The certainty in her voice made me believe it. Made me feel safe in a way I hadn’t felt in years.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “For everything.”
Nina hugged me tight, then sent me off to bed with instructions to get plenty of rest. “Tomorrow we do final preparations. The day after, you become Luna. You need your strength.”
I fell asleep that night to the sound of the pack settling in around me, to the warmth of knowing I was surrounded by wolves who’d chosen me as much as I’d chosen them.
And if nightmares about Damon storming the ceremony plagued my sleep, if I woke several times with my heart racing and fear clawing at my throat – well, that was between me and the darkness.
By morning, I’d be ready to face whatever came.
ARIA
The next day passed in a blur of final preparations. The seamstresses did one last fitting of my ceremony gown, making tiny adjustments that I barely noticed. Nina walked me through the exact sequence of events for the blood moon ritual, making me practice the words until I could recite them in my sleep.
Eliza brought the Luna jewelry for me to try on – the moonstones glowing softly against my skin as I wore them for the first time. I felt a rush of sensation when the pieces settled into place, like the territory itself was reaching out to recognize me.
“That’s normal,” Eliza assured me when I gasped. “The magic is already beginning to connect you to pack lands. Tomorrow, during the ceremony, that connection will solidify completely.”
I was in the middle of yet another protocol review when a commotion near the pack house entrance made everyone freeze.
A messenger had arrived. From Blackwood pack.
My stomach dropped as Nina went to receive whatever message Damon had sent. She returned minutes later, her face grim, holding a sealed letter.
“It’s addressed to you,” she said, handing it over. “Do you want to read it privately?”
I looked at the letter – heavy parchment, sealed with Blackwood pack’s official mark. My hands trembled slightly as I took it.
“No,” I decided. “Whatever he has to say, it doesn’t change anything. But I should read it. Know what I’m dealing with.”
I broke the seal and unfolded the letter. Damon’s handwriting – bold and aggressive – covered the page.
*Aria,*
*I know you’re angry. I know I hurt you. But please, listen to what I have to say.*
*I’ve made so many mistakes. Choosing Sera, ignoring your devotion, taking you for granted. I see that now. I see everything clearly for the first time in years.*
*You’re my true mate. The bond I share with Sera is nothing compared to what we could have together. I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to prove that to you.*
*Don’t go through with this ceremony. Don’t bind yourself to a cursed Alpha out of spite or hurt pride. Come home to Blackwood, let me show you what we could be together.*
*If you refuse, if you insist on bonding with Kael, then I’ll have no choice but to invoke the ancient right of challenge. I’ll fight him for the right to claim you, and I will win. One way or another, Aria, you’re coming home where you belong.*
This isn’t a threat. It’s a promise.I love you. I’ve always loved you, even when I was too stupid to admit it.Come back to me.
Damon
My hands shook as I finished reading. The letter wasn’t a plea. It was an ultimatum. Come back willingly or he’d force the issue through combat.
“What does it say?” Nina asked carefully.I handed it to her, watching her expression darken as she read.
“He’s definitely going to challenge,” she said.
“This letter makes it clear. He’ll show up tomorrow and invoke the ancient rite.”
“Can we stop him?” I asked. “Can we bar him from pack lands, refuse to allow the challenge?”
“We could try,” Nina said slowly. “But it would be seen as dishonorable. Other packs would question why Shadowmere is afraid of a fair challenge. It could damage our standing in the pack alliance.
“So Damon would come tomorrow. Would force a confrontation, a fight, a public spectacle of two Alphas battling over me like I was property to be won.
The rage that rose in me was cleansing, clarifying.
“Fine,” I said, my voice hard. “Let him come. Let him issue his challenge. And when Kael defeats him, when Damon is lying broken at his feet, I’ll make my choice crystal clear in front of witnesses from every neighboring pack.”
Nina’s eyebrows rose. “You’re planning to publicly reject him.”
“I’m planning to publicly humiliate him,” I corrected.
“He wants to make this a spectacle? He wants to turn my bonding ceremony into a display of male dominance? Then I’ll show every Alpha watching exactly what happens when you treat a woman like a prize to be won instead of a person with her own choices.”
A slow smile spread across Nina’s face.
“Now that sounds like a Luna.”
I spent the rest of the day preparing. Not just learning protocols, but planning exactly what I would say when Damon showed up. How I would frame my rejection to make it clear this was my choice, not a victory between two competing males.
Kael found me in the evening, as I was standing on the balcony of my quarters watching the sun set over Shadowmere territory.
“You read his letter,” he said, not a question.
“I did.”
“And?”
“And I’m ready for him,
” I said firmly. “I’m ready to face him, to reject him publicly, to make my choice clear to everyone watching.”
“You’re not afraid?”I thought about it honestly.
“Terrified. But not of you losing a fight to him. Not of being dragged away against my will. I’m afraid of… how final it will be. How much it will hurt him when I confirm I’ve chosen you over him.”
“You still care about him.”It wasn’t an accusation, just an observation. And I appreciated that Kael could acknowledge it without jealousy or anger.
“Part of me will always care about him,” I admitted.
“You don’t love someone for years and just turn it off. But caring doesn’t mean I want him. Doesn’t mean I’m making the wrong choice. It just means… I’m human.
Complicated. Still healing from wounds that haven’t fully closed.”
“I can work with that,” Kael said softly.
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