CLAIMED BY THREE

Chapter14

Aurenya’s POV

The white didn’t fade gently.

It snapped.

Like something cutting a thread inside my mind.

I stumbled back into my body with a sharp gasp, collapsing onto the cabin floor.

Cold wood.

Smoke.

Noise.

Too much noise.

“Aurenya!”

Rhydan’s voice hit first.

Then Kaelor.

Then Lyssara.

Hands grabbed me instantly, steadying me before I could fully fall.

But I couldn’t focus on any of them.

Because the words were still in my head.

Seal keeper.

Warning.

My breathing came too fast.

Too shallow.

“What did he do to you?” Rhydan demanded.

I shook my head quickly.

“I don’t— I don’t know—”

But I was lying.

Not to them.

To myself.

Because something had changed.

I could feel it.

Deep under my skin.

Like a door that had been locked for years had just… shifted.

Not opened.

Not yet.

But no longer sealed the same way.

Draven stepped closer, eyes locked on my face.

“What did you see?”

My throat tightened.

“I saw him.”

Silence.

That was enough for them to understand the direction of everything.

Kaelor’s expression darkened slightly.

“The hooded man?”

I nodded.

Rhydan’s jaw clenched.

“And?”

My hands shook.

“He said he’s my father.”

The words made the air in the room shift.

Even the Shadow Wolves outside seemed to react—uneasy movement, low growls in the distance.

But Draven didn’t react the way I expected.

He didn’t look surprised.

He looked… controlled.

Like he was rearranging pieces in his mind.

“That’s not all,” he said.

My eyes snapped to him.

“…what do you mean?”

Draven studied me for a moment.

Then his gaze dropped slightly to my chest.

To the scar.

“You don’t react like someone meeting a stranger,” he said quietly.

My stomach tightened.

“I am not—”

But I stopped.

Because I couldn’t finish that sentence either.

Draven stepped closer.

Careful.

Not like Rhydan.

Not protective like Kaelor.

Like someone trying not to trigger something unstable.

“That bond inside you,” he said.

My breath caught slightly.

He knew.

He really knew.

“It’s not just reacting,” Draven continued. “It’s responding.”

Rhydan frowned. “Responding to what?”

Draven didn’t look away from me.

“To recognition.”

A chill ran through my body.

“No,” I whispered.

Because I didn’t want that to be true.

But my silence already gave me away.

Kaelor’s voice lowered. “Aurenya… what exactly did you see in that place?”

I swallowed hard.

Flashes still lingered.

Ritual light.

A circle.

My younger self screaming—

—but not in pain.

In fear.

At something inside me.

“I saw…” My voice broke slightly. “I saw a version of me.”

That made Rhydan stiffen.

“What does that mean?”

I shook my head again.

“I don’t know.”

But I did.

And I didn’t want to say it out loud.

Because the bond pulsed again beneath my ribs.

Slower this time.

Not pain.

More like awareness.

Like something listening.

Outside, the leader Shadow Wolf moved closer to the broken doorway again.

Unhurried.

Patient.

Its gaze fixed on me like it had never left.

And when it spoke—

its voice carried differently now.

Calmer.

Certain.

“He’s already waking it.”

My blood ran cold.

Draven turned slightly toward it.

“Waking what?”

The creature smiled faintly.

“The part of her that remembers what she is.”

Rhydan growled low. “Stop speaking in riddles.”

But I couldn’t move.

Because something inside me was shifting again.

Not violently this time.

Quietly.

Like something turning in place after a long sleep.

The leader tilted its head.

“You feel it now, don’t you?”

My lips parted slightly.

I didn’t answer.

Because I did.

The bond wasn’t just pain anymore.

It was… awareness.

Presence.

Like something inside me was slowly opening its eyes.

Aurenya’s POV

The realization didn’t come all at once.

It came in pieces.

Like glass settling into place after a c***k.

I wasn’t just being attacked.

I wasn’t just being hunted.

I was being completed.

And whatever was sealed inside me—

wasn’t trying to escape.

It was trying to return.

The words hit the cabin like a second silence.

Trying to return.

No one moved at first.

Even Rhydan’s grip on the air around us felt frozen, like his instincts didn’t know what to do with that kind of truth.

