Chapter 6: The Moon Pull
The full moon's light burned through Aria's skin like fire. She paced her small room in the pack house, trying to fight the pull that tugged at her very bones.
"Stay inside," she whispered to herself, digging her nails into her hands. "It's not safe out there."
But the call was too strong. Her newly awakened wolf howled inside her, demanding to run under the moonlight. Without the silver necklace to hold her back, Aria's power surged through her blood.
The vial Nessa had given her sat on the small table by her bed. "For when the time comes," the note had said. But was this the time? Aria wasn't sure.
A sharp pain shot through her body, making her double over. She couldn't fight it anymore. The forest was calling.
Aria slipped out of her window and dropped quietly to the ground below. The pack house was quiet. Everyone was at the blood ritual, waiting for her and Callan. They would be looking for her soon.
She ran toward the trees, letting her wolf guide her. The forbidden forest loomed ahead, dark and strange. The same forest where she had lost Elira ten years ago. The same forest where Nessa had died trying to protect her.
"I'm sorry," Aria whispered, thinking of the kind doctor. Tears stung her eyes as she ran faster.
Deep in the woods, Aria stopped to catch her breath. The moon shone bright above her, soaking everything in silver light. Her wrist tingled, and she looked down to see the crescent mark shining brighter than before.
A branch snapped behind her. Aria spun around, her heart racing.
"You shouldn't be here," a deep voice growled. Callan stepped out from behind a tree, his blue eyes sparkling in the darkness. But something was wrong. His face was twisted in pain, sweat beading on his temples.
"Neither should you," Aria shot back. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for our blood ceremony?"
Callan took a step toward her, then stopped, as if fighting with himself. "I had to get away," he said through clenched teeth. "My wolf... he's fighting me."
Aria watched him carefully. He looked like he was at war with himself, his hands tightening and unclenching at his sides.
"Why are you fighting it?" she asked quietly.
"Because if I don't, people will die," he snapped. "The prophecy—"
"The prophecy that no one will explain to me," Aria interrupted. "Everyone keeps talking about this prophecy, but no one will tell me what it really means."
Callan's eyes locked with hers, and suddenly the world around them seemed to fade away. The mate bond pulsed between them, stronger than ever under the full moon.
"It can't be you," Callan growled, but his voice had lost its edge. "You can't be the one."
"But I am," Aria said, moving closer to him. "I'm your mate, Callan. Why do you keep fighting it?"
A howl echoed through the trees, making them both freeze. It was the same twisted howl Aria had heard at Nessa's house.
"Elira," they said in unison.
Callan's eyes widened. "You know? About your sister?"
"That she's not really my sister anymore? Yes," Aria said. "Nessa told me before she died."
Pain flashed across Callan's face. "I'm sorry about Nessa. She was good to me, even when I didn't earn it."
Another scream, closer now. Callan grabbed Aria's arm. "We need to move. She's hunting you."
They ran deeper into the bush, following a path that seemed to glow faintly in the moonlight. Aria noticed that wherever her feet touched the ground, small flowers grew, glowing with a soft blue light.
"What's happening?" she gasped, pointing to the flowers.
Callan glanced down, his face grim. "The forest is reacting to you. Just like the scripture said it would."
They reached a small area where a circle of white stones lay half-buried in the ground. In the middle stood a single tree, older and larger than any Aria had ever seen. Its base was twisted and knotted, its branches reaching toward the moon like fingers.
"The spirit tree," Callan whispered, his voice filled with awe and fear. "We shouldn't be here. This place is holy."
But Aria felt drawn to the tree. She walked toward it, ignoring Callan's warning.
"Aria, stop!"
She touched the rough bark with her fingers. Instantly, visions filled her mind. A young girl running through the forest. The same girl falling into a river, begging for help. Then darkness, followed by a green light. A voice saying, "Mine now."
Aria pulled her hand away with a gasp. "I saw her. I saw what happened to Elira."
Callan was at her side now, his earlier resistance seemingly forgotten. "What did you see?"
"Something took her when she fell into the river," Aria said, her voice shaking. "Something that's using her body now."
Callan's face hardened. "My father knows. He's known all along."
"Why didn't he tell anyone? Why did he let me believe I'd killed her?"
"Because he needed you gone," Callan said. "The prophecy says a marked Luna will either save or kill the packs. He believed you would kill us."
"And what do you believe?" Aria asked, looking up at him.
Callan's eyes softened. For the first time, he looked at her without anger or fear. "I don't know anymore. My father taught me to fear you, but my wolf..."
He reached out, his fingers gently tracing the mark on her wrist. The touch sent sparks running up Aria's arm.
"My wolf has always wanted you," he revealed. "From the moment you returned."
Something crashed through the trees behind them. Callan pushed Aria behind him, facing the direction of the sound.
Elira stepped into the open, but she didn't look like Elira anymore. Her blonde hair swirled around her head as if underwater. Her eyes glowed a sickly green, and her smile was too wide, showing teeth that had grown sharp and pointy.
"Found you," she sang, her voice echoing weirdly. "The sister who left me to drown and the wolf who rejected me."
"You're not Elira," Aria said, stepping out from behind Callan. "Who are you? What have you done with my sister?"
The thing wearing Elira's face laughed. "Your sister is gone. This body is mine now." It looked at Callan. "And soon, yours will belong to me too."
It lunged at them with inhuman speed. Callan pushed Aria out of the way and met the strike head-on. They crashed together in a blur of claws and teeth.
"Run!" Callan shouted to Aria as he fought. "Get to the sacred grove!"
Aria stopped. She couldn't leave him to fight alone.
The vial in her pocket seemed to burn against her leg. "For when the time comes," Nessa had written. Was this the time?
Aria pulled out the vial and uncorked it. The liquid inside glowed with the same blue light as the flowers that had bloomed under her feet.
As Callan and the thing that looked like Elira fought, Aria drank the liquid in one gulp.
Fire burst through her body. She fell to her knees, crying out in pain. The mark on her wrist spread, crawling up her arm like silver plants. Her vision blurred, then sharpened to crystal clarity.
She could see everything now. The forest ghosts watching from the trees. The old magic flowing beneath the earth. And most shocking of all, a faint golden thread connecting her heart to Callan's.
The mate bond, made obvious.
But she also saw something else—a dark shadow wrapped around Elira's body, squeezing the life from her sister's true soul, which still flashed weakly inside.
"She's still in there," Aria gasped, getting to her feet. "Elira is still alive inside!"
The creature froze at her words, its green eyes fixing on Aria with hate. "What did you drink?" it hissed.
Aria stepped forward, her hands sparkling with blue light. "Let my sister go," she ordered.
The creature growled, dropping Callan to the ground. He lay still, blood pooling beneath him.
"You can't save them both," it said, smiling bitterly. "Your mate or your sister. Choose."
And as the moon reached its highest point in the sky, Aria felt a power rise within her that she'd never known existed—and a terrible choice she wasn't sure she could make.