Chapter 6:The Betrayal Behind the Door

The vision suddenly trembled, the air warping around us like heatwaves. My mother looked directly into my eyes. For one terrifying moment, I felt as though she could actually see me standing there across the veil of time.

“Aria, if you're hearing this, it means the mark has awakened.” She reached a hand out toward me. “Do not trust the bond. Do not trust the prophecy. And whatever happens, never allow Kieran to—”

A loud crash interrupted her.

The vision shattered like glass.

I fell backward onto the bed, gasping wildly for air. My wrist burned as if branded by fire. The pendant slipped from my trembling fingers, clattering against the nightstand.

I stared at the ceiling, my chest heaving. My mother had been alive in that memory. Kieran's father had been there. And my mother had used her final breaths in that warning to terrify me.

Do not trust the bond.

I pressed my palms against my burning face. What is happening to me?

Deep inside my mind, my wolf stirred, restless and frantic.

We need to leave.

I swallowed hard. Why?

Because they are coming.

A sudden knock sounded at the door.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat. “Aria?”

It was Selene.

I quickly snatched the pendant off the mattress and hid it beneath my pillow. “Come in.”

The door pushed open, and Selene stepped inside, carrying a small tray with food and a bottle of water. “You look terrible.”

“Thank you. That's exactly what every girl wants to hear.”

She placed the tray on the bedside table and pulled up a chair. “I heard about what happened in the cafeteria today. Half the academy thinks you're some kind of ancient monster.”

“Wonderful.”

“And the other half thinks Kieran is going to rip apart anyone who even looks at you.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Also wonderful.”

Selene leaned closer, lowering her voice. “Can I ask you something?”

“Depends.”

“Is it true?”

I looked at her, exhausted. “What's true?”

“That Kieran Ravencroft is your mate.”

I stared fixedly at the wall. “Yes.”

Her jaw dropped. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and then opened it again. “Moon Goddess.”

“Please don't start.”

“Aria, do you even understand what that means?”

“It means I have a massive problem.”

Selene shook her head. “It's more than that. Kieran has never acknowledged a mate before. There were rumors he rejected several high-ranking girls who tried to get close to him, but nobody ever expected him to find his actual fated match.”

“Maybe the Goddess made a mistake.”

Selene looked dead serious. “Fated bonds don't happen by mistake.”

I looked down instinctively at my covered wrist. “Then why does mine feel so wrong?”

Selene followed my gaze, and her expression instantly shifted. “Where did you get that mark?”

I quickly pulled my sleeve down over it. “It's nothing.”

“Aria"

“Selene, I said it's nothing.”

She studied my face for a long moment, realizing I wouldn't budge, and wisely decided not to push. Instead, she changed the subject in a hushed whisper.

“You should know something else about this academy. There are places students are strictly forbidden to enter: the old library basement, the eastern tower, and the abandoned chapel beyond the training grounds.”

“Why?”

“Because strange things happen there. Students have gone missing over the years. Some were eventually found wandering the grounds with no memory of their names, and others never came back at all.”

I thought instantly of the rogue who had attacked me in the cafeteria. “Do you think the attacks are connected?”

“I don't know. But if you ask me, Blackthorn has way too many dark secrets.”

She has no idea, I thought bitterly.

That evening, Darius returned, accompanied by a doctor.

The woman introduced herself as Dr. Evelyn Shaw, one of the academy's senior physicians. She examined my wrist, checked my heartbeat, and asked a battery of questions about what had happened during the attack.

When her fingers brushed against the silver mark beneath my skin, she instantly pulled her hand back as if burned.

“Interesting,” she murmured.

I frowned. “What is?”

She exchanged a quick, guarded look with Darius. I caught it immediately.

“Why do people here keep doing that?” I snapped.

“Doing what?” Dr. Shaw asked smoothly.

“Looking at each other instead of answering my questions.”

Dr. Shaw offered a polite, practiced smile. “Your body experienced an unusual energy surge today. We simply need to monitor you for a few days.”

“Is that all?”

“For now.”

She packed her equipment and turned toward Darius. “I need to speak with you privately.”

“No,” I said, sitting upright.

Both of them looked at me in surprise.

“If you're discussing my body, my health, or anything happening to me, I have a right to hear it.”

Darius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Aria.”

“Don't.”

Dr. Shaw hesitated, then set her medical bag back down on the table. “Your blood reacted strangely during the examination. There are traces of an energy signature I have never encountered in an ordinary wolf.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning your wolf may not be ordinary at all.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “I already figured that out.”

The doctor looked at Darius again. “Has she experienced any unusual dreams or visions lately?”

I froze.

Darius noticed the micro-reaction instantly. “Aria?”

I looked away, staring stubbornly at the wall. “No.”

It was a lie. I didn't fully know why I lied, but a deep instinct told me I shouldn't reveal the memory of my mother or Lucien Ravencroft.

Dr. Shaw gathered her things and headed for the door. “I'll return tomorrow.”

