Chapter 3 THE AWAKENING

[ARIA'S POV]

The pain should have killed me.

My bones cracked and reformed with sounds like breaking branches. My skin stretched and tore. Every muscle burned as it reshaped itself into something new. I'd heard stories about first shifts-how they hurt, how you screamed until your voice gave out.

No one mentioned it felt like being unmade and remade at the same time.

But underneath the agony was something else. Something I'd never felt in my entire life.

Power.

It flooded through my veins like liquid moonlight, filling every space where the mate bond had been. Raw. Ancient. Infinite.

My wolf wasn't a whisper anymore. She was a roar.

Finally, she growled in my mind. Finally free.

The silver light pulsed brighter around me. Through the brightness, I heard chaos. Shouting. Furniture scraping. The thunder of footsteps as wolves scrambled away from me.

Good. Let them be afraid.

Then, as suddenly as it began, the light vanished.

I collapsed onto the cold marble floor, gasping. My whole body shook. Everything felt different. Wrong and right at the same time.

My eyesight was sharper. I could see individual dust motes floating through the air. My hearing picked up heartbeats from across the massive hall-some racing with fear, others pounding with shock.

And the scents. Gods, the scents. I could smell everything. Wine and sweat and expensive perfume. Fear, bitter and metallic. Excitement, sweet and sharp.

And him. Pine and smoke and something dark that made my new wolf snarl.

"What in the Goddess's name..." Alpha Gregor's voice shook.

I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees. My arms looked the same, but they didn't feel the same. Stronger. Like I could tear through steel if I wanted to.

"Stay back," someone warned. "Don't get near her."

I lifted my head.

Every single wolf in that grand hall had pressed themselves against the walls. Their eyes were wide. Some with shock. Some with terror. A few with something that looked like awe.

My gaze found Daemon automatically.

The Alpha King stood frozen about ten feet away. His silver eyes locked on me with an expression I'd never seen on his face before.

Shock. Complete and utter shock.

Good.

Let him see what he rejected, my wolf purred. Let him choke on his mistake.

"Aria?" Beta Thomas took a tiny, hesitant step forward. His voice came out strangled. "Is that... did you just..."

I opened my mouth to respond, but a different voice cut through the silence.

"Move aside. All of you."

Elder Moira pushed through the crowd with surprising strength for someone so old. Her weathered face was calm, but her eyes held something I couldn't quite read as she approached me.

She moved slowly. Carefully. Like I was a wild animal that might bolt or attack.

Maybe I was.

"Child," she said softly. "Look at me."

I met her gaze. Her eyes widened. All the color drained from her wrinkled face.

"Blessed Moon Goddess," she whispered. "It can't be."

"What?" Daemon's voice cracked like a whip. He moved closer despite the fear radiating from everyone else. "What is she?"

Elder Moira turned to face him. I watched her hands tremble as she clutched her walking stick.

"Your Majesty... this girl. She was never defective." The old woman's voice grew stronger with each word. "She was suppressed. Hidden. Protected by magic so powerful it took mate rejection to break it."

"Explain," Daemon demanded. But I heard something else in his voice now. Not just command. Uncertainty. Maybe even fear.

"She's a Moon Wolf." Elder Moira said the words like a prayer. Or a curse. "The last of her kind."

The silence that followed could have swallowed the world.

Then everyone started talking at once.

"Impossible!"

"Moon Wolves are extinct!"

"There hasn't been one in over two hundred years!"

"She's lying-"

"She can't be-"

"SILENCE!"

Daemon's Alpha command crashed through the room like a physical wave. Every wolf fell quiet instantly. Their heads bowed in submission.

Every wolf except me.

I stared right at him. My wolf snarled in my mind, refusing to show submission to the male who'd rejected us. And somehow-impossibly-I felt no compulsion to obey his command.

Daemon's eyes narrowed. I watched confusion flicker across his face, quickly replaced by something harder. "Explain what a Moon Wolf is. Now."

Elder Moira took a shaky breath. "Moon Wolves are the original bloodline, Your Majesty. Direct descendants of the Moon Goddess herself, created before all other wolves. They possess abilities far beyond what normal wolves can achieve."

"What kind of abilities?" Celeste's voice cut in, sharp with jealousy.

