THE TRUTH IN HIS EYES

CHAPTER 5

Aria's entire body froze,the cold night air suddenly felt suffocating. Her eyes remained locked on the enormous wolf standing a few feet away.

Or rather.. The wolf that had just spoken.

"Your Majesty."

The words echoed inside her head.

Again, again and again.

This wasn't possible. Wolves don’t talk.

They couldn't.Yet she had heard it clearly.

She wasn't drunk,or was she dreaming.

And judging by the tense expression on Damien's face, neither was he.

The large wolf lowered its head respectfully.

"We've been searching everywhere for you, Alpha King."

Aria's heart stopped. Alpha King?

Slowly... Very slowly...

She turned toward Damien.

His shoulders were rigid. His jaw clenched.

And for the first time since meeting him, he looked genuinely worried.

Not for himself.

For her.

"Damien..." Her voice shook.

"What is he talking about?"

Silence.

The forest seemed to hold its breath. The wolves remained motionless.

Waiting ,Watching.

Damien closed his eyes briefly.

As though accepting something unavoidable.

When he opened them again, there was no escape left in his expression. Only truth.

"Aria..."

The way he said her name made her stomach twist.

"What?"

"There's something I need to tell you."

"No kidding."

A nervous laugh escaped her lips. The sound was sharp.

Broken. Almost hysterical.

She pointed at the wolves. "Start with the talking wolves."

None of the wolves moved. None of them looked surprised.

As though talking was perfectly normal, like she was the strange one for being shocked.

Damien took a step toward her. Aria immediately stepped back.

His expression darkened. The reaction hurt more than he expected.

"Please," he said quietly.

"Just listen."

She stared at him. At the man she had spent hours talking to, Laughing with, Trusting.

The man she was beginning to feel attracted to.

And suddenly she wasn't sure she knew him at all.

"Talk."

---

Damien inhaled deeply.

How was he supposed to explain centuries of secrets?

Ancient bloodlines, Pack politics. Moon blessings. Mate bonds.

To a human actress who thought she was spending a harmless evening with a billionaire businessman.

There was no easy way, so he chose honesty.

"The world isn't exactly what you think it is."

Aria folded her arms.

"That sounds like the beginning of a horror movie." One of the wolves snorted.

Actually snorted, Aria nearly fainted.

Damien shot the wolf a glare.

The wolf immediately lowered his head. "Sorry, Alpha."

Aria looked between them. Then , looked towards the lake, then looked at the sky.

As if searching for cameras. Hidden producers.

Something, anything.

"This is a prank."It isn't."

"Hidden cameras?"No."

"A hallucination?" No."

"A mental breakdown?"

Damien almost smiled. " No."

Aria pressed her palms against her temples. "Oh my God."

This couldn't be happening. It simply couldn't.

Yet every instinct told her it was real.

And that terrified her.

---

Several minutes later, they sat inside the lake house.

Aria had refused to stand near the wolves.

The wolves had wisely remained outside.

Now she sat on the sofa clutching a mug of hot tea she wasn't drinking.

Damien sat across from her.

The distance between them felt far greater than a few feet.

"Tell me everything."

His gaze softened. "You might not believe it."

"Try me." Another pause.

Then Damien spoke. "There are creatures living among humans."

Aria groaned , "We're really doing this?"

"Yes."

"Werewolves?"

"Yes." She stared.

He stared back ,neither moved.

Finally, she laughed.Then, I laughed harder.

Then stopped.Because Damien wasn't laughing.

Not even a little.The realization sent ice through her veins.

"Oh." Damien nodded slowly.

"Oh." For the first time all night, fear entered her eyes.

Not fear of the wolves.

Fear of him and Damien hated it.

---

Far away, inside her penthouse, Isabella smiled as another report arrived.

Her investigator had uncovered something interesting

Very interesting Photos,dozens of them.

Aria is leaving the lake house. Aria arrives with Damien.

Aria smiling beside him.

Isabella's eyes darkened.

The mate bond was growing. Faster than she expected.

That couldn't be allowed.

Picking up her phone, she dialled a number.

The person answered immediately.

"My Lady."

"Prepare the council." Isabella said

The man hesitated. "The council?"

"Yes." Her smile widened.

Cold, Cruel, and Deadly.

"If Damien insists on choosing a human mate..."

She looked down at Aria's photograph.

"...then let's see how long she survives the attention."

---

Back at the lake house, the conversation continued.

Aria had finally stopped trying to convince herself she was dreaming.

Which unfortunately meant accepting reality or at least part of it.

"So let me get this straight."

Damien nodded.

"You're saying werewolves exist."

"Yes."

"You know werewolves."

"Yes."

"You work with werewolves."

"Yes."

She narrowed her eyes.

"You're a werewolf."

Silence.

The room suddenly felt very small,very quiet.

Damien held her gaze. The slowly answered.

"Yes."

Aria's breath caught, and every emotion hit at once.

Shock ,Confusion, Fear, Disbelief And strangely...

Relief.

Because despite everything she had learned tonight...

Damien was still Damien.

The man who listened. The man who made her laugh.

The man who noticed when she frowned.

The man who looked at her like she mattered.

And somehow that mattered more than it should.

Dangerously more.

Damien watched emotions flicker across her face.

Then came the question he had been dreading.

"What are you really, Damien?"

He leaned forward slightly.

The firelight reflected in his eyes.

Red ,Powerful, Ancient.

And when he spoke, his voice carried a weight that seemed to shake the room itself.

"I am Damien Blackwood."

A pause.

Then— "Alpha King of Mooncrest Kingdom."

Aria's heart skipped.

Because for the first time since meeting him...

She finally understood why everyone looked at him differently.

Why Isabella feared losing him.

Why the wolves obeyed him instantly.

Why power seemed to follow him everywhere.

And deep down...

A dangerous question began forming in her mind.

If Damien Blackwood was the Alpha King...

Then why did he look at her like she was the most important person in his world?

TO BE CONTINUED...