Chapter 46 A Message
Chapter 46 A Message
Aria was in the east wing of the mansion when the message arrived.
She had been sorting through ledgers salvaged from the ruins, of old supply counts, names of survivors, and lists of the wounded. She was trying to bring order to a kingdom that still felt like it was bleeding from a thousand invisible cuts. The windows were open, letting in the late afternoon breeze, when the shadows at the doorway shifted unnaturally.
Her head snapped up.
A young scout stood there, breathing hard, eyes darting nervously down the hall as if he expected someone to be listening.
“Luna,” he said quietly. “This was left at the outer gate for you.”
He held out a folded scrap of parchment.
Aria took it slowly. The paper felt rough beneath her fingers, like it had been handled too many times. No seal. No crest. No scent she recognized.
“Who brought it?” she asked.
“No one saw who brought it,” the scout replied. “It was jus... there.”
Her instincts prickled.
“Thank you,” she said, dismissing him.
The moment she was alone, she unfolded the parchment.
The words were short. Deliberate. Cruel in their simplicity.
You struck first. Now someone you love will burn.
Aria’s breath left her in a sharp rush.
Her heart slammed against her ribs, with each beating louder than the last. She read the message again, hoping that she had misunderstood.
She hadn’t.
Her fingers curled around the paper until it crumpled.
Someone you love.
Lucian. Maeve. The survivors. The pack.
Her chest tightened painfully.
The sender was unknown. No signature. No trace. Which made it worse because whoever this was knew enough to terrify her without revealing themselves.
She pressed the parchment to the table and forced herself to breathe.
Think, Aria.
The message mentioned an attack. You struck first.
Her mind raced back over the past days. The gathering. The naming of the kingdom. The pledges.
Nothing else.
Unless...
Her stomach dropped.
Unless Lucian had done something without telling her.
The bond stirred faintly, uneasy, like it sensed her growing dread.
“No,” she whispered. “He wouldn’t.”
But even as she said it, doubt crept in.
Lucian had been quiet lately. Focused. Carrying a tension that hadn’t eased even after Arlena was forced out. He’d been waking early, slipping away for long stretches, returning with the smell of smoke clinging faintly to his clothes.
She had noticed.
She just hadn’t questioned it.
Anger flared through her, hot and sharp, cutting through her fear.
Aria stood abruptly, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. She folded the parchment and tucked it into her sleeve, then strode out of the room with purpose.
She found Lucian in the lower hall, bent over a map with Rowan and two others. They were speaking in low voices, their bodies tense, alert.
“Everyone out,” Aria said.
The room fell silent.
Rowan looked between them, clearly uncomfortable. “Luna...”
“Out,” she repeated, her voice steady but edged with steel.
Lucian straightened slowly. “Aria—”
“I said everyone out,” she said again.
Rowan bowed his head and ushered the others away. The heavy door closed behind them with a final, echoing thud.
Aria didn’t waste time.
She pulled the parchment from her sleeve and slammed it onto the table between them.
Lucian’s eyes flicked down.
And for just a second, just one, she saw it.
Recognition.
Her heart sank.
“You attacked Kael,” she said quietly. It wasn’t a question.
Lucian exhaled slowly, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “I sent men to disrupt his supplies.”
“Disrupt?” Her voice rose. “They burned them, Lucian.”
He met her gaze, unflinching. “Yes.”
The admission hit harder than any lie would have.
“You did this without telling me,” she said.
“I did it to protect you,” he replied immediately. “To protect us.”
Aria laughed, sharp and humorless. “By starting a war behind my back? I thought you said I should stop focusing my energy on Kael and focus on building the new pack instead."
"I said that to you. It never meant I couldn't attack. Besides, he was already preparing for one,” Lucian snapped. “You think Kael would’ve left us alone? After everything?”
“That doesn’t give you the right to decide alone,” she shot back. “We rule together.”
Lucian’s jaw tightened. “If I had told you, you would’ve tried to stop me.”
“Yes,” she said fiercely. “Because it was your idea for us to stop attacking him and now because of your carelessness, he is threatening to burn the people I love!”
She shoved the parchment toward him.
Lucian read it. His expression darkened, something dangerous flashing behind his eyes.
“This is a bluff,” he said.
“You don’t know that,” Aria replied. “The sender made itself unknown. That means they’re confident. That means they’re close.”
Silence stretched between them, thick and strained.
Lucian finally spoke, voice lower. “Kael just wants to scare you.”
“Or divide us,” Aria said. “And it’s working.”
That made him flinch.
She softened slightly, but her resolve didn’t waver. “Why didn’t you trust me?”
Lucian turned away, staring at the map. “Because last time I trusted someone with everything, she crawled into my mind and nearly destroyed me.”
Aria’s chest ached.
“That wasn’t me,” she said gently. “And punishing me for someone else's crimes isn’t fair.”
Lucian closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.
“I wasn’t trying to punish you,” he said. “I was trying to make sure no one ever hurts you again.”
Aria shook her head. “You can’t protect me by becoming someone I’m afraid of.”
That landed harder than she intended.
Lucian went very still.
“Are you afraid of me?” he asked quietly.
Aria hesitated, and that hesitation was enough answer.
His gaze dropped.
“I won’t apologize for defending our kingdom,” he said. “But I should’ve told you.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “You should have.”
Another silence fell, heavier than the last.
“Who do you think sent it?” Lucian asked finally.
“I don’t know,” Aria replied. “But they know enough about us to aim straight for our bond.”
Lucian’s hands curled into fists. “Then they’ve made a mistake.”
“Or they know exactly what they’re doing,” Aria countered.
She stepped closer to him. “We need to be careful. No more secrets. No more solo decisions.”
He looked at her for a long moment, then nodded once. “Agreed.”
But even as he said it, the bond trembled faintly again—warning, not reassurance.
A howl echoed in the distance.
Sharp. Urgent.
Both of them froze.
Another howl followed.
Rowan burst through the door, face pale. “Alpha. Luna. We have a problem.”
Lucian turned sharply. “What is it?”