012 | The First Meeting

Aria stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

The small sitting room was only a few steps away. Soft light spilled out from the half-open door. She could already hear the low sound of male voices inside — one of them familiar in a way that made her stomach tighten.

She took one slow breath.

Then she walked in.

Kael Nightshade stood near the window with his back partially turned. He was taller than she remembered from this age, already carrying the quiet authority of a future Alpha. Dark shirt. Controlled posture. The same sharp profile that had once looked at her like she was something disposable.

When he turned around, their eyes met.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Aria felt the old mate bond stir weakly in her chest — a faint, unwanted echo — and crushed it down before it could rise any higher.

Kael’s gaze moved over her face, then her clothes, then the way she stood. There was a flicker of something in his eyes. Confusion. Recognition that didn’t fully form.

“You’re Aria Vale,” he said.

Not a question.

“Yes.”

Dominic sat in the armchair to the side, watching them both with a glass in his hand. He looked calm, almost bored, but Aria knew better. He was measuring every second of this.

Kael’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“You look… familiar.”

Aria kept her expression smooth.

“Do I?”

“Yes.” He took a step closer. “Have we met before?”

The question hung in the air.

Aria felt the weight of the silver knife against her ankle. Steady. Real.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “I would’ve remembered.”

Kael studied her for another long second. The confusion in his face didn’t fade. If anything, it deepened.

Dominic finally spoke, his voice mild.

“Kael came to discuss a possible business arrangement between the Nightshade pack and one of my companies.
I told him I was busy.
He insisted on waiting.”

There was a quiet warning under the words.

Kael glanced at Dominic, then back at Aria.

“I didn’t know Mr. Vale had a daughter.”

“Neither did most people,” Aria replied. “Until recently.”

Silence stretched again.

Kael’s stare was too direct. Too searching. Like some part of him could sense the broken bond even if his mind hadn’t caught up yet.

Aria didn’t look away.

She had died because of this man.
She had woken up in the past because of this man.
And now he was standing in her father’s house looking at her like she was a puzzle he couldn’t solve.

Dominic set his glass down with a soft click.

“Aria will show you out,” he said. “We’ve taken enough of her evening.”

It wasn’t a suggestion.

Kael’s jaw tightened almost invisibly, but he nodded.

“Of course.”

Aria turned and walked toward the door without waiting to see if he followed. She could feel his presence behind her as they stepped into the hallway — close, but not close enough to touch.

They walked in silence until they reached the main entrance.

A staff member already had the door open.

Kael stopped just before stepping outside. He turned to look at her one more time.

“You’re not what I expected,” he said quietly.

Aria met his eyes.

“Neither are you.”

Something unreadable moved across his face.

Then he walked out into the night.

The door closed behind him with a heavy, final sound.

Aria stood there for a few seconds, staring at the dark wood.

Her heartbeat was still steady.
Her hands were still still.

But inside her chest, the faint echo of the old bond was throbbing like a bruise that hadn’t fully healed.

She turned around.

Dominic was standing at the end of the hallway, watching her.

“You handled that well,” he said.

Aria walked toward him.

“He recognized something.”

“I know.” Dominic’s eyes were sharp. “That’s why you’re going to stay away from him for now.
No contact.
No curiosity.
No unfinished business until I say otherwise.”

Aria stopped a few steps away from him.

“And if he comes looking again?”

Dominic’s expression didn’t change.

“Then you’ll remember that you are Aria Vale.
Not whoever you were before you walked into this house.”

He turned and walked back toward his study.

Aria remained alone in the hallway.

The faint scent of Kael still lingered in the air — rain, steel, and something that had once felt like home.

She closed her fingers into a fist, then forced them open again.

Not yet.

She still had a list.
She still had training.
She still had a debt that needed collecting.

Kael Nightshade could wait.

But the fact that he had already stepped into her new life meant one thing was certain:

The past wasn’t going to stay buried for long.