The Bond Deepens
POV: Kael
The gun pointed at my chest doesn't scare me. What scares me is the look in Aria's eyes when she sees her father.
"Daddy?" she says again, and the word hits me like a silver bullet.
Vincent Castellano stands in the doorway with three armed guys behind him. His face is hard with anger, but his eyes are soft when he looks at his daughter. I can smell his rage and fear mixed together like a dangerous storm.
"Get away from her, you monster," Vincent snarls at me.
I'm still in my wolf form, and my pack brothers are growling beside me. But all I can think about is how small and scared Aria looks sitting on that bed. She's looking at her father like she's trying to remember something important.
I shift back to human form, ignoring the fact that I'm now standing naked in front of her father and his men. "Vincent, let's talk about this calmly."
"Talk?" Vincent laughs, but there's no fun in it. "You took my daughter. You've been holding her prisoner for weeks."
"That's not—" I start to say, but Aria stops me.
"Is it true?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper. "Did you take me away from my family?"
The pain in her voice makes my wolf whimper inside my chest. I want to lie to her. I want to make up another story that will keep her here with me. But looking at her face, I can't do it anymore.
"Yes," I say quietly. "I took you."
Aria's face goes white. "Why?"
Before I can answer, Vincent steps forward. "Because he wanted to hurt me. He wanted payback for things that happened years ago."
"What things?" Aria asks, looking between her father and me.
"Five years ago, his people killed your cousins," Vincent says, his voice getting harder. "They attacked our family meeting and murdered innocent people. Including children."
I see Aria's hands start to shake. "You killed children?"
"It wasn't like that," I say desperately. "Your father's people attacked us first. We were just defending ourselves."
"Lies," Vincent snaps. "You monsters have been hunting my family for decades."
My pack brothers are getting restless behind me. They don't like being called monsters, and they really don't like having guns pointed at them. I can feel their anger rising like heat from a fire.
"Everyone needs to calm down," I say, putting up my hands. "There are things you don't understand."
"I understand enough," Aria says, and now there are tears in her eyes. "You lied to me. About everything."
"Not everything," I tell her quickly. "My feelings for you are real. What's happening between us is real."
"What's happening between us?" Aria looks at me like I've lost my mind. "You took me! You made me think I was safe when I was actually your prisoner!"
Vincent motions to his men. "Get her out of here. Now."
But as one of Vincent's guys reaches for Aria, something strange happens. She jerks away from him like his touch burns her.
"Don't," she says sharply.
The man looks confused. "Miss Castellano, we're here to rescue you."
"I said don't touch me," Aria repeats, and there's power in her voice that makes everyone in the room freeze.
Vincent frowns. "Aria, sweetheart, what's wrong?"
"I don't know," she says, putting her arms around herself. "Something feels off. Wrong."
I can smell it too – something in the air that makes my wolf's hackles rise. These guys smell like Vincent, but there's something else mixed in. Something that doesn't fit.
"Aria," I say slowly, "step away from them."
"Why should I listen to you?" she asks, but I notice she doesn't move toward her father either.
"Because your instincts are telling you something isn't right," I say. "Trust those instincts."
Vincent's face darkens. "Don't listen to him, sweetheart. He's trying to confuse you."
But Aria is looking at the guys behind her father now, really looking at them. "Who are they?" she asks. "I don't recognize them."
"They're my security team," Vincent says quickly.
Too quickly. I catch the lie in his voice, and from the way Aria's eyes narrow, she hears it too.
"Dad," she says slowly, "how did you find me?"
Vincent hesitates for just a second. "We've been looking everywhere. We finally got a tip."
"From who?"
Another hesitation. "Does it matter? We're here now."
But I know exactly who gave Vincent the tip. Luna. She called him and told him where to find Aria. Which means she also had time to set a trap.
"Vincent," I say quickly, "this isn't what it seems. You're going into—"
One of Vincent's men suddenly spins and puts his gun to Vincent's head.
"Surprise," the man says, and his voice is totally different now. Colder. More dangerous.
Vincent's eyes go wide with shock. "What are you doing?"
