Aisha lay in the backseat of a dusty gray truck. Her wounds were still open, and every bump on the road made her gasp in pain. The air was thick with the metallic scent of her blood. Fever consumed her, dragging her consciousness between reality and delirium.
At the wheel, Skiller wrestled with his vampiric instincts. His eyes glowed with hunger, and his trembling hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
"That human... is a bastard," he spat, grabbing a disinfectant from the glovebox. Without care, he began cleaning Aisha's wound, forcing a sharp cry of pain from her lips.
"Don't hurt Rasen..." she whispered hoarsely.
The fever brought visions of the white wolf. Sanathiel's voice echoed through her mind, haunting and inescapable:
"You will come to me. You will see. My fated one... the chosen."
When she finally came to, she found Skiller watching her as he stitched her wound with surprising precision, though the tremble in his fingers betrayed his struggle to stay in control.
"You almost didn't make it, Aisha. That bullet... it could have ended you," he said with a mix of relief and frustration.
Aisha looked away, trying to ignore both the physical pain and the weight of the words burning in her memory.
"I'm not his toy… and I'm not yours either."
Skiller slammed the brakes, hitting the steering wheel with a growl.
"You lie, Aisha. I know you better than you think."
Flashback:
An outdoor café. Sanathiel, Skiller, and Noah spoke in low, casual tones.
"The red moon..." Noah murmured, adjusting his blazer. "It wasn't Zaira. I'm sure of it. She was younger. A teenager forced into becoming a Nevri."
Sanathiel, visibly tense, turned toward Skiller, who seemed to enjoy the tension.
"Your beloved Itzel must've lost her mind when she found out," Skiller said mockingly, sipping hot chocolate. "I suppose the girl still needs to mature into your future mate... but I wonder. Will you give her the place Zaira once held? Or will you give her your heart?"
Sanathiel didn't answer. He slipped on a face mask and, with an icy stare, said:
"If I deem it necessary, I'll bring her into my world—rules be damned."
End of Flashback.
Skiller lit a cigarette and pulled a photo from a side drawer.
"Do you recognize him? They call him Dr. Darian."Aisha turned her head to the window in silence.
They arrived at a secluded villa. The gates creaked open and the truck rolled inside. Servants hurried over, helping Aisha down. She was taken to a spacious, warm room.
Inside, Skiller handed her a small vial with a thick, dark liquid.
"Drink it. It'll heal your wounds."
Aisha hesitated, but pain and exhaustion won. The moment she swallowed, a searing heat coursed through her body.
"It burns! What… what did you give me?!" she screamed, collapsing and clutching her stomach.
The vision came violently.
She stood in a forest of colossal trees. The leaves trembled, as if breathing. At the entrance of a stone house, an old man with white hair and one sealed eye awaited. The other eye was marked with a blackened cross of flesh.
"You've grown well, daughter of Zaira," he said calmly.
Aisha tried to speak, but he raised his hand.
"Don't look at me with such hatred. I failed your grandfather... That's why I'm here. Cursed to witness the threads that tie the demon's children to Kerens blood."
He drew a circle on white fabric, dropping charcoal in the center.
"Your thread shines like his. Luciano came to me in this forbidden forest fifty years ago. He brought his daughter's body... and made me repay a debt I swore never to repay."
He pulled a moon-shaped pendant from his robe.
"This symbol was thrown into the flames that night. You wear it now. Zaira was his daughter reborn. You… are the end of his bloodline."
The water in the circle reflected flickering shapes: wolves, blood, outstretched hands… Sanathiel. Varek. Sariel.
"The white wolf is your fate. But if Sariel discovers who you are—if Azael's true sons learn the truth—your death will be just the beginning of the sacrifice."
The ground gave way beneath Aisha. Darkness swallowed her.
"But in your blood lies the key," he added, touching her forehead with sooty fingers."If you awaken too soon, he won't know who you are. That might save you… or doom you."
She fell.
Reality struck with a harsh gasp. Aisha shot up, as if pulled from dark waters. Her skin was drenched in cold sweat, heart racing, eyes wide open… but nothing around her felt real.
The forest was gone. The elder, the threads, the voice claiming she was "the last"—all vanished.
But the weight… the weight remained.The pendant on her chest burned, branding her with silent fire.
"Zaira..." she whispered, barely believing the name was now her legacy.
She brought both hands to her face, trembling. Tears spilled, uninvited.Tears of rage. Of fear. Of powerlessness.
She had never asked for this.She never asked to be born into a cursed bloodline.She didn't want to be the echo of a woman who died for a wolf who no longer remembered her.
"What am I to you all...?" she sobbed."A bridge? A sacrifice? A living memory?"
She dropped to her knees.
Sanathiel's face flashed in her mind like lightning. His eyes. His pain. His war with himself.
And there, in the middle of it all, Aisha felt a truth that tore her apart:
She loved someone she might be fated to hate.
And somewhere in this broken world, that love could destroy her… or save them all.
When she opened her eyes, she was lying in Skiller's arms.The moment she sat up, she vomited uncontrollably, weakened by the potion.Skiller said nothing. He held her, his expression torn between worry and exasperation.
Without a word, he carried her to a nearby couch, tucked a pillow under her head, and covered her with a blanket.
"I'll be back soon, Aisha. Stay here," he murmured, walking toward the door.
The sea breeze slipped through the open window, carrying a salty scent. The curtains fluttered, casting restless shadows on the walls.
Just as sleep threatened to take her, a voice broke the silence.From the doorway, Sanathiel stood, silhouetted against the dim corridor light.
"You survived," he said coldly, his eyes gleaming like frozen spheres in the dark.
Aisha's eyes flew open, her breath catching.Sanathiel stood there, filling the room with his presence.
"Get away from me, monster," she said with a trembling voice, grabbing a lamp like a weapon.
"Control your emotions, or you might cause an accident," he replied calmly as his claws began to shift.
Skiller stepped between them.
"Hey! You broke the deal, Sanathiel. I nearly died at Dimitri's hands."
Sanathiel chuckled with disdain.
"Don't ruin this moment with my mate, Skiller. It took too much to bring her here."
Aisha, shaking with fury, hurled something at him.
"I'd rather die than be your mate!"
Sanathiel smiled coldly, arrogantly.
"We'll meet again, Aisha. Even if I don't like you… fate has its quirks. And you are one of them."
Before leaving, he whispered into Skiller's ear:
"Don't tell her who she really is. It'll be more entertaining if she finds out on her own."
Then he was gone, leaving Aisha trembling with rage, and Skiller with a face carved in tension.