"Healing that can cure any wound. Strength that surpasses even the strongest Alpha. Speed that makes them nearly impossible to catch." Elder Moira's eyes found mine. "And the ability to command any wolf, regardless of their rank or bloodline."

"That's just a myth," someone scoffed. "Children's stories."

"Look at her eyes," Elder Moira said quietly.

All attention turned back to me. I caught my reflection in a shattered piece of mirror on the floor.

My eyes weren't the dull gray they'd always been. They glowed. Silver light, bright as the full moon, emanated from them like I had stars trapped in my skull.

Just like the legends described.

"This proves nothing," Daemon said, but his voice lacked its usual conviction. "Even if she has some... unusual traits, it doesn't change-"

"Doesn't change that you rejected her?" Elder Moira's tone was gentle, but her words landed like blows. "Your Majesty, do you understand what you've done? Moon Wolves mate once. Their bonds are sacred. Eternal. To reject one..."

She trailed off, but she didn't need to finish. Everyone knew. Rejecting your fated mate was bad enough. But rejecting a Moon Wolf?

That was something else entirely.

Pain lanced through my chest. Sharp and sudden. The broken mate bond. Even with all this new power flooding through me, I could still feel where it had torn apart. Jagged edges that would probably scar forever.

I forced myself to stand. My legs shook, but I held. Every wolf in the room tensed like I might attack.

I looked at Daemon. Really looked at him. The Alpha King who'd held my heart for approximately three minutes before crushing it.

"You made your choice," I said. My voice came out different. Stronger. It carried its own weight now. "You rejected a weak, wolfless servant because you thought she had no value."

I took a step toward him. He didn't move, but I saw his jaw clench. Saw his hands curl into fists.

"You were right about one thing." A smile curved my lips, but it held no warmth. No forgiveness. "I'm not the Luna you wanted. I never could be."

Silver light flickered around my hands. I didn't know how I was doing it. Didn't care. It felt natural. Like breathing.

"Because I'm not meant to be anyone's Luna," I continued. "I'm meant to be so much more."

The light grew brighter. I felt power building inside me. Asking to be released. To show everyone what they'd overlooked for nineteen years.

"I, Aria Winters, accept your rejection, Daemon Blackthorne."

The words felt like breaking chains. The pain in my chest flared once more-hot and terrible and final. Then it began to fade. Not gone. But manageable. Like a scar that would always ache but wouldn't kill me.

The mate bond severed completely.

Daemon's face went pale. He took a step forward, his hand reaching out. "Wait-"

"No." My wolf's growl echoed in my voice, making it deeper. More dangerous. "You had your chance. You threw it away in front of everyone to witness. You humiliated me. Broke me."

The silver light around me brightened until several wolves had to shield their eyes.

"But you didn't destroy me," I said. "You freed me."

I turned away from him. From all of them. My body still ached from the transformation, but I forced myself to walk toward the doors with my head high.

"Aria, stop." Alpha Gregor's voice cracked with command.

I kept walking. His Alpha command rolled off me like water off stone. I felt him try to force my submission. Felt the power behind it.

It didn't touch me.

Behind me, I heard gasps. Heard Elder Moira's soft, delighted laugh.

"Remarkable," the old woman murmured. "She really is immune to Alpha dominance."

"Where do you think you're going?" Celeste's shrill voice made my ears hurt. "You're still part of this pack. You can't just leave!"

I stopped at the doorway. Looked back over my shoulder at the wolves who'd made my life hell for fourteen years.

"Watch me."

Then I walked out into the night.

The full moon hung heavy in the sky, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I could actually breathe. Like I'd been drowning my whole life and just now broke the surface.

My wolf stirred in my mind. Content. Satisfied. Finally whole.

Where do we go now? I asked her.

Away, she answered simply. Far away from here. From him. We'll find our own path.

Behind me, I heard shouting. Footsteps. Daemon's voice was calling my name with something that might have been desperation.

But I didn't stop. Didn't even slow down.

I ran toward the tree line, and with each step, I felt the old Aria falling away like a skin I'd outgrown.

By the time I reached the forest, I wasn't the broken servant girl anymore.

I was something new. Something powerful.

Something the Alpha King would regret losing for the rest of his life.