Chapter 7 - Damon Tries to Confess 

The corridor feels too small.

My chest feels too tight.

My mind feels too full.

“Stop,” Damon growls. “She doesn’t need this.”

“Yes,” Lucian says slowly. “She does.”

I shake my head, trying to breathe. “Power? Bloodline? Claim? None of this makes sense.”

Lucian’s voice softens a tone that doesn’t match his cold eyes.

“It will.”

Damon steps closer, blocking my view of Lucian again, his hands shaking.

“Aria, please. Come with me. Let me explain. Privately.”

“No,” Lucian says. “She stays.”

“She’s my wife,” Damon snaps.

“And she is more than that,” Lucian replies. “Much more.”

Their voices rise.

Their power presses against the air like invisible claws.

I can feel both of them pulling at me in different ways.

Damon with guilt.

Lucian with truth.

And I don’t know which is worse.

He turns toward me again, chest heaving.

“Aria,” he says, “listen to me. I swear I wanted to tell you everything. I swear I wasn’t trying to trap you in this life. But once we married, you became part of my pack. And once that happened, revealing your bloodline became dangerous.”

“For who?” I whisper. “For you? Or for me?”

He doesn’t answer.

That silence tells me everything.

Lucian chuckles. “He was protecting his own throne. Not you.”

Damon growls a deep, furious sound I’ve only ever heard when he faced rivals.

“Say one more word, Lucian”

Lucian looks bored. “If you attack me, she will see what you really are.”

“What I am,” Damon snaps, “is her husband.”

“No,” Lucian says, “you are the man who betrayed her.”

Silence slams between us.

Damon’s jaw clenches so hard I hear the faint crack of teeth grinding together.

I swallow hard. “Enough. Both of you. Enough.”

But they don’t stop.

Because this isn’t about me anymore.

This is about power.

Secrets.

History.

And something something deeper than all of that.

Claim.

Lucian steps closer, ignoring Damon’s growl.

“Aria,” he says softly, “your mother left something behind. A gift. A legacy. A power that only you can awaken.”

My voice shakes. “What kind of power?”

Lucian’s eyes darken with something close to reverence.

“The kind that bends Alphas to their knees.”

Every hair on my body stands on end.

Damon grabs my arms, panic rising in his voice. “Don’t believe him. He wants something from you.”

Lucian answers calmly. “Of course I do.”

Damon stiffens.

I freeze.

“What do you want?” I ask.

Lucian’s eyes lock with mine.

Cold.

Honest.

Unapologetic.

“You.”

The air leaves my lungs.

Damon steps between us again, fury twisting his face. “She is not yours.”

Lucian smirks. “Not yet.”

My breath hitches.

This is too much.

Too fast.

Too dangerous.

I take a shaky step back. “I need space.”

Neither man listens.

Damon turns, gripping my shoulders gently but desperately.

“Aria, look at me. You need to come with me right now. We can talk. I can explain. Just just choose me.”

Lucian’s voice cuts through the air.

“Or choose the truth.”

I look between them.

Damonmy husband.

The man who broke me tonight.

The man who still looks at me like I’m something he wants to keep even while holding someone else.

Luciana stranger.

Dangerous.

Cold.

But the only one speaking answers instead of excuses.

My heart races wildly, torn in ways I don’t know how to name.

“I don’t know what to choose,” I whisper.

Damon’s face falls.

Lucian’s eyes sharpen.

Then Damon says something that steals my breath.

“Aria… he wants to use your power. He doesn’t care about you.”

Lucian responds with a quiet blade of truth.

“And you used her heart. Which is worse?”

Damon flinches. Hard.

I can’t breathe.

My voice breaks. “Stop. Please. Stop.”

They both fall silent.

I close my eyes, trying to calm the shaking inside me.

But when I open them

Lucian is watching me with a look that sends a chill through my bones.

A look that tells me he knows something Damon desperately wishes he didn’t.

I swallow hard, my voice barely steady.

“How do you know my bloodline name?”

Lucian’s answer comes in a whisper that feels like a prophecy.

“Because, Aria Vale…”

He steps forward, eyes glowing faintly.

“…your mother swore you would belong to me.”

The world tilts.

My knees weaken.

Damon’s face twists into pure horror.

And Lucian smiles.

The enemy’s smile.

“Ask him,” Lucian murmurs. “Ask your husband what promise your mother made before she died.”

My heart stops.

Damon’s eyes widen full of fear I’ve never seen before.

A fear of the truth.

A fear of me.

He says my name like a wound he wants to press.

I freeze. My breath catches in my throat, tight and painful, because the room feels too small for the three of us. Lucian stands close, too calm, too sure. Damon stands stiff, jaw set, anger rolling off him like a storm he can barely swallow.

My chest aches. I do not know who to trust. I do not know who to believe. But I know danger when I feel it, and right now it circles me like a wolf with two faces.

I glare at Lucian.

“How do you know my name?” My voice trembles, but not from fear. From rage. From confusion. From treason wrapping around my heart like a fist.

Lucian smiles a little. “Because someone worked very hard to hide you.”

My pulse trips. I look at Damon, and he… he won’t meet my eyes.

My stomach sinks.

"Say something," I whisper.

But Damon only clenches his jaw harder.

Lucian tilts his head. “Tell her the truth, Damon. Before I do.”