ARIA POV
My claws sank deep into the training dummy’s chest before I even realized I’d moved.
"Aria, stop!" Kael’s voice cut through the red haze clouding my view.
I blinked and stumbled backward. The training dummy was torn beyond recognition. Stuffing floated around like snow. My hands were covered in blood from where my claws had grown too fast.
"What’s happening to ?" I whispered.
The Hunter’s Moon hung low and orange in the evening sky. It only ca once a year, and every werewolf felt its pull. But this was different. This was wrong.
"The ritual starts at midnight," Jaxon said quietly. He stood at the edge of the training ground with Lucien. Both of them looked worried. "But you’re already changing."
I tried to take a big breath, but my heart was racing like I’d been running for hours. Everything looked better. Every sound was too loud. The sll of blood on my hands made my gut growl with hunger.
"I want to hunt," I said, surprised by how angry my own voice sounded. "I want to chase sothing and... and..."
"And kill it," Lucien finished softly.
I nodded, ashad. "Is that normal?"
"For most wolves, yes," Kael said. "But you’re not most dogs. You’re a Silver Alpha with a direct link to the Moon Goddess. The Hunter’s Moon affects you differently."
A howl echoed from the trees. Then another. Soon the entire pack was calling out to the orange moon above us. The sound made sothing wild wake up inside my chest.
"We need to get you away from the others," Jaxon said quickly. "If you lose control around the pack..."
"I won’t hurt anyone," I argued.
But even as I said it, I wasn’t sure it was true. When another wolf walked past the training ground, every muscle in my body stiffened. I wanted to chase him. I wanted to show I was stronger.
"The cabin," Lucien said quickly. "We can take her to the old hunter’s house in the deep woods. She can work through this safely there."
"Good idea," Kael agreed. "But we stay with her. All three of us."
I wanted to argue that I didn’t need babysitters, but another wave of angry hunger washed over . My silver eyes began to glow without my permission.
"Hurry," I managed to say.
We ran through the trees faster than I’d ever moved before. My enhanced senses picked up every rabbit, every deer, every small critter hiding in the underbrush. Part of wanted to break away from the brothers and hunt alone.
The hunter’s house was old and small, built from dark logs. It slled like leather and wood smoke. Lucien lit a fire while Kael blocked the door.
"Why are you locking in?" I asked.
"Because you’re looking at us like prey," Jaxon said frankly.
I was about to deny it when I caught my image in the cabin’s mirror. My silver eyes were shining so brightly they looked like stars. My canine teeth had grown longer. And he was right – I had been studying the triplets like I was going to attack them.
"Oh no," I breathed.
"It’s okay," Lucien said gently. "The Hunter’s Moon brings out our most basic feelings. For most wolves, that ans the desire to hunt animals. But for you..."
"For , it ans the urge to dominate other wolves," I realized with fear.
"Which is why we’re here," Kael said strongly. "To help you channel it properly."
A loud crash ca from outside the house. Then screaming.
"What was that?" I spun toward the door, every instinct telling to investigate.
"Stay here," Jaxon ordered, but I was already pushing past him.
Outside, chaos had exploded in the forest. Controlled wolves with blue eyes were striking everything that moved. But these weren’t the sa controlled dogs we’d fought before. These were bigger, stronger, and they moved with frightening intelligence.
"Silas," I growled.
"He’s using the Hunter’s Moon to boost their power," Kael realized. "Making them into perfect killing machines."
One of the tad wolves spotted us and charged. Without thinking, I leaped to et it. My claws t its neck in mid-air, and we crashed to the ground together.
But when I tried to pull back, I couldn’t stop. The Hunter’s Moon was singing in my blood, asking more violence.
"Aria!" Lucien grabbed my shoulders and hauled off the now-still wolf. "You killed it. It’s over."
"No," I panted. "It’s not enough. I need more."
More controlled wolves were coming out of the forest. Dozens of them, all with those terrible blue eyes. They surrounded us in seconds.
"There are too many," Jaxon said sadly.
But I was happy. The part of that should have been scared was instead excited. Finally, enemies I could fight without holding back.
"Good," I said, and my voice didn’t sound like anymore.
The fight was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The Hunter’s Moon made faster, stronger, more vicious than I’d ever been. I moved like lightning, taking down controlled wolves with brutal effectiveness.
But it wasn’t just my body that had changed. My mind was different too. Calculating. Predatory. I found myself setting traps, using the other wolves’ anger against them.
"Behind you!" Kael shouted.
