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Echoes of the moon Chapter 9
Chapter 9 — Aria's POV: The First GuardianI was floating.That's the clearest way I can describe it. One second, I was falling right in front of Kane and Zane (which was super embarrassing), and the next, I was floating through something that looked like space, but… even more beautiful? Stars swirled around me in patterns that definitely weren't normal astronomy, and time felt like it had just… stopped existing.“Great. I'm either dead or having the world's weirdest dream.”“Neither, actually,” a voice said, smooth as silk and ancient as the stars themselves.I turned around (can you spin while floating?) and found myself looking directly at the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Her hair was a pure silver color, moving around her as if it were underwater. Her eyes… goddess, her eyes looked like they'd seen the birth of the universe itself. She wore robes that seemed to be made from actual moonlight if that was even possible.“Um, hi?” I managed. Real smooth, Aria.The woman's lip
Echoes of the moon Chapter 10
Chapter 10 — Zane's POVEverything happened in slow motion.One second I was watching Aria thrash in her sleep, muttering something about guardians, and the next thing I knew, her hands burst into brilliant blue flames. Not normal flames, either – these had an otherworldly quality that made my wolf bristle with a mixture of awe and instinctive wariness.“Aria!” Kane's shout snapped me into action as the flames began spreading to the curtains. The acrid smell of smoke filled the air as medical supplies and papers caught fire. Dr. Cassia stood frozen, her usually calm demeanor shattered by the supernatural display before us.I lunged forward just as Aria's eyes rolled back, catching her before she could hit the floor. Even unconscious, her skin hummed with energy, though the burning heat from before had faded to a subtle warmth. My wolf was going crazy, desperate to protect our mate while simultaneously fascinated by this new development.“Move her to the other section!” Dr. Cassia orde
Echoes of the moon Chapter 11
Chapter 11 — Aria's POVI woke up surrounded by unfamiliar comfort. The bed beneath me was definitely not my tiny twin mattress – this was like sleeping on a cloud made of Egyptian cotton. And the scents… Kane and Zane's combined essence wrapped around me like a protective blanket.“Their bedroom”, my foggy brain supplied. Right. Because apparently setting the infirmary on fire meant I needed an upgrade in accommodations.Opening my eyes, I saw Kane and Zane sitting beside me.“Look who's finally awake,” Kane's voice drew my attention to where he and Zane sat in nearby chairs. They looked exhausted but relieved.“How long was I out?” I asked, pushing myself up against the ridiculous mountain of pillows.“Just overnight this time,” Zane answered. “Though we need to talk about your habit of dramatic fainting.”Something in his tone made me pause. Both of them had their serious faces on – the ones that usually meant pack business was about to get complicated.“So…” I picked at the plush
Echoes of the moon Chapter 12
Chapter 12 — Aria's POVI couldn't take another second of those judgmental stares from the council members. My feet carried me out of the stuffy chamber before my brain could catch up with the decision. The cool night air hit my face as I ran to the pack's garden, moonlight casting everything in a silvery glow that somehow made the whole situation feel a little less awful.Vivian's words kept echoing in my head: “Sometimes love isn't enough to overcome centuries of tradition.”I sat down on a stone bench, trying to understand what I was feeling. The mate bond hummed with Kane and Zane's concern, but they were still trapped in the council meeting. At least out here, I could have my mini-breakdown in peace.Or not.My supernatural senses picked up footsteps approaching – two people, their movements in perfect sync. Great. More judgment incoming? I braced myself, expecting another…, but when I looked up, I saw the friendliest smile I'd seen since all this drama started.“You look like y
Echoes of the moon Chapter 13
Chapter 13 — Kane's POVMy heart nearly stopped when I felt Aria's consciousness slip through our bond. I moved faster than I ever had, catching her just before she hit the ground. The familiar weight of her in my arms sent a wave of protective instincts surging through me.“What did you do?” Zane's growl at Vivian echoed my own fury. My twin was already advancing on our former intended, his eyes flickering dangerous gold.Vivian just smiled, those damning papers clutched to her chest. “I didn't do anything. Your little hybrid seems to have a flair for the dramatic, doesn't she?”I wanted to snarl at her, but Aria's pulse was fluttering erratically under my fingers. Getting her somewhere safe took priority over dealing with Vivian's games.“We're not done here,” Zane warned Vivian, before helping me carry Aria back to our quarters. The sense of déjà vu wasn't lost on me – how many times had we carried our mate's unconscious form now? But this time felt different. Heavier.“She knows s
Echoes of the moon Chapter 14
Chapter 14 — Aria's POV“Well, well, well,” a silky voice drifted through the window. “Little Aria. All grown up and playing with wolves.” He muttered.That voice sounded familiar, like I've heard it before.Before I could say anything, the pack courtyard erupted into chaos. The wolves formed a protective circle around me, their muscles flexed and ready for battle. Kane and Zane moved in perfect sync, positioning themselves at my sides like the world's hottest bodyguards. Which, technically they were.Through the gaps between bristling wolves, I caught my first glimpse of the vampire. He was… not what I expected. No black cape or slicked-back hair like some cheesy movie villain. Instead, he looked as if he'd just stepped out of some fancy painting – all perfectly tailored dark clothes with subtle gold embroidery and an actual pocket watch chain glinting at his waist. His face was ageless in that creepy vampire way, but something about his slight smile seemed almost… kind?“Now, now,”
