Chapter 5 The Queen Awakens

When Aria woke up, it was like she'd been dropped from a great height-no Kael draped against her, just the sticky memory of him pressed into her skin. Her body still ached, still buzzed in all the wrong places. Dawn bled across the ceiling, red as murder and twice as hard to ignore.

She wasn't in the temple. Not anymore. Instead, she was tucked into her own bed, drowning in white sheets that stunk of denial. Whoever had dressed her back up in innocence was delusional. Nothing about her was untouched now. And she knew it, right down to her bones.

Every beat of her heart stoked the fire in her veins. There was a mark, smack between her breasts, throbbing like a second pulse. Her thighs ached in ways that had nothing to do with sleep. Her lips-god, they still tingled, bruised from Kael's savage mouth. You'd think it'd be enough to scare her straight. But nah. She wanted more. Not just another roll in the sheets, though she'd take that too. She wanted the wildness, the danger, the taste of power dancing at her fingertips.

And the throne-don't forget the throne.

The Moonborn prophecy had always been a shadow in her family, whispered about like a curse. Girl falls for a beast, kingdoms burn, yada yada. Her bloodline spent centuries terrified of that story. If only they realized how much of it was already true. If only they could see the hunger gnawing at her now.

-

Aria rolled out of bed, no patience for servants. She wrapped herself in black silk and layered on her armor-not for show, but because it felt right. Like she was wearing her anger on the outside. Her eyes, rimmed with sleep and last night's sin, stared back from the mirror-sharper now, something dangerous flickering in the depths.

She walked out like she owned the place. Maybe she did. The court downstairs was a mess, all frantic whispers and sideways glances. Rumor had it black smoke had poured from the northern cliffs during the night. Stormwatch Keep practically vibrated with secrets.

Aria slid into the great hall. She wore her noble daughter mask, but her eyes-damn, her eyes-were knives. Her father drew back, and it was the first time she'd ever seen him look scared of her.

He tried to keep his voice steady. "Where were you last night? We had a council. You were supposed to be there."

She looked him up and down, slow and surgical, like she was thinking of skinning him and using his hide for armor.

"I was at the temple," she said, clear and cold.

The whole room sucked in a breath. Someone dropped a goblet. The steward's face went white.

"That place is cursed," her father spat.

She stepped closer, smile curling wicked. "That's why it's mine."

You could taste the fear in the air after that. The way people looked at her-like she'd grown horns. She liked it. Hell, she craved it.

-

Sleep? Not a chance. That night, she climbed the tower and stared up at the moon, full and fat and watching her like it knew every secret. The mark over her heart burned. She swore she could feel it pulling at her, wanting more.

And then-there he was. Kael. Not just a ghost in her head this time. Not a shadow. He strode out of the wind, solid and wild, gold eyes gleaming.

"You took your first step," he said, voice low and just a little smug.

She didn't even blink. "They're afraid of me now."

"They should be." His smile was all teeth.

She squared up to him. "You called me queen of beasts."

He stepped closer, traced her mouth with a claw. "I said you were meant to be. Doesn't mean it'll be a cakewalk. The gods don't let monsters have thrones for free."

"And you?" she shot back. "Still a monster?"

He looked almost sad. "I was. Until you."

Aria laughed, one hard burst. "Don't pretend this is some fairytale. I'm not a lovesick child anymore."

Kael pulled her close, breath warm at her ear. "Neither am I."

Then he bit her-hard. Not gentle, not tender. A claim. Magic ripped through her-hot, wild, overwhelming. Her knees buckled. She arched, shuddering. Pleasure, yes, but beneath it, a river of power.

Images slammed into her skull-thrones built from bone, wings huge and dark, herself leading armies of beasts and the damned. It was too much. She would have hit the floor, but Kael caught her.

"You needed a taste," he murmured, voice rough. "Now let's wake the rest."

-

Morning broke ugly and strange. The dead came crawling out of the crypts-old warriors, ancient priests, forgotten mages. Not mindless, not rotting. But changed. Marked by the same crescent burned into Aria's chest. They whispered her name like a prayer.

At their head, a woman in silver and red-eyes burning, voice like an avalanche. "The Moonborn Queen has returned."

That settled it. Aria stepped forward, and for the first time, she wasn't a girl pretending to be powerful. She was power. She was the story everyone else feared.

She was something new. Something divine.

-

Night again, and Kael found her in the throne room.

He bent her over the ancient throne, tore her robes, and took her with a hunger that made the stones quake. She screamed his name, hands clawing cold iron, his claws raking fire down her back.

Every thrust was thunder, shaking the bones of the keep. Every cry a spell, every climax a step closer to something monstrous and magnificent.

She came, wild and broken and radiant, and the mark on her chest exploded with light.

The curse wasn't sleeping anymore.

It had chosen her.

And honestly? She was done running. Let the world tremble. She was ready to burn it down, one kingdom at a time.