The gates of her home territory creaked open like a sigh.
Aria stepped through with Kael at her side, the wind lifting strands of her hair as if it, too, knew something had changed.
The guards stared.
Some bowed. Others just watched—wary. Curious. Afraid.
She couldn't blame them.
She hadn't come back the same.
The Elders met in the stone hall that overlooked the river. Five of them. Only two stood when she entered.
Her parents were already there. Her mother's eyes were red from tears. Her father stood tall beside her, pride and worry mixing behind his silence.
Elder Wren was the first to speak.
"We felt it the moment the bond shattered," she said. "Magic like that hasn't surged through the valley since the Age of Fire."
Aria stood straighter. "I didn't come back for approval. I came back with truth."
She told them everything.
The forced bond. The witch. The resurrection attempt. The possession. The death of Carys. Her own rebirth.
And Kael—Selene's chosen guardian—watching silently at her side.
When she finished, the room sat in stunned silence.
Elder Rowan, the oldest and sharpest among them, narrowed his eyes. "You expect us to believe Dorian corrupted the mate bond? That the witch—the witch—has returned?"
"She's dead," Aria said firmly. "By my hand."
Wren's eyes never left her. "And the power you now carry—do you feel it? All of it?"
Aria hesitated. "Not yet. But it's there."
Rowan leaned forward. "Then we have a problem. If what you say is true, your reawakening is only the beginning."
Wren spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper. "The last Sacred Luna who reached full power caused a fracture in the Veil. She called down Selene's light… and opened something else."
Aria's blood ran cold. "What do you mean?"
"There is another prophecy," Wren said. "Older than even the Sacred Luna line."
Kael stepped forward. "The one about the Hollow Moon."
Rowan's gaze sharpened. "You know it?"
Kael nodded grimly. "Selene didn't send me to protect just Aria. She sent me to prepare her."
"Prepare me for what?" Aria asked.
The flames in the hearth flared.
Wren met her eyes. "A second moon rises. A false one. A corruption that feeds on broken bonds and forgotten gods. If it wakes fully… not even Selene can hold it back."
Aria felt the mark on her chest pulse. A warning. A promise.
The room shifted. Elders murmured. Her parents exchanged looks of fear and awe.
She was no longer just the pack's daughter.
She was something ancient.
Something dangerous.
Something destined.