Chapter 156 The Silent Guardian
Malia’s POV
I like this new me, the one that's smiling and feeling like a twelve year old.
The smells of Rosa’s roast beef and rosemary potatoes were beginning to drift through the floorboards, filling the small house with a warmth that felt like a physical embrace. But before I could sit at that table, before I could fully transition into this new version of my life, there was one more person I needed to see. One more debt of the heart to pay.
I slipped out the back door, the screen clicking softly behind me. Aiden followed without a word. He didn't ask where I was going; he didn't need to. The bond between us was humming, a low, empathetic frequency that allowed him to feel the pull of the earth at the edge of the property.
The backyard was overgrown in the way only a house full of busy women can be. Wild sunflowers bowed their heads in the twilight, and the grass was long and soft against my ankles. At the very back, where the manicured lawn gave way to the edge of the local woods, stood a solitary, ancient oak tree.
And beneath its sprawling branches lay a simple headstone.
My father hadn't been a Mooncrest. He had been a man of the earth, a human who had loved a silver-eyed woman so much that he had dedicated his life to hiding her—and then her daughter—from a world that wanted to consume them.
I felt the tears stinging my eyes before I even reached the mound. I sank to my knees, the damp earth staining my jeans, and pressed my palms against the cold stone.
David Reed .
I let out a shaky breath, and then the dam broke.
I started crying—not the silent, dignified tears of the Mooncrest heir, but the messy, gasping sobs of the little girl who had lost her daddy before she was ready. I leaned my forehead against the granite, my body trembling with the weight of everything I had been carrying since the day I boarded that bus for the college.
Aiden didn't try to stop me. He didn't tell me to be strong. He stood exactly three paces behind me, a silent, towering silhouette against the setting sun. I could feel his presence like a physical shield, his Alpha aura flared just enough to ward off the chill of the evening and keep the world at bay. He was my sentinel, guarding the space I needed to break apart.
"I did it, Dad," I whispered, my voice thick and ragged. "I made it through."
I stayed there for a long time, talking to the silence. I told him about the first day I met Aiden, and how I had hated him for being so arrogant. I told him about the terrifying moment the silver light first crawled under my skin, and how I had wished he was there to tell me it was going to be okay.
"You’d like him," I said, wiping my nose with the back of my hand and gesturing vaguely toward the shadow behind me. "He’s stubborn. Just like you. And he’s... he’s my heart, Dad. He kept me from drowning."
I told him about the empire. About the millions of dollars, the castle in the valley, and the school I now owned. I laughed through my tears, a jagged, wet sound. "Could you imagine? Me? The girl who used to help you fix the leaky kitchen sink, owning a whole college? You’d probably tell me to check the plumbing in the dorms first."
A small, genuine laugh escaped me at the thought of him, and I felt a faint, warm ripple of amusement from Aiden through the bond.
"I'm not the scholarship girl anymore," I told the headstone, my fingers tracing the carved letters of his name. "I’m a Mooncrest. Mom’s blood... it’s awake. And it’s loud, Dad. It’s so loud. But I’m learning how to carry it. I’m learning how to be the person you and Mom wanted me to be."
I looked up at the darkening sky, the first stars beginning to blink into existence. The silver in my eyes flared softly, reflecting the celestial light.
"I’m going to make it count," I promised. "The land, the money, the power... I’m going to use it to make sure no other girl has to hide in the shadows like we did. I’m going to make Mooncrest a home, not a cage."
The wind sighed through the oak leaves, a gentle sound that felt like a hand resting on my shoulder. The heaviness in my chest that I’d carried for years—the guilt of surviving, the fear of being found—finally began to evaporate into the night air.
I sat there in the quiet for a few more minutes, just breathing. The grief was still there, but it was no longer a sharp, cutting thing. It was a soft ache, a reminder of a love that had been strong enough to change the course of my destiny.
Aiden moved then. He stepped forward, his boots crunching softly on the grass, and knelt beside me. He didn't say a word. He just opened his arms.
I turned and collapsed into him, burying my face in the crook of his neck. I cried again, but these were different tears—a final release of the "Mooncrest Days" and all the trauma they had inflicted.
Aiden held me with a fierce, tender strength. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his lap, his large hands stroking my back in slow, grounding circles. He was my anchor in the storm, the one who had seen me at my absolute worst and loved me anyway.
"It's okay, Malia," he murmured into my hair, his voice a low, soothing vibration. "Let it out. I’ve got you. I’m not letting go."
I clung to him, listening to the steady, powerful thrum of his heart. It was a heart that beat for me. A heart that had bridged the gap between a human grave and a supernatural throne.
"Thank you," I whispered, my voice muffled against his chest.
"For what?"
"For seeing me. Even when I was trying to be invisible."
Aiden pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes. In the moonlight, his dark eyes were filled with a devotion so absolute it was terrifying. "You were never invisible to me, Malia. You were the only thing I could see, I do have a small confession though"
I looked up at him, a small smile stretching my lips. "What's that. "
Aiden smiled boyishly. "Remember when you first walked into my dorm? Yea, I was planning on leaving, going back to the suite because my father wanted me to be close to my brothers. But when you stepped in, something in me felt this pull and I decided to stay, Malia. I told the school to let you stay..." He grinned . "...because I wanted to know you and now I do. "
I laughed, a happy one that found it silly and surprising but didn't care one bit.
He leaned down and kissed me—a slow, deep kiss that tasted of salt and twilight and new beginnings. It was a seal on the promise we had made in the sanctuary.
We stayed there beneath the oak tree for a long time, two souls bound by blood and choice, standing at the edge of a world that was finally ours to shape.
The girl who had come here today was a daughter seeking comfort. The woman who stood up, taking Aiden’s hand to go back inside for dinner, was a Queen.
And as we walked back toward the lights of the house, I knew my father was finally resting in peace. Because his daughter wasn't running anymore.
She was home. And she was ready to lead.