Chapter 8: Ghosts of the Past

Aria's POV

The howling cut through the night like broken glass through silk. I grabbed Kael's arm, feeling his muscles turn rock-hard under my fingers.

"We need to get inside," he whispered, his golden eyes darting between the dark mountains around us. "Now."

But before we could move, an answering howl came from the opposite direction. Then another from behind us. And another from our left.

We were surrounded.

"Kael," I breathed, terror climbing up my throat like icy fingers. "How many are there?"

"Too many." His voice was tight with something that sounded like fear mixed with hope. "Stay behind me and don't make any sudden moves."

The howls stopped as suddenly as they'd started, leaving behind a silence so thick I could almost taste it. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

Then I heard them - footsteps crunching through the snow. Slow, careful footsteps coming from multiple directions. Getting closer.

My heart hammered against my ribs so hard I was sure everyone could hear it. These weren't human footsteps. They were too light, too graceful. Like dancers made of shadows.

The first figure stepped out from behind a broken-down building about twenty feet away. In the pale moonlight, I could see it was a woman with long silver hair and eyes that reflected light like a cat's. She moved with the same fluid grace I'd seen in Kael.

Another shifter.

"Hello, little brother," she said, her voice carrying easily across the distance. "You've grown up."

Kael made a sound like all the air had been punched out of his lungs. "Luna? But you're dead. I saw your body."

The woman - Luna - smiled sadly. "You saw what we wanted Vincent Santoro to see. A clever trick with pig's blood and makeup. We've been hiding in these mountains for three years, waiting for the right time to strike back."

More figures emerged from the shadows. Men and women of all ages, all with that same supernatural grace. All with eyes that caught the moonlight like tiny stars.

"How many?" Kael asked, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Twelve survivors from our pack. Fifteen from the Mountain Crest pack. Eight from the River Valley pack." Luna's eyes hardened. "Twenty-six adults and nine children. All that's left of hundreds."

I did the math in my head. Thirty-five people. That was all that remained of entire communities that had been wiped out by my father.

The guilt hit me like a physical blow. These people - Kael's people - had been forced to fake their own deaths and hide in the wilderness because of my family.

"Who's the girl?" Luna asked, her glowing eyes focusing on me with laser intensity.

"Her name is Aria," Kael said carefully. "She's... under my protection."

"Aria." Luna tilted her head like a curious bird. "That's an interesting name. Very close to 'Aria Santoro,' don't you think?"

Ice water flooded my veins. She knew who I was.

"You brought Vincent Santoro's daughter to our safe haven?" Another voice spoke from the shadows. A man this time, his tone sharp with anger. "Have you lost your mind, Kael?"

"It's not what you think," Kael said quickly, stepping protectively in front of me. "She's not like him. She doesn't even remember being part of that family."

"Convenient," Luna said dryly. "Memory loss. How very tragic."

"It's true!" I found my voice, stepping out from behind Kael despite his warning look. "I can't remember anything before three days ago. And when I found out what my father did to your people, it made me sick."

"Words," the angry man spat. "Easy to say when you're surrounded and outnumbered."

"Marcus, enough," Luna said sharply. Then she looked at me with those unsettling eyes. "Tell me, little princess, what do you remember about the night your father burned down Kael's house?"

My breath caught in my throat. "How did you know I was there?"

"Because I was there too. Hiding in the woods with the other survivors, watching everything burn." Luna's voice was soft but deadly. "I saw you in that black car. Saw you fighting with your father's men. Saw you trying to get out to help."

"You remember that?" Kael turned to stare at me.

"I had a dream about it. A nightmare. But it felt real."

"Because it was real," Luna confirmed. "You were thirteen years old, and you were screaming for them to stop the fire. Your father had to have two men hold you down to keep you in the car."

Tears burned my eyes. "I tried to save you. All of you. But I was just a kid."

"Yes, you did try." Luna walked closer, her movements predator-smooth. "Which is why you're still breathing right now instead of decorating a tree."

"Luna," Kael warned.

"Peace, little brother. I'm not going to hurt your pet human. Yet." She stopped about five feet away from me, close enough that I could see the gold flecks in her silver eyes. "But I am curious about something. Vincent Santoro spent three years teaching his daughter to be a weapon. Training her to kill without hesitation. Shaping her into his perfect little assassin. And now she claims to remember none of it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said honestly. "I can't even kill a spider without feeling guilty."

"Really?" Luna's smile was sharp as a knife blade. "Then explain this."

She moved faster than lightning, grabbing my wrist and twisting it behind my back. Pain shot up my arm, and instinct took over.

Without thinking, I spun out of her grip, grabbed her wrist, and used her own momentum to flip her over my shoulder. She hit the ground hard, snow exploding around her.

The other shifters immediately tensed, ready to attack. But Luna just lay there for a moment, looking up at me with something like approval.

"Interesting," she said, accepting Kael's hand to help her up. "Very interesting indeed."

My hands were shaking again. I'd moved without thinking, like my body knew exactly what to do even though my mind didn't remember learning it.

"I don't understand," I whispered. "How did I do that?"

"Muscle memory," Luna said, brushing snow off her clothes. "Your body remembers the training even if your mind doesn't. Vincent Santoro's daughter, ladies and gentlemen. Exactly as dangerous as we thought."

"I'm not dangerous," I protested. "I'm not like him."

"Aren't you?" Marcus stepped forward, his eyes glowing with anger. "You just proved you have the reflexes of a trained killer. How do we know this whole amnesia story isn't an act? How do we know Vincent didn't send you here to infiltrate our group?"

"Because she saved my life," Kael said firmly. "Because she's been protecting me even when she thought I was her kidnapper. Because she chose to trust me instead of running back to her father when she had the chance."

"Or because she's a very good actress," Marcus shot back.

Luna held up a hand for silence. "There's an easy way to settle this debate."

She pulled something from her jacket - a small silver device that looked like a combination of a compass and a clock.

"A truth detector," she explained. "Old pack magic. It can sense lies through changes in heartbeat, breathing, and scent. Very reliable."

She pointed the device at me. "Aria Santoro, do you remember being trained to kill?"

"No," I said immediately.

The device glowed green.

"Do you remember your father teaching you to fight?"

"No."

Green again.

"Do you have any memory of being Vincent Santoro's daughter before three days ago?"

"No. Just fragments. Dreams that feel like memories."

Still green.

"Final question," Luna said, her voice deadly serious. "If you had to choose between saving Kael's life and saving your father's life, which would you choose?"

I didn't even hesitate. "Kael's."

The device blazed green so brightly it hurt to look at.

Luna stared at the device, then at me, her expression unreadable. "Well. That's... unexpected."

"What does it mean?" I asked.

"It means you're telling the truth. Which creates a very interesting problem." Luna looked around at the other shifters. "Vincent Santoro's daughter genuinely doesn't remember being his daughter. She's been trained as a weapon but doesn't remember the training. And she's chosen our side over his."

"So what do we do with her?" Marcus asked.

Luna was quiet for a long moment, studying me like I was a puzzle she couldn't solve.

"We test her," she said finally. "If she really has no memory of her training, then we need to know exactly what she's capable of. And we need to know if Vincent's programming is still buried somewhere in her head, waiting to surface."

"What kind of test?" Kael asked suspiciously

Luna's smile was sharp and cold as winter wind. "The kind that will either prove she's truly one of us... or get her killed trying."