CLAIMED BY THREE

Chapter13

Aurenya’s POV

Run.

The word didn’t feel like mine.

It slammed through my mind like it had been there all along—waiting.

My body reacted before I could think.

I stumbled back, dragging Lyssara with me.

Rhydan moved instantly, stepping in front of us.

Kaelor shifted to the left, blocking the broken doorway.

Draven didn’t move.

He was watching the hooded figure.

Still.

Focused.

Like he was trying to read something no one else could see.

The forest went completely silent.

Even the Shadow Wolves outside stopped pacing.

Like whatever just arrived…

changed the rules.

The hooded figure took one slow step forward.

Then another.

No rush.

No hesitation.

Just certainty.

And with every step—

That pressure inside my chest tightened.

Harder.

Stronger.

Pain laced through my ribs.

I gritted my teeth.

“What is that?” Rhydan growled.

No one answered him.

Because we didn’t know.

The figure stopped just outside the broken doorway.

Moonlight hit its hood.

But still—

No face.

Just darkness underneath.

Then it tilted its head slightly.

Like it was listening.

Or sensing.

And when it spoke—

The voice wasn’t loud.

It didn’t need to be.

“Aurenya.”

My blood went cold.

My name in its mouth felt wrong.

Familiar.

Like it had been said before in places I couldn’t remember.

I took a shaky step back.

“No…”

The figure didn’t move.

But the air did.

It thickened.

Pressed down on my lungs.

“You’ve grown.”

The words made my head spin.

Draven’s voice cut through instantly.

“Don’t listen to it.”

But I already was.

Because something inside me was reacting.

Not fear.

Recognition.

That terrified me more than anything.

The figure stepped forward again.

Into the cabin now.

Rhydan shifted immediately, low growl rumbling in his chest.

“Last warning.”

The figure didn’t even look at him.

Its attention stayed on me.

Only me.

And then—

It raised a hand.

Slowly.

Not attacking.

Pointing.

At my chest.

At the scar.

My breath stopped.

Pain spiked sharply through me.

I gasped, dropping slightly.

Kaelor reached out instinctively. “Aurenya—”

“Don’t touch her,” Draven snapped.

But it wasn’t them I was reacting to.

It was the scar.

Burning now.

Alive.

Like it had been waiting for this moment.

The figure spoke again.

“You were never meant to forget me.”

My vision blurred.

The cabin tilted.

Memories tried to surface again—

Dark hands.

A voice whispering spells I couldn’t understand.

A cold blade near my skin.

I shook my head hard.

“No… I don’t know you.”

A pause.

Then—

A low, almost amused sound.

“You always say that.”

Rhydan’s patience snapped.

“Enough.”

He lunged.

Fast.

But the figure moved without even looking.

A single motion.

A flick of its hand.

And Rhydan was thrown back into the wall.

The impact cracked the wood.

Arinya screamed.

Kaelor reacted instantly, pulling her behind him again.

Draven finally moved.

Not toward me.

Toward the figure.

Slow.

Controlled.

Dangerous.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” Draven said.

The figure tilted its head slightly.

“Oh?”

Draven’s eyes narrowed.

“You were sealed.”

Silence.

That word again.

Sealed.

My stomach twisted.

The figure turned its head slightly toward him now.

Like it was amused.

“Not all seals are permanent.”

A pause.

Then—

“It depends on who casts them.”

My breath hitched.

The pain in my chest spiked again.

Harder this time.

I dropped to one knee.

Lyssara knelt beside me instantly. “Mama!”

But I could barely hear her.

The figure’s voice softened.

Almost gentle.

“You’re resisting.”

I shook my head weakly.

“I don’t know what you are…”

“You do.”

The words cut clean.

“No,” I whispered.

“You do,” it repeated.

And then—

It stepped closer.

Close enough now that I could feel it.

Not physically.

Something deeper.

Inside me.

The bond snapped violently.

My back arched as pain tore through my chest.

I cried out.

Everything went white for a second.

And when it cleared—

I wasn’t in the cabin anymore.

Again.

But this time—

I wasn’t alone in the darkness.

The figure stood in front of me.

No hood.

No shadow.

Just a man.

Familiar eyes.

