The Betrayer

One of us.”

Aurora repeated the words slowly.

The sanctuary seemed to grow colder.

Her eyes moved from Lucien to Kael.

Neither man spoke.

For six hundred years, they had waited for her.

For six hundred years, they had searched for her.

And one of them had betrayed her.

Aurora’s voice trembled.

“Which one?”

Lucien looked away.

Kael’s jaw tightened.

“Tell me.”

Still nothing.

Aurora took a step backward.

“If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out myself.”

The silver mark on her palm began to glow.

Lucien immediately stepped toward her.

“Aurora, don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Use the mark.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t know what it will show you.”

Aurora laughed bitterly.

“Apparently, I don’t know anything.”

Kael moved closer.

“That isn’t true.”

“You both knew me six hundred years ago!”

Her voice cracked.

“You knew who I was. You knew what happened to me. You knew why I died. And you watched me live an entire life without telling me!”

“Aurora—”

“No!”

The word exploded through the chamber.

Silver energy burst from her body.

Both kings were forced backward.

Aurora stared at her own hands in shock.

The power faded.

Then a whisper entered her mind.

Remember.

Aurora closed her eyes.

The sanctuary disappeared.

She was standing in snow.

Blood stained the ground beneath her bare feet.

She looked down.

She was wearing a white dress covered in blood.

A silver crown rested upon her head.

Then she heard footsteps.

She turned.

Lucien stood behind her.

But he wasn’t alone.

Kael stood beside him.

Both were wounded.

Both were desperate.

Aurora’s past self looked at them.

“It’s too late.”

Lucien shook his head.

“No.”

Kael grabbed her hand.

“We can still get you out.”

She smiled sadly.

“You can’t.”

Then another voice spoke.

“I told you she would never surrender.”

Aurora turned.

A third figure stepped from the shadows.

She couldn’t see his face.

But she recognized his voice.

The same voice from the sanctuary.

The betrayer.

Her past self looked at Lucien and Kael.

“Don’t trust him.”

The vision suddenly shattered.

Aurora opened her eyes.

She collapsed.

Lucien caught her.

“Aurora!”

She gripped his coat.

Her breathing was ragged.

“I saw it.”

Kael knelt beside them.

“What did you see?”

Aurora looked between them.

“You weren’t the betrayer.”

Both men froze.

“Then who?” Kael asked.

Aurora swallowed.

“I don’t know.”

A strange expression crossed Lucien’s face.

“What else did you see?”

Aurora hesitated.

Then she remembered the final moment.

The masked figure had approached her.

He had whispered something.

Something she hadn’t understood until now.

She looked directly at Lucien.

“He said you would never forgive yourself.”

Lucien’s face went pale.

Kael stared at him.

“What does that mean?”

Lucien didn’t answer.

Aurora slowly stood.

“Lucien.”

He looked at her.

“Tell me.”

His eyes closed.

For the first time since Aurora had known him, the feared vampire king looked broken.

“I failed you.”

Aurora’s heart tightened.

“How?”

“I was supposed to protect you.”

“You tried.”

“No.”

His voice cracked.

“I chose the kingdom.”

Silence.

Kael’s expression changed.

Lucien continued.

“When they came for you, I was given a choice.”

Aurora whispered, “What choice?”

“Save you…”

He looked at her.

“Or save thousands of vampires.”

Aurora stopped breathing.

“And you chose them.”

Lucien lowered his head.

“Yes.”

The answer was barely audible.

Kael looked furious.

“You never told her.”

“I couldn’t.”

“You let her believe you had been helpless!”

Lucien’s eyes flashed.

“I watched her die, Kael!”

His voice echoed through the sanctuary.

“I watched the woman I loved die because I chose a crown over her.”

Aurora’s eyes filled with tears.

“You loved me?”

Lucien stared at her.

“I never stopped.”

Before Aurora could respond, Kael spoke.

“There is something else.”

Lucien turned sharply.

“Kael.”

“No.”

Kael looked at Aurora.

“She deserves to know everything.”

Aurora’s heart began pounding.

“What?”

Kael’s eyes darkened.

“Lucien wasn’t the only one who was given a choice.”

Aurora slowly turned toward him.

“What did you choose?”

Kael didn’t answer.

And Aurora suddenly realized—

The secret wasn’t about who had betrayed her.

It was about what both kings had sacrificed to bring her back.

Outside the sanctuary, a wolf howled.

Then another.

Then hundreds.

Kael’s face changed.

“My pack has found us.”

Lucien looked toward the broken entrance.

“And they’re not alone.”

Aurora’s silver eyes began to glow.

“Then let them come.”

For the first time, neither king tried to stop her.

Because they finally understood.

The woman they had once fought to protect was no longer the helpless girl they remembered.

She was the Moon Champion.

And she was ready to learn the truth.