“I believe you, Marcus.”
My voice softened.
“I know the kind of wolf you are.”
Even if the whole pack turned against us…
Even if I lost more than I already had…
“I will stand beside you.”
My grief slowly hardened into determination.
“We’re going to fight this together,” I said.
“We will prove your innocence before the pack council.”
I squeezed his shoulders.
“I promise you something right now.”
I met his gaze firmly.
“Your sister will never abandon you. No matter what happens.”
Marcus nodded quietly.
He reached up and wiped the tears from my cheeks.
I did the same for him.
Then we hugged each other again, holding on tightly.
Drawing strength from the bond that had kept us together since the day our parents returned to the Moon Goddess.
Because even if the pack rejected us…
Even if my Alpha chose to walk away from me…
I would never turn my back on the only family I had left.
Third Person's POV
Aria had always believed that protecting Marcus was the purpose the Moon Goddess had given her.
She was five years older than her younger brother, and from the time they were pups, she had quietly taken responsibility for him. Even as children running through the forested lands of their pack territory, she had always walked a step behind him—watching, guarding, making sure nothing would harm him.
But when tragedy struck their family, Aria had been only sixteen, while Marcus was still an eleven-year-old boy who barely understood what death truly meant.
Their parents—both loyal warriors of the pack—had died during a brutal attack by rogues along the border of their territory. The battle had been sudden and merciless, and by the time the pack arrived to drive the rogues away, it was already too late.
From that moment on, the siblings were left alone beneath the watchful eyes of the pack.
Yet long before that tragedy, Aria’s future had already been quietly tied to another.
From the day she was born, the elders of two influential families within the pack had agreed that one day she and Caleb would be joined as mates.
Such arrangements were not uncommon among powerful pack bloodlines. They were meant to strengthen alliances, preserve stability within the territory, and ensure unity among the wolves who carried the pack’s future.
It had never been meant to force two wolves into a loveless bond—only to guide the paths their lives would take.