I spun and caught a charging wolf by the throat. Instead of just ending the attack, I used its montum to slam it into a tree so hard the trunk cracked.
"Aria, that’s enough!" Lucien called out.
But I couldn’t stop. Each win made hungry for more. The silver light in my eyes grew brighter and brighter until it was like looking into the sun.
That’s when I noticed sothing terrible.
The boys weren’t just fighting beside anymore. They were fighting to protect the controlled dogs from .
"What are you doing?" I snarled at Kael as he blocked my way to a wounded enemy.
"You’re going too far," he said quietly. "Look at yourself."
I looked down. My hands were covered in blood up to my elbows. The ground around was filled with bodies. And I was still hungry for more killing.
"The Hunter’s Moon isn’t just making you aggressive," Lucien said slowly. "It’s changing you into sothing else. Sothing dangerous."
"I’m fine," I insisted, but even I could hear the lie in my words.
"Are you?" Jaxon pointed to the last controlled wolf. It was just a young girl, maybe sixteen. She was hurt and scared, her blue eyes flickering back to normal brown.
I was stalking toward her with my claws extended.
"She’s not a threat anymore," Kael said, stepping between us. "Aria, she’s just a kid."
But the Hunter’s Moon didn’t care. All I saw was another enemy to defeat. Another way to show my dominance.
"Move," I told Kael.
"No."
The word hit like a physical blow. No one told a Silver Alpha no. Especially not during the Hunter’s Moon.
My silver eyes blazed brighter. Power crackled around like lightning. The very air seed to vibrate with my anger.
"I said move," I repeated, my words echoing with supernatural authority.
For a mont, Kael’s resolution wavered. The Alpha command was almost hard to resist. But then he straightened his shoulders and t my bright stare.
"I won’t let you hurt an innocent person," he said simply. "Even if you kill for it."
His words should have made angry. Instead, they cut through the red haze in my mind like a cold blade.
What was I doing?
I looked around at the damage I’d caused. The bodies spread across the forest floor. The fear in the young girl’s eyes as she looked at .
"Oh, Moon Goddess," I whispered. "What have I beco?"
But before anyone could answer, a slow clap echoed through the trees.
"Magnificent," Silas’s voice called out from the dark. "Absolutely magnificent."
He stepped into the moonlight, but he wasn’t alone. Behind him walked a figure that made my blood turn to ice.
Elder Malin.
But his eyes weren’t their normal wise brown. They glowed the sa fake blue as the controlled wolves.
"Hello, Aria," Elder Malin said in a voice that was his but sohow wrong. "I’ve been waiting so long to et the real you."
The Hunter’s Moon suddenly felt very cold above us.
"That’s impossible," Lucien breathed. "Elder Malin can’t be controlled. He’s too powerful."
"Oh, he’s not controlled," Silas laughed. "He’s been working with from the beginning. Every prophecy, every warning, every piece of advice he gave you was ant to bring you to this mont."
Elder Malin smiled, and it was the most frightening thing I’d ever seen.
"The Moon Goddess told you would beco too dangerous," he said quietly. "So I decided to make sure that when you finally showed your true nature, there would be witnesses."
He pointed to the trees around us. Dozens of pack mbers stepped out of hiding, all staring at in fear.
"Look at her," Elder Malin called out to them. "Look at your Silver Alpha. Look at what she really is when she thinks no one is watching."
Alpha Darius erged from behind a big oak tree. His face was hard as stone.
"I’ve seen enough," he said coldly. "Aria Blackwood, by the authority of the Pack Council, you are hereby stripped of your title and banished from Moonclaw territory."
"What?" I gasped.
"You’re no Luna," he added. "You’re a monster who was hiding behind a pretty face. And monsters have no place in my pack."
The triplets moved to stand with , but Alpha Darius held up his hand.
"Boys, you have a choice. Stay with the monster and be removed with her, or co ho to your pack where you belong."
I waited for them to choose . After everything we’d been through, surely they would stand by my side.
Kael looked at for a long mont. His face was unreadable.
"I’m sorry, Aria," he said quietly.
Then he walked away.
Jaxon followed without even eting my eyes.
Finally, Lucien—my mate, my other half—stepped toward his father.
"Lucien," I whispered. "Please."
He stopped. For a mont, I thought he might choose differently.
Then he shook his head and joined his brothers.
I stood alone in the forest, surrounded by enemies and abandoned by everyone I’d trusted.
Elder Malin’s laughter echoed through the woods like the sound of breaking glass.
"And now," he said, "the real fun begins."
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