Chapter 5
995 Words
Chapter Five – Blood and Oaths
Night came heavy over Blackridge, the kind of night that pressed against the windows and whispered secrets through the trees.
Aria couldn’t sleep.
Every sound in the mansion seemed sharper, every shadow alive. The moonlight spilled through her curtains like a blade, and with it came memories she wished she could silence — the howl, the eyes, the scent of blood and pine.
She rose from bed and crossed to the window. The forest below stretched endlessly, dark and silent. Somewhere in the distance, a single wolf howled — low, broken, aching.
She didn’t know why, but she knew it was him.
Lucian.
The Alpha who terrified everyone but somehow made her feel seen.
Before she could think better of it, Aria wrapped a shawl around her shoulders and slipped into the corridor. The air was cool, carrying the faint scent of rain and cedar that always seemed to follow him.
The hallways of Blackridge were a maze of stone and wood, lit by flickering lanterns. She followed the sound — faint, rhythmic, like the echo of footsteps in her mind — until she reached a large double door slightly ajar.
Inside, candlelight danced across shelves of old books and ancient maps. Lucian stood before a massive oak table, his sleeves rolled up, his hands braced against the wood.
He looked different here.
Less like a ruler, more like a man haunted by something he couldn’t escape.
“Can’t sleep?” His voice cut through the silence without turning around.
Aria froze. “How did you—?”
His lips twitched faintly. “You walk light, but not light enough for a wolf.”
She stepped closer. “You heard me coming?”
“I heard your heartbeat.”
Her pulse skipped. “That’s—”
“Normal,” he said quietly, finally looking at her. His gaze was calm, but there was a tiredness beneath it that unsettled her. “For me, anyway.”
Aria hesitated before asking, “Do you ever sleep?”
Lucian’s eyes drifted to the window. “Not when the moon’s full.”
She followed his gaze. The moon hung heavy above the forest, pale and merciless. “Because of the pack?”
“Because of the curse.”
The word hung in the air, dark and uninvited.
Aria frowned. “Curse?”
Lucian pushed away from the table and walked toward a shelf. He pulled down an old leather-bound book, its spine cracked with age. When he opened it, the pages smelled of smoke and old blood.
“My bloodline was marked generations ago,” he said, flipping to a page covered in strange symbols. “An Alpha broke an oath under the moon — betrayed his mate to save his throne. The Moon Goddess punished his line. Every Alpha born since carries a fragment of that sin.”
Aria stared at him, her chest tightening. “What kind of punishment?”
Lucian’s gaze lifted, and for the first time, she saw it — the faint golden ring in his irises, flickering like fire. “We’re bound to rage,” he said softly. “To hunger. The moment we lose control, the beast takes over. And when that happens…”
He trailed off.
“When that happens?” she whispered.
His voice dropped to a growl. “We destroy everything we love.”
The silence that followed was heavy enough to make her tremble.
Aria stepped closer, her voice barely audible. “Is that why you saved me? Because of the curse?”
Lucian’s eyes darkened. “I don’t know,” he said. “The night I found you, the beast should have taken over. But it didn’t.”
“Why?”
“I smelled you,” he said. “And it stopped.”
The words hit her like a storm. The air between them seemed to change, thickening, pulsing. She could feel his energy — raw, restrained, fighting itself.
Aria swallowed. “What are you saying?”
Lucian shut the book slowly. “I think you’re connected to the curse somehow. You shouldn’t be. You’re human. But when I’m near you…” He exhaled sharply. “The rage quiets.”
Her heart pounded. “So I’m your cure?”
He met her gaze. “Or my undoing.”
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The tension between them felt almost physical — a fragile line between fear and something far deeper.
Aria finally looked away. “If I’m really part of your curse, then keeping me here is dangerous.”
Lucian stepped closer until there was barely a breath between them. “You think I don’t know that?”
His voice was low, rough. “Every instinct tells me to send you away. But I can’t.”
Her breath trembled. “Why not?”
His eyes softened, just barely. “Because when you’re here, I feel human again.”
The words left her breathless. For a second, she saw past the Alpha — the command, the power, the mask — and saw the man behind it. The one who hadn’t slept in years. The one fighting not to become the very monster he led.
Lucian turned away first, breaking the moment before it could consume them both. “Go back to your room, Aria,” he said quietly. “Before I forget why I shouldn’t keep you here.”
She hesitated. “And if I don’t?”
His jaw clenched. “Then the beast will.”
Aria backed away slowly, her heart pounding, and slipped into the corridor. But even as she walked, she could still feel him — the weight of his gaze, the storm barely held behind it.
She didn’t know if she was saving him or damning herself.
Only that she couldn’t stay away.
And somewhere deep in the mansion, Lucian stared at the moon, his fists clenched, whispering a name he wasn’t supposed to want.
- Writer
