Aria's POV
I heard them talking outside my door.
"Six packs. Can you believe it? Six packs coming to kill one little omega."
"She must be worth something special for Damien to go through all this trouble."
"Worth something? She's a death sentence. We should just hand her over and save ourselves."
My heart stopped. I pressed my ear harder against the wooden door, barely breathing.
"You think the Alpha would allow that? He's lost his mind over this girl."
"The mate bond is making him weak. We'll all die because he can't control his wolf."
"Shh! If he hears you talking like that—"
Footsteps approached and the voices faded away.
I stumbled back from the door, my whole body shaking.
Six packs. Coming here. Because of me.
I sank onto the bed and wrapped my arms around my stomach. My baby kicked softly, as if trying to comfort me.
"I'm sorry," I whispered to my belly. "I'm so sorry I brought you into this mess."
The door opened and I jumped. But it was only Nana, carrying a tray of food.
"You need to eat, child." She set the tray on the bedside table. "You're eating for two now."
"I'm not hungry."
"I didn't ask if you were hungry." Her voice was firm but kind. "Eat."
I picked up a piece of bread but couldn't bring myself to take a bite. "Nana, is it true? About the six packs?"
She sighed heavily and sat down beside me. "News travels fast in this pack. Yes, it's true. Damien has convinced five other Alphas to join him."
"They're going to die. Everyone in this pack is going to die because of me."
"That's not your fault."
"Of course it's my fault!" Tears burned my eyes. "If I hadn't run here, if I had just let Damien kill me—"
"Then an innocent baby would have died too." Nana took my hands in her wrinkled ones. "You did what any mother would do. You protected your child."
"But now hundreds of wolves will suffer."
"That's Damien's choice, not yours. He's the one who started this war. He's the one who lied to you, used you, and tried to murder you." Her eyes hardened. "Don't you dare take the blame for his evil."
I wanted to believe her. But the guilt was crushing me.
"Kael said I'm a prisoner here," I said quietly. "Until he decides my fate."
"You're not a prisoner. You're... protected."
"That's a nice word for the same thing."
Nana smiled sadly. "Alpha Kael is many things. Cruel, yes. Terrifying, absolutely. But he's also fair. He doesn't punish the innocent."
"I heard rogues are killed on sight here."
"Rogues who threaten the pack, yes. Rogues who are pregnant, frightened girls running from monsters?" She shook her head. "He's not heartless, child. No matter what the stories say."
I thought about Kael. His silver eyes that seemed to see right through me. His cold voice that sometimes cracked with hidden pain. The way he had said his sister's name—Lily—like it was made of broken glass.
"He scares me," I admitted.
"Good. Fear keeps you alert." Nana stood up. "But don't let fear blind you. There's more to that man than meets the eye."
She left, and I was alone again with my thoughts.
Hours passed. Day turned to night. The moon rose high outside my window, full and bright and mocking.
I couldn't stop thinking about those guards' words. *We should just hand her over.*
What if they were right? What if the pack decided I wasn't worth protecting? What if they turned on Kael and gave me to Damien anyway?
I couldn't take that risk. I couldn't let my baby's life depend on strangers.
I had to escape.
The window was my only option. I was on the second floor, but there was a tree close enough to reach if I jumped. I had done crazier things when I was younger, climbing trees to escape bullies in Blackwood.
I waited until midnight when the guards changed shifts. For exactly two minutes, no one would be watching my hallway.
I opened the window as quietly as possible. Cold night air rushed in, carrying the smell of pine and freedom.
My heart pounded as I climbed onto the windowsill. The tree branch was farther than I thought. One wrong move and I would fall. The baby would—
No. I couldn't think like that. I had to try.
I jumped.
My hands caught the branch. Pain shot through my arms but I held on. Slowly, carefully, I pulled myself onto the branch and started climbing down.
I was almost at the bottom when my foot slipped.
I fell the last ten feet and landed hard on my side. Pain exploded through my body. I bit my lip to keep from screaming.
*The baby. Please let the baby be okay.*
I felt my stomach. No pain there. No blood. I breathed a shaky sigh of relief.
I forced myself to stand and started running toward the forest. If I could just reach the border, maybe I could find somewhere safe. Somewhere no one would find me.
I made it twenty steps before a shadow dropped from the trees in front of me.
Silver eyes gleamed in the moonlight.
Kael.
"Going somewhere?" His voice was ice and fire combined.
I stumbled backward. "I—I was just—"
"Escaping? Running away in the middle of the night while six armies march toward my pack?"
"I can't stay here! People will die because of me!"
"People will die regardless." He stepped closer. "But if you leave, you and your baby will die first. Is that what you want?"
"I want everyone to stop suffering because of me!"
"Then stop running!"
His roar echoed through the trees. Birds fled from their branches. The whole forest seemed to go silent.
He was in front of me now, so close I could feel the heat radiating from his body.
"You're not leaving," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "Not tonight. Not ever. Do you understand?"
"You can't keep me prisoner forever."
"Watch me."
He grabbed my arm—not roughly, but firmly. I tried to pull away but it was useless.
"Why do you even care?" I cried. "You don't know me! This mate bond is just some stupid magical trick!"
Something shifted in his silver eyes. Something raw and painful.
"You want to know why I care?" He pulled me closer until we were chest to chest. "Because when I look at you, I see my sister. I see an innocent girl that monsters wanted to destroy."
His voice cracked.
"I couldn't save Lily. I was too late. I found her body and I—" He stopped. His jaw clenched. "I won't fail again. I won't let another innocent die because I wasn't strong enough."
Tears streamed down my face. Not from fear anymore. From something else entirely.
"Kael..."
"Don't." He released me and stepped back, his walls slamming back into place. "Go back to your room. Now."
I should have argued. I should have run.
Instead, I walked toward the pack house.
But I stopped at the door and turned around.
"Kael?"
He hadn't moved. He stood in the moonlight like a statue made of pain.
"What?"
"I heard the guards talking. Some of them want to hand me over to save the pack." I swallowed hard. "There might be a traitor. Someone who would betray you to Damien."
His eyes flashed dangerously.
"Who?"
"I don't know. But someone is going to—"
A howl split the night. Then another. Then a dozen more.
Alarm howls. The sound of imminent attack.
Kael's head snapped toward the border.
"That's impossible," he breathed. "They weren't supposed to be here for three days."
Another howl. Closer this time.
Then Marcus burst from the trees, covered in blood.
"Alpha! They're here! Damien brought his army early!" He collapsed to his knees. "They're already inside the border. We've been betrayed!"
Kael's face turned to stone.
War had come.
And we weren't ready.