Darkness had a taste—damp, cold, and bitter.
Aria stirred slowly, consciousness creeping back in waves. Her body ached. Every limb felt like it had been dragged through fire and buried in ice. Her wrists stung sharply, and her throat was dry, raw from screaming. She opened her eyes to pitch black. The kind of darkness that pressed in like a second skin.
She was no longer in Mooncrest.
The silence was oppressive, broken only by the occasional distant drip of water and the low, rustling breath of something crawling along stone. A dungeon. She could tell by the chill in the air, the way it smelled—wet stone, mildew, and wolves. Dozens of them.
She shifted, and pain sliced through her ribs. A gasp escaped her lips.
Chains clinked.
Her hands were bound above her head, rope soaked in something that made her skin sizzle. Wolfsbane.
Panic bloomed in her chest.
She yanked against the bonds, ignoring the pain. She wouldn't stay here. She couldn't. Every breath was agony, and not just from her injuries—her soul screamed with the memory of what she'd seen.
The fire. The bodies. Her mother.
Aria pressed her lips together to muffle the sob rising in her throat. She couldn't afford to cry. Not now. Not here. Not where monsters could smell your fear.
The heavy door creaked open with a long, groaning moan.
Light spilled in from a flickering torch in the hall, followed by footsteps. Calm. Measured. Predatory.
He stepped into view, cloaked in shadow and steel.
Kael Thorne.
Alpha of the Crimson Howl. Slayer of her people. Her captor. Her mate.
Aria's stomach turned.
Kael's silver eyes gleamed in the dim torchlight as he paused a few feet away. He wore a dark tunic lined in fur, stained with dried blood. Not his own. His black hair was tousled, slightly damp, as if he had just come in from a storm. The way he stood, so still, so confident—it was infuriating.
"I see you're awake," he said.
His voice was deep and smooth, but held a cold edge. Like a blade dipped in silk.
Aria's glare was pure fire. "You bastard."
Kael didn't flinch. He merely raised an eyebrow, arms crossed. "You're not the first to call me that this week."
"You murdered my entire pack."
"I did what I had to do."
"Don't you dare—"
"I don't expect forgiveness," he interrupted, stepping closer. "I don't want it."
He stopped just in front of her. Her breath caught involuntarily. Being this close to him made her wolf pace restlessly beneath her skin. She hated it. Hated him.
"You shouldn't have come back," he said.
"I went hunting," she snapped. "I left for three hours. When I returned, you were there, slaughtering everyone I loved."
Kael's jaw tightened. Something flickered in his eyes. "Your Alpha made a choice. He broke the treaty. He gave me no option."
Aria let out a shaky laugh. "So you burned the treaty into ash? You think that's justice?"
"I think it's survival."
"No," she whispered bitterly. "It's your excuse."
He looked away for a moment, as if wrestling with something. Then his gaze snapped back to hers, sharp and assessing.
"You felt it, didn't you?"
Her stomach dropped.
"Don't," she said, voice barely above a whisper.
"I know you did."
Kael moved even closer, until she could feel the heat of his body, his scent thick in her lungs—dark pine, rain, and something distinctly his. It clung to her, invaded her thoughts, made her wolf whimper despite the fury in her chest.
She yanked her head away, growling. "Get away from me."
He didn't. "You're my mate."
"I am not yours," she spat. "The Moon Goddess made a mistake."
He chuckled, low and humorless. "Believe me, I thought the same thing."
"Then kill me," she snarled. "Finish what you started."
His expression darkened. "I should."
"Then why don't you?"
Kael exhaled slowly, as if steadying himself. "Because I can't."
She stared at him, her heart hammering. "You're lying."
He looked down at her with something like regret—or maybe it was disgust.
"I don't want a mate. Especially not one who looks at me like she dreams of ripping my throat out. But the bond is real."
Aria's chest twisted. The truth hung between them like a noose.
"Your bond doesn't change what you are," she said coldly. "You're still a murderer."
"And you're still alive," he shot back. "Make of that what you will."
He turned toward the door.
"Wait," she said suddenly. "Where am I?"
He paused, then answered without looking back. "Blackstone Keep. Crimson Howl territory. You're underground. Don't bother screaming."
She didn't.
He stepped into the hall, but stopped in the doorway, not turning around.
"Rest," he said. "You'll need your strength."
"For what?" she asked warily.
Kael's voice was flat, empty of warmth. "Surviving me."
Then he was gone.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Aria's knees buckled, and she sank to the floor, chains rattling softly. Her body trembled. Not from fear—but fury. Grief. Confusion. And underneath it all, a terrible heat that pulsed through her blood like wildfire.
The mate bond.
She wanted to claw it out of her chest.
She wouldn't surrender. Not to fate. Not to Kael. Not to this cruel twist of destiny.
She would find a way to make him pay for every drop of blood he spilled.
No matter what it cost her.