KolBy the time I got back from the hospital, dusk had come. I’d left feeling a bit lighter, Agatha was going to make a full recovery, and that meant one less shadow over my already overcast mind.But the moment I opened the bedroom door and saw Aria curled up on the edge of the bed and her shoulders trembling, that weight came crashing back.“Aria,” I said quietly. She didn’t turn.I crossed the room, kneeling beside her. Her hands were curled into fists against the sheets, and she was crying, silently, like she was afraid of making a sound.“What happened?” I asked.She shook her head, wiping at her eyes quickly. “Nothing. I’m fine.”“You’re not,” I said firmly, reaching for her hand. “Tell me.”There was a moment of silence. Then, finally, she whispered, “They hate me.”I blinked. “Who?”“The staff. The guards. Everyone in the dining hall. Kathy. They all look at me like I’m filth. Like I was the one who put you in chains. Just because I’m related to Lira.”My fists clenched slowly
AriaKol had left early for the hospital. I’d woken to the sound of him putting on his shoes. His movements were quiet but precise, like he didn’t want to wake me, but not quiet enough. I asked where he was going, and when he said “Agatha,” I understood. I didn’t fight him on it.But it left a strange emptiness in the room once he was gone.With my stomach grumbling, I figured I’d find something to eat downstairs. The estate was oddly quiet for midmorning. I went down the stairs and the moment I reached the first floor, I felt it. Eyes. Cold eyes, judging me.I passed two maids in the corridor. One stopped sweeping entirely, her broom leaning against her leg. They both froze like they didn’t expect me to catch them staring. They didn’t say anything, but they didn’t have to. Their silence was thicker than any insult.As I stepped into the dining hall, it got worse. The staff behind the food counter whispered into each other’s ears. A warrior sitting in the corner lifted his head just e
KolAria had at last fallen asleep. She was huddled against my ribs with one of her hand grabbing my shirt, as if she feared to let go would mean she’d walk into a second nightmare. Her breathing was still, gentle and regular. The same girl who once stormed into my life like fire was now sleeping beside me like rain after drought.But I couldn’t sleep.I stared at the ceiling of my room, counting imaginary sheep. I replayed everything that had happened that day, from Lira’s sentencing, the uproar it caused to the look on Aria’s face when I chose mercy over vengeance.Except it wasn’t mercy. Not really. It was for her. All of it. If Aria hadn’t begged for Lira’s life, Lira would be dead by now. And maybe I would’ve slept better tonight.But she was alive. In the cells beneath this very estate. Breathing the same air, only a few walls away. And that knowledge, made me feel sick to the stomach.I turned slowly, careful not to disturb Aria, who had only fallen asleep after an hour of toss
AriaLira and I had just turned twelve and I was to leave for New Moon Pack. I remember her forehead pressed against the glass window of the train I was on.“Dad says it’s for the best,” she whispered. “I’m gonna miss you.”I didn’t say anything then. What was there to say? I was going away to the New Moon Pack. She was going to stay behind and back then, I didn’t think much of it.I remembered every letter she ever wrote after that. The early ones were clumsy and hopeful. Descriptions of life in the pack. Then came the softer letters, more vague, more polished. Still hopeful, but distant. Like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince me.The last one she ever sent… I’d memorised every word.“I think I’ve found the one, Aria. They say mating marks don’t lie, and mine hasn’t faded. His name is Kol. He’s the Alpha. And he’s kind, Aria. He makes me feel powerful.”All a facade. Every one of them.Now I was standing at the edge of a memory turned nightmare,
LiraI was up all night, thinking about Aria and the time we spent before she left for school at the New Moon Pack. I remembered how I asked her how it was weird the way father was sending one of us to a whole different pack. She never really thought much of it. “Maybe dad has his reasons, who knows.” She had said.I asked her if she was scared about moving but she wasn’t. She was excited. The only thing that made her feel bad was that she was going to be leaving me behind. I wish she had said something then. I wish she had opposed our father. Maybe I wouldn’t have to do this— to become this monster.Now, I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. They were asking questions.It started with murmurs in the halls, stray whispers between maids, sidelong glances from advisors who didn’t dare speak too loudly, but it was growing. Boiling. Like a rabid infection.Where was Kol? Why had no one seen the Alpha for days, heading to weeks since the meeting? Why did the Luna suddenly walk the halls alone,
LiamI used to believe I was loyal. To Kol. To our pack. To the laws I’d bled for. But now, I am not sure anymore of who I am.I left the dungeon and the door banged behind me. Every step away from Aria and Kol felt like I was walking with bricks in my chest. I didn’t dare look back, because I knew if I did, I might turn around. And that… that would break everything.Aria was shocked at my revelation, even though she had once insinuated it. And the silence that followed was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard.I didn’t deny it. Because how could I?I’d spent years hiding it behind my duty to Kol and to the pack. I was Kol’s beta, his right hand, his shadow. I’d watched him take Luna after Luna, watched him smile at other people the way I’d only ever dreamed of. And now, now I was standing on the other side of him. With Lira.Lira, who promised me peace. Lira, who promised he’d never hurt me again if he was dead.But Aria’s voice stayed with me.“You don’t see what she’s becoming.”I mad