"What I was paid to do," the man says. " Luna Torres sends her thanks. " My blood runs cold. Luna didn't just tip off Vincent about where to find Aria. She sent fake guards with him. Guards who work for her.
"Let me guess," I say to the fake guard. "Luna wants both Vincent and Aria dead, and she wants me to take the blame."
The man grins. "Very smart, dog. With the Castellano boss and his daughter dead, and you covered in their blood, Luna can convince everyone that the werewolves started a war. She'll be the hero who avenges their deaths."
"You're working with that crazy werewolf woman?" Vincent asks, his face red with anger.
"Money talks," the fake guard says with a shrug. "And Luna pays very well."
Aria is looking at all of us like we've lost our minds. "I don't understand what's happening."
"What's happening," I tell her sadly, "is that someone is trying to start a war between humans and werewolves. And they're using your family as bait."
The fake guard presses his gun harder against Vincent's head. "Enough talking. Here's how this works. The monster is going to kill Vincent Castellano and his daughter. Then I'm going to kill the monster in self-defense. Luna gets everything she wants, and I get paid."
"There's just one problem with your plan," I say.
"What's that?"
"You're forgetting that I'm not alone."
That's when my pack brothers attack.
The room bursts into chaos. My wolves leap at the fake guards while I grab Aria and pull her behind the bed. Vincent dives to the floor as shots start flying.
"Stay down," I tell Aria, changing back into wolf form.
But when I look back at her, she's not scared anymore. She's angry.
"Stop!" she yells, and her voice cuts through all the noise like a knife.
Everyone freezes. The dogs, the fake guards, even Vincent stop moving and stare at her.
There's something different about Aria now. Something that makes the air around her shimmer like heat waves.
"I said STOP," she says, and this time her voice carries a power that makes my bones vibrate.
The fake guards' guns suddenly fly out of their hands and stick to the metal bed frame like magnets.
Vincent stares at his daughter in shock. "Aria, how did you—"
"I don't know," she says, looking at her own hands like they belong to someone else. "I don't know what's happening to me."
But I know. And it changes everything.
Aria isn't just human. She's something much more powerful.
And if Luna finds out what she really is, she won't just want Aria dead.
She'll want to use her to destroy both our lives.
"Aria," I say softly, "we need to get you out of here. Right now."
"Why?" she asks, but her voice is shaking now.
"Because what you just did? That wasn't normal. And there are people who will kill to control that kind of power."
That's when we hear them. Vehicles entering the house. A lot of them.
Vincent's phone buzzes with a text message. He reads it and his face goes white.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Luna Torres," he says sadly. "She's here. With an army."
Through the window, I can see cars full of armed werewolves surrounding the house. But these aren't just any werewolves. These are rogues – outcasts who follow Luna because she offers them blood and violence.
"How many?" I ask.
"Too many," Vincent says. "Even for us."
Aria looks between her father and me. "What do we do?"
Before either of us can answer, Luna's voice booms through a megaphone from outside.
"Kael Ravencrest! Send out the Castellano girl and her father, and maybe I'll let you live!"
I look at Aria, seeing my whole world in her confused, scared eyes.
"We run," I tell her. "And we pray we're fast enough."
But as I'm helping Aria to her feet, she suddenly grabs my arm with surprising power.
"Kael," she says, and her eyes are sparkling with the same strange power from before. "I'm starting to remember things. Important things."
"What kind of things?"
"I think I know why Luna really wants me."
My blood turns to ice. "Why?"
Aria looks me straight in the eyes, and what she says next changes everything I thought I knew about this war.
"Because I'm not just Vincent Castellano's daughter. I'm also Marcus Ravencrest's niece. Your father's brother had a secret human family, and Luna just figured out that I'm his granddaughter."
The world stops spinning.
If Aria is part Ravencrest, that makes her pack royalty. It also makes her the rightful heir to half our land.
And if Luna kills her, she can take everything for herself.
"Oh God," I say. "Luna doesn't want to start a war between humans and werewolves."
"Then what does she want?" Vincent asks.
I look at Aria, my heart breaking for what I have to tell her.
"She wants to become the most powerful monster in North America. And killing you is the only thing standing in her way."