The moon hung low and heavy, like a silver omen pressed against the sky, when Selena returned to Arkelion.
Her body moved through the halls with practiced grace, but her mind was chaos.
Luca's scent still clung to her.
His warmth still lingered on her skin.
His heartbeat still echoed through their bond.
The closer she came to her chambers, the stronger the mark pulsed—alive, growing, binding them tighter with every shared danger.
She pressed her palm against it.
This can't continue…
But the Moon had other plans.
As she stepped inside, the candles flared violently, reacting to her racing pulse. Shadows warped across the walls, swirling like restless spirits.
Before she could compose herself, a familiar voice drifted from the corner—
"You're late."
Selena spun.
Aeron.
Her childhood friend.
Her fellow warrior.
Her ally… and her greatest complication.
He emerged from the shadows with narrowed eyes. His dark hair fell loosely around his face, his expression sharp enough to cut glass.
"You've been outside the citadel again," he said, scanning her posture—reading her too easily. "And you reek of foreign air."
Selena kept her tone calm. "I was patrolling."
"That was not a patrol," Aeron replied coldly. "You crossed the border."
Her heart stopped. "How do you—"
"I know you," he interrupted. "Better than anyone."
He stepped closer, voice dropping.
"What are you hiding from me, Selena?"
Everything.
A forbidden bond.
A wolf prince.
A destiny that could end them all.
She turned away, but Aeron caught her wrist gently.
"I'm worried about you," he whispered. "The Queen is watching. Varos is watching. And now… you're slipping away from me."
Her chest tightened.
Aeron had always cared for her—too much, too openly. And she had never dared to return it. Not because she didn't trust him…
…but because she didn't belong to him.
Not anymore.
Selena freed her wrist carefully.
"Nothing is wrong."
"Don't lie," Aeron said, his voice breaking just enough to reveal the truth. "I can feel you drifting."
He moved to stand in front of her again, eyes searching every part of her face.
Then, softly—too softly—he asked:
"Is it because of him?"
Her breath caught.
Cold rushed through her veins.
"Him who?" she managed.
Aeron did not smile.
His eyes were full of a pain she didn't know how to soothe.
"The wolf."
Selena felt the ground tilt.
"You think I—I would—"
"I saw you," Aeron whispered. "In the forest days ago. Carrying him. Protecting him."
Her entire world stopped.
"How long have you—?"
"Long enough to know he matters to you." His voice cracked. "Long enough to know he shouldn't."
Selena's knees weakened.
Aeron stepped back, jaw tightening. "The Queen is already suspicious. If she discovers this—whatever it is—you won't be punished alone."
Selena swallowed.
"She cannot know."
Aeron looked at her with something between longing and fury.
"Then stop seeing him."
The bond pulsed at those words—a violent rejection, an instinctive refusal.
Selena clenched her teeth, fighting the flare of emotion.
"I can't," she whispered.
Aeron froze.
His breath left him in a slow, devastated exhale.
"You can't," he repeated, voice hollow. "Then it's true."
Selena opened her mouth—but the door burst open.
A guard stumbled inside, panting.
"Selena—my lady—the Queen summons you to the Hall of Echoes. Immediately."
Aeron wiped emotion from his face, turning stone-cold.
"We're not done," he said quietly before brushing past her.
Selena nodded to the guard and followed, though her heart hammered with dread.
Inside the Hall of Echoes
The hall was a cavern of obsidian polished so perfectly that every sound, every heartbeat, every breath repeated itself across the chambers.
Queen Aradia stood at the far end, her gown shimmering like a living shadow. The Council members lined both sides, their ancient eyes hollow with hunger for truth.
Selena bowed deeply.
"You summoned me, my Queen."
Aradia tilted her head.
"Indeed."
She circled Selena slowly, voice calm but lethal.
"The magic in the air has changed. Trembled. Shifted around you."
A pause.
"You crossed into wolf territory tonight."
A murmur swept through the council.
Selena kept her face still. "I was tracking rogue movement."
"Lies smell unpleasant in my hall," Aradia said.
Selena swallowed hard.
The Queen stopped in front of her, scarlet eyes burning.
"You are hiding something. And I will give you one chance—one—to speak before I pull it from your mind myself."
Selena's blood turned to ice.
Invading a vampire's mind was torture—worse than death. And with the bond, Aradia wouldn't just see her memories.
She would see Luca.
Selena steadied her breathing.
"I hide nothing that threatens the crown."
Aradia smiled—a terrifying, cold curve.
"You really wish to test me tonight, child?"
Before Selena could speak, the torches suddenly flickered—once, twice—and then roared with silver-white flame.
Every vampire recoiled.
Selena gasped.
That flame—
That energy—
That surge of power—
It wasn't hers.
It came from the bond.
Far away, Luca was in danger.
And the bond reacted violently—without her control—sending a shock wave of magic through the hall.
The council hissed.
Varos stepped back.
Aeron, watching from the shadows, stiffened in horror.
Queen Aradia froze.
Then slowly, with terrifying calm, she whispered:
"…blood magic."
Selena's heart collapsed.
Aradia turned toward her fully, an expression of dawning certainty forming on her face.
"This surge—this reaction—it comes from a bond. A forbidden one."
Selena's pulse stopped.
Aradia's voice dropped to a whisper of pure frost.
"You are bound. Someone has marked you."
Silence cracked through the hall.
Selena did not move.
Could not breathe.
And Aradia leaned close, eyes burning like the heart of a star.
"Tell me, Selena…" she murmured.
"Who have you tied your fate to?"
Selena felt the bond thrash inside her like a panicked heartbeat.
Luca's voice whispered through her mind—
Don't speak.
But the Queen's power pressed in, suffocating, demanding truth, demanding a name.
And for the first time, Selena wasn't sure she could protect him.