There was no roar of victory. No cheer.
Only the mournful howl of the wind through the trees.
Axel stepped beside Aria, his hand closing around hers. “You did what you had to.”
“She wouldn’t stop,” Aria said quietly. “She wanted to tear us apart.”
Kael approached, placing a hand over his heart. “She walked the path of ruin. You protected the pack, Luna.”
At the word, “Luna,” Aria flinched.
But no one corrected him.
Not even herself.
The next day, Lillian’s body was burned in the clearing—not as a traitor, but as a fallen wolf who’d lost her way. Aria insisted on it. Mercy in death, even if it couldn’t be given in life.
And as the smoke curled into the sky, Aria turned away—not with triumph.
But with purpose.
The Luna had risen.
And her enemies… had just begun to stir in the sha
