ARIA'S POV
"You're lying."
My voice came out steady even as my world tilted sideways.
The Void King's shadow rippled with dark amusement. "Am I? Ask your precious Seer. Ask Lyra what happens to Guardians who complete the sealing ritual."
"Release Elena," I demanded, ignoring his words. "Now."
"Answer one question first, Guardian." The shadow leaned closer, and I felt ancient malice radiating from it. "Did the Moon Goddess tell you the full price? Or did she simply say you were chosen to save the world?"
My silence was answer enough.
The Void King laughed—a sound like breaking glass and screaming children.
"She used you," he said. "Just like he did. The Moon Goddess needed a sacrifice willing to die twice. So she found a broken girl who'd already proven she'd throw her life away for an Alpha who didn't love her back."
"Stop," Kael said, his voice raw. "Whatever game you're playing—"
"No game, broken Alpha. Just truth." The shadow turned its attention to Kael. "Tell me—if you knew saving the world meant Aria dies permanently, would you still ask her to do it?"
Kael's face went white.
"That's what I thought," the Void King purred. "Such delicious pain. I can taste it from here."
I forced my mind to focus. The Void King fed on emotional devastation. Every second we stood here drowning in revelation, he grew stronger.
"Elena," I said again. "Release her, and we leave. You keep your prison, I keep searching for another solution."
"There is no other solution!" The shadow's voice boomed. "That's the beautiful tragedy. The seal requires the Guardian's life force. Always has. Always will. Your predecessor knew it. She accepted it. She and her mate performed the ritual, and she ceased to exist. Permanently."
My chest tightened.
Three years in the spirit realm, and the Moon Goddess never mentioned this. She'd said I was chosen. That I had power. That I could save the world from darkness.
She never said the price was my soul.
"Even if that's true," I said, "it doesn't change what needs to happen. The Void King can't break free."
"Such nobility," the shadow mocked. "Tell me, does it hurt? Knowing you'll die saving the man who killed you the first time?"
"He didn't kill me," I said. "I chose to take that blade."
"Because he broke your heart so thoroughly you thought you were worthless without him."
The words hit like physical blows because they were true.
I'd died believing I wasn't enough. That my love wasn't valuable. That throwing my life away for Kael was the only way to prove I'd mattered at all.
"Aria." Kael's hand found my shoulder. "Whatever he's saying, whatever the cost—we'll find another way. I won't let you die for me again."
"It's not about you," I said, more harshly than intended. "It's about stopping an ancient evil from consuming innocent people. My personal feelings don't matter."
"They matter to me," Kael said desperately.
The Void King laughed again. "How touching. The Alpha finally admits he cares—after she's already dead once and about to die again. Perfect timing."
"Shut up," I snapped, silver light flaring around my hands. "Last chance. Release Elena or I burn this entire clearing to ash with you in it."
The shadow considered me, and I felt its ancient intelligence calculating odds.
"Very well," it said finally. "But know this, little Guardian: you can save the girl, or you can hear the full truth about what the Moon Goddess did to you. Choose."
My heart hammered. "What truth?"
"Why she chose YOU specifically," the Void King said. "Why a broken omega with a rejected mate bond was perfect for her purposes. Why your pain made you the ideal sacrifice."
I wanted to say I didn't care. That nothing mattered except stopping him.
But I needed to know.
"Tell me," I said.
"Aria, don't—" Kael started.
"Tell me!" Silver light blazed from my body.
The Void King's shadow smiled. "The sealing ritual requires perfect synchronization between Guardian and true mate. But here's what she didn't tell you: the stronger the bond, the more powerful the seal. And the most powerful bonds are the ones forged in pain, broken by betrayal, and reformed through forgiveness."
Ice spread through my veins.
"She NEEDED you to be rejected," the Void King continued, each word a knife. "Needed you to die heartbroken. Needed you to come back angry and hurt and conflicted. Because when you finally forgive him, when you finally reform that shattered bond—the seal will be absolute. Unbreakable for another millennium."
