Aurelia's breath felt too loud in her own ears.
The room seemed smaller, heavier, as if the very walls sensed what Lucian had revealed. Moonfire. A bond that had already begun. A prophecy she never asked for. Four princes watching her like she carried the key to their ruin or salvation.
And Kael's voice still echoed through her bones.
This is only the beginning.
Aurelia stepped back until her calves touched the bed. She didn't sit. She couldn't. Every instinct screamed at her to run again, but another instinct, unfamiliar and unwelcome, kept her frozen where she stood.
Kael was the first to move.
He stepped closer, slow and deliberate, until the moonlight cast the angle of his jaw in sharp silver. His eyes, cold as winter and twice as merciless, never left hers.
"You will not run from us again," he said quietly.
Aurelia swallowed hard. "You don't command me."
His gaze dropped to her throat, to the rapid pulse fluttering there, then lifted again. "That bond pull you felt. It will get stronger. Much stronger. Running could get you killed."
"Or pulled right back to us," Draven murmured from behind Kael, sounding far too pleased.
Lucian exhaled. "We should explain it properly. She has a right to know."
Rowan stepped forward. "Aurelia, your scent awakened something ancient. Something that has only appeared in wolves strong enough to shift kingdoms. The Moonfire always chooses one human girl and four wolves."
Aurelia blinked. "Four? Always four?"
Lucian nodded. "Always."
Her breath caught. "And… you think it's you?"
Draven's smirk deepened. "Oh, little flame. The moment you stepped into our forest, our wolves nearly tore each other apart for the right to get close to you. You think that happens to anyone?"
Kael shot him a warning glance, but he didn't deny it.
Aurelia forced herself to breathe. "I didn't ask for any of this."
"No one ever does," Lucian said softly.
Kael's voice cut through the tension. "She needs space. And answers. One at a time. Not whatever chaos the three of you are doing."
Rowan looked down, chastened. Lucian lifted his hands in surrender. Draven rolled his eyes.
Then Kael turned back to Aurelia.
"Come with me."
She hesitated. "Why?"
"Because if I leave you alone with Draven, he will make you more afraid. If I leave you with Lucian, he will ask too many questions. And Rowan…" His eyes flickered toward the youngest prince. "He gets attached too fast."
Rowan flushed.
Aurelia frowned. "And you? What do you do?"
Kael's gaze held hers for a long, unreadable moment.
"I tell you the truth."
Something tightened in her chest.
Reluctantly, she followed him.
He pushed the door open, letting the cold corridor air rush in, carrying the smell of stone, snow, and something distinctly him. Kael walked ahead, silent and sure, his presence commanding the castle around him.
Aurelia could feel Draven's gaze burning into her back as she left the room. Rowan's worry. Lucian's questions.
But Kael… Kael's silence pressed against her skin like a second heartbeat.
They walked down a long, torch-lit corridor until Kael finally spoke.
"How much do you remember from the forest?"
Aurelia wrapped her arms around herself. "The trees moved. The wind felt alive. And the moment your wolves appeared, it was like everything stopped breathing."
Kael nodded once. "The forest responds to Moonfire before wolves do. It recognized you first."
Aurelia shivered.
"And the pull I felt… that warmth in my chest?"
Kael stopped walking.
He turned toward her fully, his face still carved in shadow, but his eyes steady.
"That was the beginning of the bond claiming you."
Aurelia stepped back.
Kael didn't move.
"Listen carefully," he said softly. "We will not touch you without your consent. Not now. Not ever."
Aurelia blinked in surprise.
"But the bond will make things feel intense. Stronger than anything you've known. Attraction. Anger. Fear. All of it sharpens."
Her breath hitched. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you deserve to be prepared." He paused, jaw tightening. "And because you deserve someone who tells you the truth instead of circling you like wolves in heat."
Aurelia's cheeks warmed unexpectedly.
Kael's gaze lowered for a brief moment, taking her in, slowly, carefully. Not like Draven's hungry stare. Not like Lucian's curiosity. Not like Rowan's awe. Kael looked at her like he was forcing himself to keep a wall up between them.
"Earlier," Kael said, his voice dropping, "when you felt that warmth… did it hurt?"
Aurelia shook her head. "No. It felt… wrong. And right. Like something inside me woke up without my permission."
Kael exhaled. "That's exactly what it was."
