Aria’s POV

What did Freya mean by mate?

The word echoed in my head like a haunting drumbeat. I sat still, trying to make sense of it. Freya wasn’t one to joke around especially not about something as sacred as the mate bond.

But this mate… this particular mate… was none other than Alpha Lucien’s son.

My breath caught in my throat. A chill crept down my spine, wrapping around my chest like a vice. I instinctively reached for my neck, my fingers brushing across the spot that still burned faintly from last night. The mark was still there, Alpha Lucien’s mark. His bite. His claim.

Fresh. Unyielding.

My heart ached like it had been set on fire.

I stared at the mark in the mirror. It mocked me. I looked like someone’s possession. Like a toy being passed from one monster to the next.

How could this be happening?

What kind of twisted fate would bind me to the bloodline of the man who had shattered my freedom?

“What have I done to deserve this torture?” I whispered to myself, my voice barely audible.

Everything inside me rebelled against the idea. I didn’t even know what his son looked like, he’d been gone, away for years, training in the mountains or whatever absurd place Lucien had sent him. And now he was back?

And he was… my mate?

I felt like I was drowning in confusion. My thoughts spiraled into chaos. If Freya was right, and Alpha Lucien’s son was truly my destined mate, how would I even begin to navigate that?

Would Lucien back off?

The answer was simple: no. Alpha Lucien doesn’t back down. Ever.

He was a man driven by power and pride and he wouldn’t just hand me over to someone else, not even his own blood. And if his son felt the pull of the mate bond, if he chose to act on it…

Would I be the cause of war between father and son?

The thought made me sick to my stomach.

Was I worth fighting over? Was I worth tearing a family apart?

Tears threatened to fall, but I blinked them back. Crying wouldn’t solve anything. I needed to think. I needed clarity.

“Well,” I muttered, trying to steady my breath, “don’t let your thoughts spiral, Aria. Alpha Lucien’s son might not even know I’m his mate yet.”

And maybe, just maybe he’d feel the bond and reject me.

I’d take rejection over war. Over being a pawn again. Over watching blood spill because of me.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

There was only one way to make sense of this mess, which is to seek the truth from the source that bound us all.

I whispered into the silence, my voice trembling. “Moon Goddess… if you’re listening, I need you now more than ever.”

The room fell silent.

I felt the cool pull of the lunar energy begin to ripple through my bones, soft and silver, like the calm before a storm.

“Please,” I whispered again. “Help me understand. Why me? Why this family? Why this fate?”

But all I heard in return was silence. The same maddening silence that had filled my life since the day my world crumbled.

Still, I kept my eyes closed and focused on the mark, the mate bond, the confusion swirling in my chest like a brewing storm.

Then the air shifted.

•••••••••

Suddenly, the world around me began to blur, melting away like watercolors in the rain. I no longer felt the solidness of the room beneath my feet. Instead, I found myself transported to somewhere else.

The realm of the Moon Goddess.

A surreal garden stretched before me, bathed in an ethereal silver glow. The air was cool and scented with ancient magic, but the tranquility was disrupted.

Freya.

She was there, in her rare silver form, wild and untamed. Her fur shimmered with celestial light as she ran through the garden like a beast unleashed. But she wasn’t peaceful.

She was angry.

With every bound, she yanked trees from the earth like twigs, uprooting the calm and tossing it aside. Leaves scattered like feathers, wind howled through the landscape, and the ground trembled with her fury.

“Freya?” I called, my voice echoing across the skies.

She didn’t stop.

“I need answers!” I cried out again. “I need clarity to this madness!”

I stood amidst the chaos, watching as Freya tore through the once-serene paradise. Her golden eyes locked onto mine, burning with something primal and ancient.

Then, finally, she halted. Breathing heavily, her chest rose and fell like waves crashing against a cliff. She approached me slowly, her steps rumbling the earth.

“You called to the Moon Goddess,” she growled, her voice echoing in my mind. “But you forget… I am part of her. And so are you.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why am I mated to Lucien, and now to his son? What kind of cruelty is this?”

Freya circled me, her tail slicing the air behind her.

“Because fate is never fair. And sometimes, fate uses you to reveal truth.”

“What truth?” My voice cracked.

She paused, eyes gleaming.

“You were never meant to be Lucien’s.”

The wind roared in my ears, lifting my hair off my shoulders.

“Then why did the mate bond happen?” I asked, trembling. “Why the mark?”

Freya looked at me, her voice suddenly soft.

“Because his greed overpowered the will of the Moon. He claimed what was not his. But now, the rightful bond has surfaced. The bloodline must face its reckoning.”

My eyes widened.

“Are you saying I was never meant to be with Alpha Lucien? That his son…?”

Freya looked away.

“The bond between you and his son is pure. Unbreakable. But it will come with consequences, ones that will shape your future and theirs.”

I opened my mouth to ask more, but the sky above cracked with lightning. The garden began to vanish, sucked into the void like sand slipping between fingers.

“Wait, Freya!”

But it was too late.

The vision ended.

I gasped as I returned to myself, jolted awake like someone who had been drowning. My skin was cold with sweat, my heart racing. The room was exactly as I left it, but I wasn’t the same.

My hands trembled as they reached for the mark again.

Now I knew the truth.

And it terrified me.

Because Freya’s final words still echoed in my mind like a prophecy I could not escape.

The bond between you and his son is pure. Unbreakable. But it will come with consequences.