Aria's fist struck the punching bag so hard it exploded.
Sand spilled everywhere, covering the training room floor like snow. Aria stood there breathing hard, her knuckles bleeding, looking at the mess she'd made.
It had been three days since they'd found the dead children. Three days since Kael accused her of being a killer. Three days since everyone in the pack started avoiding her like she had a disease.
"Well, that's one way to work out your anger," Damon's voice came from behind her.
Aria spun around, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to break it."
"I know." Damon walked over and looked at the wrecked bag. "This is the third one this week. We're going to run out of punching bags soon."
"I can pay for new ones."
"With what money?" Damon asked, but he was smiling a little. "Rogues don't exactly get allowances."
Aria felt her face burn. He was right. She had nothing. No money, no things, no real place here. Just a mate who thought she was a monster and a pack that talked about her behind her back.
"Hey," Damon said softly. "I was kidding. You don't have to pay for anything."
"Why are you being nice to me?" The words came out harder than she meant them to. "Everyone else thinks I'm some kind of child-killing witch."
"Because I don't think that's what you are."
Aria stared at him. "Why not? The proof pretty much speaks for itself."
"Evidence can lie. People can't, not when you really look at them." Damon sat down on a bench and patted the spot next to him. "Sit. Let me tell you something."
Aria hesitated, then sat down. It felt weird being close to someone who wasn't actively trying to hurt her feelings.
"When I was twelve, a rogue attacked our pack," Damon said. "Killed two children before we stopped him. Afterwards, everyone was scared and angry. They wanted someone to blame, someone to punish. So they picked the easiest target – a kid who'd been acting strange, who didn't fit in."
"What happened to him?"
"They were going to exile him. Maybe worse. But Kael spoke up for him. Said the evidence didn't make sense, that scared people make bad decisions." Damon looked at her. "That kid was me."
Aria's eyes widened. "You?"
"I was acting strange because my parents had just died in a hunting accident. I was grieving, angry, lashing out at everyone. Easy to think I might turn violent." Damon shrugged. "But Kael saw through it. He saved my life."
"So why doesn't he see through this with me?"
"Because with you, he's not thinking clearly. He's scared."
"Scared of me?"
"Scared for you. There's a difference." Damon stood up. "Come on. Let's work on some basic pack protocols. If you're going to be Luna, you need to know how things work around here."
For the next hour, Damon taught her things Cassandra never bothered with. Like how pack hierarchy really worked, what different howls meant, and why certain traditions existed.
"The most important thing," Damon said, "is that a Luna's job isn't to be perfect. It's to care about the pack members. To make them feel safe and heard."
"I don't think anyone feels safe around me right now."
"Then show them who you really are. Not the person Cassandra wants you to be, or the person Kael expects you to be. Just you."
"What if who I really am is exactly what they're afraid of?"
"Then we'll deal with that when it happens," Damon said simply. "But I don't think it will."
They were interrupted by the training room door slamming open. A young pack member burst in, his face pale with panic.
"Beta Damon! You need to come quick!"
"What's wrong, Marcus?"
"It's the children! They're missing!"
Aria's blood went cold. "What children?"
"Three of them from the pack school. They were playing in the yard during recess, and then they just... disappeared." Marcus was practically shaking. "No scent trail, no signs of struggle. They're just gone."
Damon was already moving toward the door. "Alert the Alpha. Get search teams organized. Check the perimeter first."
"Wait," Aria said, following them. "I want to help."
Both men turned to stare at her.
"That's not a good idea," Damon said carefully.
"Why? Because everyone thinks I took them?"
"Because if something happens to those kids while you're part of the search, everyone will blame you whether you did it or not."
But Aria was already pushing past them. "I don't care what they think. If children are missing, I'm helping to find them."
The pack house was in chaos when they arrived. Parents were crying, search teams were forming, and Kael was barking orders to everyone. His golden eyes found Aria instantly, and his expression darkened.
"What is she doing here?" he demanded.
"She wants to help," Damon said.
"Absolutely not."
"Kael—"
"I said no!" Kael's Alpha voice made everyone in the room flinch. "She stays locked in her room until we find those children."
"You can't lock me up for something I didn't do!"
"Can't I?" Kael stepped closer, and Aria could feel the power rolling off him in waves. "As Alpha, I can do whatever I think is necessary to protect this pack."
"And as Luna, I have the right to—"
"You have no rights!" Kael roared. "You're not Luna of anything! You're a suspect in the disappearance of three innocent children!"
The words hit Aria like a physical blow. Around them, the pack members were watching with wide eyes, some nodding in agreement with their Alpha.
"Fine," Aria said quietly. "Lock me up. But when those children die because you wasted time blaming me instead of actually looking for them, their blood is on your hands."
She turned to leave, but Cassandra's voice stopped her.
"Actually, Alpha, I think Aria should join the search."
Everyone turned to look at Cassandra in shock. She never took Aria's side on anything.
"What?" Kael said.
"Think about it logically," Cassandra said with a sweet smile. "If she really is taking the children for some kind of ritual, she'll lead us right to them. And if she's innocent, she'll help us find them. Either way, we get answers."
Kael considered this, his jaw tight. "Fine. But she goes with my team, under heavy guard."
"I'll watch her personally," Damon offered.
As the search teams headed out, Aria found herself walking beside Damon toward the eastern forest. The same forest where they'd found the dead children with her ring.
"This feels like a trap," she whispered to him.
"It is," Damon said quietly. "But not the kind you think."
"What do you mean?"
Before he could answer, a child's scream echoed through the woods ahead of them. High-pitched, terrified, and definitely alive.
"There!" Kael shouted, running toward the sound.
They all followed, crashing through the underbrush. The screaming got louder, more desperate. They burst into a clearing and found all three missing children tied to trees in a perfect circle. They were alive but scared, crying for their parents.
And in the middle of the circle, carved deep into the earth, was the same symbol that had been found with the dead children ten years ago.
"Thank God," Damon breathed, running toward the kids.
But as Aria stepped into the clearing, something cold and sharp pressed against her throat.
"Don't move," a familiar voice whispered in her ear. "Or the children die."
It was Cassandra. And she was holding a silver knife to Aria's neck.
"Surprise," Cassandra said loud enough for everyone to hear. "Look what I found. Aria, standing over three kidnapped children, just like ten years ago."
"That's not what happened!" Aria said desperately. "You brought me here! You set this up!"
"Did I? Or did you lead us here because this is where you planned to sacrifice them?" Cassandra's voice was poisonously sweet. "After all, the symbol is already carved. The children are already tied up. All that's missing is the blood."
Kael and the other pack members were staring at Aria with horror and disgust. Even some of them who had seemed uncertain before now looked convinced of her guilt.
"She's lying!" Aria said. "She's the one who—"
The knife pressed deeper, drawing blood. "Another word and I'll make this look like you tried to attack me."
Aria realized with growing terror that this had all been planned. The missing children, the convenient location, even her being allowed to come on the search. Cassandra had orchestrated everything to frame her.
But the worst part was looking at Kael's face and seeing that he believed it.
"Damon," Aria whispered desperately. "You said you could see through lies. Look at me. Really look."
Damon met her eyes for a long moment. Then he looked at Cassandra, who was smiling like she'd already won.
"I see," he said quietly.
And that's when Aria realized that Damon wasn't looking at her like she was guilty. He was looking at Cassandra like she was the monster.
But before anyone could move, Cassandra's smile widened.
"Too bad you figured it out too late," she said.
And then she drove the silver knife toward Aria's heart.