The Lycan’s Blood

Strangers

Aria woke before her alarm

Again

She waited for the familiar panic to arrive, but there was no forest, no vampire, no white eyes—no nightmare at all

“For once,” she whispered

She had slept through the entire night

Then she noticed her bedroom window was open

She was certain she had closed it before bed Aria crossed the room and shut it against the cold morning air A faint scent of rain and pine clung to the curtains

Probably her mother, she decided Her mother often opened windows in the morning

As Aria turned away, something caught her eye on the sill

A thin crescent of gray dust marked the painted wood

She brushed it away with her fingertip The dust felt strangely cold

Downstairs, her mother was already in the kitchen

“You slept well,” she said

“Perfectly”

Relief flickered across her mother’s face, followed by something harder to identify

Fear, perhaps

Or recognition

Aria narrowed her eyes “You’re acting weird”

“I’m always weird”

“More than usual”

Her mother only laughed and told her to eat

As Aria reached for a spoon, she noticed a small silver pendant lying beside the sink She had never seen it before Its surface was darkened with age, and at its center was a symbol resembling a circle crossed by three curved lines

Her mother saw her looking and snatched it up

“What’s that?”

“Nothing”

“You keep saying that”

Her mother closed her fingers around the pendant “Eat your breakfast, Aria”

For a moment, everything felt normal

Then her mother slipped the pendant into her pocket and checked the locked back door twice

⸻

At school, Maya immediately noticed the change

“You look happy”

“I slept”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it”

They crossed the courtyard, but Aria stopped when she saw Adrian standing near the gates He wore the same black jacket and stared toward the forest instead of the students around him

A familiar pressure tightened in Aria’s chest

For one brief second, the world seemed to tilt The trees beyond the school fence blurred, and something pale flashed between the trunks

A hand

Or a branch

Aria blinked

Nothing was there

She looked away

Maya followed her gaze “You like him”

“I barely know him”

“That’s how crushes work”

Aria rolled her eyes, but when she glanced back, Adrian was gone

Only a dark mark remained on the iron gate where he had been standing Three shallow scratches curved around a small circle

Aria stared at them

“Did you see that?”

“See what?”

She touched the mark

The metal was warm

Aria pulled her hand back

“Nothing,” she said

⸻

Later, a seating change placed Adrian beside her in class

He closed his notebook as she sat down

“You keep staring,” Aria said after a few minutes

“I was thinking”

“About me?”

“Maybe”

Despite herself, she laughed “You’re strange”

“I’ve been told”

His expression shifted when he looked toward the forest

“Do you ever go there?” he asked

“No”

“Good”

“Why?”

“It’s dangerous”

“Because of wolves?”

“Among other things”

His gaze dropped briefly to her wrist

Aria followed it The faint birthmark beneath her sleeve had begun to ache—a pale, crescent-shaped mark she had carried for as long as she could remember

She tugged the fabric down

Adrian’s eyes narrowed

“What?” she asked

“Nothing”

“You keep saying that”

Something almost like alarm crossed his face

Before she could question him, the teacher called his name Adrian turned away, but Aria kept thinking about his answer—and the way he had looked at her wrist as if he recognized something he had never seen before

⸻

After school, Aria stopped at the bookstore before walking home

While she waited at the counter, an old book slid from a nearby shelf and landed at her feet

Its cover was cracked and unmarked

She picked it up

The pages smelled of dust and something metallic Most of the writing had faded, but one illustration remained clear: a dark forest surrounding an empty stone throne

Beneath it, in a language she didn’t recognize, was a single line

Aria traced the symbols with her finger

A sharp pain flashed through her palm

The book fell open

For an instant, she heard a whisper

Not from the store

From somewhere beneath the floor

Her name

Aria dropped the book

The shopkeeper hurried over, pale-faced

“Don’t touch that”

“Why?”

He stared at the open page

Then he closed the book and shoved it back onto the shelf

“Some things are better left forgotten”

As Aria stepped outside, she saw Adrian across the street, watching the forest

She turned to look

Nothing

When she faced the street again, he was gone

Half a block away, a dark car sat parked at the curb

Inside, Damon Veyre watched Aria disappear around the corner

He compared her to the photograph in his hand

It was her

At first glance, she appeared completely human Yet Damon couldn’t hear her heartbeat properly It was soft and steady, but strangely distant

Then the wind shifted

A trace of her scent reached him

Not human

Not vampire

Something older lingered beneath it, buried so deeply that another creature might have missed it entirely

Damon did not

His fingers tightened around the photograph

“Interesting,” he murmured

He stepped out of the car

⸻

Aria reached home just before sunset and found her mother’s purse and keys in the kitchen, but no sign of her

She searched the house and was reaching for her phone when the front door opened

Her mother entered with dirt on her sleeve and a small scratch near her neck

“Where were you?” Aria asked

“Out”

“Where?”

“Just out”

Her mother tried to move past her, then stopped

“Did anyone follow you home?”

“No”

“You didn’t notice anyone?”

“No”

Her mother nodded, but the question left Aria uneasy

“What is going on?”

“Nothing”

“You keep saying that”

For one brief moment, fear showed in her mother’s eyes

Then her mother looked past Aria toward the staircase

Not at the stairs

At the shadow beneath them

“Go upstairs,” she said

“Why?”

“Please”

Aria obeyed, though suspicion followed her to her room She closed the door and leaned against it

A moment later, she heard the front door lock

Then another lock

And another

Her mother had never locked the house that way before

Aria crossed to the window In the fading light, she saw her mother step into the backyard and kneel beside the old oak tree

She pressed one hand against the bark

The tree shuddered

A faint silver glow appeared beneath her palm

Aria stepped back from the glass

Her mother whispered something too low to hear

The glow vanished

When her mother returned inside, she looked up toward Aria’s window

Aria froze

For a second, she was certain her mother could see her through the curtains

Then her mother turned away

Something was happening

Aria just didn’t know what

⸻

Across town, Damon stood beneath a streetlamp, watching the house

He had expected a supernatural signature, a clue—anything Instead, he had found an ordinary girl living an ordinary life

His instincts refused to accept it

The house itself was wrong

Old protective wards clung to the walls, hidden beneath layers of paint and dust They had been weakened, but not broken Someone had built them carefully

Someone had wanted Aria hidden

Then Damon sensed another presence

Across the street stood a tall, dark-haired stranger, watching the same house

The stranger’s posture was still, but the tension in him was unmistakable His attention remained fixed on the upstairs window

Not the house

Aria

Their eyes met

Neither moved

For a moment, Damon heard something beneath the stranger’s heartbeat—a low, restrained growl

Werewolf

Damon’s expression barely changed

Then the stranger vanished into the darkness

Damon smiled faintly

“So I’m not the only one looking”

He didn’t know who the stranger was or why he had come He certainly didn’t know the man had been sent by a kingdom that had been at war with his for centuries

But he knew one thing

The stranger had recognized something

Perhaps not in Aria

Perhaps in himself

Inside, Aria sat on her bed, unaware that two strangers had entered her world in a single day—and that both were searching for her

She opened her hand

A thin silver crescent had appeared across her palm, exactly where the old book had touched her

It was already fading

For now, she was still just Aria: a girl with a normal life, strange nightmares, a mother who lied too easily, and a mark that seemed to remember things she did not

Somewhere deep inside the forest, something was waiting

And beneath the roots of the oldest tree, a sealed door had begun to open