Chapter 3 The Night That Knew Her Name

The moon was high again.

Always the moon.

Aris stood at the edge of the woods, the cool night brushing against her skin like whispers on her neck. She didn't remember leaving her room. One moment she was lying in bed, trying to quiet her thoughts. The next, she was standing barefoot beneath the trees.

But she wasn't alone.

A breeze curled around her legs, carrying a scent that was ancient-dark wine and firewood. Her pulse stumbled.

Then he appeared.

A man stepped from the shadows, impossibly tall, dressed in black from collar to boots. His skin was pale, like marble under moonlight. Hair dark as midnight. Eyes-

His eyes.

Red. No, deeper than red. They shimmered like dying stars, full of secrets and centuries of silence.

Aris couldn't move.

"You've grown," he said, his voice soft, almost fond. "Your father always knew you wouldn't stay hidden forever."

She swallowed. "Who are you?"

"I am what fate made for you," he said. "And what you were made for, Aris."

Her name on his tongue made her flinch.

"Don't come any closer," she warned, taking a step back.

But the trees behind her felt alive, like they wouldn't let her run.

He didn't move. Didn't need to.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he said. "But others will try. The wolves will come for you first. Their Alpha already scents your blood in the wind. Kai... he's closer than you know."

"Kai?" Her voice broke. "What are you talking about?"

He tilted his head. "Hasn't he told you what he is?"

Aris didn't answer. She didn't know how.

The man stepped forward slowly, eyes never leaving hers. "You are the last living daughter of the blood sworn to balance both our worlds. But you were born cursed, Aris. Fated to stand at the center of a war you did not choose. Your blood is the key... and the curse."

Her heart pounded. "I don't want any of this."

He smiled, but it was sad. "Fate doesn't care what you want."

And then the wind howled, and he vanished into the dark like he'd never been there.

---

She woke screaming.

The sheets were soaked. Her hands trembled. And on her wrist-faint, almost glowing-was a symbol she had never seen before. Different from the one in her dream the night before. This one burned deeper.

She covered it with her sleeve.

---

School felt like a trap.

Every face looked sharper now. Every noise rang louder in her ears. Her skin was tight, like she was wearing someone else's life and it didn't fit.

Kai found her before first period, walking up with that same maddening half-smile.

"You look like you saw a ghost," he said lightly.

She didn't answer. She just stared at him.

"You knew my father," she said.

Kai blinked. "What?"

"Don't lie to me. You knew what I was before I even set foot in this school."

Kai's expression shifted. Gone was the teasing smile. In its place, something older. Harder.

"Yes," he said finally.

"Then tell me the truth," Aris said, voice shaking. "What are you?"

Kai looked around, then stepped closer, lowering his voice. "You already know."

"You're a werewolf," she whispered.

He didn't deny it.

Aris backed away.

"And you think we're... what? Fated? Mates?" she spat. "Like this is some story I didn't ask to be part of?"

Kai's jaw clenched. "I didn't choose this either. But your blood calls to us-for a reason. And the vampire won't stop until he gets you."

"He was in my dream."

Kai looked at her sharply.

"That wasn't a dream," he said. "He can reach you, even when you're asleep."

Aris's world tilted.

"I don't belong to any of you," she whispered, more to herself than him.

"No," Kai said. "But fate doesn't care who we belong to. It only cares that we do."

---

That night, Aris stood in her room staring at the symbols carved into her father's old knife-the one hidden beneath a loose floorboard, the one she'd sworn never to touch.

But something inside her had shifted.

And deep in her bones, she knew: this was only the beginning.