After she left, Darius sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “You're hiding something from me.”

“So are you.”

He didn't even try to deny it.

I looked him dead in the eye. “Tell me about the First Moon.”

His expression changed instantly, hardening into stone. “Where did you hear that name?”

“The rogue said it. Kieran mentioned it. And now my own body is reacting to something connected to it.”

Darius stood up and walked over to the window, staring out into the dark. “The First Moon was the original bloodline. Before the packs were ever divided, there was only one kingdom.”

“What happened to it?”

“A war.”

“Between whom?”

He turned back to face me. “Your ancestors and the wolves who wanted to steal their power.”

I waited for him to continue, but he remained silent.

“That's all?”

“It's what you need to know for now.”

I shook my head in frustration. “You're doing it again.”

“Aria, some truths are too dangerous to carry.”

“Then perhaps I should know them before they actually get me killed!”

Darius stared at me for a long, heavy moment. Finally, he whispered, “Your mother made me promise never to let you discover the truth.”

My throat tightened. “My mother?”

He nodded slowly. “She knew something was coming. Before she disappeared, she made me swear an oath that I would keep you away from any First Moon records.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

“You were there! You were with her!”

“I was a child, Aria!” His voice finally broke, raw and desperate. “I was barely old enough to understand what was happening. One night, our parents disappeared into thin air. The next morning, I was told I had to protect you at all costs. I did everything I could.”

Heavy silence filled the room.

I had never truly considered what those terrifying years had done to him. Darius had lost our parents too. He had carried that burden alone.

But that still didn't mean he had the right to decide how much of the truth I could handle.

My expression softened slightly. “I know you were trying to protect me.”

He looked at me, weary.

“But you can't keep doing it this way,” I continued, my voice steady. “I'm not twelve years old anymore.”

Darius nodded slowly, the fight draining out of him. “I know.”

For the first time, I actually believed he understood.

Then he added, “Just... stay away from Kieran.”

I closed my eyes in defeat. “Darius...”

“I mean it.”

“Goodnight.”

He stood there for a moment longer before turning and walking out the door.

Long after midnight, I was still wide awake.

The silver pendant rested quietly on the bedside table. I couldn't stop thinking about my mother's final warning echoing in my mind: Never let them complete the bond.

I knew Kieran was dangerous. I knew his family was inextricably linked to my parents' disappearance. And I knew the bond between us was doing something terrifying and unnatural to my body.

Yet there was one question that kept haunting me: If Kieran was supposed to kill me, why had he saved me? Why had he protected me during the attack? And why did something deep inside me feel strangely, irrationally safe whenever he was near?

I hated that question. I hated even more that I desperately wanted to know the answer.

Suddenly, a soft, scraping sound came from the window.

I sat bolt upright.

My bedroom was on the second floor, yet a dark, shadowy figure stood on the narrow balcony outside, watching me steadily through the glass.

I reached blindly for the bedside lamp.

Before I could flick the switch, the figure raised one hand. A silver object glinted sharply between his fingers.

My mother's pendant.

I looked down frantically at the bedside table. It was gone.

My breath caught in my throat.

The figure smiled, a cold, mocking curve of his lips. Then, he slowly pressed his palm against the glass of the balcony door.

Beneath his hand, a black symbol flared to life against the glass—the exact same symbol I had seen on the rogue's shoulder.

My wolf began growling furiously inside my mind:

Aria, don't open that door.

I scrambled backward away from the window. But the figure's voice didn't come from outside; it echoed directly inside my head.

Your mother is waiting.

I froze. “What?”

His smile widened in the dark. Come to the eastern tower before the next moonrise, little First Moon.

In a blur of motion, the balcony was empty.

I rushed to the window and ripped back the curtains, sliding the glass door open.

Nothing.

No footprints in the dust. No broken glass. Only the dark, glowing symbol slowly fading from the surface of the glass.

My hands trembled violently. I turned toward the bedroom door, knowing I needed to find Darius immediately.

Before I could take a single step, my phone vibrated loudly on the nightstand.

An unknown number.

I snatched it up and opened the message:

UNKNOWN NUMBER: If you want to know what really happened to your parents, stop trusting your brother.

A second message flashed onto the screen a second later:

UNKNOWN NUMBER: And stay away from Kieran Ravencroft. He is not the only one who has been ordered to kill you.

I stared at the screen in mounting horror. Then, a final message appeared:

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Your brother has already made his choice.

My stomach plummeted into an abyss.

I slowly turned back toward the bedroom door. Someone was standing right on the other side. I could hear the faint sound of their breathing against the wood.

Then, Darius's voice came through, muffled and urgent.

“Aria, open the door. We need to talk.”

My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles turned white. The message had come from an unknown number, warning me not to trust him.

And the final words of the warning echoed relentlessly in my brain:

He knows you're awake.

Somehow, deep down, I knew the person outside my bedroom wasn't there to protect me. He was there to make sure I never discovered the truth.