The horn split the night like a blade.

Aria ran, her boots pounding the frozen earth, the sound of wolves howling in the distance echoing like war drums. Shadowpine warriors surged around her, their bodies rippling as fur and fang overtook flesh. The forest blazed with movement—shadows streaking between trees, the ground trembling with the weight of wolves at full sprint.

Damian was ahead, already shedding his shirt as the shift rippled through him. His body bent, broke, and reformed, golden eyes glowing brighter in the dark until the massive black wolf landed hard on four paws, claws gouging the earth. Alpha. Terrifying. Beautiful.

Aria’s lungs burned, but she kept up, clutching the blade Rylan had thrust into her hand. She shouldn’t have been here. She knew it. But the thought of waiting behind stone walls while Damian fought—it was unbearable.

The ridge came into view: a jagged crescent of stone where the pines thinned, opening into a narrow pass. And there—Kael’s wolves, shadows slipping from the treeline, eyes gleaming silver, mouths dripping with hunger.

The rogues didn’t wait. They charged.

The impact was thunderous. Wolves collided in a frenzy of fur and blood, snarls and screams shredding the night. Shadowpine’s lines staggered, then steadied under Damian’s roar—deep and commanding, the kind of sound that made the earth itself bow.

Aria fought at the edge of the melee, blade flashing, heart hammering. One rogue lunged, teeth snapping for her throat. She ducked, slashing, silver catching its neck. Hot blood sprayed, the scent thick in the air. Her stomach turned, but there was no time for fear.

The bond throbbed inside her like wildfire. Damian. She could feel him even in the chaos, his rage, his power, his hunger to tear apart anything that dared touch her. It was overwhelming—like fighting with two hearts, two bodies.

And then something inside her broke open.

Her blood roared, ancient and wild, spilling into her veins. The air shimmered around her, sparks of crimson and gold weaving from her skin. A rogue lunged—and without thinking, she lifted her hand.

Flame erupted. Not fire, not light, but something older. It flared through the wolf, searing flesh from bone, dropping it smoking at her feet.

The battlefield froze for a heartbeat. Every eye turned to her. Shadowpine warriors gasped. The rogues snarled in triumph.

Damian shifted back mid-fight, his body still heaving with the remnants of the wolf. He strode toward her, naked to the waist, blood streaking his chest, golden eyes blazing. “Aria!”

Her hand shook, sparks still dripping from her fingertips. “I—I didn’t mean—”

Before she could finish, three rogues broke from the trees, bigger than the rest. Their eyes weren’t silver, but black. Kael’s touched.

They went straight for her.

Damian roared, moving faster than her eyes could follow. His claws ripped one from the air, tearing it in two. Rylan caught another, his silver blade flashing. But the third slammed into Aria, teeth snapping inches from her throat.

The bond screamed.

Power surged out of her like a storm breaking. The rogue flew back as though struck by an unseen hand, its body crashing into the ridge with a crack of bone.

Silence fell again. Shadowpine wolves stared, their Alpha’s mate glowing faintly in the dark, her bloodline no longer hidden.

“Enough!” Damian’s voice cut through the night, raw and commanding. He stood between Aria and the pack, his chest heaving, his claws still dripping. “You see her power. You see what Kael wants. She is mine. She is Shadowpine’s. Anyone who doubts it—step forward now.”

No one moved. Not even Marlowe.

The rogues melted back into the trees, their test complete. Retreating, but not defeated. Aria knew what it meant. This hadn’t been the strike. This had been Kael measuring them. Measuring her.

And he would come again.

The battlefield reeked of blood and smoke by the time the wounded were carried home. Aria walked in silence beside Damian, her body aching, her arm burning with the bond’s aftershock. Neither spoke until they reached the quiet of the Alpha’s quarters.

Damian slammed the door shut, his control fraying. He turned to her, golden eyes bright with fury and something darker. “You could have been killed.”

“I fought,” she shot back, shaking. “I survived.”

“You unleashed power you don’t understand!” He stalked toward her, chest heaving. “The whole pack saw. Do you know what that means? They’ll fear you. They’ll worship you. Both are dangerous.”

Her throat tightened. “And you? Do you fear me too?”

His jaw worked, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed her wrist, dragging her hand to his chest, pressing it hard against his pounding heart. “This is what I fear. That every time you bleed, every time you burn, I lose another piece of myself.”

The bond pulsed between them, hot and desperate. Her breath caught. She’d almost died tonight. He’d almost lost her. And here they stood, raw and trembling, the world pressing in, the war outside their door.

Her voice broke. “Damian—”

He silenced her with a growl, pressing her back against the wall, his body caging hers. His lips hovered a breath from hers, his golden eyes molten with hunger and torment.

“This bond,” he rasped, “is going to ruin me.”

Her heart raced, every nerve burning. “Then let it.”

For a heartbeat, the world narrowed to that space between them—the war, the packs, Kael’s shadow—all of it falling away.

And then, like a cruel echo, the horns sounded again.

This time, closer.

The enemy wasn’t retreating. The enemy was at the gate.