CHAPTER 10 - I Don’t Break

I refuse to run this time.

The thought steadies me as soon as it forms. It settles deep in my chest, heavier than fear, stronger than doubt. I have spent too many years reacting. Too many years being guided, protected, hidden.

Not anymore.

The files Damon tried to keep from me replay in my mind. The words final key. The way his voice shook when he said my bloodline had been sealed.

Not destroyed. Sealed.

That means it can be opened.

I follow the pull without questioning it. I know where to go. I always have. I just never trusted the feeling before.

My mother’s estate has been silent for years. Empty. Preserved. Untouched by choice, not neglect. I asked once why we never sold it. My father said some places are not meant to be cleared out. They are meant to wait.

I finally understand what he meant.

“My parents didn’t lie,” I whisper to myself. “They prepared.”

The entrance gives way easily, like it recognizes me. That alone sends a chill through my spine.

I step inside and stop.

Not because I am scared.

Because something in the air hums in response to me.

“I know,” I murmur. “I feel it too.”

I move deeper, my steps slow, deliberate. My pulse stays calm. This is not dangerous. This is a memory.

A wall catches my attention. Plain. Clean. Wrong.

My fingers brush over the surface. Heat blooms under my skin. Gold flickers, faint but steady.

“Show me,” I say.

The wall shifts.

A seam appears. Then a door.

My breath catches, sharp and fast.

“So this is what you hid,” I whisper.

Inside is not wealth. Not weapons. Not artifacts.

It is true.

Files. Records. Bloodline charts. Names written in careful script. Generations mapped like constellations.

My hands shake as I reach for the first folder.

VALE LINEAGE - PRIMARY ALPHA BLOOD.

My vision blurs.

“No,” I breathe. “Primary?”

I flip through pages, my heart pounding louder with every word.

The Vale family didn’t just belong to the pack system.

They shaped it.

We were not followers. We were founders.

“This can’t be right,” I whisper. “We disappeared.”

Erased, says a quiet voice in my head. Not gone. Removed.

A second folder slides out beneath my fingers.

EXILE RECORDS.

My chest tightens.

“Who did this to us?” I ask for silence.

The answer comes in ink.

Council Decree. Signed by allied families.

Including Damon’s.

The room feels smaller. The hum grows louder.

“They helped erase us,” I whisper. “And then they married us.”

My stomach twists.

Another file catches my eye. Smaller. Sealed with a mark I now recognize.

My mark.

I break the seal.

The letter inside is written in my mother’s hand.

Aria,

If you are reading this, then the seal has broken. That means you are ready, or you have no choice. Either way, I am proud of you.

Tears sting my eyes.

We hid you not because you were weak, but because you were too strong.

The Vale blood wakes when threatened. When betrayed. When cornered.

My breath hitches.

We could not let the council shape you. We could not let Damon’s family cage you with love and lies.

Anger surges hot and sharp.

“They used love,” I whisper. “They always do.”

The letter continues.

Lucian Blackthorne was not our enemy. He was our shield.

They will call him exile. They will call him a traitor.

But he was the only one who refused to sign your death.

My heart stutters.

Lucian.

“You knew him,” I murmured. “You trusted him.”

Footsteps echo faintly in my memory. Not now. Then. From the past.

My mother’s voice. Calm. Firm.

You don’t break, Aria. You bend until you strike back.

I swallow hard.

A sudden realization hits me.

Someone has been here.

The files are too neat. Too disturbed.

“No,” I whisper. “No, no, no.”

I scan the shelves again. Gaps appear where folders should be.

“They took something,” I say aloud. “They took pieces.”

The hum under my skin shifts. Sharper. Alert.

“Who else knows?” I ask.

The answer does not come from the room.

It comes from behind me.

A soft step. Controlled. Familiar.

I turn slowly.

Lucian stands in the doorway.

“You move fast,” he says lightly. “That’s good. It means they didn’t break you.”

My pulse spikes, but I do not step back.

“You were here before me,” I say.

“Yes.”

“You took files.”

“I protected them,” he corrects. “There’s a difference.”

“You lied to me,” I accuse. “You let me think you were just an enemy.”

His gaze sharpens. “I never said just.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” I demand.

“Because you weren’t awake yet,” he says. “And Damon was watching.”

Anger flares.

“You don’t get to decide when I’m ready.”

“You’re right,” he admits. “Your mother did.”

The words steal the air from my lungs.

“You spoke to her,” I whisper.

“Many times.”

“Then why does she call you a shield?” I ask. “What did you protect me from?”

Lucian steps closer, his voice lowering.

“Execution.”

The word lands hard.

“They wanted to kill me?” I ask.

“They wanted to erase the Vale line completely,” he says. “You were the last variable. The last risk.”

“And Damon?” I ask. “What was his role?”

Lucian’s jaw tightens.

“He loved you,” he says. “That part was real.”

“And the rest?”

“He agreed to keep you contained,” Lucian answers. “Bound. Married. Quiet.”

Betrayal burns through me.

“He chose the council,” I whisper.

“He chose survival,” Lucian corrects. “For his pack.”

I laughed once. Bitter. Sharp.

“Not for me.”

Lucian studies me carefully. “You’re stronger than they expected.”

“I know,” I say. “I feel it.”

The hum surges again, pulsing with my heartbeat.

“You’re not done awakening,” Lucian says. “That’s why the files are incomplete.”

“Where are the missing ones?” I ask.

“With someone who thinks you’re still weak,” he replies.

My hands curl into fists.

“Who?” I demand.

Before he can answer, another sound cuts through the air.

Footsteps.

Heavy. Multiple.

Lucian’s eyes narrow. “They followed you.”

I straighten.

“Let them,” I say. “I’m done hiding.”

He watches me for a long moment, something like approval crossing his face.

“You really don’t break,” he says quietly.

The footsteps grow closer.

A voice echoes from the hall.

“Aria,” Damon calls. “Please. We need to talk.”

My chest tightens. Love and rage collide.

I lift my glowing hand.

“No,” I whisper. “You need to listen.”

The door behind Lucian slams shut on its own.

The power inside me surges, wild and bright.

Lucian smiles faintly.

“Looks like the Vale heir has chosen,” he says.

I step forward as the walls begin to tremble.

“Chosen what?” Damon calls, fear edging his voice.

I meet Lucian’s gaze.

“The truth,” I say.

And the room answers me back.