LOGINRhydan’s POVThe scream cut through the house like a blade.By the time I reached the stairs, Kaelor was already ahead of me.Draven moved fast but quieter.Always quiet.Always thinking.The Alpha house felt wrong tonight.Too tense.The guards downstairs were shifting nervously, hands already on weapons.One of the servants stood frozen near the bottom of the staircase, pale and shaking.“What happened?” Kaelor demanded.“She—she saw something outside,” the woman stammered. “Near the east windows.”Rhydan scanned the room instantly.Nothing broken.Nothing inside.But the air felt heavy.Charged.Like a storm pressing against the walls.Draven stopped near the front entrance.His eyes narrowed slightly.“They’re close.”I looked at him.“You can feel them?”“I can feel her reacting to them.”That wasn’t comforting.Not even close.The front doors rattled suddenly.Hard.A loud bang echoed through the entrance hall.Everyone froze.Another hit followed.Stronger.The guards exchanged
Aurenya’s POVThe room went silent again.Not normal silence.The kind that settles after something shifts permanently.No one moved.No one spoke.My breathing sounded too loud in my own ears.Waiting for you to remember who locked it away.I stared at Draven.“You’re saying someone trapped it.”His expression didn’t change.“Yes.”“And that someone wasn’t my father.”“No.”Cold settled into my stomach.Because if my father didn’t create the seal—Then what exactly had he done?I looked toward the doorway again.The figure was still there.Still watching.But it felt different now.Less distant.Like it had stepped closer without moving.Its shape flickered slightly around the edges.Smoke trying to become solid.Kaelor noticed my focus.“It’s still there?”I nodded once.Rhydan cursed quietly under his breath.“That’s getting real old.”I almost laughed.Almost.But fear sat too heavily inside me.The figure slowly lowered its arm.And somehow—That felt intentional.Like it knew we
Aurenya’s POV“What do you mean it found her first?”Rhydan’s voice cut through the room immediately.Sharp.Demanding.But Draven didn’t answer right away.His eyes stayed locked on the doorway.On the thing only half-visible in the shadows.My breathing turned shallow.The figure hadn’t moved again.It just stood there.Watching.Waiting.And somehow—That felt worse.Kaelor stepped closer to me instinctively, his body shifting slightly in front of mine.Protective.Careful.Like he already knew something was wrong.“Aurenya,” he said quietly, “tell me exactly what you’re seeing.”I swallowed.My throat felt tight.“It’s tall,” I whispered.The figure tilted its head again.Too slow.Too deliberate.“It’s standing near the door.”Rhydan turned immediately.His eyes scanned the space.Nothing.Of course.Because there was nothing there.Except there was.I could feel it.Like pressure pushing against my skin.“It isn’t moving,” I said softly.Draven’s expression darkened.“Because it
Aurenya’s POVNo one spoke after that.Not immediately.The room felt smaller somehow.Like the memory had taken up space.I sat on the edge of the bed again, trying to steady my breathing while Rhydan stayed close enough to catch me if I tilted too far.I hated that he thought I needed catching.But I hated the shaking in my hands more.Kaelor crouched slightly in front of me, his expression careful.“What exactly did you see?”I stared at the floorboards.The image still clung to me.Stone walls.Blood.My father’s face.That fear.I swallowed hard.“He wasn’t angry,” I said quietly.Rhydan frowned.“What?”“My father.” I looked up slowly. “He wasn’t sealing me because he hated me.”The words felt strange leaving my mouth.Because that was what I had believed for years.That he feared weakness.That he feared shame.That I wasn’t enough.But that memory—That wasn’t hatred.That was desperation.Kaelor stayed quiet, waiting.I exhaled shakily.“He looked terrified.”Draven finally s
Aurenya’s POVThe room stayed quiet long after Kaelor finished speaking.Too quiet.The fire crackled softly in the corner, but even that sounded distant now.The night you were sealed.Those words kept replaying in my head like something unfinished.I sat near the edge of the bed, fingers curled tightly into the blanket beneath me.My father.The seal.The thing inside me.None of it fit together the way I wanted it to.Because if my father had done this…Then it meant he knew.He knew something was wrong with me long before I ever did.And he never told me.Rhydan leaned against the wall near the window, arms crossed tightly over his chest.He hadn’t spoken much since Kaelor explained what they remembered.Which wasn’t much.Only fragments.Only pieces.Draven stood near the fireplace, expression unreadable as always.Kaelor stayed closest to me.Not touching.Just there.Like he thought I might disappear if he looked away.I hated that feeling.Being watched.Being fragile.“I stil
Aurenya’s POVThe glow under my skin didn’t disappear.It stayed.Soft.Unsteady.Like a heartbeat that didn’t belong to me.No one moved.Even Rhydan’s grip on my arm loosened slightly—not because he trusted what was happening, but because he didn’t know what to do with it.The darkness around us felt thicker now.Not empty.Occupied.I could still hear breathing.Mine.Theirs.And something else.Slow.Measured.Close.Kaelor’s voice came first. Low. Controlled.“Aurenya, look at me.”I tried.But my body wouldn’t listen fully.My eyes stayed fixed ahead.On nothing.On everything.Because I could feel it standing there.I still couldn’t see it.But I knew exactly where it was.The pull inside my chest tightened.Not painful.Just stronger.Like a thread wrapping tighter around bone.“Aurenya.”Rhydan’s voice this time.Closer.Sharper.I blinked slowly.The darkness shifted again.And then—the lights flickered back on.Dim.Weak.But enough.The hallway returned around us.Wooden







