Chapter 70 : Blood Knows Blood
Day One — Morning
For a single, suspended heartbeat, the world held still.
Lucien Vale stood at the edge of the clearing as though he had always belonged there — dark hair loose at his shoulders, posture relaxed, eyes too knowing to be safe. He did not advance. He did not bow.
He looked at Aria.
The seal reacted instantly.
Heat flared beneath her skin, sharper than before, silver light racing along her veins in jagged lines that burned without mercy. She cried out, clutching her wrist as the mark pulsed violently, the intricate sigil fully visible now, alive and furious.
Kael snarled.
The mark over his heart ignited in answer, gold light blazing as dominance rolled off him in a wave that flattened the grass and sent Ironclaw wolves staggering back.
“Do not speak to her,” Kael growled.
Lucien’s gaze flicked briefly to Kael — assessing, weighing — before returning to Aria. “I didn’t speak to you, Alpha.”
Kael moved to lunge—
Aria grabbed his arm.
“No,” she gasped. “He’s… he’s not attacking.”
Lucien inclined his head slightly. “Thank you.”
Gideon laughed, the sound sharp and unpleasant. “You always did enjoy theatrics.”
Lucien smiled faintly. “And you always lacked patience.”
The two Alphas regarded each other like blades crossing — different styles, same lethal intent.
“You brought him here,” Gideon accused.
Lucien shrugged. “I followed the noise. Kael Draven does not roar quietly.”
Kael’s eyes burned. “You’re Shadow Priest filth.”
Lucien didn’t deny it.
Instead, he spoke to Aria again — this time, softer and measured. “You’re holding the seal wrong.”
The words hit her harder than Gideon’s cruelty ever had.
“What?” she whispered.
Kael’s grip tightened on her arm. “He lies.”
Lucien tilted his head. “I lie often. This is not one of those times.”
The seal flared again, responding not to threat, but to recognition. Aria doubled over, breath tearing from her lungs as memories slammed into her mind.
A cradle rocking.
A woman’s voice singing low and steady.
A boy standing nearby — older, watching her with solemn eyes.
Her chest constricted.
“You—” Aria choked. “You were there.”
Lucien’s jaw tightened for the first time. “Yes.”
Rowan swore under his breath.
Kael’s voice dropped to something lethal. “You will not do this to her.”
Lucien finally looked at Kael fully. “You already did.”
The words landed like a blade between ribs.
Aria shook her head violently. “Stop. Both of you.”
She forced herself upright, even as the seal screamed in protest, pain lancing through her chest. Silver light bled from her wrist, curling into the air like living threads.
Gideon’s eyes gleamed. “Careful. You’re tearing it.”
Lucien watched intently. “No. She’s aligning it.”
Aria met his gaze. “Tell me the truth.”
Kael turned on her. “Aria—”
“Please,” she said, voice breaking. “I need to know why my blood knows his.”
Lucien exhaled slowly.
“Because the seal isn’t just holding your wolf,” he said quietly. “It’s suppressing your bloodline memory.”
The world seemed to tilt.
“My mother—”
“—bound it when she sealed you,” Lucien continued. “She didn’t just hide you. She fractured your inheritance.”
Kael stared at him. “That’s impossible.”
Lucien’s eyes flicked to the mark burning over Kael’s heart. “Is it?”
The silence that followed was thick and suffocating.
Aria swayed, dizziness crashing over her as the truth pressed in from all sides. “You said… You called me—”
Lucien closed his eyes briefly.
“Sister.”
The word detonated.
The seal convulsed violently, silver light exploding outward as Aria screamed, collapsing to her knees. The mark on her wrist burned like molten metal, veins blazing as power surged unchecked.
Kael dropped with her, arms around her, as the mark over his heart flared blindingly bright.
“No,” he roared. “This is too soon!”
The ground cracked.
Trees groaned.
Wolves howled in panic as raw magic tore through the clearing.
Gideon staggered back, eyes wild with delight. “There it is. Break it!”
Lucien shouted, “Aria, listen to me!”
She couldn’t.
The world dissolved into fragments — fire, blood, silver moons splitting the sky.
A voice cut through the chaos.
Enough.
Not her wolf.
Something older.
Something vast.
The silver light snapped inward violently, dragging Aria’s scream with it as the seal locked again — harder, deeper, crueller than before.
The backlash threw everyone back.
Kael hit the ground hard, breath knocked from his lungs.
Aria collapsed into darkness.
When she woke, the world was quiet.
Too quiet.
She lay on cold stone — not the forest floor.
Walls surrounded her.
Bars.
Runes etched deep into black iron.
Her wrist throbbed dully, the mark faint but present.
She sat up slowly, heart hammering.
“This isn’t—” she whispered.
A shadow moved beyond the bars.
Lucien stepped into view.
“You fainted,” he said calmly. “Gideon panicked. Kael was unconscious.”
Aria surged to her feet. “Where is he?”
Lucien’s expression tightened. “Alive.”
Her knees nearly gave out.
“Where am I?” she demanded.
Lucien met her gaze steadily. “Safe. For now.”
She stared at him, rage and terror colliding. “You imprisoned me.”
“I protected you,” he countered quietly. “From Gideon. From the Shadow Priests.”
“And from Kael.”
Lucien did not answer immediately.
Finally, he said, “From what would have happened if the seal had broken while you were still holding on to him?”
Aria’s voice trembled. “You don’t get to decide that.”
Lucien stepped closer to the bars, lowering his voice. “Neither did our mother. And yet… she did.”
Aria’s breath caught.
“You know,” she whispered.
Lucien nodded once. “Everything she never had time to tell you.”
Outside the cell, distant footsteps echoed — heavy, organised.
An army is moving.
Lucien glanced toward the sound, jaw tightening.
“We don’t have much time,” he said. “And you have a choice to make.”
Aria gripped the bars, silver light flickering faintly beneath her skin.
“What choice?”
Lucien’s eyes darkened.
“Whether you awaken as the Lost Luna,” he said, “or die as the girl they tried to erase.”