CHAPTER 7

Aria POV

"So, Aria Blackwood." Vivian's voice dripped with fake sweetness. Like honey that was actually poison. "Tell me all about yourself."

I gripped my fork so tight my fingers hurt. Dinner. I just wanted to eat dinner and go back to my room. Was that too much to ask?

Yes. Apparently it was way too much to ask.

"There's nothing to tell," I said. I kept my eyes on my plate.

"Oh, I think there's a lot to tell." Vivian sat right across from me at the competitors' table. Her smile never touched her cold eyes. "After what happened today at the ceremony... you must be someone very, very special."

Other competitors leaned in. Their ears practically growing bigger. Great. I had an audience for this torture.

"Nothing happened today," I said carefully.

"Nothing?" Vivian laughed. It wasn't a nice sound. "The kings' eyes turned gold, Aria. Bright gold. Like their wolves were trying to burst out of their skin."

"You must have seen wrong."

"I've known those kings my whole life." Her voice went low and dangerous. "My father is their Royal Beta. I grew up in that castle. I've seen them happy, sad, angry, bored. Every mood you can think of. And I have never, not once in my whole life, seen them react to anyone the way they reacted to you."

My stomach twisted into painful knots. "Maybe they had something in their eyes."

"Both of them? At the exact same time? When they were looking at you?" She leaned forward. "I'm not stupid, Blackwood. Don't treat me like I am."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want the truth." Her eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you sleeping with them? Did you seduce them somehow before the competition started? Is that your game?"

Heat flooded my face. "That's disgusting. And crazy."

"Is it? Because from where I was standing, it looked like both kings wanted to jump off their thrones and take you right there on the floor. In front of everyone."

I pushed my chair back hard. "I'm not hungry anymore."

"Running away?" Vivian called after me. "That won't help you, Blackwood! I will find out what you're hiding!"

I practically ran out of the dining hall. The whispers followed me like ghosts. By tomorrow, everyone in the castle would know about Vivian's questions. Everyone would be watching me even closer.

The hallway was dark and quiet. Only a few torches on the walls. I leaned against the cold stone and closed my eyes. Tried to calm my racing heart.

What am I going to do?

Everything was falling apart. The kings wanted me to act normal. To pretend nothing was going on. But their wolves kept trying to claim me in public. How was I supposed to hide something that they couldn't even control?

This is a disaster. An absolute disaster.

"You look troubled."

I jumped so hard I nearly screamed. Blake was standing a few feet away. I didn't even hear him walk up.

"You scared me," I said, pressing a hand to my chest.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to." He moved a little closer. His kind eyes looked worried. "I wanted to check on you. And to give you a warning."

"Warning? About what?"

"This castle has eyes everywhere, Aria." He looked around like he was making sure no one was listening. "People noticed what happened at the ceremony. They will be watching you now. Looking for secrets. Looking for weakness. Looking for anything they can use against you."

"I don't have any secrets." The lie burned my tongue.

Blake gave me a look. A look that said he didn't believe me at all.

"Just be careful who you trust," he said. "Not everyone here wants you to win. Some people would do anything to become Luna. And I mean anything."

"I know. Vivian already made that clear."

"Vivian is the least of your worries." His voice went even quieter. "And Aria? Whatever is going on... whatever you're not telling me... I hope you know what you're doing. Because the game you're playing? It's very, very dangerous."

Before I could ask what he meant, he walked away. His footsteps faded into the darkness.

I stood there for a long time. His words rang in my head over and over. He was right. I was playing a dangerous game. And I didn't even know all the rules.

Eventually, I made my way back to my room. My feet felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. My head hurt. My heart hurt. Everything hurt.

I pushed open my door and stepped inside. The room was completely dark. The curtains were drawn.

That's strange. I left a candle burning.

I reached for the lamp on the table by the door—

"Don't."

I froze. My hand stopped in midair. My whole body went stiff.

That voice. I knew that voice. It haunted my dreams.

"King Orion?" I whispered.

"Close the door."

My hand shook as I pushed it shut. The click of the lock was loud in the silence.

The room was so dark I couldn't see anything. But I could feel him. His presence was like a fire burning in the darkness. Warm and dangerous.

"You shouldn't be here," I said. My voice was barely a whisper.

"I know."

"If someone sees you—"

"I don't care."

"Then why—"

"Because I can't stay away." His voice was rough. Broken. Like every word hurt him. "I tried, Aria. I swear on the Moon Goddess, I tried. But every second I'm not with you... it feels like I'm being ripped apart from the inside out."

My heart beat faster. So fast I could hear it in my ears.

"You told me to forget," I said. "You told me to focus on the competition. To act like nothing happened."

