Return of the Wolfless Queen

Aria's POV

"Miss, are you... are you absolutely certain about this?"

Gamma Thomas stares at the form like it might bite him. His pen hovers and shakes.

"The sacrifice. You'd be..." He swallows hard. "You'd be jumping off that cliff. In a month. Dead. And you're the Alpha's most cherished daughter. How could your family possibly bear to..."

"Yes."

The word comes out easier than it should. I smile at him. Watch his face do this thing...crumbling, like paper in a fire.

"I'm willing to die."

He sets the pen down. Leans back in his chair. It creaks. "But your brothers. Your parents. They adore you. And Beta Marcus, he's your..."

"Fiancé?" I finish for him. A laugh bubbles up. Bitter. "That was before."

"Before?"

"Before I couldn't shift."

Silence. The kind that sits heavy between people.

His face does that thing. That thing everyone's face does now when they look at me. Pity mixed with something uglier. Disgust, maybe. Or relief that it's me and not them.

The pack link crackles through the air. I feel it...that electric buzz when the Alpha speaks to everyone at once. It's like a frequency I can almost hear but can't quite reach. Everyone except me.

Thomas's eyes glaze, his spine straightens without him meaning to. Receiving the broadcast.

I wait, I'm good at waiting now.

When his eyes clear, he looks at me different. Sadder, somehow.

"Your father," he says slowly. "He's asking for volunteers again. Fifth time this month. Still no one's come forward." He pauses. Seems to weigh his next words. "And he's announcing Princess Elena's birthday celebration. Three days from now."

Princess Elena.

Not just Elena, not his daughter. Princess.

"Your brothers are already ordering gifts for her," Thomas continues. Watching my face too carefully. "Your mother's commanding the whole pack to bring flowers. Everyone's talking about it. Biggest celebration in years, they're saying."

Something tightens in my chest. Sharp and familiar.

"My birthday's four days from now."

The words slip out before I can stop them.

Thomas goes still. "They... I'm sure they remember..."

"They don't."

He opens his mouth. Closes it.

"Can we just finish this?" I lean forward. "Please."

He slides the death certificate across his desk. The paper whispers against the wood. Official. Final.

"You'll be the only participant," he says quietly. "In one month, on the full moon, you walk to the Cliff of Shadows. Alone. And then you..." He can't finish it.

I pick up the pen. It's heavier than it looks.

Aria Silvermoon.

My handwriting looks strange. Like someone else wrote it.

"Your brothers love you," Thomas tries again. Desperate now. "Your family...they took you in when you were just a child. Raised you as their own. And Marcus, he's been your promised mate since you were children. Surely..."

"That was in the past."

The bitterness leaks through. I don't even try to stop it anymore.

"Once they found out I'm wolfless, everything changed. Marcus and my family stopped mentioning the engagement. Just... stopped. Like it never existed. Like planning a future with me was some embarrassing mistake they'd rather forget."

Thomas's face creases. He looks older suddenly.

"I'm the Alpha family's adopted daughter," I continue. Might as well say it all. "They found me in the forest when I was five. Alone. Half-dead. No memory of anything before."

He nods slowly. Everyone knows this story.

"As a child, I was powerful. Stronger than pups twice my age. Faster. My senses were sharper. Everyone said I'd awaken some rare gift when I came of age. That I'd be extraordinary."

I pause. Let the silence sit.