The council chamber hadn’t gone cold since her last visit, but the air felt heavier now, buzzing with tension. Damian stood at the head of the curved table, every inch Alpha—shoulders squared, jaw locked, golden eyes hard enough to cut stone.

Aria kept to the side, but the stares found her anyway. Always. Some sharp with suspicion, some filled with a hunger she didn’t understand. The cursed girl. The bond-bearer. The weapon.

Rylan entered briskly, his face drawn. “They’ve crossed the boundary.”

Damian’s head snapped up. “Who?”

“The Ironfangs.”

A murmur rippled through the elders. Even Aria, ignorant of the politics, felt the weight of the name.

Marlowe’s lips curled. “So. The wolves across the river finally make their move.”

Damian’s growl was low, vibrating through the chamber. “How many?”

“Enough to make a show of strength,” Rylan said. “Not a full war party, but… Alpha Kael wants you to know he’s here.”

Kael. Even the name tasted like threat.

“Why now?” Aria asked before she could stop herself.

Every head turned toward her.

“Because,” Marlowe sneered, “word of a cursed bond travels faster than truth. Ironfang has always wanted Shadowpine land. Now he has a new excuse.”

Aria’s chest tightened. Me. It was always her.

Damian’s gaze cut to her, fierce, warning. She swallowed back her words, heat rushing to her face.

“Prepare the warriors,” Damian ordered. “If Kael seeks parley, we meet him on our ground, not his.”

The clearing by the river was already tense when they arrived. Wolves shifted at the edges—Shadowpine on one side, Ironfang on the other, their eyes glinting like blades in the twilight.

At the center, Alpha Kael waited.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, his black hair tied back, his eyes a cold silver that reflected no warmth. Where Damian’s presence was heat and storm, Kael’s was ice. His lips curved in something like a smile when his gaze slid to Aria.

“So it’s true,” he said. “Shadowpine harbors the girl of the bloodline.”

Aria stiffened under the weight of his stare. Damian shifted subtly, placing himself between her and Kael, his stance radiating danger.

“She is under my protection,” Damian said flatly.

Kael chuckled. “Ah. So the great Alpha Damian admits the bond, then?”

The Ironfang wolves murmured, some smirking, some baring teeth.

Aria’s pulse hammered. They know. They all know.

Damian’s jaw clenched. “What I admit is none of your concern. Step off our land.”

Kael’s smile widened. “But it is my concern, isn’t it? A bond like this—rare, cursed, powerful. Dangerous. Imagine what happens if she falls into the wrong hands.” His silver gaze lingered on Aria like a predator studying prey.

Something deep inside her flared at the insult, at the suggestion of being stolen, used. But before she could speak, Damian’s growl ripped through the clearing.

“You will not touch her.”

The wolves on both sides tensed.

Kael lifted his brows, mock-innocent. “Protective, aren’t we? Tell me, Damian—how long before that protection becomes weakness? How long before your cursed mate costs you your crown?”

Aria’s breath hitched. Mate. The word hung heavy, forbidden, undeniable.

Damian didn’t flinch. His golden eyes blazed. “Try me and find out.”

The standoff stretched, the tension sharp enough to cut. For one heartbeat, war teetered on the edge.

Then Kael’s smile returned, cold and thin. “Not today. But soon.” He gestured, and the Ironfang wolves melted back into the trees like shadows.

They rode back in silence, the air crackling with unsaid words. Aria’s thoughts spun—mate. bond. curse. Every word Kael had spat felt like truth clawing too close.

When they reached the keep, Damian dismissed the others. Only she remained, her chest tight with questions.

“You didn’t deny it,” she whispered.

His back stiffened. “Deny what?”

“That I’m your mate.”

The word trembled out of her, but she forced it anyway.

Damian turned slowly, golden eyes storming. “Because it’s true.”

Her heart stuttered. “Then why—why do you keep pulling away?”

His voice was low, ragged. “Because the bond isn’t a gift, Aria. Not for us. Your bloodline carries death. Mine carries shadow. Together…” He broke off, shaking his head.

“Together what?” she pressed, stepping closer.

His gaze dropped to her lips, his body tense with restraint. “Together, we could destroy everything.”

Her breath trembled. “Or save it.”

The silence between them burned hotter than any fire. His hand twitched at his side, as though he ached to reach for her again. But at the last moment, he turned away, fists clenched.

“Stay in the keep,” he said hoarsely. “Kael won’t stop with words.”

Aria’s throat tightened, but she nodded. She understood now, more than before—their bond wasn’t just desire. It was power. And power always drew enemies.

But deep in her chest, beneath the fear and doubt, one truth rang louder than all the rest:

No matter what Damian said, no matter how hard he fought it—

he was hers.