Chapter 43. If You Don't Claim Me, I Die

Kade stood over her, paralyzed. He watched the silver cuffs of the Council’s Betas closing in, and simultaneously, he watched the woman he loved disintegrate before his eyes. He had faced down packs of rogues, taken mortal wounds, and stared into the chilling depths of the Severed Flame’s malice, yet this—this sight of Aria shattering—was the true terror.

She was on her knees, the borrowed tunic ripped open at the back, revealing the Moon Wolf’s mark fully ignited. The lunar tattoo, a flowing script of silver light, was supposed to be the anchor, the promised fusion of the two ancient bloodlines. Instead, it was violently pulsing, acting like a fracture line.

The fire inside her wasn't reaching out; it was feeding on the vessel itself. It had nowhere to go, no outlet, because the mate bond—the only prophesied conduit—remained deliberately sealed.

“Kade!” she choked out, her voice thin, laced with the metallic tang of fear and power overload. Her knees scraped