I didn't sleep that night.
Even with Kael keeping watch and the forest falling into a heavy hush, my body refused to relax. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Varek—his twisted grin, the darkness in his eyes, the way his power had crept under my skin and stayed. It wasn't just a nightmare.
It was real. A thread. A link.
And it was tightening.
I sat by the fire Kael had made, staring at the flames like they held the answer. My fingers kept twitching, still charged with the faint aftershock of magic. I hated this feeling—of being watched, invaded, vulnerable. But more than that, I hated that part of me… wanted the power.
"You look like you're about to explode," Kael said behind me, dropping beside me with two small canteens. "Here."
I took the water without saying thank you. He didn't comment.
"You're not sleeping," he said.
"Did you expect me to?"
He didn't answer. Just stared into the fire too.
"I keep thinking about what he said," I whispered. "That I woke something up. That I don't know how to control it."
"You don't."
I turned sharply to glare at him. "Wow. Great pep talk, Alpha."
He shrugged. "Would you rather I lie?"
"No," I muttered. "But maybe try not to sound so calm about it."
"I'm not calm," he said. "I'm holding myself together because if I don't, I'll do something stupid."
"Like what?" I scoffed. "Kill Varek with your bare hands? Sounds like a great plan."
"No," Kael said, eyes narrowing. "Like mark you before you're ready."
I froze.
The air around us shifted.
"You…" I blinked. "You were going to mark me?"
"I've wanted to since the moment I realized who you were."
"But you said I wasn't yours," I said, my voice small. "That I was a mistake."
"I lied."
The world went quiet again. Just the fire. Just us.
"I can't be marked right now," I whispered. "Not when he's still inside my head."
"I know," he said. "That's why I haven't. But Aria… that thread? It's not just him reaching you."
I frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Kael looked me dead in the eyes. "It's the bond too. Ours. Fighting his hold. But it's not strong enough yet."
My heart raced.
"You're saying if you marked me—"
"I could shield you," he confirmed. "I could lock him out."
A war began in my chest. Everything inside me screamed no. Not yet. Not with him. But the fear of Varek finding his way back in… it clawed up my spine like ice.
"And if I say no?"
Kael's expression softened for the first time all night.
"Then I'll protect you anyway. Mark or no mark, you're still mine."
He said it with quiet certainty, like a promise carved into stone.
And I hated that part of me—small, stubborn, betrayed—melted just a little.
But before I could reply, pain shot through my skull.
White-hot. Sharp. Unstoppable.
I screamed and dropped to the ground, clutching my head as visions slammed into my mind.
Dark forests. A circle of robed figures. Blood. Chanting.
And Varek.
Eyes blazing, lips curled in a sneer, standing at the center of it all.
"I'm coming for you, Aria," his voice echoed in my mind. "And when I do, you'll wish you had chosen him."
Kael was beside me in seconds, hands on my shoulders.
"What did you see?" he demanded.
I looked up, tears streaming down my face.
"He's summoning something," I gasped. "A ritual. A claiming. He's going to use the thread to drag me to him."
Kael's face darkened. "Then we break the thread."
"How?" I choked out.
Kael's jaw set. "We go to the High Circle. We ask the Elders."
"The Elders don't help rogues," I said bitterly.
Kael stood, helping me to my feet. "They'll help us. Because if they don't… Varek won't just take you."
His eyes burned with fury.
"He'll take everything."