Chapter 28: Betrayal and Escape
ARIA POV
The pack house door slammed open. Alpha Darius stormed in, his eyes still flickering between human brown and shadow black.
"Chain her!" he barked, pointing at me.
Four pack guards rushed forward. I backed against the wall, my newly found wolf still close to the surface after last night’s full moon. I could feel her power humming beneath my skin, ready to break free again.
"Don’t touch her," Kael’s words cut through the tension. He stood in the doorway, arms crossed, his face hard as stone.
Everyone froze. No one expected Kael—strict, rule-following Kael—to challenge his father.
"She’s dangerous," Alpha Darius growled. "You saw what happened last night. The girl called the Forgotten Packs!"
"They haven’t arrived yet," Kael answered evenly. "And she didn’t know what she was doing."
My heart pounded wildly. Hours ago, we’d all been in the forest, watching the sky light up with that strange silver glow. Then chaos had erupted. My mother had disappeared again. My father had fled. The Shadow Alpha had regained control and directed everyone back to the pack house.
Now here we were, and Kael was... defending me? "Move aside, son," Alpha Darius demanded.
Kael didn’t move. "No."