"No," I whispered.
"Yes. Your death, your resurrection, your pain—all of it was orchestrated. The Moon Goddess saw Kael would reject you. Saw you'd die for him anyway. Saw the perfect opportunity to create the strongest Guardian in history through trauma and heartbreak."
My knees buckled.
Everything—everything—had been planned. My suffering had purpose, but not the kind I'd thought.
I wasn't chosen because I was special.
I was chosen because I was broken in exactly the right way.
"So here's my offer," the Void King said. "I release the girl. You walk away. Refuse to perform the ritual. Let me break free. At least then your death has meaning you chose, not one forced on you by a goddess who weaponized your pain."
"If you break free, millions die," I said numbly.
"But you'll live. Isn't that worth something?"
Was it?
I'd spent three years learning my worth. Learning I didn't need Kael's love to be valuable. Learning I was enough on my own.
But dying to save a world that included the man who destroyed me—was that strength or stupidity?
"Aria." Kael's voice cut through my spiral. "I don't care what the Moon Goddess planned. I don't care about prophecies or rituals or ancient evil. I care about you. And I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me again."
"It's not your choice," I said.
"Then make it ours." Kael moved to stand in front of me, blocking the Void King from my view. "We decide together. As partners. As—"
"As mates?" I laughed bitterly. "We're not mates, Kael. You rejected that bond, remember?"
"Then I unreject it," he said desperately. "Right now. I choose you, Aria. I choose—"
"How sweet," the Void King interrupted. "But it doesn't work that way. The bond can only be reformed through mutual choice AND the proper ritual. You don't get to fix three years of pain with pretty words."
"I know." Kael's eyes never left mine. "But I need you to know—if I could go back, I'd choose differently. I'd choose you. Every time."
"That doesn't help me now," I said, my voice cracking.
"I know." His hand reached for mine. "But maybe knowing you're not alone in this helps. Maybe knowing I'd die before letting you face this yourself helps. Maybe—"
Elena screamed.
The sound ripped through the clearing, sharp with agony.
The Void King's shadow pulsed. "Tick tock, Guardian. Choose now or I start breaking her mind piece by piece."
I looked at Kael. At the desperate love and guilt written across his face.
Then at Elena, suspended in darkness, innocent in all of this.
The Moon Goddess used me. The Void King wanted to break me. Kael destroyed me.
But Elena—Elena had only ever been kind.
"Fine," I said. "Release her, and I'll consider your offer."
"No," the Void King countered. "First, you swear on your divine power that you won't perform the sealing ritual. THEN I release her."
"That's—"
"Those are my terms."
If I swore on my divine power, I'd be bound. The Moon Goddess's magic would enforce it. I wouldn't be able to perform the ritual even if I wanted to.
Which meant the Void King would break free.
Millions would die.
But Elena would live.
"Don't do it," Kael said urgently. "Aria, there has to be another way—"
"There isn't." I met his eyes. "You heard him. It's Elena or the world."
"Then we save both," Kael insisted. "We fight him, we rescue Elena, and we find a way to stop him that doesn't require your death."
"In what? The two minutes before the corruption takes you?" I shook my head. "You can't even look at the Void King directly without the darkness whispering in your mind."
"Then use your power! You're the Lunar Guardian—"
"My power has limits!" I shouted. "I'm not a goddess, Kael! I'm just a dead girl the Moon Goddess stuffed full of magic and sent back to fix problems I never asked for!"
The truth hung between us.
"I'm tired," I whispered. "I'm so tired of being everyone's solution. Of my pain having to mean something bigger than just pain. Of dying being my only value."
Kael's arms came around me before I could stop him.
The broken mate bond flared to agonizing life. I felt his heartbeat. His wolf. His desperate, crushing love.
It would be so easy to lean into it. To let him carry this burden with me.
But I'd learned the hard way: leaning on Kael Blackthorn only ended in falling.
"Let me go," I said quietly.
