Chapter 5 Chapter 5

The next three weeks change everything.

Every morning, I wake up before dawn and train with Kade in the courtyard. He teaches me hand-to-hand combat, how to fight in human form. I'm weak compared to regular wolves since my wolf never came, but I'm learning.

"You're getting better," Kade says, blocking my punch. "Your reflexes are improving."

After combat training, Elder Moira works with me on controlling my powers. We practice in a special room deep in the fortress where my magic can't damage anything.

I learn that I can heal. When Riley accidentally cuts her hand during training, I touch the wound and feel power flow from me into her. The cut closes, leaving perfect skin.

I can create shields. Protective barriers made of violet light that can stop attacks. Elder Moira throws things at me—rocks, knives, even fireballs—and I practice blocking them.

I can see glimpses of the future, though this power is hardest to control. The visions come randomly, showing me moments that might happen. I see Dante smiling at me. I see a battle. I see someone I don't recognize attacking the fortress.

"The future isn't fixed," Elder Moira explains. "You're seeing possibilities, not certainties. The choices we make can change what you see."

The most surprising power is that I can communicate with the Moon Goddess. Not directly, but through feelings and impressions. When I meditate, I sense her presence, warm and comforting. She doesn't speak in words, but I understand her meaning: I'm on the right path.

Dante watches most of my training sessions. He never participates directly, but he's always there, arms crossed, silver eyes tracking my every movement. Through the bond, I feel his emotions: impressed when I succeed, worried when I struggle, proud when I push past my limits.

The bond itself grows stronger daily. I'm constantly aware of him now. I know when he's stressed about pack business. I know when he's tired. I know when he's thinking about me, which is more often than he probably wants to admit.

And he knows me too. He can feel my loneliness, my insecurity, my desperate need to prove myself. Sometimes I catch him looking at me with something soft in his eyes, like he wants to comfort me but doesn't know how.

We don't talk much beyond training instructions. But the bond speaks for us.

Riley becomes my closest friend here. She's cheerful and optimistic, always making me laugh when I'm frustrated. She tells me stories about the pack, about Dante's history, about life in the fortress.

"He's different since you arrived," she says one evening while we eat dinner together. "Less angry. More... human."

"He still barely talks to me."

"That's just Dante. He's not good with emotions. But trust me, he's changing. Everyone sees it."

On my nineteenth day at the fortress, something shifts.

I'm practicing shields with Elder Moira when one of my visions hits me hard. I see the fortress under attack. Wolves I don't recognize swarming the walls. Fire everywhere. And in the center of it all—my father, Marcus, leading the attack.

I gasp and collapse. Elder Moira catches me.

"What did you see?" she demands.

"Attack. My old pack is going to attack the fortress."

"When?"

"Soon. Maybe days."

Elder Moira's face goes grim. "We must tell the Alpha King immediately."

We find Dante in his office with Kade, reviewing reports. When we burst in, he's on his feet instantly.

"What's wrong?"

"Aria had a vision," Elder Moira says. "An attack is coming."

I explain what I saw. Dante's expression darkens with each word.

"Your father is leading it?" he asks.

"Yes. I don't know why, but he looked... determined. Angry."

Kade curses. "The Shadowfang Pack isn't powerful enough to attack us alone. They must have allies."

"Or they have a specific goal," Dante says, his eyes locked on me. "They're coming for you, Aria. Your father wants you dead."

The words hit me like a physical blow. My own father. Leading an attack to kill me.

"Why?" I whisper.

"Because you're powerful now. Because you survived when he expected you to die." Dante moves around his desk toward me. "Or because he has something to hide and you're the key to exposing it."

Your mother was murdered, Elder Moira had said. Someone killed her and blamed you.

"My father killed my mother," I say suddenly. The truth clicks into place. "He killed her because he was afraid of what I'd become. And now he's afraid I'll discover the truth."

