When the second Aria vanished into the forest, something inside Kaine shattered.
He'd slept little, patrolling the woods alone, his wolf on edge. The scent trail simply stopped—as if she'd been swallowed up by the air itself. One minute she was screaming, engulfed in blue flame. The next? Nothing.
Not even death was as quiet as that.
Now, under the cold shower at the Bloodmoon Packhouse, he stood, steam rising from his skin, muscles clenched in anger and confusion. Water hammered his back, but it couldn't wash away the guilt clinging to him like a second skin.
He'd rejected her.
He could still hear the words.
"I, Alpha Kaine, reject you—"
He hadn't even completed it. Her scream had torn the sky, echoing through the night like a soul being torn in half. And then that fire—terrible and unnatural—shot out from her body, sending him crashing to his knees.
He should've halted it. Should've—
No. He'd done what he'd needed to.
She was weak. Or… she'd been.
But now?
Now, she was something different.
"Kaine." His Beta, Dorian, stood in the doorway, eyes grave. "There's still no sign of her. Not a single clue."
"She couldn't have vanished into thin air," Kaine growled. "Track her again."
Dorian hesitated. "We did. Nothing. It's like the earth swallowed her. The only thing we did find was… this."
He tossed something onto the nearby bench. Kaine picked it up—Aria's necklace. The one her mother had given her.
The chain had melted, as if it had been burned from the inside out.
Kaine's fingers tightened until metal bit into his palm.
"She was changing," Dorian whispered. "That fire… Kaine, that was not natural. It was not wolf magic."
Kaine's eyes did not leave the necklace, his chest aching with something he did not wish to name.
"Do you think she is dead?"
Dorian shook his head. "No. She is hidden. From us. From the bond."
The bond.
Kaine had felt it shatter the moment he'd said the words. But now it was more than shattered—it was gone. No ache. No pull. No presence.
Just… nothing.
He hated it.
"She's not the same," Dorian said finally. "That wasn't the omega you rejected. That was something ancient."
"She was just a girl." Kaine's voice was gruff.
"Maybe she was. But now? Now she's something we don't understand."
The silence between them stretched.
Kaine punched the wall, breaking the tile. "I need to find her."
"Why?"
He looked up sharply.
Dorian's eyes narrowed. "You rejected her. She's gone. Why chase a ghost?"
Kaine said nothing. Couldn't.
Because he didn't know himself.
All he knew was that the moment her flame touched him, something in him had stirred too.
She wasn't just his mate.
She was something more.
And he'd screwed up.
---
Elsewhere.
Aria stood barefoot in the sacred clearing, moonlight collecting on her skin. The trees whispered around her, and the runes at her feet glowed softly.
"You're distracted," Lysandra said, circling around her. "Your power ebbs and flows like a wave. You need to focus."
Aria exhaled, closing her eyes.
Focus. Breathe.
The power inside her pulsed, eager and wild, like it had waited years to be set free. Blue flame licked at her fingertips, dancing along her skin without burning.
But every time she tried to direct it—control it—it fizzled.
"You're trying to command it," Lysandra said. "Magic doesn't respond to force. It responds to will."
"I'm trying."
"No. You're still afraid."
Aria's eyes snapped open. "I'm not afraid."
Lysandra raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you flinch when Kaine's name is spoken?"
Aria stiffened.
"He's no longer relevant."
"Lies do not become you here," Lysandra said quietly. "You still feel him. Even without the bond."
Aria's jaw clenched. "I don't care."
Lysandra's smile was faint. "Then prove it."
She lifted her hand, and a figure formed from flame—a man, tall and broad-shouldered, with golden eyes she knew so well.
Kaine.
Aria's breath caught. The illusion was too real. She could see the way his jaw clenched, the tilt of his head, the scar above his right brow.
"Burn it," Lysandra said.
"What?"
"Destroy the image. If you've truly let him go… burn him out of your mind."
Aria stared at the fiery replica. Her hand trembled. Power built in her palm.
This wasn't real.
He wasn't real.
But the pain? It was.
She clenched her fist—and the flame blazed.
Kaine's sight was extinguished in an explosion of blue flames.
Lysandra inclined her head. "Good. Next time, however, make him suffer."
Aria's lips curled into a smile.
She was learning.
She was rising.
And when she returned to the Bloodmoon Pack…
She would not be the girl who'd begged for love.
She would be the woman they'd burn for betraying.