Aria couldn't sleep.
The vampire's words haunted her, looping in her mind like an incantation. You're a piece of something much older... and far more dangerous.
She stared at the ceiling of her room, the shadows outside her window dancing like ghosts. Her muscles ached from the intense training, but her heart throbbed with unanswered questions. Kael had walked away from her. Again. Always avoiding the truth when she needed it most.
She threw off the covers, pulled on a hoodie over her camisole, and slipped out of her room barefoot. The hall was quiet, the others already asleep. But Aria knew one person who wouldn't be.
She found Darian at the old well behind the training field, a place barely anyone visited anymore. The moonlight painted his sharp features in silver, his violet eyes glowing softly. His presence, as always, was magnetic — a calm stillness that both soothed and unnerved her.
"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked.
He turned toward her with a slight smile. "I heard what happened tonight."
"You were spying?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Darian chuckled. "I prefer the term concerned observer."
She joined him by the well, sitting on the edge. The night was cool, but his proximity warmed her.
"What do you know about the prophecy?" she asked.
Darian's smile faded. "Not as much as I should. But I know the wolves' version isn't the only one. There's a version the vampires whisper about. A bloodline... not just royal, but cursed. One meant to break the balance."
Aria looked at him sharply. "You think I'm part vampire?"
"I think," he said slowly, "that there are things inside you that even you don't understand. Magic older than wolf or fang."
She swallowed. That strange energy she'd felt during the fire, when she saved the child. The visions. The pull of the moon and the stars. Could it be something deeper than just her wolf?
"Kael knows something," she murmured.
"Of course he does," Darian said. "His father was the High Warden. They don't raise warriors like him without secrets."
She looked up at the stars, scattered like shattered ice across the sky. "I feel like I'm drowning in truths no one wants to tell me."
Darian reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. His touch lingered. "Then maybe it's time you stopped waiting for them to talk."
Aria's eyes met his. Something stirred between them — not the blazing fire she felt with Kael, but something slower, deeper. A warmth that threatened to unravel her.
She looked away, heart hammering. "Why are you really here, Darian?"
"To protect you," he said without hesitation. "And maybe... because I see you. Not as the prophecy's girl. Just you."
The moment stretched between them. But before Aria could reply, a deep howl split the night. Urgent. Warning.
She shot to her feet. "That's from the northern ridge."
Darian nodded, already moving. "Trouble."
They ran together, feet pounding the forest floor. The air smelled of blood and burnt fur.
When they arrived, chaos reigned. Two Crescent warriors lay injured. A third stood protectively in front of something... no, someone.
A girl.
Young, maybe thirteen, with pale skin and wild auburn hair. Her eyes were wide with terror, but what chilled Aria was the aura around her. Cold. Void.
Kael was already there, sword drawn, blood staining his shoulder.
"What happened?" Aria demanded.
"She appeared out of nowhere," Kael said. "She's not human. She took out two warriors without shifting. And when I tried to question her... she screamed."
The girl stood there trembling, eyes unfocused. Then she whispered, "They're coming. The Black Sun."
Silence fell.
Aria stepped forward. "Who?"
The girl looked up, locking eyes with her. "They want you. You're the key. If they find you... everything burns."
Suddenly, the girl collapsed.
Aria caught her just in time, cradling the girl's small frame. Her skin was ice-cold.
Darian placed two fingers on the girl's neck. "Alive. But barely."
Kael looked shaken. "The Black Sun... I've heard that name before. It's not just a threat. It's a cult. Old magic. Forgotten by most. They've been quiet for centuries."
"Why are they after me?" Aria whispered.
Kael looked at her then. Really looked. And something cracked in his expression — a mix of regret and fear.
"Because you're more than you think," he said. "And if the Black Sun finds you first, they'll use that power to destroy everything."
---
Back at the infirmary, the girl remained unconscious. Aria sat beside her, watching her shallow breathing.
Kael entered the room, blood cleaned from his skin, but his aura still stormy.
"You should rest," he said.
Aria didn't look up. "She knew my name. She knew about me. How?"
"Because the world knows now," Kael said. "The prophecy isn't just a whisper in the woods anymore. It's a fire. And it's spreading."
She turned to him. "You owe me the truth, Kael. All of it."
He hesitated, then closed the door behind him. When he faced her again, there was no armor in his eyes.
"Your mother wasn't just a healer," he began. "She was part of an ancient order called the Moonbound. They were guardians of balance, beings who carried both light and shadow. Half shifter, half something else. Magic tied to the lunar cycles. The Black Sun wiped them out years ago."
Aria's throat tightened. "And me?"
"You're the last living Moonbound. The only one left."
Silence choked the room.
Aria stood slowly. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Kael stepped forward. "Because knowing would have painted a target on your back even sooner. Because I wanted to protect you."
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "You should have trusted me."
"I do now," he said. His voice softened. "More than anyone."
A long silence stretched between them before she nodded once, turning back to the girl.
Kael lingered a moment longer before quietly leaving.
As the door shut behind him, Aria whispered to the unconscious girl, "Then I guess it's time I stop running from who I am."
Outside, the moon burned brighter.
And far away, cloaked in ritual and fire, the cult of the Black Sun began to chant her name.