The first sign was the birds.
They took flight all at once.
A violent rustling tore through the trees, scattering leaves across the rogue camp. Conversations died instantly. Warriors reached for blades. Wolves shifted without being told.
Cassian stepped out of the command tent, eyes sharp.
"Alpha," one of the scouts muttered from the treeline. "Pack wolves. Ten. No—twelve."
My stomach dropped.
I didn't need the scent to know who led them.
But I smelled him anyway.
Storm. Cedar. Smoke.
Draven.
The mate bond flared so violently I staggered.
Cassian's hand steadied my elbow. His touch was grounding. Solid. Chosen.
"Stay behind me," he said quietly.
"No." My voice surprised even me. Calm. Steel-edged. "This is mine."
The forest parted.
And there he was.
Alpha Draven Blackthorn stepped into the clearing like he owned it—cloaked in black, flanked by his Betas. His presence pressed against the air, dominant and commanding.
But when his eyes found me—
Something fractured.
He had expected broken.
He had expected smaller.
Instead, I stood tall. Shoulders back. Silver humming faintly beneath my skin.
For a heartbeat, neither of us spoke.
The camp held its breath.
Cassian moved to my side—not in front of me, not claiming me. Beside me.
Draven's gaze flicked to him. A low growl rumbled in his chest.
"You stand with rogues now?" Draven's voice carried effortlessly. Cold. Controlled.
"I stand where I am respected," I replied.
A muscle ticked in his jaw.
"I've come to take you home."
Home.
The word scraped raw against old wounds.
"I don't recall being invited to stay," I said.
"You are still of Mooncrest."
"You rejected me," I reminded him evenly. "Publicly. Thoroughly."
Murmurs rippled through his warriors. Discomfort. Doubt.
Draven stepped closer.
The mate bond tightened like a wire pulled too taut.
"I was misled," he said quietly—too quietly for anyone but me to hear.
Cassian stiffened beside me. "State your business clearly, Alpha. You cross rogue territory armed."
Draven's eyes never left mine.
"War is coming," he announced to the clearing. "Mooncrest requires alliance. By law and blood, Aria Vale remains tied to our pack."
My pulse spiked.
Alliance.
Political.
This wasn't apology.
It was necessity.
"So now I'm useful?" I asked softly.
His gaze darkened. "You were always useful."
The wrong answer.
The silver inside me surged in response to my anger. The ground beneath my feet trembled faintly.
Several pack wolves shifted uneasily.
Draven noticed.
His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply.
And then—
Shock flickered across his face.
"You changed," he murmured.
"Yes."
His voice lowered further. "What are you?"
The question might have wounded me once.
Now it only strengthened my spine.
"I'm the wolf you called weak."
Silence.
Cassian's presence at my side was a steady wall. Not possessive. Not controlling.
Support.
Draven's eyes flicked between us again, and something primal ignited there.
Jealousy.
The bond pulsed violently at the sight.
"You've grown bold among strays," Draven said coolly.
Cassian's answering smile was slow and dangerous. "Careful, Blackthorn. Strays bite."
The tension snapped.
Wolves shifted halfway, claws slicing earth.
And that was when it happened.
The moon broke free from cloud cover.
Silver light drenched the clearing.
It poured over my skin—
And responded.
Power erupted outward, not wild like before—but controlled.
Commanded.
My eyes burned.
Gasps echoed as the faintest shimmer of silver aura surrounded me.
Even Draven took a step back.
"I am not returning because you command it," I said, voice layered with something ancient and resonant. "If I step into Mooncrest again, it will be by contract."
The word landed heavily.
Draven's expression shifted.
Understanding dawned.
"A marriage alliance," he said slowly.
Cassian went utterly still beside me.
I felt his tension—but he didn't interrupt.
"If your pack requires my bloodline," I continued, "then it will not be taken freely."
Draven studied me as if seeing a stranger.
"Terms?" he asked.
I stepped forward, closing the distance until the bond thrummed between us like live wire.
"You kneel," I said quietly, "before the same clearing where you rejected me."
Shock rippled through both packs.
An Alpha kneel?
Unthinkable.
Draven's jaw hardened.
For a long moment, I thought he would refuse.
Then—
Very slowly—
He dropped to one knee.
Gasps. Growls. Disbelief.
The great Alpha of Mooncrest bowed his head.
"State your terms, Aria Vale," he said, voice tight but unwavering.
Power settled into my bones.
Not revenge.
Balance.
"If I return," I said clearly, "it will be as equal. My authority unquestioned. My power acknowledged. And this union will be sealed by contract—not fate."
Draven lifted his eyes to mine.
The storm within them had shifted.
Not dominance.
Not dismissal.
Recognition.
"You would bind me?" he asked softly.
"I would give you the choice you denied me."
The mate bond pulsed between us—no longer broken.
Waiting.
Behind me, Cassian's silence was heavy.
And for the first time since my rejection…
The decision would not be made for me.
It would be mine.