Familiar presence.

And a voice I had buried so deep I almost didn’t recognize it.

“My daughter…”

My breath stopped.

The world cracked.

And everything I thought I knew—

shifted.

The word didn’t make sense.

Not at first.

My daughter…

My mind rejected it before I even had time to process it.

“No,” I whispered.

The man stood still in the darkness.

Completely calm.

Like he had been waiting for me to say that.

Like he already knew I would.

My chest felt tight.

Wrong.

Because something in me—

some buried, buried instinct—

recognized him.

And that was worse than fear.

“I don’t have a father,” I said quickly.

My voice didn’t sound steady.

Even to me.

The man tilted his head slightly.

“You did.”

Pain flashed through my skull.

Images flickered again.

Too fast.

Too broken.

A hand holding mine when I was small.

A voice humming something under breath.

Then—

Screaming.

I gasped and stumbled back.

“No—stop—”

“You blocked it,” he said quietly.

Not accusing.

Not angry.

Just stating it.

Like fact.

My breathing turned uneven.

“I didn’t block anything.”

“You didn’t do it.”

That made me freeze.

Slowly, I looked up at him.

Something in my chest tightened.

“…what?”

His gaze softened slightly.

And that softness made everything worse.

Because it felt real.

“It was sealed,” he said.

My stomach dropped.

That word again.

Sealed.

Always sealed.

“By who?” I asked, barely above a whisper.

A pause.

Then—

“Me.”

The world tilted.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

“You—”

My voice broke.

“You’re lying.”

But even as I said it, my hands were shaking.

Because the scar beneath my collarbone burned again.

Hot.

Alive.

Like it agreed with him.

The man took one slow step forward.

Not threatening.

Not rushing.

Just… closing distance.

And the moment he did—

The bond inside me snapped tight again.

But this time it didn’t just hurt.

It responded.

Like it recognized him too.

“No…” I whispered.

The man watched me carefully.

“You were never supposed to awaken it early.”

My breath caught.

“Awaken what?”

Silence.

And in that silence—

something inside me shifted.

Not the shadow.

Not the bond.

Something older.

Something buried beneath both.

The man’s eyes darkened slightly.

“The core.”

My vision blurred again.

The word didn’t mean anything.

And yet—

it felt like it meant everything.

Back in the cabin—

I could still feel it.

The cold air.

The broken wood.

The others calling my name.

Rhydan’s voice.

Draven’s presence.

But it was distant.

Like I was underwater.

“Aurenya!” someone shouted.

But I couldn’t move.

Couldn’t respond.

Because the man in front of me stepped closer again.

And when he did—

my memories cracked open.

Not gently.

Not slowly.

Violently.

A flash—

A ritual circle.

My younger self crying.

Hands holding me down.

Not hurting me.

Protecting me.

From something above.

Something dark.

Something alive.

I gasped sharply.

“No… no that’s not real…”

But it was.

And the man’s voice cut through it all.

“You were dying.”

I froze.

His eyes held mine.

“And I saved you.”

My throat tightened.

“By sealing my memories?”

“No.”

A pause.

“By sealing what was inside you.”

My breath stopped.

The bond inside me pulsed again.

Hard.

Louder.

Almost angry.

The man looked at my chest.

At the scar.

“That mark isn’t a wound,” he said softly.

“It’s a lock.”

My knees nearly gave out.

A lock.

Not a scar.

Not an injury.

A lock.

“What did you lock inside me?” I whispered.

The man didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, his gaze shifted past me.

Back to the cabin.

To the real world.

To the others.

And when he spoke again—

his voice was quieter.

Heavier.

“The thing that’s coming for you now…”

A pause.

“It’s what you were meant to become.”

My blood ran cold.

“No,” I said immediately.

“No, I’m not—”

But my voice broke.

Because I couldn’t finish it.

I didn’t even know what I was denying anymore.

The man stepped closer.

Close enough now that I could see him fully.

And something about him—

something deep in my memory—

finally snapped into place.

My lips parted.

“…you’re not just my father.”

His expression changed slightly.

A flicker.

Like I was finally catching up.

“I’m your seal keeper,” he said.

“And your warning.”

The bond inside me screamed.

And everything went white again.