“That’s not possible,” Kaelor said finally.

But he didn’t sound convinced.

He sounded like he was trying to force reality back into place.

The leader outside tilted its head slightly.

“It is already happening.”

My chest tightened.

“No,” I said quickly.

Too quickly.

Because something inside me reacted the moment it spoke.

A pulse.

Soft.

Controlled.

Almost… answering.

Draven noticed.

Of course he did.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “It’s syncing with her.”

Rhydan stepped forward immediately. “Syncing with what?”

Draven didn’t look away from me.

“The seal inside her isn’t stable anymore.”

My stomach dropped.

“Define unstable,” Kaelor said sharply.

Draven’s voice stayed level.

“It means it’s no longer fully locked.”

A pause.

Then—

“It means something is waking up on both sides.”

My breath caught.

Both sides.

My hands instinctively went to my chest again.

The scar burned faintly under my fingertips.

Not pain.

Not fully.

Just heat.

Like a reminder.

Lyssara moved closer to me again, small hand gripping my sleeve.

“Mama… it’s loud.”

I looked down at her instantly.

“What do you mean?”

Her eyes flickered faintly again—just for a second.

Silver.

Then gone.

“Inside you,” she whispered. “It’s loud.”

A cold chill ran through me.

Rhydan noticed immediately. “She’s reacting too.”

Draven’s gaze sharpened. “Because she’s linked.”

Kaelor frowned. “Linked to what?”

No one answered him right away.

Because the answer didn’t feel simple anymore.

The leader outside took another step forward.

Closer now.

Inside the broken doorway.

Moonlight caught the edge of its hood again.

And for a split second—

I thought I saw something familiar beneath it.

Not the man.

Not the face.

But the feeling.

My chest tightened sharply.

A memory tried to surface.

This time I didn’t fight it.

I let it come.

And I regretted it instantly.

A forest.

Not dark like before.

Burning.

Fire crawling up trees.

People shouting.

My younger self running.

Not alone.

Someone beside me.

Holding my hand.

Protecting me.

Then—

A voice.

Don’t let it wake fully.

Pain.

Bright.

Blinding.

And then—

Nothing.

I gasped sharply, stumbling back.

Rhydan caught me again instantly.

“What did you see this time?”

My voice came out shaky.

“I was… running.”

Kaelor frowned. “From what?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t know.”

But that wasn’t true.

Because something in my chest tightened at the memory.

Not fear.

Recognition.

The leader’s voice cut in again.

“You were never supposed to survive the first binding.”

Draven’s expression darkened.

“That’s the second time you’ve said that.”

The creature looked at him briefly.

“And I will say it again.”

Then its gaze returned to me.

“You were not the only vessel created that night.”

Silence dropped instantly.

Even the wind outside seemed to stop.

Kaelor’s voice was low. “Vessel?”

My stomach twisted.

“No,” I whispered automatically.

But my voice didn’t have weight anymore.

Because the word was starting to fit too easily.

The leader smiled faintly.

“There were three.”

Rhydan went still.

Draven didn’t react outwardly.

But I saw it.

A shift.

A recognition forming.

Three.

My breath caught.

“…three what?”

The creature’s eyes locked onto mine.

“Three anchors.”

The bond inside me pulsed again.

Harder this time.

I winced.

Not from pain—

from pressure.

Like something pressing outward.

Waiting.

The leader’s voice softened slightly.

“You were never meant to carry it alone.”

Kaelor stepped forward. “What are you talking about?”

But I wasn’t listening anymore.

Because something inside me was changing again.

Not violently.

Not painfully.

This time—

it felt like alignment.

Like something inside me was finally finding its shape.

And that terrified me more than anything else.

Rhydan noticed my expression immediately.

“Aurenya?”

I swallowed hard.

“I think…” My voice shook slightly. “…it knows me better than I know myself.”

Silence.

The leader smiled wider.

“Yes.”

Then—

“The question is not what you are becoming.”

A pause.

It leaned forward slightly.

Eyes fixed on me.

“But whether you will resist it again.”

The bond inside me pulsed once more.

And this time—

I didn’t just feel it.

I heard it.

Not a voice.

Not words.

Just something inside me stirring awake.

And answering.