Dante's eyes flash red. "Then we'll be ready for him. Kade, call a pack meeting. Increase patrols. I want warriors stationed at every entrance."

"Yes, Alpha." Kade rushes out.

Elder Moira leaves too, muttering about protective spells.

Dante and I are alone. He's still close to me, close enough that I can feel the heat from his body. The bond pulses between us, worried and protective.

"I won't let him hurt you," Dante says quietly.

"I know."

"I mean it, Aria. Whatever happens, I'll protect you."

"Why?" The question slips out before I can stop it. "You wanted to kill me a few weeks ago. Why protect me now?"

Dante is quiet for a long moment. Then: "Because you're mine."

My breath catches. "Your... mate?"

"My mate. My responsibility. My—" He stops, like he's said too much.

"Your what?"

He looks at me with an intensity that steals my breath. "I don't know yet. But you're important to me. More important than I want to admit."

He reaches out and touches my face gently, the way he did after the ritual. His thumb brushes my cheek, and the bond sings with happiness.

"I still have nightmares about Maya," he admits. "About my parents. About watching them die. And I'm still scared that you might become what Sarah became."

"I understand."

"But I'm trying. I'm trying to see you instead of my fear." His hand moves to my hair, tucking a strand behind my ear. "And what I see is someone brave. Someone kind. Someone who's never given up despite everyone treating her like garbage."

Tears prick my eyes. "Dante—"

"I'm not good at this," he continues. "At feelings. At vulnerability. But you deserve honesty. So here it is: I don't hate you anymore. I haven't for a while. I'm just... scared of what I'm starting to feel instead."

"What are you feeling?"

He leans closer, his forehead almost touching mine. "Ask me after we survive the attack."

Then he steps back, breaking the moment. "Get some rest. Tomorrow we prepare for war."

He walks out, leaving me alone with my racing heart and the bond humming with emotions too complex to name.

---

Two days later, they come.

I'm in my room at dawn when the alarm sounds. Howls echo through the fortress. Warriors scramble to their positions.

Riley bursts into my room. "They're here! Fifty wolves, maybe more. Shadowfang Pack and allies from two other packs."

I run to the window. In the distance, I see them—wolves pouring out of the forest, racing toward the fortress. And at the front, I recognize my father's brown wolf.

Dante's voice echoes in my mind through our bond: Stay inside. Don't come out no matter what.

I can help! I respond.

You're not ready for battle.

I'm ready to face my father.

Silence. Then: Fine. But you stay with me. Don't leave my side.

I run downstairs and outside to the courtyard. Chaos everywhere. Warriors in wolf form racing to the walls. Dante stands at the center, massive and commanding in his black wolf form. His red eyes find me immediately.

I run to him just as the first wave of attackers hits the fortress walls.

The battle is brutal and fast. Shadowfang wolves crash against our defenses. Our warriors fight back viciously. Blood sprays. Bodies fall.

I see my father break through a weak point in the wall. He's heading straight for me.

Dante moves to intercept, but three wolves attack him at once. He's busy fighting them off.

My father shifts to human form as he approaches me. His face is twisted with rage.

"You should be dead," he snarls.

"Why did you kill her?" I demand. "Why did you kill my mother?"

He freezes. "How did you—"

"I know the truth. She didn't die from childbirth. You murdered her."

"She deserved it!" He's screaming now. "The Moon Goddess came to her in a dream and said you would be greater than me. That you would surpass all Alphas. I couldn't let that happen!"

The confession hangs in the air. Several wolves nearby stop fighting, hearing his words.

"You killed your mate because of jealousy?" I can barely comprehend it. "You let me suffer for eighteen years, believing I killed her, because you were afraid I'd be better than you?"

"You are a curse! An abomination!" He lunges at me.

I don't think. I just react.

Power explodes from my hands. A violet shield appears, stopping him mid-attack. He slams into it and falls back.

The symbols on my arms blaze to life, brighter than ever before. I can feel the power coursing through me, but this time I'm in control.

