The howl came again.
Closer.
Wrong.
It wasn't wolf. It wasn't vampire. It carried a distorted echo — something twisted by dark magic.
Ariana's blood ran cold.
"Behind me," Jayden ordered instantly.
This time she didn't argue.
The twins pressed against her, but their energy was already reacting — flickering under their skin like trapped lightning.
The trees shuddered.
And then they emerged.
Three creatures — once vampires, now warped into something feral. Their eyes were hollow voids, their veins blackened, mouths twisted with unnatural hunger.
Lucien hadn't come alone.
"They're not here to test," Ariana whispered.
"No," Jayden said, voice going lethal. "They're here to take."
The first creature lunged.
Jayden moved faster than sight.
He collided with it midair, slamming it into stone so hard the ruins cracked. Golden power exploded from him in a blinding wave.
The forest shook.
The twins gasped.
The second creature darted toward Ariana — too fast.
She threw up a shield, but the impact sent her skidding backward. Pain flared up her spine.
"Ariana!" Jayden's voice tore through the clearing.
The third creature broke past him.
Straight toward the twins.
Time slowed.
The older twin tried to raise their hands — light flickered weakly.
The creature struck.
Ariana screamed.
Jayden moved.
He didn't run.
He teleported — a violent flash of gold and fury.
He caught the creature by the throat inches from the twins and ripped it away with a roar that didn't sound entirely human.
But it was too late.
The younger twin crumpled.
Blood stained the forest floor.
Everything stopped.
Ariana dropped to her knees instantly, gathering the child into her arms.
"No, no, no—"
The wound wasn't deep — but it was wrong. The dark magic in the creature's claws sizzled against the child's skin.
Jayden turned slowly.
Something inside him snapped.
The air around him thickened.
The golden glow in his eyes deepened — no longer warm.
Blazing.
Primal.
The remaining creatures hesitated.
They should have run.
They didn't get the chance.
Jayden didn't fight them.
He annihilated them.
Power erupted from him in a violent shockwave, cracking stone, splitting trees, burning away shadow like sunlight through rot.
He tore through them with bare hands and raw energy, every movement fueled by something ancient and unrestrained.
When it ended, nothing remained but ash.
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Breathing hard, Jayden turned back toward Ariana.
And froze.
She was cradling the injured twin, tears streaking her face.
The other twin knelt beside them, shaking.
Jayden's fury vanished instantly.
He crossed the distance in seconds and dropped beside them.
"Move," he said softly.
Ariana hesitated.
Then she saw his expression.
Not rage.
Not dominance.
Desperation.
She shifted slightly.
Jayden placed his hand gently over the wound.
The moment his skin touched the child's…
The world changed.
Golden light surged — not violent this time.
Gentle.
Resonant.
Healing.
The dark magic hissed and dissolved under his touch like frost beneath sun.
The child's breathing steadied.
Color returned to their cheeks.
Ariana stared.
The twin's small fingers instinctively wrapped around Jayden's wrist.
And the energy didn't clash.
It aligned.
Perfectly.
Jayden's breath caught.
The bond was undeniable now.
He felt it fully — not just power.
Connection.
Blood.
The child opened their eyes slowly.
And whispered one word.
"Father."
The forest seemed to collapse inward.
Ariana's heart stopped.
Jayden went completely still.
He hadn't taught them that word.
He had never claimed it.
But instinct had.
The other twin looked up at him too — eyes wide, shining with recognition that children shouldn't possess.
"You feel like home," they said quietly.
Jayden's composure shattered.
He looked at Ariana.
Really looked at her.
And this time, there was no confusion.
Only devastation.
"They're mine," he said hoarsely.
It wasn't anger.
It wasn't accusation.
It was realization breaking him open from the inside.
Ariana couldn't speak.
Five years of silence collapsed in her throat.
Jayden stood slowly.
Then stepped back.
As if the ground beneath him wasn't stable anymore.
"You were pregnant," he said quietly.
She closed her eyes.
"Yes."
"For five years."
"Yes."
His jaw clenched — but his voice never rose.
"You let me search for you."
Her chest cracked open.
"I was protecting them."
"From me?"
"Yes!" she cried, finally breaking. "From what you are. From what your bloodline means. From the council. From the prophecy. From this!"
She gestured at the destroyed clearing.
Jayden ran a hand through his hair, pacing once before stopping.
"And you thought I wouldn't protect them?"
Tears streamed down her face.
"I thought if you knew… they would become targets."
"They already are."
The truth settled between them like ash.
The older twin stood slowly and walked toward Jayden.
Small.
Brave.
They slipped their hand into his.
He looked down at it.
His throat worked.
"You left," Ariana whispered. "After graduation. You were already being pulled into vampire politics. If they knew you had human twins—"
"I would have burned the world down to keep them safe."
The conviction in his voice shook the air.
She believed him.
That was the problem.
The injured twin tugged gently on his coat.
"Don't fight," they said softly.
Jayden dropped to his knees again.
This time not as a warrior.
But as a father.
He pulled both twins into his arms carefully, almost reverently.
His shoulders shook once.
Just once.
Ariana had never seen him break before.
Five years of distance.
Five years of loss.
And now this.
He looked up at her over the twins' heads.
"You carried them alone," he said quietly.
"Yes."
"You almost died."
She didn't answer.
His eyes darkened.
"You don't get to decide alone anymore."
There was no dominance in it now.
Only claim.
Family.
The wind shifted again.
But this time, Ariana felt something else.
A pulse low in her abdomen.
Faint.
Alive.
Jayden stiffened slightly — his senses too sharp.
His gaze dropped unconsciously to her stomach.
Then back to her face.
"Ariana…" he said slowly.
Her breath hitched.
Not now.
Not yet.
But the prophecy echoed in her mind.
The twins are the beginning.
The third carries power.
Jayden's expression shifted subtly.
"You're hiding something else."
She swallowed.
The twins clung to him.
The forest stood silent around them.
And for the first time in five years…
They were standing together.
As something more than lovers.
More than enemies.
More than prophecy.
A family.
But the war was only beginning.
And somewhere beyond the trees, the vampire council had felt the shift.