*Aria's POV**

The walk back to the ranger station passed in a blur of numbness and disbelief. Every step felt mechanical, like my body was moving through muscle memory while my mind tried to process the impossible truth I'd just witnessed.

My mother wanted me dead.

Not just dead—eliminated as part of a systematic restructuring of Lycan society. A restructuring she was orchestrating.

"Aria." Caspian's voice seemed to come from very far away. "We need to tell the others what we learned."

I ...