Chapter 4 What Truth Hides

The forest hollow held its breath.

Mist curled at their feet. Branches swayed gently overhead as birds fell silent in the trees. Aria stood still as stone, her cloak rippling in the wind, facing the one man she once called mate-and the same one who'd watched her be torn from their pack like a traitor.

Damien stood only a few paces away, completely unarmed, his face bare of all the power and polish he usually wore as Alpha.

They were alone. Just as she had demanded.

No warriors.

No wolves.

Just them-and the ghosts between them.

"Well?" Aria asked coldly. "You said you came to tell the truth. Speak, then. But if you lie, Damien, I swear by the moon, I'll bury you right here."

He met her gaze. "I deserve that."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you admit it?"

He nodded slowly. "I do. I deserve your hatred. Your fury. Your silence. I deserved to be rejected by the bond when I let them drag you away."

A flicker of emotion crossed her face-shock?-but it vanished before it took root.

She folded her arms, silently waiting.

Damien stepped forward, cautiously.

"I reviewed the trial file. Not the council's copy. The original. The evidence used against you-Aria, it was falsified. The letter in your handwriting? Forged. The messenger who testified? Paid off. The elder who pushed for exile... he vanished weeks after your sentence. And the healer who treated the wounded scout? Dead. Or missing. No one ever found her."

Aria didn't blink. "So you discovered that I was framed. Years later. When the damage was already done."

He nodded grimly. "I did."

"Then what are you here for?" she snapped. "To ask forgiveness for a crime I didn't commit?"

"No," he said quietly. "I came to give you the names of the ones who did."

That silenced her.

He reached into the inside of his coat-slowly, cautiously-and pulled out a leather-bound folder.

He laid it on a nearby stump.

"There. Full list. Witnesses. Bank transfers. Confessions. Even a recording from Silas. I don't know if it'll make a difference, but... it's yours."

Aria didn't move.

Damien took a shaky breath. "They turned me against you. I let them. And I don't expect you to forgive me. But I want to help you now, if you'll let me."

She finally stepped closer.

But not toward him.

Toward the folder.

Her fingers grazed the edge of the leather. She opened it slowly, her eyes scanning the first page.

A name jumped out: Elder Vaughn Thorne.

Her body tensed.

"Vaughn," she murmured. "He always hated my position. Said a rogue-born she-wolf had no place as Luna."

"He was the one who forged the letter."

Her throat tightened. Rage rose in her chest like a scream.

"I begged you to believe me," she whispered. "And you listened to him instead."

"I know."

"You let them call me a whore. A traitor. You let them shame my unborn child."

Damien's jaw clenched. "And I live with that every day."

Aria snapped the folder shut.

"So what? You bring this to me and expect... what, exactly? Gratitude?"

"No," he said again. "Only a chance to stand beside you. Or at least... stop standing against you."

That caught her off guard.

"Stand beside me?" she repeated, voice low. "You're the Alpha of Bloodmoon. I'm the queen of its enemies."

"I'll step down," he said suddenly.

Her eyes widened.

"What?"

"I'll abdicate the title. Leave the council. Let the pack choose a new Alpha. I'll leave it behind-if that's what it takes."

She stared at him as if he'd grown another head.

Damien-Alpha born, warrior-raised-offering to give up his title? His kingdom?

"I failed you," he said simply. "I failed our bond. I failed our son. The only way I can begin to repair that is by destroying the pack that allowed it to happen."

Aria narrowed her eyes. "What about your people? Your warriors? Your name?"

He met her gaze. "They don't matter more than you."

Silence fell again.

This time, Aria didn't speak.

She didn't trust her voice.

Damien turned away. "You don't have to answer now. Just... think about it."

As he walked back through the trees, his scent lingered behind him-warm cedar, cold ash, regret.

And something else.

A promise.

Later That Night – Rogue Encampment

Aria didn't sleep.

She sat by the fire long after Caleb had drifted off in her arms, that folder clutched to her chest like a heartbeat.

The names inside it were a roadmap to revenge.

But also... maybe to something more.

Ronan found her just before dawn.

"You met with him," he said.

"Yes."

"And?"

"He brought proof. The trial was rigged."

Ronan didn't seem surprised.

"He says he'll give up the Alpha seat."

Now Ronan did blink.

"You believe him?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "But part of me... wants to."

"Aria-" he began.

"I'm not saying I forgive him. Or that I trust him. But if he's serious..."

She trailed off.

Ronan sat beside her, long silent, before he finally said, "Just be sure this isn't the bond talking."

"I thought I buried that bond."

"Maybe. But it's still buried in you."

Two Days Later – Council Hall, Bloodmoon Pack

Damien's voice echoed through the stone chamber.

"I resign."

A gasp went up around the circle.

Elders shifted in their seats. Some stood. Silas remained frozen by the door.

"I failed my Luna," Damien said. "I failed this pack. I let corruption and fear blind me to the truth. I let a good woman-my mate-be sentenced for a crime she didn't commit. I will not stand at the head of a pack built on that lie."

Elder Halvor, the eldest of the group, leaned forward. "And who will lead in your place?"

Damien glanced at Silas.

Silas paled.

"No," he muttered.

"You're the only one I trust not to repeat my mistakes," Damien said.

The council broke into murmurs.

Elder Thorne was not among them.

He had gone missing.

Or, as Damien suspected, he had already been hunted.

By her.

Meanwhile – Aria's Camp

She held the pendant again.

The one he'd left for her years ago.

Once, it had been a symbol of his love. Then of his betrayal. Now... she didn't know.

She rose and made her decision.

Three Nights Later – Neutral Ground

The moon hung low, fat and orange, casting a glow across the stone clearing where rogues and Alphas once gathered in ancient times to parley.

Damien stood in the center.

Aria arrived on foot, cloak fluttering, Caleb riding on Ronan's shoulders.

Her warriors fanned out around the edges. So did his.

The boy slid down and took his mother's hand.

Aria looked Damien in the eyes.

"Your council?" she asked.

"Disbanded."

"Your crown?"

"Gone."

"Then why are you here?"

He took a step closer.

"To tell you... I remember everything."

She froze.

"I remember the first day I saw you in the woods-bleeding, starving, stubborn as sin, refusing to let me carry you."

Aria blinked.

"I remember the way you laughed when I burned the elder's robes by accident. I remember the first time we kissed under the red moon. I remember the moment I felt your wolf inside me-and I remember the moment I lost it."

His voice cracked.

"I've lived with that silence every day since."

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes.

"But I don't want silence anymore," he said. "I want to fight with you. For you. For him."

He glanced at Caleb.

Aria's hand trembled.

Then slowly, so slowly, she stepped forward and touched her palm to his chest.

His heartbeat thundered beneath it.

And hers finally answered.