The last heir of the mooncrest
1536 Words
Darkness.
It swallowed everything.
The voices.
The fear.
The pain.
Even my own thoughts seemed to drift away as I floated through an endless void.
For a moment, there was nothing.
Then slowly, fragments of sound began to return.
A distant voice.
Footsteps.
The crackling of fire.
And then...
Pain.
A sharp ache throbbed at the back of my neck.
I groaned.
My eyelids felt heavy.
Every muscle in my body protested as I slowly opened my eyes.
The first thing I noticed was the ceiling above me.
Wood.
Dark wooden beams crossed overhead.
Confusion immediately settled inside me.
Where was I?
The forest was gone.
The wolves were gone.
The last thing I remembered was being attacked from behind.
Panic surged through me.
I sat up too quickly.
Pain exploded through my head.
A cry escaped my lips.
"Easy."
The deep voice froze me instantly.
I knew that voice.
Alpha Kael.
My gaze snapped toward the corner of the room.
He was sitting in a chair near a fireplace.
His dark shirt was stained with blood.
For a terrifying second, I thought it was his.
Then I noticed the cuts on his knuckles.
The blood belonged to someone else.
The realization sent a chill through me.
Memories came rushing back.
The wolves.
The stranger.
The revelation.
The man who sold you isn't your father.
My stomach twisted.
I quickly looked away.
Everything felt wrong.
Everything.
Kael studied me silently.
His golden eyes seemed unusually tired.
"You've been unconscious for nearly a day."
A day?
My heart skipped.
"A day?"
He nodded.
Fear immediately tightened its grip around my chest.
"What happened?"
For a moment, he remained silent.
As if deciding how much to tell me.
Then he sighed.
"They tried to take you."
The memory made my skin crawl.
The stranger's smile.
The way he had looked at me.
Like I belonged to him.
I wrapped my arms around myself.
"And?"
His jaw tightened.
"They failed."
Something dark flashed in his eyes.
Something dangerous.
I had the sudden feeling that whoever those wolves were, they had paid a heavy price for attacking us.
The thought should have comforted me.
Instead, it scared me.
Because every time I looked at Kael, I became more confused.
He wasn't acting like the monster I expected.
But he wasn't exactly harmless either.
The silence stretched between us.
Neither of us seemed to know what to say.
Finally, I spoke.
"Was he telling the truth?"
The question left my mouth before I could stop it.
Kael's expression immediately changed.
The tiredness vanished.
Tension replaced it.
I swallowed hard.
"You know what I'm talking about."
He looked away.
And somehow that hurt more than any answer.
My heart sank.
"He wasn't lying, was he?"
The words came out barely above a whisper.
Kael remained silent.
The silence told me everything.
A sharp pain spread through my chest.
Not my father.
The man I had spent my entire life trying to please wasn't even my father.
A bitter laugh escaped me.
What a joke.
My entire life had become a joke.
I stared at the floor.
Suddenly every memory felt different.
Every moment.
Every interaction.
Every harsh word.
Every cold glance.
Every disappointment.
I had spent years blaming myself.
Years wondering why I wasn't enough.
Why he couldn't love me the way other fathers loved their daughters.
Now I knew.
Because I had never been his daughter.
Tears burned my eyes.
I hated them.
Hated feeling weak.
Yet I couldn't stop them.
A single tear rolled down my cheek.
Then another.
Then another.
I quickly wiped them away.
But it was useless.
The pain was too deep.
"I don't even know who I am anymore."
The confession slipped out before I could stop it.
The room fell silent.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Kael did something unexpected.
He stood.
My entire body tensed.
He crossed the room slowly.
Not threatening.
Not forceful.
Just careful.
As though he was approaching a wounded animal.
Which, in a way, he was.
He stopped a few feet away.
Close enough for me to see the exhaustion in his face.
The concern.
The guilt.
"Aria."
His voice was softer than I had ever heard it.
"You are not the lies people told you."
I looked up.
Something tightened painfully inside my chest.
Because nobody had ever spoken to me like that before.
Nobody.
Not even once.
"You don't know that."
"I do."
His answer came immediately.
Without hesitation.
The certainty in his voice caught me off guard.
For several seconds, I couldn't look away.
Then anger returned.
Sharp.
Hot.
Painful.
"You knew."
Kael froze.
"You knew all along."
The room seemed colder suddenly.
