Blood dripped from Aria's side as she pressed against the cave wall, her breathing heavy. The deer she'd been hunting had fought back, its sharp spike catching her by surprise. Now, instead of bringing home food, she was the one hurt and hungry.
"Some birthday present," she muttered, pressing leaves against the cut to stop the blood.
Today she turned eighteen. No cake. No songs. No family to party with. Just another day of trying to live alone in the wild.
The cut wasn't too deep, but it stung badly. Aria closed her eyes, trying to push away the pain, but another kind of hurt came instead – thoughts of her sister, Elira.
In her mind, she saw it all again. Two little girls playing by the river. Laughing and splashing. Then Elira sliding, falling into the rushing water. Aria jumping in after her, reaching for her sister's hand but grabbing nothing but cold water.
Aria shook her head hard, forcing the thought away. Ten years had passed since that terrible day, but the nightmare still felt fresh.
"It should have been me," she whispered to the empty cave. "Dad was right."
Her father's words still echoed in her head: "Why did she die but not you?" After that, nothing was ever the same. The pack turned against her. Even her own father couldn't stand to look at her. So one night, she ran away, choosing life as a wild wolf rather than face their hate every day.
Aria checked her cut again. The bleeding had slowed. She needed to get food before dark. Her stomach growled, telling her she hadn't eaten since yesterday.
She stepped outside her small cave home into the afternoon light. The forest was quiet – too quiet. Usually birds sang and small animals ran about. But now, nothing moved.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Something wasn't right.
Sniffing the air, Aria caught an unfamiliar smell. Wolves. Not from around here. Her heart beat faster as she slowly backed toward her cave.
Too late.
A big gray wolf burst from the bushes, teeth bared. Aria shifted immediately into her wolf form – smaller than most, with dark brown fur and alert gray eyes. She growled, trying to look bigger than she was.
The gray wolf circled her. "Finally found you, princess," he said in the mind-speak all wolves shared when in animal form.
Two more wolves appeared behind him. They were all bigger than her, stronger and well-fed. Pack wolves, not skinny rogues like her.
"I'm no princess," Aria growled back. "You've got the wrong wolf."
The lead wolf laughed in her mind. "Daughter of Alpha Malrik and Luna Rhea. That makes you a princess in my book."
Aria's heart skipped. No one had called her that in years.
"What do you want?" she asked, keeping her eyes on all three dogs.
"We've been sent to bring you home," said the lead wolf.
Home? The word hit Aria like a rock. The Bloodfang Pack wasn't her home anymore. They had thrown her away, forgotten her.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," she growled, backing away.
The three wolves spread out, surrounding her. The leader's yellow eyes narrowed. "We have orders from the new Alpha. You will come with us. Willingly or not."
New Alpha? Her father wasn't Alpha anymore? Aria's mind raced. What was happening? Why would they want her back after all this time?
"I said no!" Aria lunged at the smallest wolf, trying to break through their circle.
Bad move. The wolf was faster than she expected. He dodged and snapped at her leg. Pain shot through her as his teeth grazed her skin. She yelped and spun around, but the other wolves closed in.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be," the boss growled. "The Alpha wants you back today. On your eighteenth birthday."
How did they know today was her birthday? Why would that matter to anyone?
Aria looked for an exit route, but there was none. Three against one, and she was already hurt from the deer's horn. Still, she wouldn't go without a fight.
She charged at the biggest wolf, feinting right before darting left. For a moment, she thought she might make it past him. Then something hard hit her from the side, knocking the wind from her lungs.
She hit the ground hard, rolling through dirt and leaves. Before she could get up, the lead wolf stood over her, his teeth inches from her throat.
"That's enough," he growled. "Shift back to human or I'll make you."
Trapped and outmatched, Aria had no choice. The warm tingle of shifting spread through her body as fur faded and human skin returned. The other wolves shifted too, standing over her as people now.
The boss was a hard-faced man with a scar across his cheek. "Get her up," he told the others.
Two pairs of rough hands pulled Aria to her feet. Her side wound had reopened, and blood soaked through her torn shirt.
"Why?" she asked, her voice shaking with both fear and anger. "Why does the Alpha want me back? Who is he?"
The scarred man smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "Alpha Callan rules Bloodfang now. Your father stepped down three years ago."
Callan? The name wasn't known. "I don't know any Callan."
"You wouldn't. He came from the Eastern Packs after you ran away."
Aria tried to pull free, but the guys held her arms too tightly. "I didn't run away! I was driven out! Nobody wanted me there after what happened to Elira."
The men traded looks. The scarred one stepped closer. "Things change, princess. Today you turn eighteen, and today you return to Bloodfang land."
"Stop calling me princess! And tell me why my birthday matters!"
Instead of answering, the man pulled something from his pocket. A silver chain with a moon charm. "Put this on her."
As they forced the necklace around her neck, Aria felt a strange feeling – like her wolf was suddenly sleepy, harder to reach.
"What is this? What are you doing to me?" Panic rose in her throat.
"Just insurance. Can't have you moving and running off." The scarred man grabbed her chin. "The Alpha was very clear. You must be brought back alive and unhurt on your eighteenth birthday."
"Why?" Aria demanded again.
The man's eyes gleamed with something that made Aria's blood run cold. "Because that's when the mate bond starts. And you, princess, are meant to be the Alpha's mate."
Aria's world spun. Mate? To an Alpha she'd never met? This couldn't be happening.
"You're lying," she whispered.
"Oh no, princess. Your father has known since you were born. There's a prophesy about you." He leaned closer. "But I don't think it's the happy kind."
They started dragging her through the forest, toward the areas she'd avoided for ten long years. Aria struggled, but the silver chain made her weak, and her wounds throbbed with every step.
"You can't do this! I don't belong there anymore!"
The scarred man's laugh cut through the trees. "If what they say is true, you never fit anywhere, girl. You're the cursed one. The one who should have died instead."
Aria froze at those words, the same ones that had haunted her dreams for years. How did he know?
As they pulled her along, the trees around her seemed to whisper. For a moment, Aria thought she heard her sister's voice calling her name. But that was impossible.
Elira was dead. And now Aria was being dragged back to face the pack that had thrown her away, to be matched to a stranger who might already hate her.
The scarred man yanked her forward as the trees thinned. Through the branches ahead, Aria could see the border stones marking Bloodfang land. After ten years, she was about to cross them again.
"Welcome home, princess," the man whispered in her ear. "The Alpha is ready. And I hear he's not too happy about his chosen mate being the girl who let her sister die."
Aria's heart sank like a stone as they forced her across the border, back into the world that had broken her heart. Back to face an Alpha who was already set against her, because of a fate neither of them had chosen.