Chapter 6: Bloodlines

POV: Aria

I wake to voices, not in my room but somewhere close, just beyond the wall.

I sit up slowly with my head still fuzzy from sleep that didn't come easy. All night I'd felt his lips on my throat, heard his voice saying little mate, remembered the way my body had responded to him even when my mind screamed to run.

The voices get louder.

I slide out of bed with my bare feet silent on the marble floor and press my ear against the wall.

"She cannot be allowed to live."

My breath catches.

"The law is clear," another voice says, older and male. "Hybrids are forbidden. Have been for three centuries."

"She doesn't even know what she is," a woman responds with a gentler tone but still firm. "Killing her for something she had no control over seems..."

"The law doesn't care about control," the first voice cuts in, sharp and angry. "She exists. That alone is enough."

My heart starts hammering against my ribs.

They're talking about me, about killing me.

I look around the room frantically for another way to hear them better, to understand what's happening.

The fireplace.

Old houses like this, William's had been similar, sometimes the chimneys connected and carried sound between rooms.

I kneel by the hearth where the fire has burned down to embers and lean in carefully, tilting my head.

The voices come through clearer now.

"Test results confirmed it this morning." A new voice, clinical and detached. "She carries both Lycan and witch bloodlines. The combination is unstable. Dangerous."

"How dangerous?" the woman asks.

"The last recorded hybrid went mad at twenty-three," the clinical voice responds. "Killed seventeen pack members before they put her down. The one before that burned an entire village. They're abominations. Their magic corrupts their wolf, or their wolf corrupts their magic. Either way, they become monsters."

No. That's not... I'm not...

"Then we execute her before that happens." The first voice again, certain and final. "Today. Quietly. The King needn't even know until it's done."

"You think he won't notice?" Someone laughs, bitter. "He can probably smell her from across the territory. He'll know the second her heart stops."

"Then we make it look like an accident."

"There are no accidents with fated mates, Aldric. He'll tear the kingdom apart looking for who killed her."

Aldric. The one who wants me dead most.

"Better the kingdom than letting a hybrid live," Aldric says. "We have laws for a reason. The King's father implemented them after the Burning. We all remember what happened when hybrids were allowed to exist freely."

"That was different..."

"It wasn't." Aldric's voice rises. "They were allowed to live, to breed, to spread their corruption. And what happened? War. Death. The near extinction of our kind. King Malachai was right to ban them. And his son knows it, even if his cock is currently overruling his brain."

Several people make shocked sounds.

"Watch your tongue," the woman snaps. "That's your King you're speaking about."

"It's the truth. We all know it. He's being controlled by the mate pull, by his cursed beast that finally found something to latch onto. But he's not thinking clearly. We have to think for him."

"By killing his mate?" someone asks incredulously.

"By protecting the kingdom."

Silence falls and I press my hand over my mouth. My whole body trembles.

They're going to kill me, discussing it right now like I'm a problem to solve, like I'm not a person, like my life means nothing compared to their laws.

"What if we exile her instead?" the woman suggests. "Send her back to human lands. Let her live out her life there, away from our territory."

"She'll still be a hybrid, still dangerous. And what happens when her powers manifest fully? When she loses control in a human village? We'll be responsible for those deaths."

"Then we suppress her powers. There are rituals..."

"That might kill her anyway. And even if they work, the King will never allow it."

"Then what do you suggest? We can't kill her. We can't exile her. We can't suppress her powers. What option does that leave?"

"We do what's necessary," Aldric says. "Before he claims her fully. Before the mate bond is complete. It's easier to break a partial bond than a full one."

"Easier? It'll still destroy him."

"He survived it once before."

"Barely. The curse..."

"Will consume him eventually anyway," Aldric interrupts. "At least this way, the kingdom survives. We can find him a suitable mate, a proper Lycan, someone strong enough to handle his beast without being an abomination herself."

My nails dig into my palms.

Abomination. Monster. Dangerous.

Is that what I am?

The dreams I've had my whole life flash through my mind. Running as a wolf. The way my birthmark burns. The strange things that happened sometimes when I was angry or scared, doors slamming without wind, candles lighting without flame, William's chair breaking under him the day he hit me hardest.

I'd always thought I was imagining it, but what if I wasn't? What if they're right?