"I know what I said." I heard him move. Footsteps coming closer. "But my wolf doesn't care about what I said. He doesn't care about rules or secrets or danger. He only knows one thing. You're ours. And being apart from you is killing us both."

"Orion..."

"Don't." He was right in front of me now. So close I could feel the heat coming off his body. Smell his scent. Smoke and pine and something wild that made my wolf howl with joy. "Don't say my name like that unless you mean it."

"Like what?"

"Like you want me as much as I want you."

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. The mate bond was pulling at me so hard it hurt. Like invisible chains dragging me toward him.

"This is a bad idea," I managed to say.

"The worst idea I've ever had in my life." His hand touched my face. Warm. Gentle. Shaking slightly. "But I don't care anymore. I can't care anymore."

And then he kissed me.

It wasn't soft. It wasn't slow or sweet. It was fire. Pure fire. Three days of fighting the bond finally breaking loose all at once.

His lips moved against mine like he was starving for me. Like he would die without this. His hands slid into my hair and pulled me closer.

I kissed him back. I couldn't stop myself. My wolf was howling with joy. Yes. Yes. MATE.

He lifted me off my feet like I weighed nothing. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tight.

This. This is what the mate bond feels like. This burning need. This feeling like I would die without him. Like he was the air I needed to breathe.

He set me down but didn't let go. His forehead pressed against mine. We were both breathing hard. Like we'd been running for miles.

"Tell me to stop," he whispered. "Tell me to leave and I will. I'll walk out that door and never come back. I swear it on my crown."

I should have said yes. I should have pushed him away. For his sake. For mine. For everyone.

Instead, I pulled him back and kissed him again.

Time stopped having any meaning. Minutes passed. Maybe hours. I didn't know. I didn't care. All I knew was Orion. His taste. His touch. The way he held me like I was precious. Like I mattered.

No one had ever held me like that before.

Later, we sat on the edge of my bed. His arms were wrapped around me. My head rested on his chest. I could hear his heart beating. Just as fast as mine.

"I wish things were different," he said softly. His fingers traced patterns on my back. "I wish I could claim you right now. In front of everyone. Make you mine so no one could ever question it."

"Why can't you?" The question had been burning inside me since that first night. "You and Darius keep saying you can't. But you won't tell me why. What are you so scared of?"

He went completely still. Like someone had turned him to stone.

For a long, long time, he didn't speak. I started to think he wouldn't answer at all.

"There's a curse," he finally said. His voice was flat. Empty. "An ancient curse on our bloodline. On every set of royal twins."

"A curse? What kind of curse?"

"Every set of royal twins shares a mate. It's been that way for three hundred years. We're not allowed to have separate loves. Separate lives. We're bound together in everything." He swallowed hard. "Including this."

"And when twins claim their mate? What happens then?"

"Destruction." His voice cracked. "Madness. Death. The last twins who claimed their mate... one of them went completely mad. Lost his mind to fire. He burned half the kingdom to the ground. Killed thousands of innocent people."

I felt cold. So cold.

"And the other one?"

"His heart turned to ice. He became a monster. He couldn't feel anything. Not love. Not mercy. Not anything human at all." Orion's arms tightened around me. "And their mate? She died trying to stop them."

Horror filled my whole body. "You think that would happen to us?"

"I don't just think it, Aria. I know it." He pulled back to look at me. His green eyes were full of more pain than I'd ever seen. "If I claim you, darkness will consume my mind. I'll destroy everything I love. Including you. Especially you. And Darius... ice will take over his heart completely. He'll become a monster just like our ancestor."

"That's why you keep pushing me away."

"That's why I have to push you away." He touched my face so gently it made me want to cry. "If I claim you, I will destroy you. And I will not survive that, Aria. Losing you... it would be worse than any curse. Worse than death itself."

Tears burned in my eyes. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know." His voice cracked completely. "I spent my whole life getting ready to rule alone. To never have a mate. To never feel this. And now you're here. And everything I thought I knew is falling apart."

He kissed me one more time. Soft. Sad. Full of all the things he couldn't say.

Then he stood up.

"I should go."

"Orion—"

"If I stay any longer, I won't be able to leave." He moved toward the door. Every step looked like it hurt him. "And if I don't leave... I might do something we'll both regret forever."

He stopped at the door. His hand was on the handle. His back was to me.

"If I claim you, I'll destroy you," he said quietly. "And I won't survive that."

Then he was gone. The door closed with a soft click. And I was alone in the darkness.

I sat there for a long time. I could still feel his touch. Still taste his kiss on my lips.

And now I knew the truth. The horrible, terrible truth.

There was a curse. A curse that would destroy everything if they claimed me.

But the mate bond was so strong. How long could we fight it? How long before it became impossible to resist?

And what would happen to all of us when that day came?