The One I Was Meant To Fear

Something inside her

Chapter Ten

Daniella woke with her heart pounding.

She sat upright, breathing heavily as she looked around the room.

For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was.

Then the familiar room came into focus.

Blue Moon.

Her room.

She pressed a hand against her chest and tried to calm herself.

Another nightmare.

That was all.

Except this one had been different.

She couldn't remember everything she'd seen, but there had been a voice.

A woman's voice.

Soft.

Distant.

Calling her name.

And there had been light.

A strange golden light that had surrounded her before she'd woken.

Daniella rubbed her eyes.

"Just a dream."

She climbed out of bed and walked toward the window.

The pack was unusually quiet.

After yesterday's warning, Kelvin had increased security around the territory. Guards stood at almost every entrance, and nobody was allowed near the eastern border without permission.

Daniella understood why.

The vampires knew where she was.

And that thought terrified her.

She had spent twelve years trying to forget them.

Now they were coming back.

A knock sounded at her door.

"Daniella?"

Kelvin.

She opened it.

He stood outside wearing a dark shirt, his hair slightly messy as though he'd barely slept.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

His eyes immediately searched her face.

"Did you sleep?"

"Not really."

"Nightmare?"

She nodded.

Kelvin's expression softened.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

He nodded.

"Okay."

Daniella looked at him suspiciously.

"You're not going to insist?"

"No."

"That's new."

"I've learned."

A small smile appeared on her face.

Then Kelvin noticed the silver pendant around her neck.

"You're wearing it."

Daniella touched it.

"You gave it to me."

"I remember."

"I like it."

He smiled.

"Good."

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

Then Daniella noticed the tiredness in his face.

"You didn't sleep either."

Kelvin looked away.

"I had things to deal with."

"Because of the vampires?"

He hesitated.

"Partly."

She sighed.

"You don't have to protect me from every piece of information."

"I know."

"Then tell me what's happening."

Kelvin leaned against the doorway.

"They're searching the area."

Daniella's stomach tightened.

"How close?"

"Not close enough."

"That's not an answer."

He looked at her.

"Close."

Daniella swallowed.

"I knew it."

Kelvin stepped closer.

"Daniella."

"What if they take me again?"

"They won't."

"What if they do?"

"They won't."

She looked into his eyes.

"You can't promise that."

Kelvin was silent.

Then he said quietly, "I can promise that I'll do everything I can to stop it."

That answer felt more honest.

Daniella nodded.

"Thank you."

---

Later that morning, Kelvin took Daniella away from the main house.

"Where are we going?"

"The garden."

She looked at him.

"Again?"

"You liked it."

"I did."

"Then I thought you might want somewhere quiet."

They walked through the garden until they reached the fountain.

Daniella sat on the edge.

Kelvin remained standing.

"You've been acting strange," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Strange?"

"More than usual."

He smiled faintly.

"That's impressive."

She laughed.

Then her expression became serious.

"I'm worried about you."

Kelvin looked at her.

"Why?"

"Because yesterday you came back hurt."

"It's already healed."

Daniella frowned.

"What?"

Kelvin realized his mistake.

He looked away.

"I mean... it's not serious."

Daniella studied him.

There was something strange about Kelvin's ability to recover.

She had seen the cut near his eyebrow the night before.

Now there was barely a mark.

"You're hiding something."

His expression hardened for just a moment.

"Everyone has secrets."

"I know."

She looked down.

"I just wish you would trust me enough to tell me yours."

Kelvin's chest tightened.

He wanted to.

But the truth wasn't something he could casually hand to her.

Not yet.

Before he could answer, Daniella suddenly gasped.

She grabbed her head.

"Daniella?"

"I..."

Her knees weakened.

Kelvin caught her before she fell.

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

She squeezed her eyes shut.

The world around her seemed to disappear.

She could hear whispers.

Not from the garden.

From somewhere else.

A woman's voice.

Daniella.

She opened her eyes.

"Did you hear that?"

Kelvin looked confused.

"Hear what?"

"My name."

He glanced around.

"Nobody called you."

Daniella stared at him.

"I heard someone."

Then the fountain behind them began to tremble.

Kelvin froze.

The water rose slightly above its basin before falling back into place.

Daniella stared at it.

"What was that?"

Kelvin didn't answer.

He had felt it too.

Something had changed in the air.

Something powerful.

And it had come from Daniella.

"Kelvin?"

He stepped closer.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I think so."

She looked at her hands.

For a brief second, a faint golden glow appeared around her fingers.

Daniella blinked.

It vanished.

"Did you see that?"

Kelvin stared at her.

"See what?"

"The light."

He forced himself to remain calm.

"I didn't see anything."

Daniella frowned.

She knew what she'd seen.

But perhaps she really had imagined it.

Kelvin gently took her hand.

"Come inside."

She nodded.

Neither of them noticed Lucas watching from the other side of the garden.

His expression was one of pure concern.

---

That evening, Kelvin found Lucas waiting in his study.

"You saw it," Lucas said.

Kelvin closed the door.

"I did."

"Then it's starting."

Kelvin didn't respond.

Lucas paced across the room.

"Vegas knows she's important."

"We don't know what she is."

"We know enough."

Kelvin looked at him.

"Do we?"

Lucas stopped.

"The reaction. The light. The way the boundary reacted when she entered the pack."

Kelvin's jaw tightened.

"You think she's the reason?"

"I think she's connected to something."

Kelvin stared out the window.

He remembered Daniella as a child.

He remembered the strange things that had happened around her even then.

Things nobody had understood.

Things he'd almost forgotten.

Until now.

"Vegas wants her alive," Kelvin said.

Lucas nodded.

"Which means he needs her for something."

Kelvin's eyes narrowed.

"And I won't let him have her."

Lucas studied him.

"Even if protecting her puts the pack at risk?"

Kelvin turned.

"Especially then."

"Kelvin—"

"No."

His voice was firm.

"She's not a weapon. She's not a bargaining piece. She's a person."

Lucas sighed.

"And if the pack finds out what she can do?"

Kelvin didn't answer.

Because that was another problem.

The pack already feared vampires.

They didn't understand Daniella.

And Kelvin had no idea what would happen when everyone discovered that the girl he'd brought home wasn't ordinary.

---

Daniella stood in front of her mirror that night.

She held her hand up.

Nothing happened.

She waited.

Nothing.

She lowered it.

"Maybe I'm losing my mind."

She laughed nervously.

Then she noticed something on the floor.

A small c***k had appeared in the wooden boards beneath her feet.

Daniella crouched.

She touched it.

The c***k spread.

She immediately pulled her hand away.

Her heart raced.

"What is happening to me?"

Outside her window, the wind suddenly grew stronger.

The curtains flew open.

Daniella turned toward the glass.

For one brief second, she saw the reflection of a woman standing behind her.

She spun around.

Nobody was there.

Her breathing quickened.

Then she heard the voice again.

Soft.

Almost a whisper.

You were never meant to be theirs.

Daniella stood completely still.

She didn't know who the voice belonged to.

She didn't know what it meant.

And she certainly didn't know why, somewhere far away, King Vegas had just received news that made him smile.

His messenger had found what he had been searching for.

Not merely Daniella.

But the power sleeping inside her.

And now he only needed to find a way to awaken it.