"The council convenes in one hour," Aldric says. "We'll present our case then. Show the King the test results. Explain the law. Make him understand that his feelings for this girl don't supersede three centuries of precedent."

"And if he refuses?"

"Then we invoke the old law, the one that allows the council to override the King in matters of kingdom security."

Gasps echo through the chimney.

"You would go that far?" the woman asks with her voice shaking.

"I would do whatever is necessary to protect our people, even from their King."

Footsteps move away and the voices fade.

I stay kneeling by the fireplace with my whole body trembling.

One hour before they convene, before they decide my fate, before they convince Valerian to let me die or force him to.

My mind races. Running means picking the lock again, fighting past the guards, making it to the forest, but then what? I don't know this territory or where the borders are. Even if I escape, they'd hunt me down.

Begging means throwing myself at Valerian's feet and pleading for my life, but would it matter? He's a King and his kingdom comes first. He said it himself last night, he rejected his first mate because of a prophecy. What's to stop him from rejecting me because of a law?

I stand on shaking legs and walk to the wardrobe, finding the darkest, simplest dress I can. Black with long sleeves and a high neck. My hands fumble with the buttons as I dress quickly.

If I'm going to die, I won't do it in silk nightgowns and gilded rooms.

I'll face them and make them look at me while they decide to kill me. I'll show them I'm not afraid.

Even though I am.

Even though my heart hammers so hard it hurts.

Even though every instinct screams to hide, to run, to do anything except walk toward the people who want me dead.

The thought settles somewhere deep in my chest, heavy and cold.

I've survived so much. William's fists, his cruelty, the rogues in the forest. And now I'm going to die because of blood I didn't choose, because of what I am instead of who I am.

The door unlocks and I spin around.

Kova enters with her face tight with worry and stops when she sees me already dressed.

"You heard," she says quietly. Not a question.

"The chimney carries sound."

"Aria..."

"Are they right?" I interrupt. "About hybrids. About what I am. Am I dangerous?"

Kova's eyes fill with something that looks like pity. "I don't know. The records are old and contradictory. Some say hybrids were peaceful. Others say they were monsters. The truth is probably somewhere in between."

"But they're going to kill me anyway."

"They're going to try."

"And Valerian?" I force myself to ask. "Will he let them?"

Kova's silence is answer enough.

The laugh that comes out of me sounds broken. "Of course. He's a King. His kingdom matters more than one hybrid girl he barely knows."

"You're his mate..."

"He rejected his last mate!" The words explode out of me. "He told me himself. She died from it. Why would I be different?"

"Because he's different now," Kova says urgently and moves closer. "Twenty years ago, he was afraid, young, still trying to prove himself as King. But he's not that person anymore. The curse changed him. Losing Saskia changed him. And finding you..." She grabs my hands. "Finding you gave him something he thought he'd lost forever. He won't give that up easily."

"But he might give it up."

Kova's grip tightens. "I won't lie to you. The council has power. The law is clear. If they invoke the old protocols, Valerian will have to at least hear them out. But that doesn't mean he'll agree. It doesn't mean he'll let them hurt you."

"You sound very uncertain for someone trying to comfort me."

"I'm being honest. That's better than false hope." She releases my hands. "The council convenes in the throne room in forty minutes. You're expected to attend."

"So they can execute me in front of everyone?"

"So you can defend yourself."

I stare at her. "How am I supposed to defend myself against three centuries of law?"

"By being you. By showing them you're not a monster. By making them see you as a person instead of a problem." Kova's eyes are fierce now. "And by trusting that your mate won't let them hurt you."

"I don't trust him."

"Maybe not. But he trusts himself. And he believes you're worth saving. I saw it in his eyes last night when he brought you here, when he held you like you were the most precious thing in the world." She moves to the door. "Forty minutes, Aria. Use them to decide who you want to be when you walk into that room. The frightened girl they expect? Or the woman who slapped a King and lived to tell about it."

She leaves and the lock turns.

Forty minutes alone with my thoughts.

I walk to the mirror and look at myself. Dark auburn hair tangled from sleep, violet-grey eyes too wide, face pale. The black dress makes me look like I'm already in mourning.

Maybe I am.

I lift my chin and force my shoulders back.

Kova is right. If I'm going to die, I'll do it on my feet, looking them in the eyes, showing them I'm not afraid.

Even if I am.