The mark on the wall

Chapter Three

The Mark on the Wall

The ballroom exploded into chaos.

Voices rose from every direction at once.

“Seal the gates!”

“Protect the Alpha!”

“Who got inside the estate?”

Ariana stood frozen while fear spread through the room like wildfire.

Kael’s face became dangerously still.

“What symbol?” he asked quietly.

The servant swallowed hard. “A silver crescent surrounded by wolves.”

Ariana frowned immediately.

For some reason, the description twisted painfully inside her chest.

Like she had seen it before.

Kael grabbed the servant’s arm sharply. “Who found it?”

“The eastern patrol.”

“Alive?”

“Barely.”

Kael released him instantly.

“Ronan.”

His beta appeared beside him almost immediately. “Already moving.”

“Lock the estate down. Nobody leaves.”

His eyes shifted briefly toward Ariana when he said the last part.

She noticed.

“So now I’m a suspect?”

Kael’s expression revealed nothing.

“A threat appeared using your family’s symbol on the night of our wedding. What exactly were you expecting?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Maybe not intentionally.”

Ariana stared at him in disbelief.

“You really think I murdered trained guards?”

“I think strange things keep happening around you.”

That hurt more than she expected.

Not because his words were cruel.

Because part of her suddenly feared he might be right.

Those visions.

The glowing mark.

The strange pain in her head.

Something was happening to her.

She just didn’t know what.

Kael turned toward the crowd. “The ceremony is over. Everyone returns to their rooms until morning.”

Nobody argued.

Fear moved faster than pride inside this estate.

Within minutes, the ballroom emptied.

Only Kael, Ronan, Ariana, and a few guards remained.

“I want to see the bodies,” Kael said.

Ronan nodded once. “I’ll take you there.”

Ariana stepped forward immediately. “I’m coming too.”

“No.”

“I deserve to know what’s happening.”

Kael looked at her coldly. “You deserve nothing.”

Anger flashed through Ariana’s chest.

“I’m tired of being treated like a criminal when I don’t even understand what’s going on!”

The guards shifted nervously.

Nobody raised their voice at Kael.

Nobody.

But Ariana was too frustrated to care anymore.

“You drag me here against my will, accuse my family of murder, force me into marriage, and now suddenly dead guards appear with some symbol connected to me? How am I supposed to react?”

Kael walked toward her slowly.

The air itself seemed heavier around him.

“You react,” he said quietly, “by remembering your place.”

Ariana lifted her chin stubbornly despite the fear building inside her.

“And what place is that?”

Kael stopped directly in front of her.

“The one where you survive because I allow it.”

Silence fell instantly.

Ronan rubbed his forehead slightly.

This marriage was going exactly as terribly as he expected.

Ariana clenched her fists tightly.

“I hate you.”

Kael’s expression didn’t change.

“That makes two of us.”

Then he turned and walked away.

---

The eastern wing smelled like blood.

Ariana nearly regretted following them the moment she entered.

Three bodies lay covered near the stone walls while guards searched the area carefully.

Torchlight flickered against dark stains across the floor.

Ronan noticed Ariana’s pale face.

“You don’t have to stay.”

“Yes, I do.”

Kael crouched near the wall silently.

Then Ariana saw it.

The symbol.

A silver crescent moon surrounded by six wolves carved deeply into the stone.

The moment her eyes landed on it...

Pain exploded through her head again.

Ariana gasped sharply.

A forest burning.

People screaming.

Silver banners covered in blood.

A man kneeling beside a dead woman.

Run!

The voice returned louder this time.

Run before he finds you!

Ariana stumbled backward suddenly.

Martha caught her before she hit the floor.

“Easy.”

Kael stood immediately. “What happened?”

Ariana pressed trembling fingers against her temple.

“I… I saw something.”

Ronan frowned. “Saw what?”

“I don’t know.”

The answer frustrated her.

Every memory came in broken pieces.

Nothing complete.

Nothing clear.

Kael approached carefully this time.

“What did you see?”

Ariana looked at the symbol again.

Another sharp ache hit her instantly.

“This symbol… I know it.”

The guards exchanged uneasy looks.

Kael’s eyes narrowed. “How?”

“I don’t remember.”

“That’s becoming a very convenient sentence.”

Anger flashed through Ariana immediately.

“You think I enjoy this?”

Before Kael answered, one guard approached quickly.

“Alpha.”

“What?”

“We found something else.”

The guard handed him a bloodstained piece of cloth.

Kael unfolded it slowly.

Ariana’s stomach dropped.

It was part of her old dress.

The one she wore before arriving here.

Kael looked up slowly.

Nobody spoke.