Echoes of the moon Chapter 15
Chapter 15 — Kane's POVSomething was wrong.My wolf woke me with a sharp mental nudge, every instinct screaming danger. The bed felt wrong. Too cold. Too empty. My hand reached for Aria before my eyes even opened, finding nothing but cold sheets and—My fingers closed around something metal. The pendant. That damn vampire's pendant.“Zane!” I was already moving, my panic hitting our twin bond hard enough to jolt my brother awake. “She's gone.”The note crinkled in my grip. Four lines that felt like silver bullets to the chest:“I have to know the truth. Please trust me. Also decide if you want me as your mate or not, I will be back soon.”“What the hell?” Zane snatched the note from my hands, reading it once, twice, three times like the words might change. “Want her as our mate? How could she even—?” He broke off, running a hand through his hair in frustration.I couldn't stop pacing. My wolf was going crazy, wanting to chase, to track, to find our mate right now. But underneath the
Echoes of the moon Chapter 16
Chapter 16 — Zane's POVThe moon hung low and heavy in the sky as Kane and I tracked Aria's scent through the forest. My wolf was going crazy, picking up traces of her vanilla-and-sunshine smell mixed with something… darker, like midnight and magic.“Something's wrong,” Kane's thoughts pushed through our twin bond. “The scent's changing.”He was right. With each step closer, Aria's familiar scent grew more complex, more dangerous. Like lightning before a storm.Then we saw it – an ancient clearing where massive standing stones formed a perfect circle. Moonlight caught the carved symbols covering their surfaces, making them glow with an eerie blue light. And there, standing at the edge like some creepy supernatural doorman, was Victor.My wolf wanted to tear his throat out. I held back, barely.“Don't interfere,” Victor said softly, not even looking at us. “She needs to do this.”That's when I saw her. Aria – our beautiful, gentle mate – floating several inches off the ground in the ce
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Echoes of the moon Chapter 29
Chapter 29 — Aria's POV The pack house felt different after everything that went down. Different, but somehow safer. My body ached in places I didn't even know could ache, and my supernatural energy felt like a live wire randomly sparking inside me.“You're awake,” a familiar voice said.I turned my head to see Zane sitting beside my bed, his eyes watching me with this intense mixture of concern and relief. God, I'd run from him. From both of them. And they still showed up. Still protected me.“Hey,” I croaked, my throat feeling like I'd swallowed sandpaper.Kane appeared on my other side, holding a glass of what looked like some supernatural healing smoothie. Trust my mates to have a magical drink ready for every situation.“Drink,” Kane ordered, but there was softness in his voice. Not a demand. More like a request wrapped in pure love.The drink tasted like berries mixed with something herbal, and… was that a hint of magic? Probably. Everything in our world had a supernatural twis
Echoes of the moon Chapter 28
Chapter 28 — Zane's POV I felt Aria's distress explode through our mate bond before Kane's frantic message even reached me. One second I was patrolling the eastern border, the next I was on my knees from the force of her emotional pain. “What. The. Hell.”“She knows,” Kane's voice echoed in my mind. “About Azrael. Her parents. Everything. She ran.”Of course she did. Because nothing in our lives could ever be simple.I shifted immediately, my wolf form better suited for tracking. Aria's scent trail blazed like a supernatural beacon through the forest — a mixture of all five of her aspects swirling together in chaos. But when I tried to follow it, I slammed into an invisible wall.“Seriously?” I growled, shifting back to human to examine the barrier. Pure angelic energy rippled in the air, unconsciously created by Aria's distress. Even touching it sent tingles through my hand.“Remember what Liora taught us,” I thought, recalling our tracking lessons. Each supernatural type left dist
Echoes of the moon Chapter 27
Chapter 27 — Kane's POV Even hours after Aria's display in the sacred grove, I could still feel the residual power humming through our mate bond. I decided to go to the library to get some answers. “Who is Azrael? What does he want with Aria.” The pack library was quiet at this late hour, but my mind was anything but peaceful. I searched for ancient texts and scrolls, keeping it all on my desk, their musty pages holding secrets. As I was searching, a journal caught my eyes, I picked it and opened it.“Fuck,” I muttered, running my hand through my hair as I stared at the journal in front of me. It was Aria's grandmother's — Maria Evans — and what I was reading made my blood run cold.“The blessing must be performed under the blood moon,” the elegant handwriting declared. “Only then can angelic grace overcome the darkness in the bloodline. My grandchild must be protected from HIS influence…”The way she wrote “HIS” — like she could barely bring herself to acknowledge who she meant. I
Echoes of the moon Chapter 26
