The moment the Shadow King's fingers clamp around my wrist, the world stops.
The ground pulls away.
The trees blur.
The air collapses into a tunnel of darkness.
My body lifts off the earth—
floating—
dragging—
pulled toward the swirling black portal like I'm nothing but a thread in a storm.
I scream.
"AIDEN!"
His roar tears through the night.
"LIYANA—NO!"
Aiden forces himself up despite blood pouring down his back.
He stumbles once—
twice—
then lunges forward on all fours, half-wolf, half-man, all fury.
His claws tear through the dirt as he drags himself toward me.
The Shadow King pulls harder.
My wrist feels like it's on fire—burning from the inside, like my veins are cracking.
"Aiden, don't—!" I scream again, kicking at the air as the portal sucks me closer.
He doesn't listen.
He never listens when it comes to me.
His wolf eyes—silver and wild—lock on mine.
"LIYANA, HOLD ON!"
The wind tries to rip my fingers out of his reach.
The portal distorts everything—the sound, the air, even time feels strange.
The sky bends.
The trees shake violently.
The wolves who tried to help are flung backwards by the force of the dark vortex.
Even Serene, who crawled toward the chaos crying Aiden's name, is thrown into the dirt, sobbing.
But Aiden keeps going.
His body shakes.
His bones shift.
His skin rips.
His claws dig deep channels into the ground.
He fights the pull with every muscle he has.
And still—
He reaches for me.
Our fingers almost touch.
Almost.
Then the Shadow King tugs.
I'm yanked forward violently.
The world stretches.
"AIDEN—!"
He roars my name so loudly the packhouse windows shatter.
Kai tries to join the fight, grabbing Aiden's arm—
"Alpha—! You'll die—!"
Aiden snarls and shakes him off so violently Kai falls into the dirt.
"STAY BACK!"
His voice isn't human.
It's not wolf.
It's something pure instinct.
Pure bond.
Pure desperation.
He leaps—
full Alpha form bursting through his skin, bones cracking, fur erupting—
He shifts mid-air.
The black wolf—
massive
powerful
terrifying—
slams toward the portal.
The Shadow King's hand glows, and a wave of dark force explodes outwards.
Aiden hits the ground hard, sliding across the dirt, leaving a trail of blood.
But he gets up again.
Nothing stops him.
Not pain.
Not magic.
Not a king.
My body jerks violently—
Half of me is already inside the portal.
The world behind me is fading.
The world in front of me is black, cold, endless.
I can't breathe.
I can't think.
I can't—
A voice echoes inside my skull:
"Come home, my child."
"No!" I scream, kicking wildly. "I'm not—!"
The darkness tightens around my body like a cage.
My magic spikes—
wild
uncontrolled
unbearable—
The mark on my wrist spreads golden cracks up my arm.
"Aiden—!" I sob.
And this time—
he hears something different in my voice.
Something final.
Something breaking.
He lunges again—
And this time,
he reaches me.
His claws clamp around my ankle, holding me with bone-deep desperation.
Darkness pulls my wrist.
Aiden pulls my leg.
My body stretches painfully between two worlds.
"Aiden—!"
"I'm here—DON'T LET GO!"
The Shadow King's voice hardens.
"Release her, wolf.
Or break."
Aiden snarls, digging his claws deeper into the ground, into my skin—anything to keep me with him.
Blood drips down his muzzle from the pressure.
His paws shake violently.
He is tearing himself apart
just to hold onto me.
My chest explodes with emotion.
"Aiden… you'll die!"
He looks up at me—
wolf eyes blazing with something so raw it almost hurts to see.
"Then I'll die holding you."
My heart shatters.
Tears stream down my face.
"Aiden—please—"
Something inside me twists.
A heat—
a power—
an ancient, terrifying force—
surges up from deep inside my bones.
Magic explodes under my skin.
My eyes burn, vision turning gold.
The bond pulses—
once
twice
THREE times—
Aiden feels it too.
His eyes widen.
"Liyana—?"
The Shadow King's voice suddenly cracks.
"No.
Not yet."
But it's too late.
The magic bursts.
Not Moonfire.
Not witch magic.
Something older.
Something darker.
Something that answers the Shadow King's power—
but isn't his.
Something mine.
My scream turns into a wave of golden-white light that blasts out of my body.
The portal shivers.
The Shadow King snarls for the first time.
Aiden is thrown backward—
But so is the Shadow King.
His hand slips from my wrist.
The portal jerks violently, collapsing around the edges.
"NO!" the Shadow King roars.
My body falls—
Aiden leaps forward and catches me before I hit the ground, rolling us both away from the collapsing vortex.
The portal cracks inward—
implodes—
and snaps shut
with a deafening explosion.
Silence.
Dark.
Heavy.
Terrifying.
Aiden shifts back halfway, breathing like he just ran through fire.
He pulls me into his lap, arms shaking around me.
"Liyana—Liyana—open your eyes—talk to me—please—"
I inhale sharply.
"Aiden…"
His breath shudders out of him, relief breaking across his face.
His voice cracks.
"I almost lost you."
I reach up and touch his blood-streaked cheek.
"No," I whisper. "You saved me."
His eyes soften—
so much emotion it hurts.
"I'll always save you."
My mark still glows faintly, painful and warm.
Aiden brushes his thumb over it—very lightly—and the bond flares again.
But this time—
It doesn't hurt.
This time—
It feels alive.
He exhales in relief and presses his forehead to mine.
"You're not going anywhere," he whispers fiercely.
"Not to him.
Not to his realm.
Not away from me."
Then—
From behind us—
Elder Mira gasps loudly.
"Goddess… look at her arm."
Aiden tenses. "What's wrong?"
I look down.
The golden cracks on my skin don't fade.
They spread.
Up my wrist.
Across my arm.
Toward my collarbone.
Glowing like molten gold.
The elders whisper.
Kai mutters, "That's… that's not normal."
Ethan swears softly. "That looks like—like—runic awakening."
Aiden's face goes pale.
He cups my cheek again gently, voice trembling.
"Liyana… something inside you just woke up."
The sky rumbles.
The air thickens.
Wolves drop to their knees.
My heart pounds.
Magic pulses again—
deep
ancient
fierce.
"Aiden," I whisper, voice shaking,
"I… I think I just unlocked something."
He pulls me closer.
"What are you becoming?"
And then—
From far away, across the forest—
A voice echoes faintly, not through the portal but through the air—
"My daughter awakens."
The world tilts.
Aiden stiffens.
And everything goes dark.