"I'm not a curse," I say clearly. "I'm not an abomination. I'm a blood moon child, and I was meant to be born this way."

My father scrambles to his feet and charges again. This time, I don't just defend.

I attack.

Violet energy shoots from my hands, wrapping around him like ropes. He can't move. Can't shift. Can't fight back.

"You will answer for what you did," I say. "You will tell every wolf here what you did to my mother. And then you will face justice."

"Never!" He struggles against my hold.

Dante appears beside me, his black wolf enormous and powerful. He shifts to human form, naked and covered in blood from the battle. His silver eyes glow with fury.

"She said you'll answer," Dante growls. "And you will. Because she's my mate, and anyone who hurts her answers to me."

The other Shadowfang wolves see their leader captured. They see the Alpha King standing with me. They see my power on full display.

One by one, they stop fighting and submit.

The battle is over. We won.

Kade shifts and takes charge of rounding up the prisoners. Elder Moira appears and helps me contain my father with magical bindings in addition to my energy ropes.

Dante wraps a blanket around himself and then pulls me against him. I'm shaking from the adrenaline and power use. He holds me steady.

"You did well," he murmurs into my hair.

"I was so scared."

"I know. I felt it through the bond. But you fought anyway. That's courage."

I look up at him. His face is softer than I've ever seen it. The fear that usually lives in his eyes when he looks at me is gone.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore," he says quietly. "You proved today that you're nothing like Sarah. You're in complete control."

"I had help." I place my hand on his chest, over his heart. "The bond anchored me. You anchored me."

His hand covers mine. "Then we anchored each other."

Around us, the pack is cleaning up from the battle. But for this moment, it's just us. Just mates finally seeing each other clearly.

"Ask me now," Dante says.

"Ask you what?"

"What I'm feeling. You wanted to know before the battle."

My heart pounds. "What are you feeling?"

He leans down until his lips are almost touching mine. "I'm feeling like the Moon Goddess knew exactly what she was doing when she made you my mate. I'm feeling like I'm the luckiest bastard alive. I'm feeling like—"

"Like what?"

"Like I'm falling in love with you," he finishes.

Then he kisses me.

The bond explodes with joy. The symbols on my arms glow brilliantly. Around us, pack members cheer and howl in celebration.

When he pulls back, we're both breathless.

"I love you too," I whisper. "I have since the moment I saw you."

"Even when I was a complete ass?"

"Even then."

He laughs, actually laughs, and the sound is beautiful. Then he picks me up and spins me around while I squeal in surprise.

When he sets me down, he keeps his arms around me. "We have a lot to figure out still. Your father's trial. The aftermath of the battle. Learning to be mates properly."

"I know."

"But we'll figure it out together."

"Together," I agree.

Elder Moira approaches us, smiling widely. "The prophecy is complete," she announces.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"The choice. Remember? A child born under the blood moon will either save or destroy all wolves. You made your choice today, Aria. When you could have killed your father, when you could have lost control and destroyed everyone, you chose mercy. You chose control. You chose to save rather than destroy."

"So the prophecy was about that choice?"

"It was about proving that blood moon children aren't cursed. That with love and acceptance, they become protectors instead of monsters." Elder Moira looks at Dante. "And it was about you, Alpha King. You had to choose too—to give love instead of fear. To trust instead of destroy. You both fulfilled the prophecy together."

Dante pulls me closer. "Then I guess we saved the world."

"You saved each other," Elder Moira corrects. "Which is sometimes the same thing."

She walks away, leaving us alone again.

The sun rises over the fortress, bathing everything in golden light. The battle is over. The truth is revealed. And finally—finally—I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

In my mate's arms, surrounded by a pack that's starting to accept me, with powers I can control and a purpose I'm beginning to understand.

I'm Aria Stone, born under a blood moon. Not a curse. Not a mistake.

A miracle after all.