Chapter Sixteen - Shadows of Truth ( Darius POV)

The safehouse smelled different, earthier, muskier, like the remnants of an old den layered with dust and forgotten years. The walls creaked under every shift of the wind, and though the new shelter was sturdier than the cabin, I couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes watched us from every shadow.

Kael paced the small living room like a caged predator, shoulders tight, every step radiating restless energy. I sat at the edge of the couch, one hand instinctively on my belly, the child’s subtle stirrings calming and unnerving all at once. Darius leaned against the far wall, his presence steady but guarded, like a man calculating how much of the truth to share and how much to keep buried.

“You dragged us out of the fire,” I said finally, my voice breaking the taut silence. “But now you owe me answers. Why is the Council really hunting us? Why does the child matter so much?”

Darius’s gaze flicked to Kael. The tension between them thickened, unspoken history charging the air. Kael stilled, his golden eyes narrowing, a warning that Darius ignored.

“Aria deserves to know,” Darius said at last, his voice even, though the weight of it pressed like stone. “She’s in the middle of it, whether you like it or not.”

Kael’s jaw clenched. “Not from you.”

“Then you should’ve told her yourself,” Darius shot back, his calm cracking with sharp edges.

I stood, my pulse hammering. “Enough of this. Both of you. I’ve been running, hiding, fighting, and carrying the burden of this child without understanding why everyone wants us dead. So tell me. Now.”

The silence stretched, a battle of wills in which neither male looked at me, only at each other. Then Kael’s gaze softened, flicking to my belly before finding my eyes.

“They don’t just want you,” he said, his voice low. “They want what you carry. They want… our heir.”

The words cut deeper than I expected. Heir. Not child. Not baby. Something political, powerful.

Darius’s lips pressed into a grim line. “Not just an heir, Aria. A bloodline the Council has feared for decades. The prophecy of the First Alpha reborn.”

My breath caught. “Prophecy?”

Kael growled, low and warning, but Darius pressed forward.

“The Council’s not what they pretend to be. They speak of order, of balance among packs, but their true purpose is control. They’ve lived in fear of a wolf strong enough to challenge their rule. The First Alpha’s blood runs in Kael’s line, and now, in your child.”

The room tilted around me. I pressed my hand harder against my stomach as if I could shield the child from fate itself.

“Kael?” My voice trembled. “Is this true?”

He didn’t answer right away. His fists flexed at his sides, the fight clear in every taut line of his body. At last, he nodded once. “It’s true. My father was one of the Council’s chosen. They raised him to obey, to bend, to serve. But he wasn’t just theirs. He carried the mark, the power of the First Alpha. They tried to break him. Failed. And when he defied them, they executed him. Claimed it was justice for treason. I was just a boy.”

His voice roughened, the wolf beneath clawing at the edges of his restraint. I took a step toward him, but he turned away, shoulders stiff.

“They hunted me next,” he said. “Raised me under watch, expecting me to crack, to fall in line. But they saw the same thing in me they saw in him, the strength, the defiance. So they turned from chains to daggers. Sent hunters, assassins, always cloaked as accidents or rogue attacks. I survived. Barely. And when I was old enough to fight back, I disappeared. Made sure no one could use me as a weapon.”

The weight of his words pressed against me, but Darius wasn’t finished.

“The Council never gave up. They believe the prophecy speaks of balance restored through blood. That the First Alpha’s heir would topple them, reclaim what they’ve stolen. When Kael vanished, they lost control of the bloodline. Now, with your bond sealed and a child on the way, they see a chance to destroy it before the prophecy is fulfilled.”

I staggered back against the couch, breath shallow. My child wasn’t just a secret, wasn’t just ours, they were the center of a war older than I could comprehend.

“So they’ll never stop,” I whispered.

“No,” Kael admitted, finally facing me. His eyes glowed, not with rage, but with something rawer, fear. “They won’t.”

The silence that followed was unbearable. The fire in the hearth crackled, but it didn’t chase away the chill seeping into my bones.

“All this time,” I said, my voice breaking, “you kept this from me. You let me run blind, thinking rogues were the worst of it, thinking if I just hid well enough, I could keep us safe.”

Kael took a step closer. “I wanted to protect you. To give you a chance to breathe before....”

“Before what?” I cut him off, my voice sharp. “Before I realized I’m carrying a child every pack, every hunter, every Council Elder wants to kill or control? Before I understood that I’ve been running straight into a prophecy I never asked to be part of?”

The bond between us pulsed painfully, a tether stretched thin. Kael reached out, but I flinched back, my hands trembling.

Darius cleared his throat, the sound grounding me. “Aria, you should know, the Council won’t stop with assassins. They’ll turn packs against you. Spread lies. Paint Kael as a traitor, you as corrupted, the child as an abomination. They’ve done it before. They’re masters of rewriting truth.”

I swallowed hard, the words sinking like stones. “So what do we do?”

Kael’s answer was immediate, his Alpha certainty unshakable. “We fight. We protect what’s ours. We find allies strong enough to stand against them.”

But Darius shook his head. “It’s not that simple. Allies are rare. Most packs bend to the Council’s will. Those who don’t… vanish. You’ll need more than loyalty. You’ll need proof. Evidence of what the Council truly is.”

“And where do we find that?” I asked, desperate and exhausted.

Darius hesitated, then said, “In their archives. Buried records, hidden testimonies, even the execution orders Kael spoke of. If you could get inside...”

“No,” Kael snapped, his growl reverberating through the room. “I won’t let her walk into their den.”

“I didn’t say she had to,” Darius replied evenly. “But someone must. Because until you expose them, the prophecy is nothing but a weapon they’ll twist to justify your death.”

The child stirred beneath my hand, as if sensing the storm raging around us. My throat tightened. Every choice was a knife’s edge.

Kael closed the distance between us then, his hand cupping my face with a tenderness that broke through his fury. “I didn’t tell you because I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you before you even knew what you carried. But you’re right, you deserved the truth. And now that you have it, I swear this. They will not take you, or our child. I’ll burn their Council halls to ash before I let that happen.”

His vow vibrated through the bond, fierce and unyielding. But underneath it, I felt the truth he couldn’t hide, the fear that even his strength might not be enough.

I leaned into his hand, torn between trust and terror. “Then we need more than fire. We need strategy. Allies. Proof.” I looked at Darius. “Can you help us?”

Darius’s expression hardened, but there was a flicker of loyalty in his eyes. “I can. But it will cost you. Once we move against the Council, there’s no going back. No more hiding.”

I exhaled slowly, feeling the bond between Kael and me tighten around the choice that was no longer ours alone. The child shifted again, as if echoing the decision already made.

“No more hiding,” I whispered.

Kael’s arms wrapped around me, fierce and unbreakable, while Darius watched with the gravity of a man who knew the storm was only beginning. The truth was out now, and the path ahead was lined with fire, blood, and destiny we could no longer escape.