ARIA POV:
The garden was the last place Aria wanted to be.
But Kael was organizing the warriors for their departure and Evan was gathering supplies for the journey to the summit. The fortress felt too small and too full of urgency. So Aria had wandered to the one place where she could breathe.
She was pulling herbs from the garden beds when she heard the commotion at the gates. Raised voices. Questions being asked. She looked up and saw guards moving into defensive positions.
An unauthorized visitor.
Aria stood and brushed dirt from her clothes. She was about to head back inside when she saw her.
A woman was walking through the gates with her hands up in a peaceful gesture. Raven-black hair that caught the sunlight. Emerald eyes that looked familiar in a way that made Aria's chest hurt. She was beautiful in a way that demanded attention.
The woman looked toward the garden and their eyes locked.
For a moment, time stopped.
Then the woman's entire face crumpled. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. She started walking faster, then running, moving through the fortress courtyard like she was being pulled by an invisible rope.
Aria's instincts screamed at her to run inside. To call for guards. This was a stranger. This was danger.
But something in her recognized the bone structure of that face. The shape of those eyes.
The woman reached Aria and fell to her knees in the middle of the garden path.
"Aria," she said, and her voice broke on the name. "Oh gods, Aria. I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
Recognition crashed through Aria like a wave.
Lilith. Her sister. Older. More beautiful. But unmistakably the girl who'd stood in a crowd and smiled while Aria was being cast out.
"What are you doing here?" Aria asked. Her voice sounded very far away.
Lilith looked up from her knees and the pain in her eyes was so raw that Aria's defenses cracked slightly.
"I came to apologize," Lilith said. She was crying hard now, the kind of crying that seemed to come from somewhere deep. "I've spent fifteen years regretting what I let happen to you. Every single day, Aria. Every single day I woke up thinking about my sister alone in the wilderness and I hated myself."
Aria didn't move. Didn't help her sister up. But she didn't run away either.
"I was cruel," Lilith continued. She climbed to her feet and her whole body was shaking. "I was young and stupid and I let jealousy make me into a monster. But I've changed. I've become powerful and I've made connections and I realized I could use that power to help you instead of hurt you."
"Why should I believe you?" Aria asked. But her voice wavered. Because some stupid, broken part of her wanted to believe. Wanted her sister to love her. Wanted family so badly it felt like physical pain.
Lilith stepped closer and reached out slowly, giving Aria time to pull away. But Aria didn't. She let her sister take her hand.
"Because I brought information," Lilith said. "I brought connections. I have Alphas who want to help integrate you into society, Aria. Not because they want to control you or use you. But because the thought of you being locked up in this fortress like a prisoner made me sick."
Those words hit something vulnerable inside Aria.
"Kael isn't locking me up," Aria said automatically. But the lie felt thin.
"No?" Lilith asked gently. "Then why are the garden gates locked? Why do you need an escort to leave your room? Why is an Alpha keeping you isolated from the world that needs to understand what you are?"
Aria couldn't answer because Lilith was right. Kael had been caging her. And even though they'd fought about it, even though he'd apologized, the cage was still there.
"Come with me," Lilith said. She squeezed Aria's hand. "Just for a few hours. Let me introduce you to some of the Alphas who want to help. Let you understand that there are people in this world who see your value and want to celebrate it instead of control it."
"I can't," Aria said. "We're leaving for the summit tonight. Kael and I. We're going together."
"Then let me come with you," Lilith said. Her eyes were pleading and sincere and absolutely believable. "Let me stand by your side at the summit. Let me show you that your sister is here for you now. That you're not alone anymore."
Something in Aria's chest unlocked.
For fifteen years, she'd survived thinking she was worthless. Broken. Cursed. And then Kael had found her and made her feel valuable as a tool, as a mate, as a power to be protected. But he'd never made her feel like she was just wanted. Just loved for existing.
Her sister was offering that. Her sister was offering to see her. Acknowledge her. Stand beside her.
Aria looked at Lilith's beautiful face and desperate eyes and made a choice.
"I'll meet with you privately," Aria said. "Before we leave. But I won't sneak around. I'll tell Kael."
Lilith's expression flickered for just a moment. Something cold flashed across her features. Then it was gone and she was smiling through tears again.
"That's all I ask," Lilith said. She pulled Aria into a hug and Aria let herself be held. Let herself pretend, just for a moment, that she had family who loved her. "We have so much to talk about. So much to catch up on."
They stayed in the garden for another few minutes. Lilith told stories about their childhood. About the day Aria was born. About how beautiful she'd been. She painted a picture of a past that Aria barely remembered and filled it with love that felt real and present.
By the time Lilith left to find lodging in the fortress town, Aria felt lighter. Hopeful. Like maybe, just maybe, she wasn't going to be alone in this fight anymore.
She found Kael in the war room going over maps with Evan.
"Lilith is here," she said. She watched Kael's entire body go rigid. "My sister. She came to apologize. She wants to meet with me before we leave for the summit."
Kael's eyes turned red.
"No," he said immediately. His voice was absolute. "Aria, you can't trust her. She's the one who turned the other Alphas against you. She's the one with the false documentation. This is a trap."
"You don't know that," Aria said. But doubt was creeping in now. "She seemed genuine. She seemed like she really regretted what happened."
"Of course she did," Evan said quietly. He was looking at Kael like he was afraid his Alpha was about to lose his mind. "She's had three weeks to perfect her performance. She knows your weakness, Aria. She knows you want family. She's using that."
Aria felt her defenses rise.
"You don't get to tell me who to trust," she said to Kael. "You already tried to control my body. Don't try to control my mind too."
Kael stepped toward her and she could see the struggle in his face. The war between keeping her safe and respecting her autonomy.
"Five minutes," he said finally. His voice was ice. "You can meet with her for five minutes. But it happens in this room with me and Evan present. Non-negotiable."
Aria wanted to argue. Wanted to demand privacy with her sister. But something in his voice told her that if she pushed harder, he would lock her in her chambers and carry her to the summit himself.
She nodded.
Kael turned away and Aria could feel the distance between them growing. Could feel the bond between them straining under the weight of secrets she was keeping and trust that was unraveling.
She didn't know it yet, but Lilith was already downstairs composing a message. A message that would be delivered to the other Alphas at the summit. A message detailing how Aria had come to her sister in secret. How she'd planned to leave Kael. How she'd admitted her power was unstable.
A message of lies that would shatter everything.
And Aria, desperate for family love, had just handed her sister the perfect weapon to destroy her.