The council chamber fractured like glass.

“Enough!” one elder roared. “If Kael is bold enough to mark Shadowpine with blood, we cannot waste time with quarrels. We must act!”

“Act by removing the cause,” Marlowe spat, his gaze cutting to Aria. “Give her up. Offer her as tribute before Kael tears down our walls stone by stone.”

Aria’s breath caught, heat rushing to her cheeks. Tribute. As if she were nothing but meat to be bartered.

Damian’s snarl shook the room. He lunged across the chamber, slamming Marlowe back against the table, claws pricking the elder’s throat. Golden eyes blazed, wolf and man barely holding.

“Speak her name like that again,” he hissed, “and I will tear your tongue out.”

The room went silent, the weight of his fury pressing every wolf to stillness. Slowly, Damian released Marlowe, who staggered back pale but defiant.

“This pack is not a democracy,” Damian growled, voice cutting like steel. “Shadowpine has one Alpha. And until I fall, it is me. If Kael comes for her, he will find me first. And he will die.”

His words rang through the chamber, final and absolute.

But as the elders bowed their heads, Aria saw it — the doubt flickering in their eyes. Doubt that would fester. Doubt Kael would feed like fire.

Far beyond Shadowpine, Kael crouched before the bodies of the southern patrol, silver eyes glowing in the moonlight. His claws dragged lazily through the dirt, tracing patterns that only he understood.

The surviving scout whimpered where he knelt, bound in chains of shadowy energy Kael had summoned. His skin blistered wherever the darkness touched him.

Kael leaned close, lips brushing the man’s ear. “Did you tell them? Did you give my message?”

The scout shuddered. “Y-yes.”

“Good.” Kael’s grin was sharp as broken glass. “Fear is a sweeter poison when it grows from within.”

The Bloodfang Alpha approached, his massive frame blotting out the moon. “You test and prod like a spider. Why not strike?”

Kael’s gaze snapped up, silver eyes gleaming. “Because Shadowpine is strong. If I attack head on, I risk defeat. But if I divide them first…” He bared his teeth in a wolfish grin. “They’ll crumble from the inside. And when they do, she will have nowhere to run.”

His claws clenched, drawing blood from his own palm. “Aria will come to me. She was meant to. And Damian will watch as I strip everything he loves away.”

The Bloodfang Alpha’s grin mirrored his, savage and cruel. “Then let’s prepare the next move.”

Aria stood alone at her window that night, staring out at the forest that had nearly devoured them. Her bandaged arm ached, but it was nothing compared to the hollow ache in her chest.

Kael wanted her. The council doubted her. And Damian—

Her heart twisted. Damian had defended her with fire and blood, but the bond between them was still a wound left unsealed. He kissed her as though she was his salvation, then pulled away as though she was his doom.

How long could they walk that line before it broke them both?

The door creaked open. She turned, breath catching.

Damian stood in the doorway, shadows pooling around him, his golden eyes fixed on her with a hunger that burned and terrified.

“We need to talk,” he said, voice rough.

Her heart raced. About Kael? About the council? About them?

She didn’t know.

But she knew one thing—whatever he said next, nothing in Shadowpine would ever be the same.