Chapter 7
1091 Words
Preparations for Aeron Samson Hale’s eighteenth birthday had been underway for nearly a month, and now, with only days remaining, the pack grounds were alive with motion. Decorations shimmered across the towering pines; lanterns shaped like crescent moons and blood-red crystals hung from branches, glowing softly as dusk settled over the valley. Warriors carried tables, omegas arranged towering displays of white roses and obsidian stones—the Hale family colors—and children chased each other around the training field where the celebration would be held.
This wasn’t just a birthday.
This was the Alpha Heir’s Coming of Age, and every allied pack within a thousand miles had been invited.
Inside the Bloodstone Pack house—a structure of dark wood, carved wolf sigils, and open stone balconies—Aeron paced the length of his room, running a hand through his tousled silver-streaked dark hair. His heart was pounding harder than any pre-shift tremor.
“Stop pacing, you’re going to wear a trench in the floor.”
Aurora leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, one brow raised. Her twin, Ember, slipped in behind her, wearing a grin that meant she was about to cause trouble.
Aeron scowled. “I’m not pacing.”
“You’re definitely pacing,” Ember said. “At this rate Rhydderch’s paws will be in the floor before yours are.”
“Funny,” Aeron muttered.
Aurora moved closer, softening. “Nervous?”
“…maybe.”
It wasn’t just shifting.
He was about to meet the wolf that would stand beside him the rest of his life. The wolf who would someday lead the Bloodstone Pack with him. The wolf who would eventually rule.
And on top of that, the mate bond could snap into place at any moment.
He wasn’t sure which terrified him more.
Ember plopped onto his bed, kicking her boots off. “Well, look at it this way: at least you know Mom and Dad won’t let you die on your first shift. You’re too important.”
Aeron groaned. “Thanks, Em. Super comforting.”
Aurora elbowed her twin. “Ignore her. You’ll be fine. And you’ll make a great Alpha.”
Aeron hesitated. “You really think so?”
Aurora smiled, warm and certain. “I know so.”
A knock sounded on the doorframe.
Kaiden Stone leaned there with his usual relaxed smirk. Lyra, his twin, poked her head around him, eyes bright.
“Are we ready for pre-shift training?” Kaiden asked. “Dad said to meet him near the western ridge.”
Aeron swallowed hard. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
THE TRAINING RIDGE
The western ridge overlooked the entire Bloodstone Valley, forest stretching endlessly below. It was the same place Kaiden and Lyra had nearly shifted at five, the same place Aurora and Ember had experienced their first run, and the same place Aeron had chosen for the moment he stepped into adulthood.
Dustin Hale stood waiting, arms crossed over his broad chest. Maverick—the massive pale-gold wolf soul within him—stood at the edge of his aura, restless, protective.
“Evening, kids,” Dustin said. “Aeron. You ready?”
“Yeah.” Aeron exhaled sharply. “I think.”
“You’ll do fine,” Dustin said. “Hale wolves are strong. And Bloodstone heirs are even stronger.”
Bane Stone arrived moments later with Talon’s dark presence rumbling beneath his skin. “Alright,” he barked. “Positions.”
The six young wolves spread out.
Rhydderch flickered within Kaiden, molten gold and storm-steel, eager for the future.
Astaera pulsed behind Lyra’s ribcage, a dancer of moonlight and shadow.
Solara stretched through Aurora like sunrise over mist.
Vespera whispered to Ember, old magic thrumming in her midnight bones.
Ryan shifted his weight, calm, already confident after six months with his wolf.
And Aeron—
Aeron felt the tremor.
A deep, resonant echo beneath his heart.
It was time.
AERON’S FIRST SHIFT
His bones warmed first, heat blooming like molten iron in his joints. His fingers curled involuntarily.
“Aeron?” Aurora stepped forward. “Is it—”
He dropped to his knees.
Lyra gasped. Kaiden swore softly.
Dustin was at his side in seconds. “Breathe, son. Let him through.”
Aeron’s vision blurred.
His spine arched.
His skin rippled with silver-white luminescence.
A voice—not his, deeper, older, powerful—filled his skull:
Let me rise. Let me breathe. Let me lead.
Aeron exhaled, and the shift ripped through him.
Bones cracked—reforming, restructuring.
Muscles tore—then rebuilt stronger.
His senses exploded outward—every scent, every heartbeat, every particle of moonlight sharpening into clarity.
Fur burst across his skin, a stunning pattern of white with streaks of obsidian and silver, glowing faintly with celestial shimmer inherited from Bree.
And when the light cleared—
Aeron stood on four powerful paws.
Massive. Regal. Fierce.
A wolf worthy of an Alpha.
Dustin’s breath hitched. “Gods… he’s beautiful.”
Aeron stretched his wings—no, not wings, but arcs of silvered aura that curled like ethereal armor—shaking the last traces of the shift from his form.
Hello, Aeron.
The wolf within him spoke with gravity. I am Zephyrion. Your guide. Your storm. Your crown.
Aeron answered silently:
Together.
Zephyrion’s approval thundered through his bones.
THE NIGHT BEFORE THE PARTY
Back at the pack house, the celebration preparations were nearly complete. Every allied pack representative had begun arriving—werebears from the Northern Ridge, fae nobles from the Silverhollow Court, vampire ambassadors from the Twilight Coalition, and dozens of wolf packs.
With so many young wolves visiting…
With the mate bond tugging at the edges of awareness…
Anything could happen.
And Ember—Ember was already scanning the arriving guests with a spark in her eye neither Aurora nor Kaiden had ever seen before. Not for a man.
For a woman.
Someone she hadn’t met yet.
Someone whose presence would change everything.
Lyra whisper-squealed beside her. “Okay, Em—if you find your mate before the end of the party, I owe you fifty dollars.”
Ember smirked. “Make it a hundred. I plan on winning.”
Aeron stepped into the lantern-light, Zephyrion’s power humming beneath his skin.
Tomorrow, he would be celebrated.
But tomorrow, the world would also change.
Because one—or several—of the Bloodstone heirs would finally meet the ones destiny had chosen for them.
And somewhere deep in the forest’s far boundary…
A shadow shifted.
Watching.
Waiting.
Patient.
The new threat had already awakened.
- Writer
