CLAIMED BY THREE

Chapter17

Aurenya’s POV

I didn’t sleep again after that.

Not properly.

Every time I closed my eyes, it felt like something was waiting just behind them—patient, steady, like it knew I would eventually look inward again.

So I stayed awake.

Or tried to.

The room was quieter now.

Rhydan had left the edge of the bed at some point, moving to stand near the doorway instead. Kaelor hadn’t moved much at all—still by the window, still watching like he was waiting for something outside to become a problem.

Draven was the only one who looked unchanged.

Like nothing about this situation surprised him.

Like he had already accepted the worst version of it.

My fingers tightened slightly against the blanket.

“…How long was I out?” I asked.

Rhydan answered first. “A few hours.”

That short?

It didn’t feel like a few hours.

It felt like I had been pulled out of time and dropped back in.

I pushed myself up slowly, ignoring the mild dizziness this time.

No one stopped me.

That alone told me they were watching me differently now.

Not like someone recovering.

Like someone unpredictable.

Kaelor finally spoke. “You should stay down longer.”

“I’m fine,” I said automatically.

Draven’s gaze flicked to me. “You’re not.”

I shot him a look. “You don’t get to decide that.”

A pause.

Then, surprisingly, he didn’t argue.

That unsettled me more than if he had.

Rhydan exhaled slowly. “We’re not arguing about your health right now.”

“Then what are you arguing about?” I asked.

Kaelor’s voice lowered slightly. “Control.”

That word landed wrong.

My stomach tightened.

“…Control of what?”

Silence.

Not hesitation.

Calculation.

Rhydan finally spoke. “Of you.”

I froze.

For a moment, I actually thought I misheard him.

“…Say that again.”

He didn’t soften it.

“That thing inside you isn’t stable. And when it reacts, it doesn’t just affect you anymore.”

My grip on the blanket tightened.

“That’s not new information,” I said flatly.

“It is,” Draven cut in.

All eyes turned to him.

He stepped forward slightly.

“You assumed the bond was reacting to external threats.”

A pause.

“It isn’t.”

Kaelor frowned. “Then what is it reacting to?”

Draven’s eyes stayed on me.

“To recognition.”

The room went still.

I felt my chest tighten before I even understood why.

“…Recognition of what?” I asked slowly.

Rhydan’s expression changed slightly. “Don’t say it.”

Draven ignored him.

“Of its counterpart.”

Silence.

That word didn’t feel like it belonged in the room.

My throat went dry.

“…I don’t have a counterpart,” I said quietly.

Kaelor exhaled sharply. “That’s not what this looks like.”

I shook my head slightly. “No. You’re assuming things. It’s just a sealed force. That’s all it is.”

But even as I said it—

Something inside me shifted again.

Not pain.

Not pressure.

Response.

Like something was listening more closely now that the word had been spoken.

Rhydan stepped closer to the bed again. “When you collapsed, it didn’t just shut down. It recalibrated.”

I looked at him. “That’s not a real thing.”

“It is when something inside you isn’t supposed to be whole,” Kaelor said.

That made my stomach drop slightly.

Draven’s voice stayed calm, but sharper underneath. “The seal didn’t just trap it.”

A pause.

“It split it.”

My breath caught.

That wording again.

Split.

I remembered hearing it before, but now it felt heavier.

Like it meant something I hadn’t understood at the time.

“…Split into what?” I asked quietly.

Rhydan didn’t answer immediately.

Kaelor did.

“You and something else.”

Silence.

My fingers slowly loosened from the blanket.

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said, but my voice wasn’t as firm anymore.

Draven tilted his head slightly. “It does if you weren’t meant to carry it alone.”

A pulse hit my chest.

Sharp enough to make me flinch.

All three of them noticed.

Rhydan immediately stepped forward. “There.”

My breathing tightened slightly. “It’s nothing.”

Kaelor shook his head. “That’s not nothing.”

Draven’s gaze narrowed slightly. “It’s waking up again.”

I swallowed hard.

“…It doesn’t wake up,” I said.

But even I didn’t believe that fully anymore.

Because for the first time—

I felt it not as something inside me.

But something aware of me.

And listening.

——

Aurenya’s POV

The moment I said it—listening—the room changed.

Not visibly.

Not loudly.

But like something had shifted its attention.

Rhydan noticed first.

His stance tightened slightly. “What do you feel right now?”

“I don’t feel anything,” I said too quickly.

Kaelor didn’t believe me.

“Wrong answer,” he muttered.

Draven stepped closer, stopping at the foot of the bed. His eyes didn’t leave mine.

“Describe it,” he said.

I hesitated.

That was the problem.

It wasn’t a clear feeling.

It was absence and presence at the same time.

Like something had stepped closer without moving.

“…It’s not pain,” I said carefully. “It’s just… aware.”

Rhydan’s jaw tightened. “Aware of what?”

I didn’t answer immediately.

Because I didn’t like the answer forming in my head.

“…Me,” I said quietly.

Silence.

That word sat between us like a c***k opening in the floor.

Kaelor’s voice dropped. “That’s exactly what we were afraid of.”

I frowned. “You keep saying that like I’m supposed to understand.”

Draven didn’t look away from me. “You will.”

My stomach tightened.

“No,” I said immediately. “You’re all assuming there’s something else inside me. There isn’t.”

But even as I said it—

My chest pulsed again.

Harder this time.

Not random.

Not chaotic.

Intentional.

I winced, one hand pressing against my sternum.

Rhydan moved instantly. “Aurenya—”

“I said I’m fine,” I snapped, then immediately regretted how sharp it came out.

Because the pulse answered.

Stronger.

Like it reacted to my tone.

The air in the room felt heavier again.

Kaelor straightened slightly. “It reacts to emotion.”

Draven corrected him. “It reacts to alignment.”

I looked up sharply. “Stop talking like I’m not here.”

Silence.

Rhydan exhaled slowly, then lowered his voice. “No one is saying that.”

But his eyes said something different.

Careful.

Measuring.

Like they were all watching for the moment I stopped being fully me.

That thought made something cold settle in my chest.

I pushed myself up slightly again, more carefully this time.

“I need to leave,” I said.

Kaelor frowned immediately. “No.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

Rhydan stepped forward. “You just passed out.”

“And I woke up,” I shot back.

Draven’s voice cut in, calm but firm. “You didn’t wake up normally.”

That made me pause.

I looked at him. “What does that even mean?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Then—

“Your consciousness didn’t fully return on its own.”

A beat.

“We pulled you back.”

Silence.

That landed differently.

My gaze flicked between all three of them.

“…Pulled me back from where?” I asked quietly.

No one answered immediately.

Because they knew.

And they didn’t like saying it out loud.

Rhydan finally spoke. “From the bond state.”

My throat tightened slightly.

“That’s not real,” I said again, but weaker.

Kaelor shook his head. “It is when something inside you starts overriding your body.”

I slowly lowered my hand from my chest.

“…So what now?” I asked quietly.

Draven’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Now we confirm something.”

I frowned. “Confirm what?”

A pause.

Then Rhydan answered.

“Whether it’s fully awake yet.”

That didn’t feel like a question.

It felt like a warning.

My fingers curled slightly against the blanket.

“…And how do you plan to do that?” I asked.

Kaelor didn’t answer.

Draven did.

By taking one step closer.

And saying, very quietly—

“By calling it.”