"No."
"Kael—"
"No." His grip tightened. "I let you go once. Let you die thinking you weren't enough. I won't make that mistake twice."
"How touching," the Void King said. "But I'm bored now. Guardian—swear you won't perform the ritual, or I start with the girl's fingers. One per minute until there's nothing left."
Elena whimpered, and the sound broke something in me.
I pulled away from Kael, stepped forward, and raised my hand.
Silver light gathered in my palm—divine power, ancient and absolute.
"I, Aria Silvermoon, Lunar Guardian, swear on my divine power that I will not—"
"WAIT!"
The voice came from behind us.
We spun.
Lyra stood at the edge of the clearing, her ancient eyes blazing with white light.
"The Void King lied," she said. "The ritual doesn't require the Guardian's permanent death."
My heart stopped.
"Silence, Seer!" the Void King roared.
"It requires a death, yes," Lyra continued, speaking faster. "But not the Guardian's. The seal can be powered by any willing sacrifice who shares the Guardian's blood."
"What does that mean?" I demanded.
Lyra's eyes met mine, filled with ancient sorrow.
"It means there's a loophole," she said. "The sacrifice doesn't have to be you."
"Shut your mouth!" The Void King's shadow lunged for Lyra.
Silver light erupted from my hands, creating a barrier.
"Who?" I asked. "Who can take my place?"
Lyra's expression crumbled.
"Your child," she whispered. "If you bear a child with your true mate, their life force can power the seal instead of yours."
The world went silent.
"I don't have a child," I said.
"Not yet." Lyra's eyes flicked to Kael. "But the ritual can wait. You have time to—"
"Enough!" The Void King's roar shook the clearing. "You think I'll wait while they create a replacement sacrifice? I'll kill them both before—"
"You can't touch us," I said, understanding flooding through me. "The Moon Goddess's protection still holds. You can threaten, possess, corrupt—but you can't directly harm me or my mate. That's why you need us to make mistakes. To break ourselves."
The shadow went still.
"We're leaving," I said firmly. "With Elena. And you can't stop us."
"Fine. Take the broken girl." The chains around Elena dissolved. She dropped, and Kael caught her. "But know this: the prison breaks in three days whether you like it or not. Perform the ritual with your own death or your child's death or don't perform it at all. But the choice ends the same way—someone you love dies."
The clearing began to dissolve, the Void King retreating.
"See you soon, Guardian," his voice echoed. "I'm looking forward to watching you choose which sacrifice you can live with."
Then we were standing in normal forest again, the corruption gone.
Elena was unconscious in Kael's arms. Lyra looked ancient and exhausted.
And I stood there, mind reeling.
I could live. But only if I created a child with Kael—the man who rejected me—and then sacrificed that innocent life to save the world.
Or I could die myself and spare an unborn child from that fate.
"Aria," Kael said quietly. "We don't have to—"
"Don't," I cut him off. "Don't say anything. I need to think."
"There has to be another way," he insisted.
"There isn't." I looked at him, really looked at him. "The Moon Goddess planned this perfectly. Either I die, or I create a child with you and let that child die. Those are my options."
"Then we refuse both," Kael said desperately. "We fight the Void King another way—"
"There is no other way!" My voice broke. "Don't you understand? I'm trapped. The Moon Goddess didn't save me—she created an impossible choice wrapped in false hope."
Kael's face crumbled. "Aria—"
"Take Elena home," I said, stepping back. "I need time alone."
"I'm not leaving you—"
"That's not a request, Alpha Blackthorn." Silver light flared around me. "Go home. Protect your sister. Let me figure out how to live with the fact that my death was always the plan."
I turned and walked away before he could stop me.
Before I could break down completely.
Before I could admit the terrible truth:
Part of me had hoped—stupidly, desperately hoped—that coming back to life meant getting a second chance at happiness.
But the Moon Goddess didn't deal in happiness.
She dealt in necessary sacrifices.
And I was the most necessary one of all.