ARIA POV
The knife flew past my ear, missing by inches before thudding into the wall behind . I dropped to the ground, my heart pounding madly in my chest.
"Who’s there?" I called out, searching the shadows of the pack’s eting hall.
The room should have been empty this late at night. I’d co to check the maps we’d left earlier, hoping to find so tip about where the human-wolf hybrids might strike next. Instead, I found trouble waiting for .
A person darted toward the exit. Without thinking, I jumped forward, tackling them to the ground. We rolled across the floor, knocking over chairs. My attacker was strong but I was angry. With a growl, I pinned them down, my eyes shining in the darkness.
"Mira?" I gasped, recognizing my best friend’s face. "What are you doing?"
Her eyes wouldn’t et mine. "Let go, Aria."
"Not until you tell why you just tried to stab !" I gripped her wrists tighter, noting a strange mark on her forearm – a tiny symbol that looked like a moon broken in half.
"You weren’t supposed to be here," she mumbled.
My stomach dropped. Mira – my only friend when I was just a nobody oga – was trying to hurt ?
"Who are you working for?" I demanded, my voice cracking.
Before she could answer, the door burst open. Lucien rushed in with two pack guards.
"We heard fighting," he said, then froze when he saw who I had pinned. "Mira?"
"Take her to the cells," I ordered, getting off her. My hands were shaking. "And don’t let anyone talk to her except or the triplets."
As they dragged her away, she finally looked at . "They’re everywhere, Aria. You’ll never find them all."
My blood ran cold. If Mira was a rogue, who else was? How many enemies were hiding in plain sight?
"Seven," Jaxon said the next morning, throwing a crumpled paper onto the table where the triplets and I were eting. "Seven pack mbers with that sa weird mark."
"How did you find out so fast?" Kael asked, watching his brother with suspicion.
Jaxon smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "I have friends in low places. People talk to because they think I’m the fun triplet."
"Did your ’friends’ tell you what the mark ans?" Lucien asked.
"It’s called the Broken Moon," Jaxon answered, suddenly serious. "It’s the symbol of a secret group that believes the hybridization of humans and wolves is the next step in our evolution."
"That’s crazy," I said. "Those things that attacked us aren’t evolution – they’re monsters."
"To so, monsters are just misunderstood gods," Jaxon shrugged. "Not everyone was happy when you beca Luna, Aria. So think you’re too weak. Others are scared of the First Wolf and want to be on the winning side."
The truth hurt worse than the knife that nearly hit . "So they’re helping Dr. Reid and my father."
Lucien reached for my hand. "We need to root them out before they can do more damage."
"But how?" I asked. "If they’re hiding among us, how do we know who to trust?"
A slow smile spread across Jaxon’s face. "We set a trap."
The plan was easy but dangerous. We would spread false information – a fake hideout spot where we’d supposedly be moving the wounded – and see who took the bait.
Jaxon led through the dark forest outside the area. "My guy says their drop point is just ahead. They leave words for each other here."
"How do you know about all this underground stuff?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
His normal playful smile dropped for a mont. "Being the middle triplet ant I was neither the winner nor the spare. I had to make my own place. The dark beca my ho."
For the first ti, I saw the real Jaxon beneath all the jokes and flirting. He’d been lonely too.
We reached a hollow tree with a small hole at its base. Jaxon pulled out a folded piece of paper where we’d written the fake plans.
"Now we wait," he whispered.
We didn’t wait long. About an hour later, a hooded person approached the tree. They checked around before bending down to collect our ssage.
"That’s Elder Malin!" I gasped, recognizing his bent fra.
Jaxon’s hand clamped over my mouth, but it was too late. Elder Malin’s head snapped in our direction. His eyes, usually cloudy with age, were sharp and alert.
"I know you’re there, Luna," he called out. "Your father sends his regards."
I stepped out from our hiding spot, anger overriding fear. "You were supposed to be our wisest leader. You guided !"
"I guided you exactly where you needed to go," he said with a cold smile. "The Blood Moon rite was the final key. You did beautifully."
My hands began to shake. "You wanted the First Wolf to wake up all along."
"The old must fall for the new to rise," he said quietly. "Your father understood this. So does Dr. Reid."
Jaxon appeared behind him, quiet as a shadow. But Elder Malin laughed without turning around.
"I’ve been feeling your presence in shadows for years, boy. Did you think you could sneak up on now?"
What happened next was too fast to follow. Elder Malin spun around with impossible speed for soone his age. There was a flash of silver – a knife – and Jaxon fell to his knees, blood spreading across his shirt.
"No!" I scread, running toward them.
Elder Malin smiled at sadly. "You should have picked him, you know. He’s the strongest of the three, though no one sees it."
Then he was gone, disappearing into the trees with unnatural speed.
I dropped beside Jaxon, pushing my hands against his wound. "Stay with ! Lucien will heal you, just hold on!"
"Always knew I’d die dramatically," he choked out, trying to smile through the pain. "Makes for a better story."
"You’re not dying," I insisted, tears blurring my vision. "Not today."
His hand grabbed mine, surprisingly strong. "Listen to . The seven with the marks – they’re just players. The real enemy is soone closer to you."
"Who?" I begged as his eyes started to flutter.
"The one who..." His voice faded as he lost consciousness.
I howled for help, the sound echoing through the forest. As I waited, clutching Jaxon’s bleeding body, a terrible thought took root in my mind.
Seven pieces with the Broken Moon mark. But who was moving them?
In the distance, I heard running footsteps. Lucien and Kael were coming. But as I looked down at Jaxon’s pale face, Elder Malin’s words repeated in my mind: The real enemy is soone closer to you.
How much closer could they get than sleeping beside every night?
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