ARIA'S POV
"Elena!"
Kael's anguished roar shook the Grand Hall as he lunged for his sister's unconscious body.
I moved faster.
My power surged through me like liquid silver, and I crossed the distance in a heartbeat. I dropped to my knees beside the girl, pressing my glowing hands to her temples before Kael could reach her.
Black veins crawled beneath Elena's skin like poison. Her body convulsed, back arching off the stone floor. Dark smoke continued to leak from her mouth with each rattling breath.
Void corruption. Advanced stage.
Damn it.
"Get away from her!" Kael snarled, his wolf flashing in his eyes as he tried to shove me aside.
I slammed a barrier of silver light between us. He bounced off it like hitting a wall.
"Touch me again and I'll break your arm," I said without looking at him. "Your sister is dying. Let me work."
"What did you do to her?" Marcus Nightshade's voice cut through the chaos. "This started when you arrived!"
"I didn't do anything, you idiot." I poured more power into Elena, trying to burn out the corruption. "The Void King did. He's marking the people Kael loves, showing him what he'll lose if we fail."
Elena screamed—a horrible, inhuman sound that made half the Alphas in the room shift partially in fear.
Her eyes snapped open. Completely black. No whites, no irises. Just endless darkness staring up at me.
"Guardian," she whispered, but the voice wasn't hers. It was layered with something ancient and evil. "Finally. I've waited so long to meet you."
Ice flooded my veins.
The Void King was speaking through her.
"Get out of her body," I commanded, channeling divine power directly into the connection. Silver light blazed from my hands. "She's under my protection now."
Dark laughter echoed from Elena's mouth. "Your protection? How precious. Tell me, Guardian, did your protection save you three years ago? When you died for a man who didn't want you?"
Every muscle in my body went rigid.
"Get. Out."
"He rejected you," the Void King continued, using Elena like a puppet. "Chose another woman over you. Let you die believing you were worthless. And now you're supposed to save him? Save his world? How deliciously broken you must be."
My hands shook. Not from weakness. From rage.
"I said get out!"
I unleashed a wave of pure lunar power directly into Elena's core. Silver light exploded through the Grand Hall, so bright several wolves cried out and shielded their eyes.
The black veins in Elena's skin burned away like paper in flame. The darkness in her eyes retreated, shrieking.
"This isn't over, Guardian," the Void King's voice hissed as it was forced out. "I'll take everyone he loves. One by one. Until there's nothing left but ashes and regret."
Elena's body went limp.
The black smoke vanished.
Silence crashed over the chamber.
I kept my hands on Elena's temples, monitoring her life force. Weak but steady. The corruption was gone—for now.
"Is she—" Kael's voice broke. "Is my sister—"
"She'll live." I pulled my hands away, exhausted. "The Void King marked her, used her as a message delivery system. But I burned out the corruption before it could take root permanently."
Kael dropped beside his sister, gathering her unconscious form into his arms. The terrified grief on his face made something in my chest twist painfully.
I looked away.
"That's impossible," Marcus said, his voice shaking for the first time. "The Void King is still imprisoned. He shouldn't be able to possess anyone."
"The prison is cracking," Lyra said quietly. "His consciousness is leaking through the breaks. He can't manifest physically yet, but he can touch minds. Corrupt souls. Turn wolves against each other."
"Then we're already at war," Alpha Chen said, his face grim. "If he can possess anyone, we can't trust our own pack members."
The room erupted again. Alphas arguing, planning, panicking.
I stood, my legs shaking slightly. Using that much power so quickly had drained me more than I wanted to admit. Three years in the spirit realm gave me incredible abilities, but this mortal body still had limits.
"Aria."
I stiffened at Kael's voice. He'd laid Elena gently on the floor and now stood just behind me.
"Thank you," he said softly. "For saving her."
"I didn't do it for you." The words came out harsher than intended. "Elena was kind to me when we were together. She didn't deserve to die for your mistakes."
Kael flinched like I'd struck him.
Good.
