The moment Kael said the words, the forest responded.
A wind rose from nowhere, sweeping through the trees in a spiraling rush, lifting Aurelia's hair as if the night itself drew a breath. The moon overhead brightened unnaturally, full, silver, watching.
Almost… aware.
Aurelia stumbled back from Kael's massive form, her pulse frantic and uneven. "I don't belong here," she whispered, voice barely holding.
Draven's low laugh cut through the air, rough, sharp, undeniably hungry.
"Little human… you walked straight into our jaws."
Lucian stepped forward next, his violet eyes glowing faintly in the mist. He tilted his head, studying her with a strange mix of fascination and dread.
"She doesn't smell human anymore," he murmured. "Not with that mark."
Aurelia instinctively covered her wrist. "I didn't choose this," she snapped, her voice trembling. "I don't even know what it means!"
Rowan's midnight-blue gaze softened. He took a hesitant step closer, the youngest and least sure of them.
"That's the problem," he said quietly. "You're not supposed to know."
Kael didn't move. He watched her with that same icy authority, the forest seeming to bend around him.
"The moon called you," he said. "It doesn't make mistakes."
"But I'm human!" Aurelia insisted.
Kael's eyes hardened.
"Not anymore."
The mist thickened as if sealing the truth around them.
A heavy silence stretched until suddenly, Draven lunged.
Not to attack.
To test her.
His massive body circled Aurelia in a blur of amber and shadow. He brushed against her just barely, yet the touch stole her breath. Heat rushed through her blood, a strange pull tightening in her chest.
A bond tug.
Draven inhaled sharply.
"Kael… she reacts."
Lucian's voice was a whisper.
"So the prophecy wasn't a myth."
But Kael stepped between them suddenly, massive body blocking Draven with a warning snarl that shook the trees.
"Don't touch her."
Draven snapped back, baring teeth.
"Then control your fate-marked human."
Aurelia's heart slammed so hard she felt faint. "Stop, stop talking like I'm some, some object!"
Kael turned to her then, silver eyes colder than the moon.
"You are not an object."
He stepped closer.
The earth vibrated under each stride.
"You are a catalyst."
Aurelia's mouth went dry. "A catalyst for what?"
Lucian answered, not unkindly:
"For us. For the kingdom. For the curse."
Kael leaned down until his face was inches from hers. His presence swallowed the air.
"And now that we've scented you…"
His voice dropped, low, dangerous, irrevocable.
"…we cannot let you go."
Aurelia's knees buckled. Rowan caught her arm gently with his muzzle, steadying her before she fell. She jerked away, heat rushing unwelcome beneath her skin.
"Please…" she whispered. "Let me go home."
Kael's eyes flicked toward the distant human village, though it was invisible from here, as if he could see it through miles of forest.
"If you leave now," he said, "the other packs will scent you. The enemy kingdom will take you. And then…"
He paused.
Not for effect. For truth.
"They will start a war."
Aurelia felt the blood drain from her face.
Rowan spoke softly.
"Kael is telling the truth. You walking into this forest… it changes everything."
Aurelia took a shaky breath. "So what do you want with me?"
There was no hesitation when Kael answered.
"You will come to Blackthorn Castle."
Draven's amber eyes glinted with dark amusement.
"Where we can decide what to do with you."
Lucian added quietly:
"Where the full moon can tell us why it chose you."
Aurelia took a step back. Then another.
Kael's voice followed her, soft, final.
"You cannot outrun fate."
AurelIa turned… and ran.
Branches whipped past her. Roots tangled beneath her boots. Her lungs burned.
Behind her, four sets of paws struck the ground at once, so fast the air shook.
They didn't chase.
They hunted.
The moon broke through the clouds overhead, bathing everything in cold silver.
As Aurelia sprinted through the darkness, she heard Kael's voice rising from the forest behind her, deep, echoing, inescapable.
"Run if you want, Aurelia Vale."
"But tonight… the Shadow Princes run with you."