Aria
Blue Stone was cracking.
It started with whispers. Then meetings are held behind locked doors. Then the warriors who once trained together now stood on opposite sides of the yard, arms folded, eyes hard.
But I felt it before I saw it. Something was shifting. Something was breaking.
I felt it the second Matthew stormed into the healer’s quarters, eyes blazing, fists clenched so tightly I thought he’d shatter his own bones.
“They’re giving you away,” he spat.
I stood slowly. “What?”
“Ryle,” he said, voice shaking with fury. “He’s made a deal.”
I took a step closer. “What kind of deal?”
Matthew looked me straight in the eye, and for the first time since I’d known him, I saw heartbreak—not hidden, not buried, but raw and wide open.
“He’s made an alliance with your father,” he said. “He’s promised to hand you over in exchange for power over both Blue Stone and Thornwyn territory.”
My stomach dropped.
“No,” I whispered. “No, that—he wouldn’t—”
“He already has.”
Matthew began pacing. “The meeting was secret. But I heard enough. Ryle thinks if he gives you up, the prophecy dies with you. And he gets to control everything.”
I stared at the wall like it could save me.
“Why now?” I asked. “Why would my father agree to that?”
“Because he can’t control you anymore. And Ryle… Ryle’s too afraid of what you’ve become.”
Just then, the door opened behind us.
Ryle.
He entered calmly, like this wasn’t betrayal—just business.
“You’re overreacting,” he said to Matthew. “She’s safer under her father’s command.”
“You’d sell my mate for a title?” Matthew roared, stepping between me and Ryle.
Ryle’s eyes flicked to me, then back to him. “You’re no longer fit to rule. You’ve divided the pack, embarrassed the Council, and fallen for a girl who’s cursed our land. I made this pack. I’ll decide who leads it.”
Matthew let out a sound I’d never heard before—part growl, part broken laugh. “Then challenge me.”
Ryle blinked. “What?”
“I challenge you,” Matthew said, voice calm now, but heavy like thunder. “To an Alpha Duel.”
The room froze. A Duel. The ancient law. A fight to the brink of death. One that couldn’t be refused once declared.
“You don’t want to do this,” Ryle warned.
“Oh, I do,” Matthew hissed. “You want control? Take it. But if you lay a hand on her, you’ll have to go through me first.”
Ryle’s eyes narrowed. “Very well. Tomorrow. Dawn.”
Then he walked out, as if he hadn’t just accepted a challenge that could end with his son’s blood on the dirt.
I didn’t wait. As soon as he left, I turned to Matthew and grabbed his arm. “Don’t do this.”
“I have to.”
“No, you don’t! You don’t need to prove anything to him.”
Matthew cupped my face, his hands still trembling. “This isn’t about proving anything to him, Aria. It’s about protecting you.”
My chest tightened. “If you die, I lose everything.”
He looked at me then—really looked. “If I don’t fight, we both lose.”
I covered his hands with mine. “There’s another way. There has to be. Please, just—just run. With me. Tonight. We can find another pack, another future. I don’t care where.”
He smiled sadly. “You were never meant to run. And I was never meant to bow.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “Then promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“Come back.”
His voice broke. “I’ll try.”
By dawn, the entire pack had gathered near the old stone pit—once used for ceremonial duels, now quiet for over a decade.
Now, it waited to drink blood again.
I stood just outside the circle, flanked by Elias and the healer. The tension in the air was sharp enough to cut skin.
Matthew stepped out first.
Bare-chested. Scars across his torso. Burn marks from the fire are still healing. But his posture? Unshakable. A warrior ready to fight for everything that had ever been denied him.
His eyes found mine. He didn’t speak. He just nodded. I gripped the edge of my cloak, my legs trembling. Then, from the opposite side—Ryle stepped out.
His shirt was already gone. His claws extended. Fangs bared. His face is calm, but cold. The kind of cold that kills without guilt.
Two Alphas. Father and son. One circle. No mercy.