"We need to talk," he said. "About what happened three years ago. About us. About—"
"There is no us, Alpha Blackthorn." I finally turned to face him, keeping my expression cold. "There's a professional arrangement where we work together to stop an ancient evil from destroying the world. That's it."
"Aria, please—"
"Guardian Silvermoon," I corrected. "We're not friends. We're not lovers. We're certainly not mates anymore. You made that choice very clear when you stood before this Council and rejected our bond."
Pain flashed across his face. "I was trying to prevent a war. My father threatened—"
"I don't care." The lie tasted bitter, but I forced it out anyway. "Your reasons don't matter. The result is the same: you chose power over me, duty over love, and I paid for that choice with my life."
"I know." Kael's voice was raw. "I know, and I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry, Aria. I've spent three years drowning in guilt, wishing I could take it back, wishing I'd chosen differently—"
"Well, you can't take it back!" I snapped, my control cracking. "I'm dead, Kael. Or I was. The girl you knew—the one who loved you, who would've done anything for you, who died for you—she's gone. The Moon Goddess brought me back, but she brought back someone different. Someone stronger. Someone who knows her worth."
Silver light flickered around my hands as emotion surged through me.
"So here's how this works," I continued, my voice steady again. "We perform the ritual. We seal the Void King. And then I disappear from your life forever. You go back to your perfect political marriage and your powerful pack, and I return to serving the Moon Goddess. Clean. Simple. Professional."
"What if I don't want that?" Kael asked quietly.
"I don't care what you want." I met his storm-grey eyes without flinching. "You lost the right to my consideration when you let me die."
Before he could respond, Lyra's voice cut through our argument.
"The ritual requires more than cooperation," the Seer said, her ancient eyes sad. "It requires an open, active mate bond. Trust. Partnership. Love freely given."
My stomach dropped.
"That's impossible," I said flatly. "The bond is broken."
"Rejected bonds can be reformed," Lyra replied. "But only if both parties choose it willingly. If both of you open your hearts to each other again, speak the words before the Moon Goddess, and accept the bond knowing all the pain it caused."
"No." The word came out immediately. "Absolutely not."
"Then we're doomed," Marcus said coldly. "Because without the ritual, the Void King wins."
I wanted to argue. To find another way. To prove there was a solution that didn't involve binding myself to Kael Blackthorn again.
But Lyra's expression told me everything I needed to know.
There was no other way.
"How long do we have?" I asked, my voice hollow.
Lyra closed her eyes, touching the divine connection. When she opened them, fear flickered across her ancient face.
"Three days," she whispered. "Maybe four. After that, the Void King breaks free completely."
Three days to save the world.
Three days to decide if I could forgive the unforgivable.
Three days to choose between duty and self-preservation.
I looked at Kael—at the guilt and hope and desperate love written across his face.
The face of the man who destroyed me.
"Fine," I said, my voice like ice. "We'll discuss the ritual. But understand this, Alpha Blackthorn: I'm doing this to save innocent lives. Not for you. Never for you."
I turned away before he could see the lie in my eyes.
Because the terrible truth—the one I'd never admit—was that part of me, the stupid broken part that survived death itself, still loved him.
And I hated myself for it.
"Guardian," a young wolf called from the doorway, his face pale with terror. "There's something you need to see. In the Veil Woods. It's... it's moving."
"What's moving?" Alpha Garrett demanded.
The messenger's hands shook. "The darkness. It's alive. And it's spreading toward the nearest pack territories."
He pulled out a small crystal—a recording stone.
The image that appeared made my blood run cold.
The Veil Woods, corrupted beyond recognition. Trees twisted into nightmare shapes. The ground itself bleeding black poison. And in the center of it all, a massive shadow rising from the earth.
Taking shape.
Taking form.
"Moon Goddess," Lyra breathed. "He's manifesting. The Void King is already breaking through."
The shadow in the vision turned, and though it had no face, I felt its attention lock onto the stone. Onto me.
Then it spoke, its voice shaking the very walls of the Grand Hall.
"I'm coming for you, little Guardian. And when I'm done, there won't be anything left of your precious mate to save."
The recording stone shattered.
And I knew with horrifying certainty: we didn't have three days.
We had hours.