Aria did not sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, the bond flared — not painful, but insistent, like something knocking from the inside of her ribs. She lay on the narrow bed, staring at the ceiling, counting the cracks in the wood until dawn crept in through the window.
By morning, the pack felt different.
She sensed it the moment she stepped outside.
Whispers carried on the air. Wolves moved more carefully, eyes flicking toward the healer's hut before darting away. The usual morning noise felt muted, restrained.
She had become something they didn't understand.
A pair of guards waited at the edge of the clearing.
"Council summons," one said, not meeting her gaze.
So they had decided to force the issue.
Aria followed without resistance, her steps steady even as her heart pounded. The Great Hall loomed ahead, just as imposing as it had the night before. Crossing its threshold sent a ripple through her chest — the bond responding sharply.
Inside, the elders were already gathered.
Alpha Kael stood apart from them, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
Aria kept her eyes forward.
"Aria," Elder Thorne began, his voice calm but heavy with authority. "You stand before the council to explain an anomaly."
She almost laughed.
"I didn't choose this," she said. "If that's what you want to hear."
A murmur rippled through the chamber.
"Your survival alone is unprecedented," another elder said. "But the power you're emitting is… concerning."
Kael shifted.
"It's dangerous," he said. "Uncontrolled."
Aria's gaze snapped to him. "You rejected me without control. Did that concern you?"
The words landed like a blade.
Silence followed.
Thorne raised a hand. "Enough. Alpha Kael, step aside."
Kael hesitated — then did as told.
Aria noticed.
So did he.
"Aria," Thorne continued, "for the safety of the pack, we are placing you under temporary isolation."
Her chest tightened. "Isolation?"
"You will remain within the inner borders," he clarified. "Guarded. Observed."
A cage, dressed up in careful language.
"And if I refuse?" she asked.
Thorne's eyes softened. "Then the Alpha will be forced to restrain you."
Kael stiffened.
Aria felt the bond twist sharply, her breath hitching as heat surged. Kael inhaled hard, his composure cracking for just a second.
"No," Aria said firmly. "I won't be chained again."
The air thickened.
Not violently — deliberately.
A pressure rolled outward from her, subtle but commanding. The elders leaned back in their seats instinctively. One guard staggered, eyes wide.
Kael took a single step forward before stopping himself.
"Aria," he said quietly, "don't."
She looked at him then — really looked.
Not the Alpha King.
The man who had rejected her and now stood torn between command and something deeper.
"I'm not your threat," she said. "I'm your consequence."
The pressure eased. The hall exhaled.
Thorne closed his eyes briefly.
"This changes things," he murmured.
Aria was dismissed shortly after, escorted back to the hut — not as a prisoner, but not as free either.
As the doors closed behind her, Kael remained in the hall, fists clenched.
The council's decision was clear.
They could not control her.
And that frightened them more than any enemy ever had.