Aria’s POV
The rhythmic thud of my kicks against the practice dummy echoed through Silver Moon's training arena. Early morning sunlight streamed through the high windows, painting golden stripes across the polished wooden floor. As the pack alpha's daughter, I spent most of my mornings here, pushing myself harder than anyone else.
My mother, Olivia, had been Silver Moon's strongest female warrior. Six years ago, she sacrificed herself to save the Shadow Fang alpha's son during a wild wolf hunt. Some called it a tragedy, but I knew better. My mother died as she lived – protecting others.
I paused mid-kick, something feeling off. My movements were sluggish, lacking their usual precision. The room swayed slightly, and I had to grab the dummy for balance. This wasn't right. I'd inherited my mother's warrior physique and my father's alpha strength – this kind of weakness wasn't normal for me.
"Focus, Aria," I muttered, trying to shake off the growing fog in my head. Another kick, but my leg trembled traitorously.
My water bottle sat on the nearby bench– the one Bella had handed me at breakfast with her usual fake smile. My step-sister, always playing the perfect daughter in front of our father. "Here, sis," she'd said, voice dripping with artificial sweetness. "Staying hydrated is so important for our champion warrior." , I took another sip, the liquid cool against my throat. There was something... different about the taste.
"You're just being paranoid," I told myself, but the words came out slightly slurred. My wolf, usually a constant warm presence in my mind, felt unusually quiet.
Buzz of my phone startled me so badly I almost dropped it. A message from Emma, my best friend since childhood.
The message lit up my phone screen, each word making my heart beat faster:
*ARIA HELP!! @ Mountain View Resort room 302*
*Something's wrong - I'm scared*
*HURRY!!*
My fingers tightened around the phone. Emma's messages were usually full of emojis and laughter, not this raw panic. Many people couldn't handle being friends with the alpha's daughter. But Emma was different. She'd been there when my mother died.
"Just hold it together," I muttered to myself, fumbling with my car keys. The training arena's exit seemed miles away, the corridor stretching endlessly before me. Each step felt like wading through quicksand, but I forced myself forward.
The silence in my head grew deafening with each step. Where Cassandra had always been– my wolf – there was nothing but emptiness.
"Cassie?" I reached out through our mental bond, the way I had thousands of times before. Nothing. Not even an echo.
"Come on, Cassandra, don't do this to me." My mental voice grew more desperate. "I need you."
But there was only silence. The kind of silence that made you realize how much noise you'd grown used to. The kind that felt like loss.
The drive to Mountain View Resort was a blur. My hands kept slipping on the steering wheel, and the road seemed to ripple like a heat mirage. By the time I parked, my whole body felt weighted down with lead.
Room 302's door wasn't just unlocked – it was slightly ajar.
"Em?" My voice came out slurred. "You here?"
The room spun as I stepped inside. My wolf – my constant companion since childhood – was completely silent. Not just quiet, but gone, like someone had carved out a piece of my soul.
"No..." I grabbed for the wall as my knees buckled. "What...?"
Heavy footsteps approached from behind. I tried to turn, to fight, but my body wouldn't respond. The last thing I saw was the carpet rushing up to meet me as darkness claimed my vision.
My body tried to resist, limbs moving feebly against the fabric, but the darkness was too strong, pulling me under like a tide. I couldn't tell if I screamed or if that was just in my head. Everything faded into a black void, I fell into a coma.
Consciousness returned like shattered glass, each shard bringing new waves of pain. The sunlight stabbing through the cheap hotel curtains was too bright, too harsh against my pounding head. My entire body felt heavy, wrong.
Every attempt at movement sent fire racing through my muscles. The scratchy comforter scraped against my skin as I shifted, and the realization hit me like ice water - I was completely naked. Where were my clothes? Why couldn't I remember?
Something cool pressed against my palm - a silver chain, expensive and intricate, yet unfamiliar. The room spun lazily as I tried to focus on it, the pattern blurring before my eyes. The last thing I remembered was walking into this room, then nothing but darkness.
Wrapping the blanket around my trembling body, I stumbled toward the bathroom. The fluorescent light flickered to life with an angry buzz, revealing my reflection in the mirror. My breath caught in my throat.
Deep purple marks decorated my neck, stark against my pale skin. My gaze traveled lower, to the constellation of bite marks scattered across my collarbones and chest and even waist. The sight made my stomach turn. This couldn't be real.
I took another unsteady step forward, the blanket shifting around my legs. The movement brought a new awareness - a slick sensation between my thighs, the unmistakable feeling of something warm trickling down. My knees nearly buckled as the implications hit me.
The room tilted dangerously as I gripped the edge of the sink, staring at my wild-eyed reflection. What had happened last night? Why couldn't I remember?
My brain began to operate. Emma. The text. She was in trouble.
"Emma!" My voice came out as a rasp. Oh god, if something had happened to her while I was... while I was...
I couldn't finish the thought. Couldn't process the implications of my current state, the ache in my body, the scattered clothes on the floor. Emma needed me.
The hotel blanket was rough against my sensitized skin as I wrapped it around myself. My legs barely held me as I staggered to the door, the silver chain still clutched in my trembling hand.
"Well, would you look at that."
The voice froze me in place. Bella stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall with casual grace. And next to her, my best friend Emma let out a sneer.
Bella's voice dripped with mockery as I clutched the hotel blanket tighter around my body. She held up her phone, the camera pointed directly at me. "The mighty warrior princess of Silver Moon, caught in such a... compromising position."
My legs trembled as I fought to stay upright. "I‘m coming for Emma. Your text—"
"Text?" Emma's laugh was sharp and cold, so different from the warm friend I thought I knew. "I never sent you any text, Aria."
Bella's smirk widened as she scrolled through her phone. "Oh, these pictures will definitely interest Father. What do you think the pack will say when they see their future alpha female stumbling out of a hotel room, clearly having spent the night with... well, who knows who?"
By the time I made it back to the pack house, the poison was wearing off, but the damage was done. The grand hall's marble floors echoed with each of my unsteady steps. Dozens of pack members lined the walls, their faces a blur of judgment and whispers. At the head of the room, my father Marcus sat rigid in his alpha chair, his usually warm brown eyes now hard as stone. Beside him, Aurora – my stepmother – wore an expression of perfectly crafted concern that didn't reach her cold eyes.
"The evidence is undeniable, Marcus." Aurora's voice dripped with false sympathy. "The bite marks, her... condition. What will the other packs think?"
I wanted to scream, to explain that I'd been drugged, trapped, violated. The space in my mind where my wolf should be felt like an open wound, leaving me desperately alone when I needed her strength most.
"Father, please." My voice came out as a whisper. "You know I would never—"
"Silence." The alpha command in his voice made me flinch.
Bella stepped forward, her designer heels clicking against the floor. "Really, sister, there's no need to make excuses. We all know what you've been up to." Her smile was razor-sharp. "The mighty warrior princess, spreading her legs for any men who'll have her."
"That's not—" The room spun as I tried to take a step forward. Without my wolf, without my strength, I could barely keep my feet under me.
"Enough." Marcus's voice cracked like a whip. "You have brought shame to this pack. To your mother's memory." The mention of my mother made my heart clench. "You are no longer worthy of the Silver Moon name."
The formal words of banishment fell like stones: "I, Marcus Reynolds, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, hereby strip you of your pack status and banish you from our territories. You have until sundown to leave."
