ARIA'S POV
"No."
The word came out before I could stop it.
Kael was already moving toward the door, his face twisted with panic and rage. Every line of his body screamed Alpha protecting his pack, his family, his sister.
"Elena is bait," I said sharply, stepping into his path. "The Void King wants you to rush into the Veil Woods unprepared. It's a trap."
"I don't care." Kael's eyes flashed black as his wolf surged forward. "That's my sister. I'm not leaving her with that monster."
"If you go in there alone, you'll die." I planted myself between him and the door. "Or worse—he'll corrupt you, turn you feral, and use you to destroy everything you're trying to protect."
"Then come with me!" Kael grabbed my shoulders, and the sudden contact sent electricity racing through the broken mate bond. We both flinched. "You're the Lunar Guardian. You have the power to fight him. Please, Aria. I'm begging you."
The desperation in his voice cracked something inside me.
I remembered this Kael. The one who'd held me in the middle of the night, whispering fears he'd never admit in daylight. The one who'd smiled like the sun when I said his name. The one who loved his baby sister more than anything in the world.
Before he chose duty over love.
Before he let me die.
"Getting Elena back won't be simple," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. "The Void King has her in his domain now. The corrupted heart of the Veil Woods. It's his territory, his power. Even with my abilities, it's suicide."
"I'll go alone then." Kael released me, already turning away. "I won't ask you to risk—"
"Don't be stupid." I grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "You'll be dead in five minutes. The corruption will eat through your mind before you even find her."
Our eyes locked—storm grey meeting molten silver.
"Then what do I do?" Kael's voice broke. "Just leave her there? Let that thing torture my sister while I stand here safe?"
"No." I took a breath, hating what I was about to say. "We go together. But we do it smart, not reckless."
Hope flared in his eyes. "You'll help me?"
"I'm helping Elena," I corrected. "She was kind to me once. She deserves better than being used as a pawn in her brother's punishment."
The distinction landed like a slap, but Kael just nodded. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." I turned to face the assembled Alphas, all of them still recovering from being forced to kneel. "The Void King is accelerating his timeline. He's not waiting for the prison to fully break—he's already manifesting through the corruption, possessing wolves, and now he has a hostage."
"Then we attack," Marcus said, straightening his jacket with barely controlled fury. "Gather our warriors, storm the Veil Woods, kill everything corrupted until—"
"Until you lose hundreds of wolves to madness?" I interrupted. "The corruption spreads through contact. Every warrior you send in is another potential weapon for the Void King. He wants you to attack with force. It feeds him."
"Then what's your plan, Guardian?" Alpha Chen asked quietly.
"Small team. Surgical strike." I looked at Kael. "The Guardian and her... the Alpha who knows Elena best. We go in, retrieve her, get out before the corruption takes hold."
"That's insane," Selene said, speaking for the first time. Her voice was steady, but her hands shook. "Two people against an ancient evil? You'll both die."
"Maybe." I met her dark eyes. "But it's the only option that doesn't guarantee hundreds of deaths."
Selene looked at Kael, and something passed between them—understanding born of three years living as strangers.
"Bring him back," she said to me. "Whatever happened between you, whatever he did... Elena needs her brother. Don't let your anger get him killed."
The accusation stung because part of it was true.
"I won't," I said.
Lyra stepped forward, her ancient face creased with worry. "The corruption will attack your minds. Show you your worst fears, your deepest regrets. The Void King feeds on emotional pain."
"I know." I'd spent three years in the spirit realm learning exactly how the Void King operated. "That's why I'm the only one who can do this. Divine power protects against his influence."
"And Kael?" Lyra asked pointedly. "He has no such protection."
I looked at Kael, at the desperate determination on his face.
"He'll have to be strong enough to resist," I said. "Or this rescue mission becomes a suicide pact."
Ten minutes later, Kael and I stood at the edge of the Veil Woods.
The forest was wrong. Trees twisted into nightmarish shapes, their bark bleeding black sap. The ground pulsed like a living thing. And the darkness—it didn't just block light, it consumed it, leaving nothing but endless shadow.
"Elena's in there," Kael said quietly. "I can feel it through our sibling bond. She's alive. Terrified. But alive."
"The Void King is keeping her conscious on purpose," I said. "He wants her fear. Wants you to hear her screaming in your mind."
Kael's jaw clenched. "It's working."
I placed my hand on the corrupted ground, channeling divine power into it. Silver light spread from my palm, creating a protective circle around us.
"This will shield us from the worst of the corruption," I explained. "But it won't last long. Twenty minutes, maybe thirty. After that, we're on our own."
"Then we move fast." Kael started forward.
I grabbed his wrist, stopping him.
