CHAPTER 6 THE LYCAN COUNCIL
648 Words
They walked in silence after leaving the chamber.
The corridor felt longer now.
Heavier.
Aria’s thoughts were a storm she couldn’t quiet. Queen. Royal blood. Awakening. Training.
She didn’t feel powerful.
She felt small.
“Kael…” her voice came out softer than she intended. “What if they’re wrong?”
He stopped walking.
Turned to face her fully.
“They are not.”
“You didn’t even hesitate,” she said. “You just… accepted it.”
Kael studied her for a long moment, as if weighing how much truth she was ready to carry.
“Because I have been waiting for you my entire life.”
Her breath caught.
“What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, a sudden pulse of heat shot through her spine.
Aria gasped.
Her knees buckled.
Kael caught her before she hit the ground.
The mark on her back burned.
Not painfully.
But intensely.
Like something inside her was trying to break free.
Her vision blurred. The hallway flickered in and out of focus.
And then—
She wasn’t in the corridor anymore.
She stood in a forest she had never seen before.
Massive silver trees towered above her. The moon hung impossibly large in the sky.
And in front of her—
A woman.
Tall. Regal. Eyes glowing silver like hers.
“You have finally awakened,” the woman said.
Aria’s heart pounded. “Who are you?”
The woman stepped closer.
“I am the first Lycan Queen.”
Aria’s breath hitched.
“This is a memory… left in your blood. For the one who would return.”
Aria shook her head. “I don’t understand any of this.”
“You will,” the woman said gently. “But you must be strong. Stronger than I was.”
A chill ran through Aria.
“What do you mean?”
The Queen’s eyes darkened.
“There was betrayal. Not from wolves.”
A pause.
“From Lycans.”
Before Aria could ask more, the vision shattered.
She gasped as reality slammed back into her.
She was still in Kael’s arms.
His voice sounded distant. “Aria. Look at me.”
She blinked rapidly.
“I saw… someone,” she whispered. “A woman. She said she was the first Lycan Queen.”
Kael’s expression changed instantly.
Sharp. Alert.
“What else did she say?”
Aria swallowed. “She said there was betrayal. From Lycans.”
The air between them grew tense.
Kael didn’t speak for several seconds.
Then quietly, “I was afraid of that.”
“You knew?” she asked.
“I suspected,” he said. “Our history has… missing pieces. Records destroyed. Truths buried.”
Her heart raced again.
“This isn’t just about me, is it?”
“No,” Kael admitted. “It is about something much older.”
Something dangerous.
He helped her stand.
“You are awakening faster than we expected. The council must not know about this vision yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if there was betrayal among Lycans once,” Kael said carefully, “there may be descendants of that betrayal still alive today.”
A cold wave washed over her.
“You think someone here is a threat?”
“I think,” Kael said slowly, “someone may not want you to remember.”
Aria’s stomach twisted.
Suddenly the respectful bows, the solemn faces, the heavy silence in the council chamber felt different.
Less welcoming.
More watchful.
As if some of them weren’t just honoring her.
They were measuring her.
Kael began walking again, slower this time.
“You are not just returning as Queen, Aria.”
She looked up at him.
“You are returning as a truth many have tried to bury.”
And for the first time since she arrived in the Lycan kingdom—
Aria felt real fear.
- Writer
