The Truth They Buried
1639 Words
Chapter 3
The Truth They Buried
POV: Aria
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Opening Hook
I stopped breathing the moment they both looked at me like I was dangerous.
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“No,” I said quickly. My voice shook, but I forced myself to stand straight. “You’re lying. Both of you.”
Neither of them moved.
That scared me more.
“I am not an Alpha,” I continued. “I can’t even shift. I was never trained. I was never allowed to—”
“That was not an accident,” Kael said.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
I shook my head.
“No. That’s not true. My father was a Beta. Everyone knows that.”
Kael’s eyes didn’t leave mine.
“And your mother?” he asked.
I froze.
No one ever asked about her.
Because no one ever cared.
“I… I don’t know,” I admitted quietly. “She died when I was young.”
“That is what they told you,” he said.
A cold feeling spread through my chest.
“What do you mean they told me?” I asked.
Before Kael could answer—
“Enough.”
Adrian’s voice cut in, sharp and firm.
“You’ve said too much already.”
I turned to him.
My heart twisted.
“You knew,” I said.
It wasn’t a question.
His silence was my answer.
“You knew,” I repeated, louder this time. “All this time… you knew something was different about me.”
His jaw tightened.
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“Then explain it to me!” I shouted. “Explain why I lived like nothing while everyone else trained. Explain why I was treated like I didn’t belong anywhere!”
His eyes darkened.
“You were hidden for a reason.”
“Hidden?” I laughed bitterly. “You call that hiding? I call it being treated like dirt.”
Kael stepped slightly closer to me.
Not touching.
Just there.
Steady.
“That is because they feared what you could become,” he said.
I looked at him.
My heart was racing again.
“And what is that?” I whispered.
His voice dropped.
“Stronger than any Alpha in this territory.”
The words hit me hard.
I shook my head again.
“No. That’s not possible.”
“It is.”
“Then why didn’t I feel anything before today?” I demanded. “Why did my wolf stay silent for years?”
Adrian answered this time.
“Because it was suppressed.”
I turned to him slowly.
“By who?”
Silence.
That silence told me everything.
My chest tightened.
“You,” I said.
His eyes flickered.
“You did this to me.”
“It was to protect you,” he said.
“Protect me?” My voice broke. “You rejected me!”
“That was also to protect you.”
The words felt wrong.
Twisted.
“How does that make any sense?” I asked. “You humiliated me. You broke the bond. You chose someone else in front of everyone.”
His expression hardened.
“You think I wanted that?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “Because it looked easy for you.”
Something flashed in his eyes.
Pain.
Real pain.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he said.
“There is always a choice.”
“Not when it comes to survival.”
I frowned.
“Whose survival?”
He didn’t answer.
Kael did.
“The packs.”
Everything went quiet again.
I felt like I was standing in the middle of something I didn’t understand.
“Start talking,” I said slowly. “No more half-truths. No more secrets.”
Kael studied me.
Then he nodded.
“Your mother,” he began, “was not who they said she was.”
My chest tightened.
“What was she?”
“A born Alpha,” he said.
My breath caught.
“That’s not possible,” I whispered. “If she was an Alpha, then why would she—”
“Be with a Beta?” Kael finished.
I nodded.
“Because she was hiding,” he said.
“From what?”
This time…
Adrian spoke.
“From war.”
I stared at him.
“What war?” I asked.
He hesitated.
Then said, “A war between powerful bloodlines. Your mother’s line… and others who wanted that power.”
I felt dizzy.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I said. “Why would anyone care about me? I’m nobody.”
“You are not, nobody,” Kael said firmly.
I looked at him.
His gaze didn’t waver.
“You carry her blood,” he continued. “That makes you valuable.”
“Valuable to whom?”
“To enemies,” Adrian said.
The word sent a chill through me.
Enemies.
“Then why didn’t you protect me properly?” I demanded. “Why let me suffer all these years?”
His voice lowered.
“Because if anyone suspected what you were, they would have taken you.”
“Taken me where?”
“To be controlled. Or killed.”
My stomach dropped.
Killed.
I took a step back.
“This is insane,” I said. “You expect me to believe that my whole life was a lie just to keep me safe?”
“Yes,” Adrian said.
“No,” I snapped. “If you wanted to protect me, you wouldn’t have rejected me.”
“That was the only way.”
“How?” I asked. “Explain that to me.”
His eyes met mine.
“Because the moment I accepted you publicly… you would become a target.”
My chest tightened.
“And rejecting me makes me safer?”
“Yes.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“That doesn’t feel like protection.”
“I know.”
Something shifted inside me.
Something painful.
Something angry.
“So you broke me… to keep me safe?” I asked quietly.
He didn’t answer.
But he didn’t deny it either.
That hurt more than anything.
Kael’s voice cut through the silence.
“You made the wrong choice.”
Adrian’s gaze snapped to him.
“I made the only choice.”
“You made a weak choice,” Kael said.
The tension between them grew.
Sharp.
Heavy.
“You think you could have done better?” Adrian asked.
“I know I would have,” Kael replied.
Adrian let out a cold laugh.
“You don’t understand what she is.”
Kael stepped forward.
“I understand enough.”
“No, you don’t,” Adrian said. “If you did, you wouldn’t be standing so close to her like this.”
Kael’s expression darkened.
“I am standing here because she is mine.”
The words sent a strange heat through me.
Adrian’s eyes flashed with anger.
“You don’t get to claim her,” he said.
“I already have.”
“That bond is unstable,” Adrian snapped. “She just went through a rejection.”
Kael’s voice dropped.
“And yet, she is still standing.”
I swallowed.
They were talking about me like I wasn’t there.
But every word hit me.
Hard.
“Stop,” I said.
Both of them turned to me.
“I am not something you fight over,” I continued. “I don’t even understand what I am yet.”
Kael’s expression softened slightly.
“You will.”
Adrian’s voice followed.
“And when you do, you will see why I did what I did.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
“Then believe this,” Kael said.
He stepped closer.
Slow.
Careful.
Like he didn’t want to scare me.
“I will not hurt you,” he said.
His voice was steady.
Clear.
“I will not reject you,” he added.
My heart tightened.
“And I will not hide you.”
Those words…
They broke something inside me.
Because they were everything I had ever wanted to hear.
But Adrian spoke again.
“And that is exactly why she is in danger with you.”
Kael’s eyes hardened.
“Explain.”
Adrian looked at me.
Then back at Kael.
“If her identity is revealed,” he said, “it will not just be our packs at risk.”
A pause.
Then—
“It will awaken others.”
A chill ran through me.
“What others?” I asked.
Neither of them answered immediately.
That silence again.
I hated that silence.
“Say it,” I demanded.
Kael’s voice came low.
“Ancient Alphas.”
My heart skipped.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Adrian said slowly, “you are connected to something much older than any of us.”
I felt small.
Very small.
Like my life was no longer mine.
“Why me?” I whispered.
No one answered that.
Because maybe…
There was no answer.
Suddenly, Kael stiffened.
His eyes sharpened.
“What is it?” I asked.
He didn’t look at me.
“They found us.”
My chest tightened.
“Who?”
Adrian’s expression darkened.
“Not mine,” he said.
Kael’s voice dropped.
“Mine.”
I froze.
“What do you mean?”
Kael finally looked at me.
His gaze was intense.
Dangerous.
“They are my warriors,” he said. “And if they see you with me…”
My heart pounded.
“What will happen?”
His answer came quiet.
“They will know you are my mate.”
Cliffhanger
My breath caught as his words settled in—
If his entire pack finds out about me… will they protect me… or see me as something worth killing?
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