"You knew he wasn't my father."
Silence.
"Didn't you?"
His jaw tightened.
I already had my answer.
Rage exploded inside me.
"You had no right!"
I jumped to my feet despite the dizziness.
"No right to keep something like that from me!"
The room spun.
My legs nearly gave out.
Before I could fall, Kael caught my arm.
I jerked away immediately.
"Don't touch me."
The words came out harsher than intended.
Pain flashed briefly across his face.
Then it disappeared.
Another strange reaction.
Why did he keep looking hurt whenever I pushed him away?
It made no sense.
Nothing made sense anymore.
"Aria."
"No."
My voice shook.
"I don't want explanations."
I turned away from him.
"I don't want your sympathy."
The tears returned.
"I don't want anything."
My shoulders trembled.
The weight of everything finally crashed down on me.
My father.
The betrayal.
The wolves.
The lies.
The confusion.
It was too much.
Far too much.
And for the first time since all this began...
I broke.
A sob escaped my lips.
Then another.
And another.
I covered my face.
Humiliation burned through me.
But I couldn't stop.
The grief was overwhelming.
Years of loneliness.
Years of pain.
Years of trying to earn love that was never mine to earn.
All of it poured out.
I expected Kael to leave.
To tell me to stop crying.
To look at me with annoyance.
Instead...
He simply stood there.
Silent.
Waiting.
And somehow that made it worse.
Because for the first time in my life...
Someone was letting me feel.
Eventually the tears stopped.
Not because I was okay.
But because I was exhausted.
I slowly lowered my hands.
The room blurred slightly.
Kael was still there.
Still watching.
Still waiting.
Why?
Why did he care?
The question slipped out before I could stop it.
"Why are you doing this?"
His brow furrowed.
"Doing what?"
"Caring."
The word felt strange.
Unfamiliar.
Dangerous.
"You bought me."
His expression darkened immediately.
"I did not buy you."
"There were papers."
"There was an agreement."
"Same thing."
"No."
His voice became firm.
"Not the same thing."
Frustration filled me.
"Then tell me what the agreement was."
Silence.
Again.
Always silence.
I laughed bitterly.
"Exactly."
Kael looked away.
The movement was small.
But I noticed it.
He wasn't refusing because he didn't know.
He was refusing because he couldn't tell me.
Which meant the truth was worse than I imagined.
The realization made my stomach twist.
A knock suddenly interrupted the tension.
Kael's expression hardened instantly.
"Enter."
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Tall.
Scarred.
Dangerous-looking.
One glance told me he was a warrior.
His eyes immediately landed on me.
Relief flashed across his face.
"She's awake."
Kael nodded.
"What is it, Rowan?"
The man's expression became serious.
Very serious.
My pulse quickened.
Something was wrong.
"They found the northern border."
The room fell silent.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"How many?"
"More than fifty."
My breath caught.
Fifty?
The stranger from the forest wasn't giving up.
Not even close.
A dark look crossed Rowan's face.
"And they're demanding the girl."
The girl.
Me.
Fear crawled down my spine.
Kael's entire posture changed.
The air itself seemed heavier.
More dangerous.
For the first time since meeting him...
I truly understood why people feared him.
His presence became overwhelming.
Predatory.
Powerful.
Terrifying.
"Tell the warriors to hold the line."
Rowan nodded.
"And if they attack?"
Kael's eyes flashed gold.
A deadly smile appeared on his lips.
The sight made my blood run cold.
"Then they die."
Rowan left immediately.
The door shut behind him.
Silence followed.
My heart hammered inside my chest.
Fifty wolves.
An army.
Coming for me.
Why?
What was so important about me?
I wasn't strong.
I wasn't special.
I was just—
The thought died instantly.
Because suddenly I wasn't sure anymore.
The stranger's words echoed in my mind.
You've spent your entire life living a lie.
I slowly looked at Kael.
For the first time, real fear settled inside me.
Not fear of him.
Fear of the truth.
"What am I?"
The question hung between us.
Kael stared at me.
Long.
Hard.
As if he had been dreading this moment.
Then he finally spoke.
And the answer changed everything.
"You are the last surviving heir of the Mooncrest Bloodline."
The room seemed to tilt beneath me.
I stared at him.
Unable to breathe.
Unable to think.
Unable to understand.
Because deep inside...
I knew my life would never be the same again.
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