Aria's POV
I stared at my palm in the dim light of my room.
No cut. No blood. No proof that I'd sliced my hand open just minutes ago.
My heart hammered against my ribs. This wasn't normal. Humans didn't heal like this. Even werewolves took hours to heal from deep cuts.
What was happening to me?
A sharp knock on my door made me jump.
Aria! Lyanna's voice dripped with false sweetness. Father wants you downstairs. Now.
I shoved the photograph under my pillow and opened the door. Lyanna stood there with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
He's waiting in his study, she said. Don't keep him waiting. You know how he gets. She leaned closer, her breath hot against my ear. Maybe he'll finally tell you the truth about what you really are.
Before I could ask what she meant, she was gone, her laughter echoing down the hallway.
What I really am? What did that mean?
I walked downstairs on shaking legs. Each step felt heavier than the last. Marcus's study door stood open, waiting like a mouth ready to swallow me whole.
He sat behind his desk, fingers pressed together, watching me with those cold, calculating eyes.
Close the door, he said.
I did. The click of the lock felt like a death sentence.
Sit.
I looked around. There was no chair except the one he sat in.
There's nowhere to
Then stand, he interrupted. It doesn't matter. You won't be here long anyway.
My stomach twisted. I stayed standing.
Why not Lyanna? The question burst out of me before I could stop it. If this marriage is so important for peace, why not send your real daughter?
Marcus's laugh was sharp and cruel. It cut through the air like broken glass.
Lyanna is valuable. She has alpha blood, breeding, training. She will marry someone worthy. He looked at me like I was dirt on his shoe. You are none of those things. You're barely human.
Barely human. Those words hit me like a slap.
What does that mean? My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
It means, Marcus said slowly, that you serve a purpose. Finally. After twenty-two years of being utterly useless, you can do something for this pack.
He stood and walked to the window, hands clasped behind his back.
Alpha Kael Thorne is dangerous. Unpredictable. He's been at war with Silvercrest for ten years. Hundreds have died. He turned to face me. But he's agreed to a truce. All he wants in exchange is a bride.
Why does he want a bride? I asked. Why not just sign a treaty?
Marcus's smile was cold. That's not your concern. Your concern is doing exactly what I tell you. You'll marry him. You'll be obedient. And maybe just maybe you'll survive.
I won't do it. The words came out stronger than I felt. I won't marry a monster.
Marcus moved faster than I expected. One second he was by the window. The next, he was in front of me, his hand gripping my chin hard enough to bruise.
You have no choice, he hissed. You have no money. No family. No pack that wants you. I could throw you out right now, and you'd be dead within a week.
His grip tightened. I couldn't breathe.
Do you know what happens to lone humans in werewolf territory? They become prey. Toys. They don't last long. He released me suddenly, and I stumbled back. So you'll marry Kael Thorne. And you'll be grateful I'm giving you this chance.
My jaw ached where he'd grabbed me. But worse than the pain was the truth in his words. He was right. I had nowhere to go. No one who would help me.
I was trapped.
What's he like? I whispered. Alpha Thorne?
Marcus returned to his desk, already dismissing me.
Brutal. Merciless. They say he killed his own father in a challenge and didn't even wait for the body to cool before taking the alpha position. He shuffled some papers. Stay quiet. Stay obedient. Maybe he'll keep you alive.
And if he doesn't?
Marcus looked up at me with empty eyes. Then you served your purpose anyway. Get out.
I ran.
Up the stairs, down the hallway, into my room. I slammed the door and locked it, even though I knew the lock was useless. If Marcus wanted in, he'd break it down.
Three days. I had three days of freedom left.
I pulled the photograph from under my pillow. The silver-haired woman smiled up at me, frozen in time, forever kind.
Who are you? I whispered to her. Why do you look like me? What am I?
Marcus's words echoed in my mind. Barely human.
Lyanna's whisper. What you really are.
My healed hand. The strange feeling inside me, like something waking up.
I pressed the photograph to my chest.
Help me, I begged. Please. I don't know what to do. I don't know what I am. I don't want to die.
The room went cold again. So cold I could see my breath.
The window rattled. Outside, dark storm clouds rolled in from nowhere, turning the bright morning sky black. Wind howled.
And the photograph in my hands grew warm. Hot. Almost burning.
I looked down. The woman's silver eyes were glowing. Actually glowing, bright as moonlight.
Then something impossible happened.
Words appeared on the back of the photograph. Silver writing, flowing across the paper like liquid light.
When the wolf comes for you, don't run. Your power sleeps in his shadow. Only through him will you remember what they took from you.
My hands shook so hard the photograph almost fell.
When the wolf comes for you.
Kael Thorne. The Alpha. The wolf.
Your power sleeps in his shadow.
What power? What did I have except fear and pain?
Remember what they took from you.
What had been taken from me?
The silver writing faded as quickly as it had appeared. The photograph went cold and still in my hands. Just an old picture again.
Outside, the storm clouds vanished. Sunlight poured through the window like nothing had happened.
But everything had changed.
I wasn't just being sent to marry a monster. I was being sent to unlock something. Something that had been hidden from me my whole life.
Something Marcus knew about.
Something powerful enough that he'd spent twenty-two years keeping it locked away.
My fear didn't disappear. But something else rose up alongside it.
Hope. Dangerous, desperate hope.
Maybe this marriage wasn't my death sentence.
Maybe it was my escape.