Ariana shook her head immediately. “I’ve never seen that before.”

“It came from your room.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Is it?”

Ariana looked genuinely horrified now.

“I didn’t put it there.”

Kael stared at her carefully.

Searching again for deception.

But her fear looked real.

Too real.

Ronan stepped closer quietly. “Someone could be framing her.”

Kael remained silent.

Ariana looked between them desperately. “You have to believe me.”

Kael folded the cloth calmly.

“Belief has nothing to do with this.”

Then he looked toward the guards.

“Double security outside her room.”

Ariana froze.

“You’re locking me up?”

“I’m keeping you alive.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“In this estate, it is.”

---

Hours later, Ariana sat alone beside the bedroom window.

Moonlight spilled softly across the floor while guards stood outside her door.

A prisoner.

Again.

She hugged her knees quietly.

Everything felt wrong.

Nothing made sense anymore.

A soft knock interrupted the silence.

Before she answered, Martha entered carrying tea.

“I thought you might need this.”

Ariana accepted the cup slowly. “Thank you.”

Martha sat beside her carefully.

“You’re frightened.”

“That obvious?”

“Yes.”

Ariana stared into the tea quietly.

“Do you think I did it?”

Martha looked surprised. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because guilty people usually have answers ready.”

A weak laugh escaped Ariana.

“Well, I definitely don’t have answers.”

The older woman studied her gently.

“When you looked at the symbol downstairs… your eyes changed.”

Ariana frowned slightly. “Changed how?”

“Like you were somewhere else.”

Ariana lowered her gaze again.

“I keep seeing things.”

“What kind of things?”

“Blood. Fire. Voices.”

Martha became quiet.

Then...

“Sometimes trauma hides memories to protect us.”

Ariana looked at her sharply. “You think I forgot something terrible?”

“I think someone hurt you deeply.”

That sentence settled painfully inside Ariana’s chest.

Because somehow… it felt true.

---

Elsewhere in the estate, Kael stood alone on the balcony outside his office.

Rain had finally stopped.

Cold wind moved through the dark forest surrounding the mansion.

Ronan approached quietly.

“You’re thinking too loudly again.”

Kael didn’t react.

“She recognized the symbol,” Ronan continued.

“Yes.”

“But she also looked terrified.”

Kael rested both hands against the stone railing.

“I know.”

Ronan leaned beside him.

“So what now?”

Kael’s expression darkened slightly.

“Now I figure out why dead enemies suddenly care about her.”

Ronan glanced sideways at him.

“And if she truly belongs to one of the lost Alpha bloodlines?”

Kael went silent.

The old Alpha families were nearly erased years ago during the kingdom wars.

Anyone connected to them became targets.

Powerful targets.

Dangerous ones.

Finally Kael spoke again.

“Then someone lied to me.”

Ronan studied him carefully.

“You’re starting to doubt the story, aren’t you?”

Kael’s jaw tightened.

The story had been simple for years.

Lyra died.

The Vale family betrayed them.

Revenge followed.

But Ariana didn’t behave like a murderer’s daughter.

She behaved like someone abandoned in the middle of a nightmare she didn’t understand.

And Kael hated that it bothered him.

A guard suddenly appeared near the office entrance.

“Alpha.”

Kael turned immediately. “What?”

“We caught someone trying to enter the Luna’s room.”

Kael’s eyes darkened instantly.

“Alive?”

“Yes.”

“Bring them to the dungeon.”

Ronan sighed quietly. “This night just keeps getting worse.”

---

Ariana woke suddenly to the sound of shouting outside her room.

She sat upright immediately.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Then silence.

Ariana moved toward the door carefully.

Before she could open it, the handle turned from outside.

Kael entered.

His black shirt was stained with blood.

Ariana stepped back instantly.

“What happened?”

Kael closed the door behind him.

“Someone tried to kill you.”

Her stomach dropped.

“What?”

“They carried poison blades.”

Fear spread through her body immediately.

“Who were they?”

“That’s what I’m about to find out.”

Ariana stared at the blood on his sleeve.

“You fought them?”

“Yes.”

“Are they dead?”

“One is.”

The calmness in his voice unsettled her deeply.

Kael noticed her staring.

“You’re shaking.”

“I almost got murdered!”

“You’re still alive.”

“That’s supposed to comfort me?”

Kael moved closer slowly.

“You’re safer here than anywhere else.”

Ariana laughed weakly.

“That’s hard to believe when danger keeps following me.”

For a moment, neither spoke.

Then Kael said quietly...

“They called you something before dying.”

Ariana frowned. “What?”

Kael’s eyes locked onto hers.

“Moonborn.”