THE JOURNEY BEGINS
The forest felt different now.
Heavier.
Like invisible eyes were watching from every direction.
Aria walked beside the Alpha King, her mind still racing from everything that had just happened.
The rogues.
Her sudden burst of power.
The Shadow Bloodline.
And now… the Alphas.
Her heart beat faster the more she thought about it.
“Are all the Alphas really going to come after me?” she asked quietly.
The Alpha King walked ahead calmly, his long strides steady as they moved deeper into the forest path.
“Some will,” he said.
Aria swallowed.
“And the others?”
“They’ll wait.”
“That doesn’t sound comforting.”
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“It isn’t meant to be.”
Aria sighed softly.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The moonlight filtered through the tall trees, casting silver shadows across the ground as they walked.
The forest was peaceful again on the outside.
But Aria could still feel the strange energy inside her chest.
Like a sleeping storm slowly waking up.
Her wolf stirred.
You’re thinking too much.
“I just discovered I have powers and half the werewolf world wants me,” Aria whispered under her breath.
“I think thinking is normal.”
The Alpha King glanced at her briefly.
“Talking to your wolf again?”
Aria nodded.
“She thinks I worry too much.”
“That’s also normal.”
Aria looked at him curiously.
“You’re surprisingly calm about all this.”
His golden eyes remained focused on the path ahead.
“I’ve dealt with worse.”
She blinked.
“Worse than twenty rogues attacking?”
“Yes.”
Aria decided not to ask.
After a few minutes of walking, the forest slowly began thinning.
The trees opened into a wider trail leading toward the mountains in the distance.
Aria noticed something strange.
“Where are your guards?”
The Alpha King raised an eyebrow.
“What guards?”
“You’re the Alpha King,” she said. “Shouldn’t you have warriors with you?”
“I did.”
Aria frowned.
“Did?”
“They’re handling other matters.”
She didn’t like the sound of that.
“So right now it’s just us?”
“For the moment.”
Aria sighed again.
Her life had gone from quiet pack servant to hunted heir in less than a day.
Inside her mind, her wolf chuckled softly.
Your life was boring before.
“Yes,” Aria whispered.
“And I miss it already.”
The Alpha King glanced at her again.
“I doubt that.”
Aria looked up at him.
“Why?”
His gaze softened slightly.
“Because you were never meant to live a small life.”
Her chest tightened slightly at his words.
No one had ever said something like that to her before.
For years, she had been told the opposite.
That she was weak.
Useless.
Broken.
But the Alpha King looked at her as if she were something completely different.
Valuable.
Important.
The thought made her nervous.
After another stretch of walking, Aria suddenly noticed something ahead.
Lights.
Faint glowing lights scattered across the distant hillside.
Her eyes widened.
“What is that?”
The Alpha King followed her gaze.
“My territory begins there.”
Aria stared in amazement.
Even from far away, she could see enormous stone walls surrounding the area.
Tall watchtowers stood along the borders.
Guards moved along the top of the walls, their silhouettes visible under the moonlight.
It looked less like a pack territory…
And more like a fortress.
“That’s huge,” she said quietly.
“It needs to be.”
Aria nodded slowly.
Then she hesitated.
“If I go there with you…”
The Alpha King looked down at her.
“Yes?”
“Everyone will know I’m your mate.”
His expression didn’t change.
“That’s correct.”
Aria bit her lip slightly.
“And if they don’t like it?”
A small, confident smile appeared on his face.
“Then they can leave.”
Aria almost laughed.
“You make it sound easy.”
“For me, it is.”
Before she could respond—
Her wolf suddenly growled loudly inside her mind.
Stop walking.
Aria froze.
“What?”
The Alpha King stopped instantly when she did.
“What’s wrong?”
Aria’s heart began racing again.
“My wolf says something is wrong.”
The Alpha King’s senses immediately sharpened.
The night air became very still.
Too still.
Then suddenly—
An arrow shot out of the darkness.
It flew straight toward Aria’s chest. ????