ARIA POV
"Duck!" Jaxon yelled, swerving the motorbike as bullets pinged off rocks around us.
I pressed my face against his back, heart racing as we raced through the dark forest. The trackers had found us again, just minutes after we’d left Lucien at the safe house.
"Hold tight!" Jaxon shouted over the roar of the engine. He turned off the path, plunging down a steep slope that made my stomach drop.
Branches whipped my face as we crashed through shrubbery. The motorcycle’s headlight caught views of trees that seed to jump out at us. Behind, the screams grew fainter—we were losing them.
"Where are we going?" I scread against the wind. My mother’s notebook was stuffed safely inside my jacket, pressed between us.
"Sowhere they can’t follow!" Jaxon called back.
We burst from the trees onto a narrow cliff road. The valley dropped away beside us, moonlight showing a dizzying drop. Jaxon accelerated, the motorbike leaning into each curve.
"We’ve crossed the territory line," he said as we rounded another bend. "We’re beyond pack lands now."
No wonder had never been this far from ho. Ogas weren’t allowed to leave territory without Alpha approval.
But I’m not just an oga, I told myself. I’m a True Alpha.
The words still felt strange, impossible. All my life I’d been the weaker, the lowest. How could I be sothing so powerful? Sothing that could kill an Alpha?
Jaxon finally slowed as we reached a wall of dense trees. He cut the engine and we sat in sudden quiet, my ears ringing.
"Can you hear that?" he asked.
I listened. Beyond the fading rumble of the motorcycle, there was a faraway rushing sound.
"Water?"
Jaxon nodded, swinging off the bike. "The Hidden Falls. No one from our pack knows about this place except ."
"How did you find it?"
His usual playful smile vanished. "Your mother showed ."
My heart skipped. "You knew my mother?"
"I was just a pup," he admits, "but I rember her. She brought here once, right before she disappeared."
He reached for my hand. "Co on. The road is tricky in the dark."
We walked in silence, the sound of water getting louder. The moon cast just enough light to see the narrow path winding between giant trees. Questions burned in my mind, but sothing told to wait.
The trees suddenly opened up, and I gasped. A massive waterfall thundered down a cliff wall, silver in the moonlight. The pool below seed to glow with an inner light.
"It’s beautiful," I whispered.
"It’s sacred," Jaxon corrected. "This is where True Alphas co to awaken their wolves."
He led to the edge of the pool. "Your mother was bringing you here on the night they were caught. You were barely five years old."
My throat tightened. "I don’t rember."
"You wouldn’t. Alpha Darius made sure of that." Jaxon’s voice hardened. "Do you know why he let you live when he killed your parents?"
I shook my head.
"Because he needed you. The blood of a female True Alpha is the most powerful binding agent for the Blood Curse. But it only works after her dog awakens."
My head spun with this new information. "Is that why I never felt my wolf? He did sothing to suppress it?"
"A powerful binding spell," Jaxon confird. "Tied to your eighteenth birthday."
"The night I felt the mate bond," I realized.
Jaxon nodded. "The bond started breaking that night. But it’s still there, holding back your true power."
He began taking off his jacket. "That’s why we need to finish what your mother started."
"How?"
"You need to connect with your wolf spirit." He pointed to the waterfall. "Under there."
Fear and excitent fought inside . "What do I do?"
"Trust your instincts," he said simply. "I’ll be right beside you."
We walked into the pool. The water was surprisingly warm, like bathwater. It seed to welco , whirling around my legs with strange purpose.
As we approached the booming wall of water, Jaxon gripped my hand. "Once we’re under, don’t fight what happens. Let your wolf co forward."
I nodded, too nervous to speak.
We pushed through the wall of water into a small cave behind. The roar beca overwhelming, yet sohow peaceful. Moonlight stread through the water, casting dancing patterns on the stone walls.
"Sit," Jaxon directed, pointing to a flat rock in the center of the cave.
I obeyed, cross-legged, water running down my face and clothes.
"Close your eyes," he said, his voice suddenly gentle. "Breathe the mist. Feel the power of the falls."
I closed my eyes, focused on the sensation of water against my skin. The steady thunder beca a rhythm, like a heartbeat.
