Klaus POVI stood stone-still in the war room, but inside… I was burning alive.My chest heaved like I’d just run through fire. One hand gripped the edge of the table so tightly my knuckles turned white, the other was buried deep in my pocket, clenched around the pregnancy test like it was the last tether to my sanity.I hadn’t let it go.I couldn’t let it go.the confirmation of a child, My CHILD, somthing that I never got to dream about. This stick had become more sacred than any other thing I’d ever held. It was proof that Aria had been here. That she was mine. That someone had stolen everything from me.And now I could feel the beast beneath my skin—my wolf—howling to be let loose. My bones ached from holding him back, from keeping myself caged while she was out there… taken.Mika stood in front of me, her expression unreadable—like she was standing at the edge of a storm, unsure if it would destroy her or pass her by. Of course that storm was me.My mother stood beside her, her e
Aria – POVI opened my eyes to pitch blackness.At first, I thought I was still dreaming—trapped in the nightmare that had haunted me before the ceremony. But this… this was worse. This was real. I had been taken. And I didn’t know what happened to Klaus.Was he dead?Alive?The air was damp and heavy, and the silence so thick it rang in my ears like a scream buried too deep.Pain bloomed behind my eyes, sharp and throbbing, as if something had cracked open inside my skull. My head was pounding, my thoughts scattered like broken glass. I reached up instinctively, my fingers brushing against a tangled mess of hair and a dried smear of something—blood?—on my temple.“What the hell happened to me?”My voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper. It sounded foreign in the emptiness.Flashes came in disjointed fragments—the wedding, Klaus at the altar, his eyes on mine, the soft tremble of my hands in his… then nothing. A void. Darkness swallowed everything which made me wonder if I were
Klaus POVI stood at the top of the grand staircase, watching as guests filed out of the palace in stunned silence—dazed, confused, murmuring what they had witnessed and no one dared speak too loudly—as if the truth of what had just happened might shatter if given a name.I couldn’t believe it. This was supposed to be my wedding day. The day I’d dreamed of more than anything. And that dream only grew stronger the moment I met Aria.I could sense Tory, Elijah, and Sam in their wolf forms, racing across the land. Their paws pounded against the earth as they tore through the surrounding land, howls cutting through the air, noses to the ground, hunting for any trace of her scent. The land was a blur beneath them, but I knew they wouldn’t stop—not until they found her or found something. Desperation clung to the wind like smoke, thick and suffocating me. The second the palace doors were closed, I shifted without hesitation, bones cracking, muscles stretching until my paws met the cold mar
Aria – POVThe music swelled, soft and sacred, echoing across the grand hall like a hymn written for this very moment.The great doors parted slowly, and golden light poured in, washing over me like a blessing and a spotlight. It was magical and surreal. I felt like a queen. My breath caught in my throat.All eyes turned toward me, but I didn’t see them. I couldn’t.Because my eyes found only him.Klaus stood at the altar, regal and still, with Sam beside him and the high priestess in wait. His suit was tailored to perfection, but it was the expression on his face that stole the ground from beneath my feet.His eyes widened—then softened—as if he’d forgotten how to breathe. Awe carved itself into every line of his face. And just like that, the ache in my chest quieted. The world blurred.And it was just us.My heart was pounding wildly, and I couldn’t tell if it was because of the joy bubbling inside me, or because somewhere, in the shadowed corners of my mind, that nightmare still cl
Aria POVI walked down the aisle and stood in front of Klaus. I locked eyes with him, oblivious to the murmurs, the sacred rituals, or the crowd holding their breath around us. In that moment, it was just the two of us—me and him. Joy bubbled up inside me, swelling so intensely I thought I might float right off the ground.“I do,” I said aloud, my voice steady, glowing with certainty. I smiled up at him, my heart fluttering like a captive bird waiting to be released. I longed to hear him say it too—those two simple words that would bind us forever.He parted his lips, and I held my breath.My smile widened.And then— BANG… BANGThe deafening crack of a bullet shattered the air. The sound ricocheted off the high walls, slicing through music, silence, and dreams alike. Before I could even react, Klaus’s arms wrapped tightly around me, pulling me into his chest. I gripped him instinctively, burying myself in the safety of his arms. Gasps erupted around us. Chaos rippled through the gue
Aria POVThe room was drowned in darkness, a faint sliver of moonlight was creeping through the window, casting pale shadows across the floor. A hand clamped over my mouth, another crushing my shoulder, pinning me down in my own bed. My mind snapped awake, instincts roaring to life like wildfire.I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t breathe.But I could fight.Before I could move, his weight pressed down on me—paralyzing, suffocating. His breath fanned across my face, hot and too close.And then it hit me—the scent. Faint, but familiar.I knew it. I knew it.But I couldn’t place where I had smelled it before. I started squirming beneath him, fighting with every ounce of strength I had—but it was no use. His grip didn’t loosen. My lungs were burning, desperate for air. I reached for my powers, channeling raw pain into him—sharp, unrelenting.Nothing…He didn’t flinch. Only then did fear begin to creep in, slow and cold—an emotion I hadn’t felt in so long, not since the accident. I promised my