The room was silent, but Aria couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't alone.
Not truly.
Not after what she had seen.
The mirror's haunting reflection still clung to her mind—the voice that sounded like hers, yet wasn't. "You shouldn't be here."
She turned over in the small bed, the wooden frame creaking beneath her. Across the dimly lit cabin, Kael stood near the dying fire, his arms crossed, eyes locked on the flames. His expression was unreadable, but his body was tense, muscles coiled as if ready for a fight.
Aria had seen him battle his pack's warriors before. But this was different. This was a war within himself.
Her fingers curled into the blanket. She had to know the truth.
Before it was too late.
---
The Forbidden Question
"That mirror," she whispered. "What is it?"
Kael didn't react right away. But she saw it—the way his jaw tightened, the flicker of something dangerous in his silver eyes.
"Forget it," he said flatly.
Her pulse spiked. "I can't. You know I can't."
Kael turned to her then, slow and deliberate, his gaze like a storm barely contained. "Some things are better left unknown."
Aria sat up, throwing the blanket aside. "That's not your decision to make."
He took a step forward, the air between them thick with something unspoken. "It is when it concerns your safety."
She shook her head. "You don't get to decide what's best for me. Not when you're the one keeping me here, keeping me in the dark—"
"Because if you knew the truth," Kael cut in, voice sharp, "you'd wish you were still in the dark."
Silence.
Aria's breathing was ragged, her heart hammering against her ribs.
And Kael—he was too close now, his presence swallowing the air in the room. She could feel the heat radiating off him, the power humming beneath his skin.
But this wasn't about dominance.
It was about something else.
Something forbidden.
Her throat was dry. "Then tell me."
His gaze flickered to her lips before meeting her eyes again. And for a moment—just a moment—she thought he might.
Then, a sound shattered the tension.
A low, deep howl from the forest.
Kael cursed under his breath.
"They're watching," he muttered, striding toward the door.
Aria's stomach clenched. His pack.
She scrambled off the bed, following him. "What do they want?"
Kael didn't answer. He opened the door just enough to see outside. The moon was high, casting eerie shadows across the trees. And standing at the edge of the clearing—
Werewolves.
Not just any werewolves. His enforcers.
And they weren't alone.
A man stood between them, dressed in dark clothes, his blond hair catching the moonlight.
Aria's breath hitched.
Caleb.
---
A Dangerous Encounter
Kael stepped outside before she could stop him, his body radiating pure dominance.
"You're trespassing," he said coldly.
Caleb smirked. "So are you, Kael. Hiding away from your pack like a ghost in the woods." His eyes flickered past Kael—straight to Aria.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Aria," he said softly. "I knew you weren't dead."
A shiver ran down her spine. She had once loved that voice. Now, it only filled her with fear.
Kael shifted slightly, his stance deadly. "She's not yours anymore."
Caleb chuckled. "You think that matters? She's still pack." His gaze locked onto Aria. "You belong with us. With me."
Aria's hands curled into fists. "You rejected me."
"And yet," Caleb murmured, "you live."
Kael moved before Aria could blink, grabbing Caleb by the throat and slamming him against a tree.
The enforcers tensed but didn't interfere. They wouldn't dare.
"You don't speak her name again," Kael growled, voice like gravel.
Caleb, despite being choked, smirked. "Looks like the rumors are true. You care about her."
Kael's grip tightened.
Caleb's smirk widened. "The great Alpha Kael. Cursed, mateless, doomed to be alone—yet here you are, breaking your own rules."
A dark chuckle left his lips.
"Do you think she'll love you, Kael?"
Kael didn't react. He didn't flinch. But Aria felt the shift in the air. The tension snapping, something primal and dangerous awakening beneath his skin.
And for the first time, she saw it.
Kael wasn't just feared.
He was terrifying.
---
The Nightmare
The moment Caleb and the enforcers left, Kael disappeared into the forest, leaving Aria alone in the cabin.
Sleep didn't come easy. And when it did—
She dreamed.
The air was thick with fog, swirling around her ankles as she stood in a vast, endless void. A whisper brushed against her ear, soft yet urgent.
"Find me."
A shadow loomed before her—a figure trapped within the mirror's surface, hands pressed against the glass.
And its voice…
It was Kael's.
Aria gasped, stumbling backward as the figure's eyes snapped open—pure silver, glowing like the moon itself.
"You shouldn't be here," he whispered.
And then—
The mirror shattered.
Aria woke with a scream.
Her chest heaved, sweat slicking her skin as she frantically looked around. The cabin was quiet. The fire had burned low.
But something had changed.
Her body felt different. Lighter. Stronger.
And when she looked at her hands, she froze.
A mark had appeared on her wrist.
A crescent moon.
It pulsed softly, as if alive.
And deep inside her, something stirred.
---
The Truth Begins to Unravel
Kael returned at dawn, his clothes damp with morning dew, his face unreadable.
But when he saw her wrist, he stopped cold.
His expression darkened.
"Where did you get that?"
Aria looked down at the mark, her heart racing.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I dreamed of… the mirror. And you. And when I woke up—"
Kael's eyes locked onto hers, and for the first time, she saw something raw beneath his usual control.
Not just anger.
Not just frustration.
Fear.
"You need to leave," he said abruptly.
Aria flinched. "What?"
His jaw clenched. "I need to take you back to the pack. Before it's too late."
Her stomach twisted. "Too late for what?"
Kael didn't answer.
But his hands trembled.
And that scared her more than anything else.