The prison chamber beneath the council hall was quiet but heavy with power. The walls were carved with ancient runes—marks of truthbinding and blood-oaths. No lies could live inside.
Dorian knelt in chains of silver and salt, his once-proud eyes sunken, his aura flickering like a dying flame. The broken bond had left him weak. But not harmless.
Aria stood above him, flanked by her pack's leadership. She said nothing.
She didn't have to.
He'd tried to run two nights ago. His ritual broken, his witch burned, the bond shattered. But Aria's warriors had found him just outside Hollow Creek, trying to disappear into rogue territory.
He didn't make it far.
The Alpha of her pack—Alpha Theron—stood tall beside her. His presence was carved from granite and lightning. Salt-and-pepper hair, steel eyes, and a voice that rarely needed to rise above a whisper to be obeyed.
His mate, Luna Myra, was his opposite: lithe, sharp-featured, always watching. Rumors said she could sense lies as easily as breathing.
Their Beta, Riven, was built like a mountain with a scar from jaw to collarbone, earned in a border war long before Aria was born. Quiet. Loyal. Deadly.
And Gamma Nessa, the youngest of the four—brilliant, fierce, and dangerous with a bow even in wolf form. She'd once tracked a rogue three territories over just because it had insulted her mother.
Now they all stood, watching the fallen Alpha of the now-dismantled Hollow Fang pack.
Aria stepped forward.
"Do you admit what you've done?"
Dorian looked up at her, something like grief in his eyes. But not for Aria.
For himself.
"I loved her," he whispered.
"Then you should have mourned her," Aria said coldly. "Not tried to bury me with her."
He looked down.
Theron's voice rang out. "Dorian, Alpha of Hollow Fang, you are stripped of title, rank, and bond. Your pack is dissolved. Your remaining wolves will be absorbed into Everpine under protection and watch."
Myra stepped forward next. "You'll be held until Selene's moon rises again. On that night, judgment will fall."
Dorian trembled. "Please… show mercy."
Aria looked at him one last time. "I already did. I survived."
The doors closed behind him.
Nessa exhaled. "Never thought I'd see an Alpha fall that hard."
"He wasn't an Alpha," Riven muttered. "He was a coward with a crown."
Theron turned to Aria. "You've done what few could. Ended a blood curse. Held back forbidden magic. And brought truth into this hall."
Aria met his eyes. "And I'm not done."
Myra tilted her head. "You think this is just the beginning?"
"I know it is," Aria said. "There's something darker coming. The Hollow Moon. I want every warrior prepared. Every scout alert. Every ally warned."
Theron gave a sharp nod. "Then you'll have our full strength."
He looked at her with something new in his eyes—not just respect.
Reverence.
As the sun set, the first of Hollow Fang's survivors crossed into Everpine lands—exhausted, broken, but alive. Some looked at Aria with fear. Others with awe.
One knelt.
Then another.
Then the rest.
Not to an Alpha.
To her.