Chapter 5 THE ALERT

CHAPTER 5

ARIA'S POV

The morning after the false howl, I woke before the sun, or to be specific I didn't sleep much peacefully.

Sleep had offered no solace. My dreams had been filled with flickers of firelight and ashes, my father's voice a fading whisper. Every time I reached for him, he disappeared. Always the same. Always gone.

I threw off my blanket and stepped outside my tent. The frost was heavier today. The earth was hard under my bare feet, grounding me in the moment.

Something inside me shifted last night. Not because of the howling or the bond, but because of the memory that came with it, a whisper of a place, a symbol carved into stone.

My father's study.

I hadn't thought about it in years. The last time I was in there, he was standing by the fire, cloaked in silence. I was just a girl then, clutching a broken arrow and tears I hadn't let fall. He told me stories of the High Council. Of betrayal. Of something hidden deep beneath the Ashborne estate.

A secret he said would change everything.

And suddenly, I knew I had to go back.

'Cera." I called, ducking into her tent. She groaned and pulled a blanket over her head, as I tried to pull away.

"It's barely dawn." She mutters sleepily, irritation dipping from her tone.

"I need you with me. We're going back to the ruins." I say, tucking her blanket.

That got her attention.

"You mean... Ashborne lands?" She asks and I nod my head, looking at her with determination. If she doesn't agree to go with me then, I will go alone, but I will definitely go.

She sat up, all traces of sleep gone as she looked at me with widened eyes. "Why? I mean all of a sudden!" She asks in confusion and curiously.

"I need to find something. Something my dad left for me." I said. Cera quickly gets up and we get ready to leave, strapping weapons for any situation and tricks to get away if there's any problem.

We left before sunrise, just the two of us. I told David to hold camp until we returned, but I saw the concern in his eyes. "Don't get caught." He warned, before we left.

The Ashborne lands were half a day's run northeast. We shifted at the edge of camp, our wolves tearing through the frost with practiced ease. Mine, silver gray eyes like storm clouds, was silent, focused. Cera's was smaller, faster, but never strayed far.

By the time we reached the outer ridge, the sun was rising in the sky and the wind was sharp.

The Ashborne estate was barely recognizable. Vines choked the blackened walls, and the stone steps were cracked with age. But the bones of the house remained.

My chest ached just looking at it. It's in the worst situation ever. My home. I couldn't believe that my home, where I grew up, is in this state.

"Are you sure?" Cera asked.

"No..." I whispered. "But I have to try." I say, taking a deep breath and stares at the house.

We crept through the remains, the echoes of my childhood everywhere. The great hall where I'd learned to fight. The library where my mother read ancient scrolls to me by candlelight. All of it ruined.

But the study....

It was mostly intact.

The heavy desk still stood, charred but solid. Bookshelves lined the walls, some crumbling, others still holding scraps of parchment.

I crossed to the far wall.

There, hidden behind a shattered painting, was a crest carved into the stone: Ashborne's true sigil. Not the one the Council approved, but the original. The forbidden one.

A crescent moon flanked by twin wolves.

I pressed my hand to it.

Click!

A small panel slid open in the wall, revealing a black leather book and a wrapped bundle of parchment.

My hands trembled as I opened the book first. It was my father's journal.

The first few pages were filled with battle maps, political names, and then... his words:

"The High Council knew. They feared the prophecy. They feared the Ashborne bloodline would awaken what they buried. But the Blackridge Alpha... he knew the truth. He knew, and still, he chose silence. Kaiden Blackthorn's father made a deal to keep the secret buried. And Kaiden was just a boy. But he watched. And one day, he will have to choose."

I froze. My mind numb, I can't think of anything but the words and the man, who knew everything and has a part in it too.

Kaiden knew.

He knew what they did to my father. He knew the truth behind the betrayal. He fucking knew that my dad was innocent.

And he said nothing.

Kaiden fucking Blackthorn hadn't said a word in favour of my father. He took his father's side and watched my father suffer and my whole family's downfall.

My breath caught, anger rising fast. He watched my family fall and said nothing. He stays silent, and watches, just watches.

But do you know the worst part?

Something in me still wanted to believe he could have chosen differently. He could have his own reason.

I unwrapped the bundle. A map leading deep beneath the estate, marked only with a phrase: "To awaken the old bond, find the fire buried in shadow."

"What is it?" Cera asked, looking over my shoulder in the map, and frowning not understanding anything.

"Proof." I said. "And maybe something more." When I stood, the wind had shifted. Snow began to fall. But my rage was hotter than ever.

Kaiden had rejected me. But now... I would uncover the secrets he helped bury. The secret, he doesn't let it out, but not anymore.

Because now I'm standing in his way, ready to bring out every secret he has buried, and I will not stop at anything.

Even if it meant destroying whatever was left of the bond.

Even if it meant to destroy him.