The second Aria’s hand met Lucian’s, she felt it—a shift in the air, an unspoken agreement, a point of no return.
Dante tensed beside her, his fingers twitching as if resisting the urge to grab her and drag her away from the man she barely knew, yet was bound to by blood.
Lucian, however, remained still, his silver eyes unwavering. He studied her with an expression she couldn’t quite place—something between calculation and something… softer.
Not affection. Not yet.
Something close to understanding.
“I don’t trust you,” she murmured.
Lucian’s lips twitched, the ghost of a smirk. “You shouldn’t.”
Dante let out a scoff, stepping between them and shoving Lucian’s hand away from hers. “That’s reassuring.”
Lucian exhaled, clearly unbothered by Dante’s hostility. “I meant what I said. You’ll know the truth if you come with me.”
Aria’s chest tightened.
Sebastian was going to lose his mind when he found out.
Kai would probably strangle her.
But if what Lucian said was real—if her parents had truly been at the center of the Shadow Order, if there were still secrets buried beneath the lies she had been told—then she had no choice.
She had spent her entire life being hunted.
Now, it was time to hunt for answers.
Dante crossed his arms. “Where are we going?”
Lucian’s expression gave nothing away. “Somewhere the Shadow Order can’t track us.”
Dante let out a humorless laugh. “Oh, well, that sounds totally legit. Not ominous at all.”
Lucian ignored him. His gaze flickered to the woman—the former Shadow Order operative who had just unraveled everything Aria thought she knew about herself.
“You shouldn’t stay here,” he told her.
The woman arched a brow. “I can handle myself.”
Lucian’s silver eyes gleamed. “Against me?”
A tense silence stretched between them.
Then—
The woman exhaled. “I’ll disappear.”
Lucian nodded.
It was the closest thing to a warning and a farewell.
Aria wasn’t sure if she’d ever see her again.
Dante, however, was less patient. “If this is a trap—”
Lucian cut him off smoothly. “You’ll kill me?”
Dante smirked, but there was no humor in it. “No. I’ll let Aria do it.”
Lucian’s lips twitched again, this time with something almost like amusement. He turned, stepping toward the cabin’s back door. “Then let’s go.”
And with that, he vanished into the trees.
Aria took a deep breath.
Then she followed.
Dante cursed under his breath but went after her.
The forest stretched for miles, endless and unforgiving.
Lucian moved quickly, but Aria and Dante kept pace. They traveled in silence, their footsteps light against the damp earth, shadows weaving through the towering trees above them.
Hours passed.
Lucian never stopped moving.
Even as night fell, even as the weight of exhaustion settled into Aria’s limbs, Lucian pushed forward, relentless.
“Where the hell are we going?” Dante finally muttered.
Lucian didn’t slow. “We’re close.”
Dante groaned. “Close to what?”
Aria exhaled. “Dante, just—”
She felt it before she heard it.
A shift in the air.
A presence.
She stopped walking.
Dante noticed instantly, going still beside her.
Lucian, however, kept moving. “It’s okay.”
Aria wasn’t sure she believed that.
Then—
They stepped through the thick undergrowth, emerging into a clearing.
And Aria’s breath caught.
A fortress loomed before them, hidden deep within the heart of the forest. It wasn’t as large as the Moonstone estate, but it was fortified, surrounded by walls of dark stone, its edges lined with watchtowers.
Not abandoned. Not ruined.
Lived in.
Dante stiffened. “Tell me this isn’t Shadow Order.”
Lucian smirked. “It’s the opposite.”
The gates creaked open.
Figures emerged, stepping into the moonlight.
Wolves.
Not rogues. Not Moonstone.
Something else.
They weren’t dressed in uniform armor, weren’t bearing the markings of any known pack. They moved easily, their gazes sharp, their weapons holstered but not far from reach.
One of them—a tall man with dark brown skin and close-cropped hair—stepped forward, his sharp eyes flickering between Aria and Dante.
“This her?” he asked.
Lucian nodded. “Yes.”
The man studied her for a long moment before his lips curved into a grin. “Didn’t think you actually existed.”
Aria frowned. “And you are?”
The man smirked. “Cassian. I run things here.”
Dante muttered under his breath, “That’s vague as hell.”
Lucian ignored him. “They’ll be staying here.”
Cassian’s grin didn’t fade. “That so?”
Lucian’s silver eyes glowed faintly. “She needs answers.”
Cassian studied Aria again, his grin softening slightly into something more serious.
“Well, then,” he said.
“Let’s get started.”
The fortress was massive inside.
Aria expected something rough, something barely put together—but this place was organized.
It was a safe haven.
For wolves who didn’t belong anywhere else.
Cassian led them deeper into the fortress, past a long hallway lined with torches and open rooms. Wolves moved in and out of various chambers, some sparring, others tending to supplies.
No one asked questions.
No one looked surprised to see them.
They had been expected.
Aria tensed.
Cassian led them into a chamber near the center of the fortress. The room was filled with maps, books, and weapons. A war room.
Cassian leaned against the edge of the table, watching her. “I’m going to assume you have questions.”
Aria exhaled. “That’s an understatement.”
Cassian chuckled. “I figured.”
Lucian stood near the back of the room, his posture relaxed, but his gaze sharp.
Dante was tense, still on edge, still waiting for someone to betray them.
Aria looked at Cassian. “Lucian says I wasn’t created by the Shadow Order.”
Cassian nodded. “That’s true.”
Her pulse spiked. “Then who—”
“Your parents,” Cassian said smoothly.
Aria’s breath caught.
“We don’t know everything,” Cassian continued, “but we do know this—your parents were part of something bigger than just the Shadow Order. They were trying to create the next evolution of wolves. They wanted to make something stronger.”
His dark eyes flickered. “They succeeded. But they never expected you.”
Aria swallowed hard. “What does that mean?”
Cassian exhaled. “It means you weren’t a mistake.”
The words sent a shockwave through her.
Because for so long, she had believed exactly that.
A mistake. An experiment. Something that should never have existed.
But now—
She wasn’t so sure.
Cassian pushed off the table. “You want the truth, Aria?”
She met his gaze. “Yes.”
Cassian’s lips curved into something dangerous.
“Then welcome to the real war.”