Chapter 4 ECHOES OF THE BOND

The wind howled through the valley that night, a lonely wail that made the trees bend and the shadows stir. Aria stood barefoot at the top of the moonlight cliff valley's edge, her long white gown blowing in the breeze. The distant echo of wolves howling from beyond the mountains reached her ears, haunting and hollow.

Her hands rested over her belly, now round and firm, pulsing with life.

The twins were growing fast.

She could feel them-two distinct energies curled within her, one calm and intuitive, the other fierce and impatient. Sometimes, it felt like they spoke to her in dreams, their voices like soft whispers in the wind. She didn't know what they'd look like or who they'd become, but she already loved them more than she ever thought possible.

They were her strength, her responsibility and her purpose now.

"Still awake?" came Elaria's soft voice behind her.

Aria didn't turn. "I can't sleep."

"The moon is pulling you closer," Elaria said, stepping beside her. "The closer you come to bringing life into this world, the more connected you become to the Goddess."

Aria's throat tightened. "Then why does it feel like my heart is breaking all over again?"

Elaria placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You've grown so much," she said. "But no strength in the world can erase the pain of betrayal. Especially when it comes from the one meant to protect you. I see him in my dreams," Aria whispered, eyes shimmering. Sometimes I hate him and Sometimes I wake up crying because part of me still loves him."

She clutched her belly, as if the twins could anchor her to the present.

"He gave them to me, but he also broke me. How do I forgive him?"

Elaria didn't answer right away. Instead, she stared out into the dark forest. "Forgiveness isn't about forgetting. It's about choosing yourself. You don't owe him anything."

"I know," Aria said, though her voice shook. "But sometimes I wonder... would he have stayed, if he knew?"

The question hung between them like smoke.

Would Damon have stayed if he'd known she was carrying his children?

Would he have chosen her then?

And if he had... would that have made it better-or worse?

-

That same night, miles away, Damon sat in the center of the pack's war room, maps scattered across the table and storm clouds gathering in his eyes. He was looking tired and confused with no clue.

"Another raid?" he growled.

"Yes, Alpha," Beta Julian confirmed grimly. "This time at the eastern patrol post. Five injured. One dead."

Damon clenched his fists. The rogue attacks were becoming more coordinated, more vicious. And every time he caught the scent of the attackers, his blood turned cold.

They are using Magic.

There was power behind these rogues. A dark force gathering strength and Moonstone was bleeding because of it.

"Find out who's leading them," Damon snapped. "And double the border security."

Julian hesitated. "Alpha... we're spread thin. Our warriors are exhausted. If these attacks continue, we won't last the month, we will all die."

Damon stood, slamming his fist on the table. "Then we fight harder than ever before."

But the words tasted hollow. He knew something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones. And worse... something else tugged at him day and night-a constant ache, deep in his chest.

Aria.

Since the night she disappeared, he hadn't known peace. At first, he thought he'd moved on-Camille was beautiful, smart, and strategically perfect.

But she was never Aria.

Every time he looked at her, he saw the way Aria's lips trembled that night. The way her eyes shined with tears when he told her she wasn't enough. The way she clutched the sheets to her chest, shattered.

And then she was gone.

Vanished.

His pack trackers had searched the lands. No scent. No trace. It was as if the Earth itself had swallowed her.

But his wolf knew better.

She's alive.

And now, more than ever, Damon needed her.

He didn't know why-only that something inside him screamed to find her. Not for guilt. Not for closure.

But because something terrible was coming.

And without her... they might not survive it.

Back in the valley, Aria tossed and turned in her bed of moss and fur, her breathing uneven. Her dream was vivid-too vivid.

Damon stood in a field of ash, his clothes torn, blood dripping from his hands. The sky burned red above him, and the howls of dying wolves echoed around them.

She stood across from him, a sword made of moonlight in her grip, her eyes glowing with power.

He reached out to her voice broken. "Help me..."

But she didn't move.

"I can't," she said, tears falling down her cheeks. "You let me burn. Now feel the fire."

And she turned away, walking into a light he could never touch.

Aria jolted awake, gasping for air. Her skin was drenched in sweat, her heartbeat racing.

"Just a dream," she whispered, clutching her belly.

But it didn't feel like a dream.

It felt like a warning.

-

The next day, Elaria took Aria deep into the valley's inner sanctum-a glowing cave carved from moonstone crystal. The walls pulsed with a soft light, and at its center was a pool of silver water.

"This is the Pool of Memories," Elaria said. "It shows truth. Past... future... and things the soul is too afraid to see."

Aria approached slowly, her reflection shimmering on the surface.

"I need to know if I'm strong enough," she said. "For them. For what's coming."

Elaria nodded. "Then look."

Aria knelt beside the pool and placed her hands into the cool water. Instantly, images exploded in her mind.

Her twins, now toddlers, running through the valley laughing.

Her holding them close as fire rained from the sky.

Damon kneeling before her, tears streaming down his face.

A battle. A monstrous rogue Alpha with dark magic, bearing down on the Moonstone Pack.

-And then... her standing tall, cloaked in light, her children at her side, power radiating from their very souls.

She pulled back, eyes full of tears.

"They're... gifted," she whispered.

Elaria smiled faintly. "Beyond anything this world has seen in generations. Because you, Aria, are not just a mother. You are their anchor. Their Queen. And soon... the pack will need you."

"But I was rejected."

Elaria leaned down, cupping her face. "Yes. And still, you rose. That's what made you discover your powers."

Aria nodded slowly and said she will be ready not just for herself or for her twins.

But for every wolf who had ever been cast aside.

Because the Rejected Luna... was no longer broken.

She was becoming a storm that can never cease.