Chapter 5:Blood and Memory

Aria

The night was thick and heavy, pressing against the windows of the cabin. I lay awake on the narrow bed, tossing and turning, my fingers tracing the faint scar beneath my shoulder where the mark pulsed. It throbbed like a living thing, whispering secrets I couldn’t understand.

And then it started-the dreams.

They were fragmented, like shattered glass pieced together by instinct alone. A voice called to me, familiar yet distant: soft, melodic, and edged with worry.

“Aria…”

I sat upright, heart racing. The voice echoed inside my head, vibrating through the mark. My breath hitched. I had never known that voice before, or had I? The memory slipped in fragments: a full moon hanging in the sky, silver light spilling over a field I didn’t recognize, a howl tearing through the night that made my blood stir. Wolves. They were calling my name.

I bolted upright, my body drenched in sweat. The whispers beneath my skin became urgent, sharper, almost commanding. You are hers. You are his. You remember.

I pressed my palms to my temples, trying to focus. My mother’s face appeared in flashes: her smile, a hand brushing my hair back, the warmth of her voice saying, “You must survive. You must remember.”

A pang of grief hit me, and I stumbled to the window. The forest beyond was dark and silent, but in my mind’s eye, it pulsed with movement. Shadows shifted. A golden gaze burned through the darkness, and my chest ached. Kael. Even without seeing him, I could feel him close. The bond burned hotter, a thread linking us across the distance, pulling me toward something I didn’t fully understand.

I sank to the floor, knees to chest. The memories were relentless. Wolves surrounding a figure in the moonlight. A howl that seemed to resonate in my bones. My mother’s voice again, this time urgent, trembling: “Do not hide, Aria. You belong to them and they to you.”

The mark on my shoulder flared painfully, and I gasped. Every nerve in my body seemed alive, attuned to a world I didn’t fully know. Fear twisted in my stomach, but beneath it was something stronger: recognition. Connection. Desire.

It terrified me.

~~~~~~

Hours passed. I didn’t move from the floor, my mind a swirl of fragmented memories and the persistent pull of the bond. I thought I heard the sound of footsteps in the dark, but when I turned, the cabin was empty. Only the shadows watched me.

The whispers grew softer, coaxing me: Find him. Find him. He waits. You are his.

I shook my head, frustrated. “I don’t know what you want from me,” I whispered, voice trembling. “I don’t understand any of this. I don’t know who I am anymore.”

But the pull didn’t weaken. If anything, it grew stronger, curling around my heart like a living thing. My body trembled, heat rising with every heartbeat, and I realized, I wanted to be near him. I wanted to understand him, to understand myself.

And I knew that leaving the cabin to find him would be dangerous. I didn’t know why or how, but instinct told me this. Something was waiting out there. Something that might not want me to survive.

~~~~~~

The memories came again, clearer this time. A field bathed in silver light. Wolves circling me, their eyes glowing, their growls low and protective. A man’s hand reaching for mine, strong, commanding, yet gentle. And a howl that shattered the night.

I remembered the sound of my mother’s voice, guiding me: “You must not forget. You must be ready when they come for you.”

Tears stung my eyes. I didn’t understand. I wanted to run from these memories, from the heat and whispers, from the ache in my chest that made every breath heavy. And yet, I couldn’t. Something inside me demanded it. The bond demanded it. The memories demanded it.

A low growl, deep and resonant, vibrated through the floorboards. My pulse quickened. I froze. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Even though I was alone, I could feel it, a presence outside, patient, aware. Watching. Waiting.

My hand flew to the mark. The pain flared, almost unbearable. My breath came in sharp gasps. And then, a voice inside my mind, clear, commanding, golden, whispered:

Do not be afraid. I am here. Always.

I sank to my knees, overwhelmed. The bond pulsed stronger than ever, a tether I couldn’t resist. Desire, fear, memory, and instinct all collided in a storm inside me. I wanted him. I needed him. And yet, I didn’t even know him fully.

The wind shifted outside. I felt it, a movement in the shadows. The whispers became more urgent, almost frantic: You must remember. You must awaken.

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. The room felt too small, too quiet, too empty. And still, the bond pulled me forward, a thread stronger than any fear, tighter than any logic, leading me toward something I could not name, yet instinctively knew was Kael.

~~~~~~

Hours passed, and the moon climbed higher. My eyes burned from exhaustion, yet sleep was impossible. Every nerve, every fiber of my being screamed with the echoes of memory: wolves, the moon, my mother, the golden gaze of someone I barely understood but somehow recognized.

And then, just before dawn, a final fragment came, a wolf’s howl in the distance, pure and haunting, cutting through the night. It vibrated in my chest, in my bones, in the mark beneath my skin. My pulse raced uncontrollably. I gasped, clutching the floorboards, unable to tear my gaze from the shadows.

The whispers fell silent for a heartbeat. And then, as if carried on the wind:

He waits for you.

I didn’t know where. I didn’t know why. But I knew, instinctively, deeply, unshakably, that I had to find him no matter what.