The five.

Aria’s POV.

I spun around, heart thundering in my chest.

I turned at the speed of lightning, ready to strike whoever had made my heart almost jump out of my chest and mouth, but there was no one behind me. Nothing but the shadows of the trees and the eerie silence that seemed too loud. But I knew—I heard it. Felt it.

Why were there so many strange things happening tonight?

The early morning of my birthday for that matter?

I staggered backward toward the front door of the house, reaching for the knob with shaking fingers while my eyes still scanned the area for any sign of threat whatsoever. My entire body was on edge, still rattled from the strange pull of the moon and the searing pain in my collarbone.

I flung the door open and stepped inside—

A hand slammed against the door, stopping me.

I knew, without being told, that the hand didn’t belong to Ella, my foster mother.

I screamed, trying to force the door closed, but the hand was unmovable—solid, massive, and radiating heat.

“No,” I whispered, pushing harder. “No, no, no—”

Another hand came around my waist, yanking me back with shocking strength as I tried to bite the owner of the hand that refused to move away from the door for me to close it and be safe in the confines of my home.

Were we being burgled?

I opened my mouth to scream and draw Ella’s attention, but a palm clamped over my mouth, silencing my scream before it could escape. I thrashed, kicked, clawed, but my body was pressed against a wall of muscle, my feet barely touching the floor.

“Don’t scream.” A deep voice rasped. It wasn’t cruel, but it wasn’t comforting either. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

The front door creaked open the rest of the way. Moonlight spilled into the room.

Four men stepped into my home like they owned it.

No, not men. Gods in human skin.

Each of them towered over me. They were built like gods—sculpted muscle, broad shoulders, powerful arms. Their eyes shimmered with unnatural light, and their presence filled every inch of space.

But there was one thing about each of them that stood out to me and deepened my fear.

The eyes from my dream - five pairs of glowing eyes that stared at me from within the shadows. One set… silver. Another, ice-blue. The third, honey-gold. The fourth, deep-set golden. And the last, deepest pale eyes shimmering like death itself.

Those were the eye colors that each of these men possessed.

What the actual heck!

The one holding me released my mouth slowly as the tallest of them stepped forward.

He had jet-black hair tied loosely behind his head, and sharp eyes that glowed like silver beneath the blood moon.

“We mean you no harm, Aria.” He said calmly, voice deep and commanding, but also filled with this smoothness that makes you want to trust him. “But we need your attention.”

“Who the hell are you?” I rasped, my voice hoarse from fear. “Get out of my house!”

How could there be men with the same eyes from my dream standing right in front of me?

If false bravado was a person, I was sure it would be in my form. When the silver eyed guy kept looking at me like he was daring me, I stumbled away from the man holding me and backed into a corner, my chest heaving.

The one with snow-white hair and pale gray eyes chuckled. He leaned lazily against the wall, arms crossed over his broad chest. “I told you she was going to be spicy.”

The air shifted—charged with something unnatural. Primal.

The one who had stopped me from closing the door now stood still and silent. His eyes were golden and piercing, like he could see right through my clothes—and maybe through my skin too.

My back hit the wall. I tried to reach for anything—a lamp, a chair, my phone—but my limbs were useless. Fear and something else—something darker—had paralyzed me.

The one who had held me walked toward me again. His dark eyes glittered.

“Promise you won’t scream,” the silver-eyed leader said.

I looked at him, my lips parted, then nodded slowly. Again, he had that aura that compelled you to listen to him. Besides, what other choice did I have? I couldn’t scream as it felt like something was keeping my mouth shut against my will.

The one closest to me stepped away, joining the other four, forming a line. All five of them now faced me in perfect silence.

They were terrifying. And beautiful. But also intimidating.

My mouth opened but no sound came out. My brain screamed, but my body…

…my body heated.

Why was I reacting to them like that when I should be running a hundred miles away from them?

I tried to scream again, to get my mother to come out and rescue me, but again, no single sound came out even as my eyes were wide open.

The pale-eyed one smiled again, dark and sinful. “It’s just a little reassurance,” he said silkily, his hands moving weirdly. “We don’t like to be startled.”

Before I could ask what that meant, the tallest one moved forward, grabbed me by the waist, and threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.

“Hey! Let me go! My mother—she’ll be looking for me!” I yelled, pounding my fists against his back.

“She won’t!” The silver-eyed one said without turning around. “She won’t even know you’re gone.”

Did they do something to her?

I mean, if they could somehow compel my voice not to come out when I needed to scream, who knew what other evilness they could practice?

They stepped outside, with me still dangling against his shoulder like a little child. The night air hit me like a slap. I tried to wriggle free, but the man holding me was unshakable.

They didn’t speak as they moved through the woods—swift and silent like predators in the night.

The woods?

What were they thinking, taking me into the woods?

Finally, in a clearing surrounded by ancient trees, they stopped.

He dropped me gently onto the grass and stepped back. I scrambled to my feet, breath ragged.

“Why are you doing this?” I cried the moment the one who carried me dropped me down, my voice cracking. “You kidnapped me!”

“We needed your attention,” the leader said again. “Now we have it.”

“You could’ve knocked!” I hissed in protest.

One of them snorted. “Would you have listened?”

“Of course not!”

“Exactly,” he said, smirking.

Why was I bothering myself to listen to these people when it was clear that they had minds of their own and would not listen to anything I say. The best thing was to flee, away from their presence and the woods.

I turned to run, but it was all a blur of motion. Before I took two steps, one of them appeared in front of me—grinning wickedly.

How were they all moving so fast?

It was the one with a charming smirk and honey-gold eyes that seemed to miss nothing. He tilted his head, slow and deliberate, before closing the distance between us like a cat cornering its prey.

“You run like you want to be caught.” He said, his voice like silk dragged over sharp teeth.

“Get away from me!”

“Oh, sweetheart.” He purred, reaching out and brushing my cheek with the back of his hand. “You don’t want that.”

My body betrayed me.

I should have flinched. I should have screamed. But instead, I shivered under his touch.

His smile widened, almost as if he knew what he was doing to me.

“I’ll touch you so slowly, the stars will scream my name.” He said. His voice was now

I gasped.

Why did those words make my thighs clench? Why did my heart skip not from fear but desire?

My breathing grew shallow. My legs got weak.

The other four stood still, watching, their eyes unreadable. None of them moved to stop him.

“You’re insane,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

“No.” He said softly, brushing a lock of hair from my face. “I’m hungry.”

He leaned in—his mouth a breath away from mine—and I did the unthinkable.

I leaned in too.

His lips ghosted over mine, teasing me.

And just before he kissed me, he whispered:

“You belong to all of us, Aria. Whether you know it or not.”