The night did not return to normal.
It warped.
What should have been darkness became something heavier—thicker, like a presence draped over the world. The sky no longer felt like a vast, open expanse. It felt… closed. Sealed. Watching.
And at the center of it all stood Aria.
Unmoving.
Uncertain.
Unrecognizable—even to herself.
The energy around her had finally settled, but not into peace. It hovered just beneath her skin, restless and unpredictable, like a storm that refused to break.
Half silver.
Half something else.
Something that did not belong to the Moon.
Below her, the gathered wolves had not dispersed.
They lingered in uneasy silence, their instincts refusing to let them turn their backs on what they did not understand.
On her.
Aria could feel it.
Their fear.
Their d
