Chapter 15: The Truth About That Night

Aria's POV

The howl from outside made my blood turn to ice. It wasn't like any wolf sound I'd ever heard. It was deeper, hungrier, and full of evil intent.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered to Kael, but he was already sitting up, his eyes glowing gold in the darkness.

"That's not a wolf," he said grimly. "That's something much worse."

Before I could ask what he meant, more memories crashed into my mind like a tidal wave. Not the gentle dream I'd just had, but harsh, painful truth.

I was twenty years old again, standing outside a burning warehouse with Elena beside me. Our father's men were fighting with the Shadow Moon Pack inside the building.

"We should go," Elena said, grabbing my arm. "This isn't our fight."

But I could hear screaming from inside. People were trapped and dying.

"Someone needs help," I said, starting toward the flames.

"Aria, no! Father will be furious if we get involved!"

I pulled free from her grip. "I don't care what Father thinks. I'm not letting people burn to death."

The memory hit me so hard I gasped out loud, startling Kael.

"What's wrong?" he asked urgently.

"I remember everything now," I said, tears streaming down my face. "The night your pack died. I was there from the beginning."

Another howl echoed outside, closer this time. But I couldn't stop the flood of memories.

I ran into the burning building while Elena called my name behind me. The smoke was so thick I could barely see, but I followed the sounds of pain and fear.

That's when I found Kael for the first time.

He was younger then, maybe twenty-five, and badly hurt. A huge wooden beam had fallen across his legs, trapping him while fire spread closer and closer.

"Help me," he'd whispered when he saw me.

"I've got you," I'd said, using all my strength to lift the beam.

But as I pulled him toward the exit, I heard Elena screaming my name from somewhere deeper in the building.

"Aria! Help me! I'm trapped!"

I froze, Kael's arm around my shoulders, Elena's voice echoing through the smoke. I had to choose. I could only save one of them.

"Go," Kael had said weakly. "Save your sister."

But I didn't listen. Something deep inside me, some instinct I didn't understand, told me that Kael was more important. That saving him mattered more than anything else in the world.

So I carried him outside to safety while Elena's screams got weaker and weaker.

"No," I sobbed in the present, the guilt crushing my chest. "I chose you over her. I let my own sister die."

Kael pulled me closer, his voice gentle but firm. "You couldn't have saved both of us. The building was collapsing."

"I should have tried! She was my sister!"

"And if you'd gone back for her, you both would have died," Kael said. "Then I would have died too, and it all would have been for nothing."

More howls filled the night air, and they were getting closer. But the memories weren't finished with me yet.

I remembered carrying Kael outside and laying him on the cold ground. His pack brothers found us there and took him away to get help. I never even told him my name.

But what happened next was the worst part.

When the fire department finally put out the flames, they found Elena's body in the basement. She'd been trying to follow me when part of the ceiling collapsed on her.

Father was waiting for me when I got home that night.

"You disobeyed me," he'd said coldly. "You were supposed to watch and learn, not play hero."

"Elena is dead because of me," I'd whispered.

"Elena is dead because she was weak," Father had replied. "But you... you showed strength tonight. You made a choice and stuck with it. That's what leaders do."

His praise had felt like poison in my veins.

"I saved him because I felt something," I told Kael now, my voice breaking. "Some kind of connection. But Elena died because I followed my heart instead of my family loyalty."

"You felt the mate bond," Kael said quietly. "Even then, even before we really knew each other, our souls were connected."

"Mate bond?"

"It's a wolf thing. When we find our true mate, we know it instantly. We'd do anything to protect them, even die for them."

"But I'm not a wolf."

"No, but you have magic in your blood. Ancient magic that recognizes other supernatural beings."

The howling outside was getting so loud now that it hurt my ears. Whatever was out there, there was more than one of them.

"We need to go," Kael said, starting to get up.

"Wait," I said, grabbing his arm. "There's more. About that night. Something important."

I closed my eyes and let the final memories surface.

After Elena's funeral, I'd gone back to the burned warehouse. I needed to understand what had happened, why so many people had died.

That's when I found something that changed everything.

Hidden in the ruins, I'd discovered a metal container filled with strange liquid. It smelled like gasoline, but stronger. More chemical.

And there were empty containers scattered around the building's foundation. Someone had poured this stuff everywhere before the fight even started.

"The fire wasn't an accident," I said, opening my eyes to look at Kael. "Someone planned it. Someone wanted that building to burn no matter what happened inside."

Kael's face went pale. "What did you do with the container?"

"I took it home. I was going to tell Father, but..."

"But what?"

"But when I tested the liquid, I found something that made me sick. It wasn't just meant to start fires. It was meant to trap people inside them. The chemical makes it impossible for supernatural beings to use their powers. Your pack couldn't shift to wolf form to escape. They couldn't use their speed or strength."

Kael stared at me in horror. "Someone wanted us all to die slowly."

"And they wanted my family to be blamed for it," I continued. "The container had our family symbol on the bottom. But I knew Father didn't order that kind of attack. He was brutal, but he wasn't a coward. He would never trap enemies and burn them alive."

"Then who?"

Before I could answer, something crashed through the window of our hideout. Not a wolf, but a creature I'd never seen before. It looked like a man, but wrong somehow. Too tall, too thin, with teeth like razors and eyes like black holes.

"Found you," it hissed in a voice like breaking glass.

Kael immediately shifted into his half-wolf form and attacked, but the creature was impossibly fast. Its claws raked across Kael's chest, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Kael!" I screamed, silver light blazing from my hands.

But instead of healing magic, dark power erupted from me. The creature shrieked and stumbled backward, its skin smoking where my magic touched it.

"Interesting," it said, tilting its head like a curious bird. "The little princess has teeth after all."

"What are you?" I demanded.

"I'm a messenger," it replied with a horrible smile. "From the person who really started that fire three years ago. The person who's been watching you both ever since."

"Who?"

The creature laughed, a sound like nails on a chalkboard. "Someone who knew exactly what would happen if the big bad wolf and the mafia princess fell in love. Someone who needed you both alive and connected for a very special purpose."

My blood turned to ice. "What purpose?"

"To create the perfect weapon, of course. A being with both wolf magic and human power. A creature that could rule over all supernatural beings."

The truth hit me like a physical blow. Someone had orchestrated everything. The fire, Elena's death, my memory loss, even Kael finding me in that car crash.

"Your baby," the creature continued with glee. "When the wolf princess gives birth to her cub, our master will finally have what he's been planning for decades."

"What baby?" I gasped. "I'm not pregnant!"

The creature's smile grew wider, showing too many teeth.

"Not yet," it said. "But the blood moon is tomorrow night. And when wolf magic and royal blood combine under its light..."

It didn't need to finish. I understood with terrible clarity.

Someone had been playing puppet master with our lives from the very beginning. Someone who wanted Kael and me to fall in love, to bond, to create something that had never existed before.

And tomorrow night, during the blood moon, that plan would finally come to fruition.

"Who is your master?" I demanded, dark magic crackling around my hands.

The creature started backing toward the broken window, still smiling its horrible smile.

"Someone you know very well, little princess. Someone who's been waiting patiently for his masterpiece to be complete."

"Tell me!"

But the creature was already leaping back through the window, its laughter echoing in the night air.

"Ask your father," it called back. "Ask him about his old business partner. Ask him about Viktor Redhawk."