"Call to your wolf," Jaxon whispered. "Tell her it’s ti to wake up."
I wasn’t sure how to do that, but I tried to picture a wolf inside —sleeping, waiting. Wake up, I thought. I need you now.
Nothing happened.
"It’s not working," I said, opening my eyes.
Jaxon knelt before , his face serious. "You’re trying too hard. Don’t call her—beco her."
He pressed his hand against my chest, right over my heart. "Rember who you are. The daughter of Aurora, White Wolf Alpha of Silvercrest. Feel her blood in your veins."
I closed my eyes again, thinking of my mother. The notebook had shown glimpses of her strength, her courage. I pictured that sa power flowing through .
The cave suddenly seed warr. My skin tingled, starting at my heart where Jaxon’s hand sat, spreading outward like wildfire.
"That’s it," Jaxon urged. "Let her co."
A growl built in my throat—not my voice, sothing deeper, more primal. My fingernails dug into my hands, sharpening, lengthening.
My eyes flew open, and I knew they had changed. Jaxon’s face looked different—brighter, every feature crystal clear.
"Jaxon," I gasped, but my voice had a growl beneath it. "What’s happening?"
His eyes widened, reflecting sothing white—my eyes, shining like the moon.
"Your wolf," he whispered. "She’s beautiful."
Power rushed through , strength I’d never known. The world beca sharper, clearer. Scents flooded my nose—the mineral tang of the falls, Jaxon’s wild pine sll, and sothing else... sothing dark coming.
I jumped to my feet, a snarl tearing from my throat. "Soone’s coming."
Jaxon tensed, listening. "How many?"
I breathed deeply, my new senses sorting through the information. "Three... no, four. They sll like our pack, but... wrong."
"Red eyes," Jaxon mumbled. "Darius must have turned more wolves."
"How did they find us?"
Jaxon’s face darkened. "I don’t know. No one should have been able to track us here."
The realization hit like a physical blow. I stepped back from him, my wolf snarling in warning.
"No one except soone my mother trusted," I said slowly. "Soone who’d been here before."
Guilt flashed across Jaxon’s face. "Aria, I can explain—"
"You led them here," I charged. "This was a trap."
"Not a trap," he protested. "A necessary risk. Your wolf needed to awaken before the Blood Moon."
"For what purpose?" I asked. "So Alpha Darius could use my blood?" "So you could fulfill the prophecy," Jaxon insisted. "Kill the corrupted Alpha and take your rightful place."
My new wolf senses caught his partial truth. "You’re not telling everything."
Howls exploded outside, close now. We were running out of ti.
"We need to go," Jaxon urged, reaching for .
I backed away. "Not until you tell the truth. All of it."
Jaxon’s eyes flashed with anger, then resignation. "Fine. There’s another part to the forecast. The white wolf will rise and end the curse, but only by sacrificing what she loves most."
"What does that an?"
"It ans one of us has to die," he said softly. "One of the twins. Your true mate."
The cave seed to spin around . "Lucien," I whispered.
Jaxon’s face hardened. "That’s what Elder Malin wants you to believe. But there’s sothing you should know about Lucien." He pulled a folded paper from his pocket.
As he gave it to , a dark shape burst through the waterfall. A huge black wolf with glowing red eyes—Alpha Darius.
Jaxon shoved toward a narrow crack in the back wall of the cave. "Run! There’s a tunnel that leads out the other side of the mountain!"
"But you—" "I’ll hold them off! The paper describes everything. Find Lucien!"
As I squeezed through the crack, Jaxon changed into his wolf form—russet brown and powerful. He lunged at Alpha Darius, teeth bared.
The last thing I heard was his voice in my mind: Be ready to kill tomorrow night, White Wolf. Even if it breaks your heart.
I ran through the dark tunnel, my new wolf senses guiding , the folded paper clutched in my hand. When I finally appeared on the other side of the mountain, dawn was breaking.
With shaking hands, I unfolded the paper. Two words were written in blood, with a na beneath them:
First-born son.
Lucien.
My world shattered as I understood the terrible truth. Lucien wasn’t just my mate—he was Alpha Darius’s son.
The one who must die for the curse to break.
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