The scent hit her first like scorched wood and sulfur before the man with bronze eyes even moved.
Aria's skin crawled.
The stranger stood too still, too aware, and yet the others in the crowd didn't seem to sense the shift in the air. As if whatever he was radiating was cloaked, hidden from all but her.
She took a cautious step forward, eyes narrowing. "Who are you?"
He smiled again, slow and sure, like he already knew her.
Or owned her.
"I'm someone who's been waiting a very long time, Aria."
The use of her name without introduction made her blood chill. Her wolf rose sharply beneath her skin, warning, growling low, but she kept her expression calm.
Kael hadn't seen him yet. The Alpha's attention was still on the council, his body battered but upright after the first trial. Aria didn't want to draw more attention. This was her moment, and something told her the answer to everything burning inside her might begin here.
"I don't know you," she said flatly.
"You will," he replied. "When the third trial ends and Kael fails you."
Her fists clenched. "He won't."
"You don't really believe that," the man whispered. "Not after what's inside you has begun to wake."
He reached out only a few inches, but it was enough. Enough for the bond inside her to react violently.
Pain.
Sharp, searing, and instant.
Her skin blistered beneath her mark, the place where Kael had claimed her now glowing red-hot. She gasped and stumbled back, clutching her shoulder, as if the mate bond itself was under attack.
"Stop!" she cried out, her voice strangled.
The man lowered his hand and tilted his head, observing her reaction like a scientist studying a subject. "Fascinating," he murmured. "The Ember burns brighter than expected."
"You're one of them," Aria hissed through clenched teeth. "Emberborn."
"Not just one of them," he said calmly. "I am the flame they follow. The first-born."
The First.
The ancient one from the legends, the one who carried fire in his blood and left destruction wherever he walked. A myth used to scare pups until now.
Aria turned to run, to warn Kael but in a blink, the man vanished.
Not shifted.
Disappeared.
Like smoke.
Kael found her near the edge of the woods, collapsed on her knees and gripping her shoulder. His heart thundered as he rushed to her, his battered body forgotten in the face of her pain.
"What happened? Aria what did they do to you?" His voice cracked with panic.
She tried to answer, but the words tangled in her throat.
His hand hovered over the mark. "It's glowing gods, it's burning "
"It wasn't them," she breathed. "It was him. The one with the bronze eyes."
Kael's face hardened. "You saw him again?"
She nodded. "He said… he said he's the first Emberborn. That he's been watching me."
Kael's hands trembled, a mixture of rage and fear passing through him. "Then this war isn't just about the council or the packs. It's something deeper."
She gripped his hand, her eyes wild. "He said you'd fail me. That when the third trial comes, everything will burn."
Kael crouched lower, pulling her into his arms despite his own injuries. "Let it burn," he whispered against her hair. "But I will not fail you. Never."
The second trial began at dusk.
Trial Two: Combat.
Kael and Thorne faced each other in the stone arena, surrounded by watching wolves. The rules were simple: shift, fight, survive. No weapons, no help. Just blood and tooth and will.
Aria watched from the edge, her heart caught in her throat.
As Kael shifted, his massive black wolf form stretched and cracked into place, a terrifying and beautiful creature of power and fury. Thorne's wolf was leaner, gray and fast, with a cruel glint in his eyes.
They circled, snarling.
Then they clashed.
Fur flew. Bones cracked. Claws ripped. Kael fought like a wolf possessed, every strike a declaration that he would not lose not to Thorne, not to fate.
But Thorne was fast. Too fast. And Kael was already weakened from the first trial.
Aria felt every blow as if it landed on her own skin.
But something inside her shifted again.
A pulse.
A whisper.
She closed her eyes and felt him.
Kael.
His pain. His strength. His rage.
And for one terrifying moment, she felt his doubt.
No.
Her eyes snapped open.
She pushed past the guards, her voice ringing through the arena.
"Kael! Look at me!"
His wolf hesitated, blood dripping from his muzzle. Their eyes met.
"I'm here," she said, stepping into the ring. "I'm with you."
Kael's wolf howled long and deep and charged again with new strength. Thorne, distracted for a moment by Aria's presence, was too slow to counter.
Kael slammed into him, pinning him, fangs sinking just short of the jugular.
A beat of silence.
Then Thorne whined and yielded.
Kael stepped back, bloodied but victorious.
The crowd erupted in howls of approval.
Kael shifted back, panting and swaying, as Aria rushed to catch him.
"You did it," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his.
But Kael wasn't looking at her.
His eyes were fixed on something behind her no, someone.
Aria turned slowly.
The man with the bronze eyes stood on the arena wall, arms folded, gaze burning.
This time, everyone could see him.
And he spoke three words that silenced the entire crowd.
"She is mine."
What ancient claim does the Emberborn stranger have over Aria and can Kael protect their bond when the final trial might not be against Thorne, but against destiny itself?