He started walking again, and Aurelia hurried to match his steps.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"To the west balcony," Kael answered. "You need air. And space. And somewhere that makes you feel safer."
They stepped out onto a wide stone balcony overlooking the entire Shadow Forest. The moon hung full and white above them, casting the trees in silver fire.
Aurelia rested her hands on the cold railing and inhaled deeply.
Kael stood behind her, close but not touching.
His presence wrapped around her like armor.
She didn't know whether it comforted or frightened her.
"Why do you keep your distance?" she whispered.
For the first time, Kael hesitated.
Then he said quietly, "Because the Moonfire bond affects us too. And I refuse to let instinct make decisions for me."
Aurelia's heart pounded.
"So you feel it too? The pull?"
Kael's jaw tightened. His voice was barely a breath.
"More than I want to."
Aurelia turned around slowly.
He hadn't moved.
He stood only a breath away now, close enough that she could smell the cold on his skin, the faint scent of pine and steel. His eyes were colder than the moon, but the heat beneath them was undeniable.
"Kael…" she whispered.
He inhaled sharply.
For a moment, the air thickened between them, charged with something dangerous and magnetic. Kael's gaze dropped to her lips, flicked away, then returned stubbornly to her eyes.
He was fighting something.
Hard.
"You shouldn't look at me like that," he said softly.
"How am I looking at you?" she asked, breath trembling.
"Like you want me to do something I cannot do."
Aurelia's pulse throbbed in her throat.
"And what is it you cannot do?" she pressed gently.
Kael stepped even closer, until the front of her body brushed the solid heat of his chest. His breath ghosted across her cheek. His voice dropped, rougher than she had ever heard.
"Aurelia, if I touch you while the bond is awakening, it will not be gentle. It will not be slow. It will not be something either of us can control."
Her knees weakened.
Kael caught her elbow before she could stumble, his grip firm but careful. The touch sent a spark up her arm, a shiver that rushed straight through her chest.
Aurelia inhaled sharply.
Kael cursed under his breath and pulled his hand back like her skin burned him.
"Do you see?" he whispered. "This is why I warned you."
Aurelia looked up at him, heart racing.
"Then teach me," she said softly. "Explain what I'm supposed to feel. What this bond is going to do to me."
Kael froze.
"Aurelia…"
She stepped closer.
Not touching.
Just close enough to test him.
Close enough to feel the air shift between them.
"I want to understand," she whispered. "I want you to tell me why I feel like I can't breathe when you look at me."
Kael's breath hitched.
He pressed a hand against the stone beside her head, trapping her gently without touching her skin.
His forehead lowered to hers.
Still not touching.
Barely a breath apart.
"The bond amplifies everything," he murmured. "Your heartbeat. Your desire. Your fear. It will make you crave touch more intensely than anyone else in the world."
Aurelia swallowed hard.
"And you?" she whispered. "What does it do to you?"
Kael's voice came out low, almost tortured.
"It makes me want you in ways I should not."
Aurelia's breath stuttered.
The moonlight wrapped them in silver silence, her body pressed between the cold stone and the heat of his presence, the tension thick enough to taste.
Kael exhaled shakily and forced himself to step back.
The loss of his heat made her gasp before she could stop it.
His eyes darkened.
"That reaction," he said quietly, "is the bond."
Aurelia's heart hammered painfully.
"Then what happens next?" she asked.
Kael's gaze held hers.
"Next," he said softly, "I protect you from the others. And from myself."
Aurelia opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but a low growl echoed from the corridor behind them.
Draven.
Kael's eyes closed briefly.
"Your scent changed again," he said. "He felt it."
Aurelia stiffened. "What do you mean?"
Kael turned toward the doorway, voice sharpening.
"It means Draven felt the shift in your heartbeat. And he thinks it belongs to him."
Aurelia's pulse skittered.
Kael whispered one last warning, voice rough.
"Stay behind me. Whatever he says, whatever he wants, do not let him touch you."
Aurelia's breath caught.
"Why?"
Kael stepped in front of her, shoulders broad and tense.
"Because Draven is not as patient as I am."
The shadows near the doorway thickened.
Amber eyes appeared first.
Hungry. Burning.
Draven stepped into the doorway with a slow, predatory smile.
"Aurelia," he purred. "I felt you."
Kael growled low in his throat.
A storm was about to break.
And Aurelia realized something terrifying.
Kael was right.
This was only the beginning.