Chapter 26 — Aria's POV The morning sun painted the sacred grove in shades of gold and amber as I settled onto the cool grass. Dawn was just breaking, and honestly? I would've much rather been curled up in bed between Kane and Zane. But according to Liora, this was prime time for “spiritual alignment” or whatever.“Your aspects are strongest when nature is in transition,” she'd told me yesterday, all serene and angel-like. Easy for her to say — she probably didn't need beauty sleep.I crossed my legs, trying to find a comfortable position that wouldn't leave my butt completely numb. The grove was beautiful though, I had to admit. Ancient trees formed a perfect circle around me, their leaves whispering secrets in the morning breeze.“Focus inward,” Liora's voice echoed in my memory. “Each aspect of your nature has its own consciousness, its own memory. You must learn to communicate with them all.”Right. Because apparently having five different supernatural aspects wasn't complicated
Echoes of the moon Chapter 25
Chapter 25 — Aria's POVSomething crashed through my bedroom window making me scream. I rolled instinctively, calling forth my demon powers before I even hit the floor. Golden markings blazed across my skin as I turned to see what crashed into my room. “An assassin.”“Well, well, well,” the figure purred, darkness rolling off him like smoke. “The abomination herself.”“You crashed through my window just to call me names?” I shot back, gathering shadows in my palms. “Rude.”He moved like liquid darkness, faster than anything I'd ever seen. Even with my demon-enhanced reflexes, I barely dodged their first strike. Their claws — because yeah, they definitely had claws — sliced through the air where my throat had been.I retaliated with a blast of demon fire, but they seemed to absorb it into their own darkness. Great. So much for that trick.But as we fought, something strange started happening. Every time their darkness touched me, something inside me… resonated. Like strumming a string
Echoes of the moon Chapter 24
Chapter 24 — Zane's POVThe dining hall was still in chaos when I dragged Vivian into our interrogation room. I've always been good at getting information out of people.“Comfortable?” I asked, using my Alpha voice.“Let's skip the part where you pretended to be loyal,” I said softly, drawing up a chair. “We both know you're not.”Vivian raised her chin, trying to look defiant. “I am loyal to what matters-keeping our bloodlines pure.”“By attempting to poison my mate?” I let my eyes shift, knowing how they glowed in the darkness.Vivian tried to look defiant, but I could smell her fear. “I won't tell you anything.”“See, that's where you're wrong.” I leaned forward, letting my eyes shift to their predator form. “You're going to tell me everything.”But as I drew closer, something made me stop. There, on her inner wrist-a marking I had never seen. Like a brand, but the design. It looked like a wolf's head with a crown, yet something was wrong about it, something vicious in the design.
Echoes of the moon Chapter 23
Chapter 23 — Kane's POVThe pre-dawn light crept through our bedroom window, casting soft shadows across our bed. I couldn't sleep, too focused on watching Aria's restless movements beside me. Every few minutes, her skin would shimmer with those strange demon markings Thorne had shown us — beautiful but terrifying patterns of gold and shadow that danced across her skin before fading away again.“No… please…” Aria mumbled, turning fitfully in her sleep. Zane shifted on her other side, his protective instincts as strong as mine even in sleep.I reached out, gently stroking her hair. “Shh, you're safe,” I whispered, even though I knew the nightmares weren't about physical danger. They were about accepting what she was becoming.God, I knew that feeling. Every wolf does — that moment when you first realize you're more than human that your body can change in ways that defy everything you thought you knew about reality. But at least we had generations of wolves before us to guide us through
Echoes of the moon Chapter 22
Chapter 22 — Aria's POVOne minute I was warm and snuggly between Kane and Zane, the next I was thing I saw myself elsewhere. The air here was caustic. My lungs burned with a mixture of sulfur and something else I couldn't quite place. Red lightning crackled across a black sky, illuminating twisted landscapes that seemed to writhe and twist whenever I wasn't looking directly at it.“Welcome to the Demon Realm, little hybrid.”I turned and saw Thorne standing behind me, but he was different here. More substantial, somehow. His skin was black as obsidian now, shining, and designs of molten gold coursed over his surface like living tattoos. “Am I dreaming?” I said, my voice weird in the thick air.“In a manner of speaking,” he repeated, his fluid step closing the gap between us. His movement was liquid-like, near hypnotic. “Your consciousness is here, while your physical form is in the mortal world. It was the safest way to start your education.”“Education about what, exactly?” I tried
Echoes of the moon Chapter 21
Chapter 21 Zane's — POV I honestly thought my heart had stopped the second Aria collapsed. She was so full of life just that one instant, an avenging angel glowing with eyes and power from who knew what other place, and then she was crumpling like a puppet whose strings had been cut.Kane and I moved as one, catching her before she hit the ground. Her skin was burning, almost painful to touch, but there was no way in hell I was letting go.“We need to get her inside,” Kane said, his voice tight with worry. I could feel his fear through our bond, matching my own. “NOW.”I swept her up in my arms, clutching her close to my chest as though she might shatter like glass. The pack members parted before us like water, their faces mingling awe and fear. I couldn't blame them-what we'd just witnessed was beyond anything I'd ever seen in all my years as a wolf.“Someone get the healers!” I barked as we jogged hurriedly through the pack house. “Tell them to meet us in our quarters!”Kane was r
