“THE SECOND ATTACK”
938 Words
Aurelia heard the scream before she even got to the courtyard.
“Stay here!”
Draven’s voice chased after her, but she barely glanced back.
There was no way she could just stand by. Not after everything that had happened.
A woman had been found outside the palace. Someone was attacking again, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, Aurelia knew she was right at the center of it.
She hurried down the corridor.
“Your Majesty!”
Guards dashed past her. Aurelia stepped aside, craning to see what was happening ahead.
That’s when she spotted him—someone moving in the shadows. A hooded man.
He wasn’t fleeing to the courtyard. He was coming straight for her.
Aurelia froze.
The man lifted his hand. Something glinted—a blade.
She spun and ran, heart pounding against her ribs as she tore down the corridor.
Footsteps chased her. Fast. Too close.
“Aurelia!”
Draven’s voice, but she didn’t stop.
She darted around the corner—
A hand clamped around her, yanking her back. Cold metal pressed against her throat.
“Don’t move.”
She barely dared to breathe. His breath was icy by her ear.
“Where is the king?”
Her mouth was dry. “I don’t know.”
He pressed the blade harder.
“Liar.”
And then everything shifted.
A deep growl rumbled behind them in the hallway. The assassin’s eyes went wide.
Aurelia didn’t need to look. She knew. It was Draven.
“Let her go.” His voice was too calm, almost worse than if he’d shouted.
“Stay back!” The assassin’s grip tightened.
Draven walked forward. One step. Another.
“You have three seconds.”
The assassin jerked the blade higher. “Or what?”
Draven’s eyes went black. “You don’t get a second.”
Everything exploded at once.
Draven lunged.
The assassin threw Aurelia aside and swung the blade at Draven. Draven caught his wrist—there was a horrible crack. The man screamed.
Draven landed a punch hard enough to send the assassin crashing to the floor. The man tried to scramble up. Draven was there in a heartbeat. Another blow, and it was over.
Silence.
Aurelia stood, shaking. Draven turned to her, chest heaving.
“Aurelia.”
She met his gaze. His face was white with fury—and something else.
He crossed the gap between them fast.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He checked her anyway, hands pressing over her shoulders, arms, neck, searching for blood.
When he found nothing, his eyes squeezed shut, once. Relief shot over his face—but it vanished just as quick, replaced by anger.
“What were you thinking?”
Aurelia bristled. “I was trying to help.”
“You were supposed to stay in the room.”
“I heard someone scream.”
“That doesn’t mean you run toward danger.”
“I wasn’t going toward him!”
“You left my side.”
She glared at him. “I am not your shadow, Draven.”
His jaw worked. “You could have died.”
“And I’m not your prisoner.”
Draven stepped right up to her. “Stop making me choose between letting you be free and keeping you alive.”
She fell quiet. Somehow his voice wasn’t angry anymore. It felt raw. Barely holding it together.
She made herself look at him. He wasn’t furious because she’d ignored him.
He was terrified. He thought he’d lost her—again.
Aurelia’s anger melted away.
“You were scared,” she said softly.
Draven looked off to the side. “I don’t get scared.”
“Yes, you do.”
He said nothing.
She took a step closer. “You thought I was going to die.”
His gaze swung back to hers. “I thought I was going to lose you again.”
The word caught her off guard. Again. It landed between them, heavy and true. Always again.
Draven turned toward the assassin sprawled on the floor.
“Search him.”
A guard scrambled to obey, pulling something from the assassin’s coat—a black metal pendant, scratched with a strange symbol: a circle, surrounded by three sharp lines.
Aurelia’s heart leapt. She knew that mark.
It was on the back of the photograph.
The same symbol scrawled beside the words: Never let her remember.
Her breath turned tight and shallow.
“Where did he get that?”
Draven caught her look. “You recognize it?”
She nodded. “I found it in your study.”
Draven’s face darkened.
Without thinking, Aurelia reached for the pendant.
The second her fingers brushed the metal, fire shot through her head.
She gasped. The corridor vanished, swallowed by darkness. Deep inside, she heard something—not Draven, not any human sound. Something older, something that whispered from within.
Aurelia’s heart stuttered.
For the first time in her life, she felt another presence in her mind. A voice, low and trembling.
“Draven.”
Her eyes flew open.
Draven was staring at her, concern twisting his face. Maybe he’d heard it. Maybe he just saw it in her eyes.
“What happened?”
Aurelia’s body wouldn’t stop shaking. She tried to answer, but the voice came again, stronger now, pushing closer.
“Draven…”
Aurelia pressed a hand to her chest, eyes going wide.
“I can hear her.”
Draven went deadly still. “Who?”
Aurelia stared at him, the truth tumbling out in a whisper.
“My wolf.”
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