Aria woke up tied to a chair.
Her head was pounding, and her mouth tasted like blood. The last thing she remembered was the red-eyed man talking about prophecies and debts. Then everything had gone black.
"Good, you're awake," Kael's voice came from somewhere behind her.
Aria tried to turn around, but the ropes were too tight. "Let me go!"
"I can't do that." Kael walked around to face her, and Aria's heart nearly stopped. His golden eyes were completely cold, like looking at a stranger. "Not until I know you're not going to run away again."
"Of course I'm going to run away! You kidnapped me!"
"I saved your life. Those wolves would have torn you apart."
Aria looked around for the first time. She was in a huge room with stone walls and tall windows. Everything looked expensive and clean—nothing like the rebel camp she'd called home.
"Where am I?"
"Shadow River Pack house. My house." Kael sat down in a chair across from her, but he didn't come close. "Welcome to your new home."
"This isn't my home. My home is with the rogues."
"Your home is wherever your mate is," Kael said simply. "That's pack law."
The word 'mate' still made Aria's stomach flip, but Kael said it like it meant nothing to him. Like she was just a problem he had to solve.
"If I'm your mate, why are you acting like you hate me?"
Something flashed in Kael's eyes, but it was gone so fast Aria thought she might have imagined it.
"I don't hate you," he said. "But I don't trust you either."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you lied to me." Kael leaned forward, and his voice got dangerous. "You told me your sister drowned. But that man in the forest seemed to think something else happened."
Aria's blood went cold. The memories from the river were still fuzzy, but she remembered enough to know the red-eyed man had been telling the truth about something.
"I don't remember what happened," she said quietly.
"Try harder."
"I can't! I was eight years old, and it was ten years ago!"
"Then we'll have to find another way to get answers." Kael stood up and walked toward the door. "Until then, you stay here."
"Wait!" Aria called after him. "You can't just leave me tied up!"
Kael paused with his hand on the door handle. "I can do whatever I want. I'm the Alpha."
The door slammed behind him, leaving Aria alone.
She sat there for what felt like hours, trying to work the ropes loose. But whoever had tied them knew what they were doing. Every time she moved, they got tighter.
Finally, the door opened again. But it wasn't Kael who walked in.
It was a woman with short blonde hair and cold blue eyes. She was wearing a fancy dress and had gold jewelry around her neck that probably cost more than everything Aria had ever owned.
"So you're the famous rogue mate," the woman said, looking Aria up and down like she was examining a bug. "You're smaller than I expected."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Cassandra, the pack's head female. I run things when the Alpha is busy." The woman smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "And right now, he's very busy trying to figure out what to do with you."
"He could start by untying me."
Cassandra laughed. "Oh, honey, you really don't understand what's happening here, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Kael might be stuck with you because you're mates, but that doesn't mean anyone wants you here." Cassandra walked closer, and Aria could smell expensive perfume. "This pack has been waiting for years to see who their Alpha would choose. We expected someone strong, someone worthy. Not some dirty rogue with a dark past."
The words hurt more than Aria wanted to admit. She'd always known she wasn't good enough for someone like Kael, but hearing it said out loud made it real.
"I didn't ask to be his mate," Aria said.
"No, but you are. Which means you're my problem now." Cassandra's smile got crueler. "But don't worry. I know exactly how to handle problems like you."
Before Aria could ask what that meant, the door opened again. This time it was a young man with blonde hair and kind green eyes.
"Cassandra, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Just welcoming our new Luna," Cassandra said sweetly.
The man looked at Aria tied to the chair, and his face darkened with anger. "Untie her. Now."
"I don't think that's wise, Damon. She might run."
"She can't run anywhere. The house is surrounded by guards." Damon walked over and started working on the ropes. "This is cruel, even for you."
Damon. Aria remembered him from the forest. He was Kael's best friend.
"Thank you," she whispered as the ropes fell away.
"Don't thank me yet," Damon said quietly. "Things are about to get much worse."
Cassandra heard him and laughed. "Oh, Damon, you always were too soft. But you're right about one thing. Things are definitely going to get worse."
Just then, people started shouting outside. Aria could hear footsteps running and doors slamming.
"What's happening?" Damon asked, moving toward the window. His face went pale. "There's a car coming up the driveway. A black car with government plates."
"Government?" Aria asked. "What does the human government want with werewolves?"
But Cassandra was grinning like it was Christmas morning. "They're not here for werewolves, honey. They're here for you."
Aria's heart stopped. "What?"
"Did you really think you could hide forever? The human authorities have been looking for Alpha Jarek's missing daughter for ten years. There's a big reward for information about what happened to you and your sister."
"You called them," Damon said, staring at Cassandra in horror. "You actually called the humans."
"Someone had to clean up this mess. If she disappears into human custody, Kael can claim she's dead and choose a proper mate."
Aria felt like she was going to be sick. The human government didn't know about werewolves, but they did know that two children had gone missing from a small town ten years ago. If they took her, they'd ask questions she couldn't answer. They'd want to know where she'd been, who had taken care of her, why she looked exactly the same as she had at eight years old. And when they couldn't get answers that made sense, they'd probably lock her up forever.
"I have to get out of here," Aria said, standing up from the chair.
But Damon caught her arm. "You can't. The guards outside have orders to stop you."
"Then I'll go through the window."
"We're on the third floor."
The voices outside were getting louder. Aria could hear car doors slamming and official-sounding people talking about search warrants.
"Where's Kael?" she asked desperately.
"He left an hour ago," Cassandra said happily. "Something about checking the northern borders. He has no idea what's happening here."
That's when Aria realized the truth. Cassandra hadn't just called the humans to get rid of her. She'd made sure Kael would be far away when it happened, so he couldn't stop it.
*We have to shift,* Storm growled in her mind. *It's the only way.*
But if Aria shifted into wolf form in front of human government agents, she'd expose the entire werewolf world. Every pack in the country would want her dead for breaking the most important rule they had.
Heavy footsteps were coming up the stairs now. Aria looked at Damon, who seemed genuinely distressed about what was happening. Then she looked at Cassandra, who was practically glowing with triumph.
"You made one mistake," Aria told Cassandra.
"What's that?"
"You assumed I was helpless."
Aria closed her eyes and reached for the power she'd felt in the forest. The silver flowers, the bending trees, the magic that seemed to live in her blood.
Power exploded out of her like a bomb going off. Every piece of glass in the room shattered at once. The stone walls cracked. And every plant within a mile started growing so fast they could hear them moving.
Cassandra screamed and collapsed to the floor. Damon stared at Aria with his mouth open. And from downstairs came the sound of very confused human voices asking what the hell was happening to all the plants outside.
But the most terrifying sound of all was the one that came from Aria's own throat—a howl that wasn't quite human and wasn't quite wolf. It was something else entirely. Something that made every werewolf in the pack house whimper with fear.
And in that moment, Aria realized the red-eyed man had been right about one thing. She wasn't just the last of the forest bloodline. She was something the world had never seen before. Something that shouldn't exist.