging me back to memories I'd long tried to bury.
***
The night the rogues came was filled with fire and blood. I was six, small and hidden behind a pile of rocks near the pack's northern border. The air reeked of smoke and fear, the howls of my parents' packmates tearing through the night like thunder.
My mother had shoved me into the hiding spot, her eyes desperate. "Stay here, Aria. Don't make a sound. Your father and I will come for you."
But they didn't.
I watched from the shadows as the rogues descended—feral wolves with eyes like burning coals, their fur matted with the blood of those they'd already slain. My father fought like a storm, his massive gray wolf form ripping into them, teeth and claws flashing. My mother was beside him, her silver fur gleaming under the moonlight as she protected his flank.
"Lira!" I had whispered then, feeling the first stirrings of my wolf deep inside. She was young, just awakening, but the fear choked her. "We have to help them!"
But Lira froze. The terror was too much—the snarls, the screams, the wet thud of bodies hitting the ground. I tried to shift, my small hands trembling as I willed my bones to change, my skin to ripple. Pain shot through me, but nothing happened. Lira whimpered in my mind, retreating deeper, her presence fading.
A rogue lunged at my mother, its jaws clamping around her throat. She fought, twisting and clawing, but the beast was too strong. Blood sprayed across the snow. My father roared, turning to save her, but another rogue struck from behind, tearing into his side.
I screamed silently, tears blurring my vision, but I couldn't move. Couldn't shift. Couldn't save them.
The pack fell that night. Alpha Draven's warriors arrived too late, finding me curled among the rocks alone. Lira had gone silent after that—weak, traumatized, unable to emerge. The shift that should have come naturally never did. Doctors in Silvercrest whispered of "trama-locked wolves," rare cases where fear suppressed the beast within. But Kael had never cared enough to help; to him, I was just a broken orphan, unworthy of effort.
***
I woke with a gasp, chest heaving, tears already wet on my cheeks. The fire had died to embers. The room was cold and still.
I sat up, wiping my face with trembling hands. The past had clawed its way into my dreams again, but this time, something inside me refused to let it win. I was no longer a child hiding behind boulders. I was Luna of Nightshade now—whether Raine acknowledged it or not—and I couldn't keep letting the past chain me.
I threw back the covers, slipped on a pair of soft boots, and left the room.
The manor was silent, the halls dark and empty. I made my way outside to the training grounds behind the main house. Moonlight shone over the wide, open clearing. No one was around. Just me, the night, and the faint hope that I could finally break through.
I stood in the center of the clearing, closed my eyes, and reached for Lira.
Come on, I pleaded silently. We're safe now. Please.
I focused on the deep pull in my chest, the ache of bones wanting to shift. I pushed harder than I ever had before.
Nothing.
I tried again, clenching my fists, willing the change to come. A sharp pain lanced through me—but my body remained stubbornly human.
One more time, I dropped to my knees, hands pressed to the cool earth, and poured every ounce of will into the call. The air around me seemed to tighten, the moonlight brightening, but Lira only whimpered faintly and shrank further away.
I collapsed forward, forehead to the ground, breathing hard. Tears stung my eyes. Twelve years of trying, and still nothing.
I pushed myself up, defeated. Time to go back inside. Time to accept that maybe I would always be broken.
I turned—and froze.
Raine stood at the edge of the clearing, arms crossed, silver eyes fixed on me. He had been watching the entire time!
I straightened quickly, brushing dirt from my knees, cheeks burning with humiliation.
He didn't move, only tilted his head slightly. "Why is your wolf so weak?" he asked. "Three tries, and not even a hint of shift."
I swallowed, forcing myself to meet his gaze. "She's been like this since I was six. Rogues attacked my family's pack. I saw my parents die. I tried to shift to help them, but I couldn't. The fear… it locked her away. She's never come back out."
Raine's expression didn't soften, but something flickered in his eyes—something I couldn't name.
He stepped forward, boots silent on the grass. "That's not supposed to be my business." He said coldly, pausing for a few seconds before continuing. "But your weakness is a liability to me. A Luna who cannot shift is a Luna who cannot protect herself—or the heir she's meant to carry. That's the only thing that makes it my business."
He stopped a few feet away, gaze hard. "You will begin training with my Beta, Ivan, tomorrow at dawn. He will teach you combat, endurance—whatever it takes to awaken that wolf of yours. And you'd better not be late."
I nodded, throat tight. "I won't."
He studied me for a long moment, as if searching for something he couldn't see. Then, without another word, he turned and walked back toward the manor, leaving me alone in the moonlight.
I stood there, heart pounding, the night suddenly feeling a little less heavy.
For the first time since arriving at Nightshade, I didn't feel quite so invisible.