"Before we go in there," I said, "you need to understand something. The Void King will use our bond against us. Our history. Our pain. He'll show us things designed to break us."
"I can handle it," Kael said.
"Can you?" I searched his face. "Can you handle seeing me die again? Hearing my last words? Reliving every moment you chose Selene over me?"
He flinched. "Aria—"
"Because that's what he'll do," I continued ruthlessly. "He'll make you watch me die a thousand different ways. Make you feel every second of pain your rejection caused. And if you break, if you let the guilt consume you, the corruption will take you. And I'll have to kill you."
Kael's eyes met mine, and I saw steel beneath the guilt.
"I won't break," he said. "Elena needs me. I won't let her down the way I let you down."
The honesty in his voice hurt more than anger would have.
"Fine." I released his wrist. "Stay close. Don't touch anything corrupted. And whatever you see in there—whatever the Void King shows you—remember it's designed to destroy you."
We stepped into the darkness together.
Immediately, the temperature dropped twenty degrees. The silver light around us flickered, struggling against the oppressive evil pressing down from all sides.
Whispers filled the air—thousands of voices speaking words I couldn't quite make out.
Kael's hand found mine in the darkness.
The contact sent shockwaves through the broken mate bond. Pain and pleasure and recognition all mixed together.
"Sorry," he muttered, starting to pull away.
"Don't." I tightened my grip. "The bond—even broken—helps anchor us against corruption. It's one of the few things the Void King can't fully twist."
We moved deeper into the woods, following the pull of Elena's presence.
The whispers grew louder.
Worthless. Unwanted. Unloved. He never chose you. He never will.
I pushed them aside, focusing on the path ahead.
Then the visions started.
I was twenty-two again, standing in the Grand Hall, watching Kael speak the words that destroyed us.
"I, Kael Blackthorn, reject the mate bond with Aria Silvermoon."
The bond tore apart like flesh from bone. I screamed. He didn't even look at me.
I stumbled, gasping.
"Aria?" Kael's voice cut through the vision. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I forced myself forward. "Keep moving."
But the Void King wasn't done.
Now I was dying. The silver blade in my chest. Kael's face above me, finally showing emotion. Too late. Always too late.
"I loved you," I whispered with my last breath.
"I know," he said as my eyes closed forever. "I loved you too."
Liar.
"Aria!" Kael shook my shoulder. "You stopped breathing. What's happening?"
"The corruption," I gasped. "It's showing me memories. Twisting them."
"Fight it," Kael urged. "You're stronger than this. You conquered death. You can conquer a few bad memories."
I looked at him—really looked at him—and saw the same torture on his face.
"What's it showing you?" I asked.
His expression crumbled. "You. Dying. Over and over. Different ways. But always because of me."
Before I could respond, Elena's scream ripped through the darkness.
"KAEL! HELP ME! PLEASE!"
We ran.
The forest twisted around us, paths appearing and disappearing. The corruption pressed closer, hungry and eager.
Then we burst into a clearing.
Elena hung suspended in the air, wrapped in chains of living darkness. Her eyes were open but unseeing. Black veins crawled across her skin.
"Elena!" Kael lunged forward.
"STOP!" I grabbed him. "It's too easy. He's waiting for—"
The darkness around Elena rippled.
And the Void King manifested.
Not fully. Not his complete form. But enough.
A massive shadow shaped vaguely like a man, made of pure corruption and ancient evil. His voice was a thousand tortured souls screaming in harmony.
"Welcome, Guardian," he said. "And welcome, broken Alpha. I've been so looking forward to this reunion."
His attention focused on me, and I felt the weight of millennia-old malice.
"Tell me, Aria Silvermoon... do you want to know the real reason the Moon Goddess brought you back?"
Ice flooded my veins.
"It wasn't to save the world," the Void King continued, his smile visible even in shadow. "It was to break it. Because you, my dear Guardian, are the key to my prison."
"You're lying," I said.
"Am I? Then why does your divine power feel so familiar? Why does it resonate with mine?"
He gestured to Elena's suspended form.
"The ritual your Goddess wants you to perform—the one that requires you and your true mate working in perfect harmony—do you know what it actually does?"
"It seals you away," I said.
The Void King's laughter shook the clearing.
"It does. But the price, sweet Guardian... the price is you. Your life force becomes the seal. Your soul becomes the lock. You seal me away, yes. But you die. Permanently. No resurrection. No second chances. Just eternal darkness."
My heart stopped.
"The Moon Goddess didn't save you," the Void King whispered. "She created a sacrifice. And she didn't even tell you."
I looked at Kael, saw the horror dawning on his face.
"No," he breathed. "Aria, we'll find another way—"
"There is no other way," the Void King said. "Save the world and die. Or refuse, and watch everyone you've ever cared about be consumed by darkness. Choose."