was darker

s pride. Every scent that wasn't hers felt like a blade.

lve days since

hout the warmth of her scent in his bedchamber. Without

he learned she c

lence claw

with growing unease. "You need to re

e faint trail ahead, still clinging to th

Nightfang w

's weakness, and the need for a more stable leadership. Selene, ever cunning, stood by

l didn'

eady lost

ry, Aria was l

en's guidance, she trained her body and her senses. She learned to fight-not with b

but for her resolve. Her courage to keep going. Her g

ew, and so d

arlight, Aria stood befor

will raise my child in a place that builds. I don't nee

howled in

smi

er afraid of wh

w exactly who s

cent again on th

the wind, tangled in t

t was

forward, nearl

was

with fog and silence. The trees whispered w

g walls. Firelight flickering beyond

art th

id not c

sto

ime in his life, Kael B

even want

he forg

d forward

s an

derstood what it meant to lose

ma

ch

more than just a mo

sanctuary gate rai

your pu

ised hi

re to ask. To apologize. And

tuary, Aria sto

rt beat

him the momen

st his

so

belly and whispe

e didn

idn't

od tall

me, she would n

ace the woman he had broken-and the

had inflicted, whether by cruelty or neglect, had carved something stronger in its place. She had bled. She had wept. She had run. Bu

ind the same Ari

but with conviction. A mother who would burn the world to protect h

him once-quiet

sliver of that love back,

ood by while others broke her spirit. That love-once pure, once innocent-had not died, but it had changed. Hardened.

th the willingness to see her, not as something to control, but as someone to cherish. He would have to unlearn every

to a man who hadn't noticed her sl

uld face not just her pai

honesty, might she consider letting him touch her h

ith p

from a throne or streng

of love had

'd have to come not as an Alpha-but as a

th apo

. With change.

was no long

her ow

ve to weather her

cont