The Marked Truth
1136 Words
Silence fell like a shroud.
The Beta’s words echoed in the stone chamber:
“It has begun.”
Aria felt Kairo tense, every muscle in his back tightening beneath his shirt. His wolf rose through his skin so sharply the air vibrated.
“Kairo…” she whispered.
He didn’t look at her.
“Leave,” he ordered the Beta.
“But Your Majesty—”
“Leave.”
The Beta fled immediately, slamming the door behind him.
Kairo stayed still for a long moment…
as if wrestling with something inside him.
Aria stepped out from behind him, hesitating.
“Kairo… what does that mean?”
He turned.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
As if afraid of what he might do when he faced her.
His eyes glowed brighter than she’d ever seen, molten gold with cracks of black bleeding through.
“Aria,” he said softly, “come here.”
Her heart jumped.
She didn’t move.
He didn’t ask again.
He simply waited… watching her with that dark, magnetic focus that stole the breath from her lungs.
When she finally stepped toward him, something shifted in the air, snapping into place with a force she felt in her bones.
Kairo exhaled shakily.
“Do you feel that?” he whispered.
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Do you know what it is?”
Aria shook her head.
Kairo lifted his hand slowly, giving her time to pull away.
She didn’t.
His fingertips brushed her cheek.
Just a whisper of contact.
But the moment he touched her, a shock of heat shot through her, curling down her spine, spreading through her chest like wildfire.
Aria gasped.
Kairo closed his eyes for a second, and he reacted as if the touch pierced him too.
“This started the moment I found you,” he murmured. “But now… it’s getting stronger. Fast.”
Aria swallowed. “What’s getting stronger?”
He opened his eyes.
Her breath hitched.
Not human.
Not wolf.
Something older.
Something hungry.
Something claiming.
“The bond,” he said quietly.
Aria stepped back on instinct. “What bond?”
He followed, not touching her, but not letting her escape either.
“Aria,” he whispered, “I haven’t told you the truth.”
Her stomach twisted.
“What truth?”
Kairo brushed his thumb across her lower lip.
She froze.
He didn’t kiss her.
Didn’t lean closer.
He just held her there, breathing the same air, their foreheads nearly touching, the tension so thick it vibrated through her skin.
“You are not just a runaway human girl,” he said. “You never were.”
Her pulse thundered.
“You are Moonstone-born.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
His jaw tightened.
“It means you were born under a prophecy… one that ties your life to mine.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth again.
“One that ties your body to mine.”
Her breath stuttered dangerously.
“Kairo…”
“I’ve been resisting it since the moment I scented you.”
“Scented… me?”
His eyes flashed.
“Yes. The moment I found you in that forest… my wolf recognized you.”
His voice dropped.
“Not as prey.”
He leaned closer, lips brushing her cheek without touching.
“As mine.”
Heat slammed through her body, stealing her breath.
“No,” she whispered. “I can’t be—”
“You are,” he murmured.
“You’re my Moonbound.”
Aria’s heart stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Kairo’s hand slid from her cheek to the back of her neck, not forceful, but firm enough to claim her.
“It means,” he said softly, “that the reason you weaken when I’m close… the reason your pulse races… the reason your legs tremble every time I whisper your name…”
His thumb stroked her throat gently.
“…is because our bond is awakening.”
Her body pressed against the bookshelf as if gravity dragged her toward him.
“You’re lying,” she whispered.
He tilted her chin up.
“You know I’m not.”
Aria’s breath trembled.
“Then what does ‘It has begun’ mean?”
Kairo’s eyes darkened.
“It means the awakening has started… and if we don’t complete the bond soon…”
He swallowed, something she’d never seen him do.
“…your body will break before mine does.”
Aria’s blood went cold.
“Break…?”
He nodded once, his voice almost pained.
“You weren’t supposed to feel the effects this early. Something triggered it.”
“The woman in the bathroom?”
“No.”
His fingers tightened on her waist.
“Me.”
Her heart slammed.
“Kairo—”
“It’s my fault,” he whispered, lowering his forehead to hers. “If I lose control again… if I touch you the wrong way… if my wolf pushes too hard—”
Aria’s lips brushed his accidentally.
He froze.
She froze.
A low part growl, part desire, part agony sound left his chest.
He pulled back abruptly, breathing hard.
“We can’t,” he rasped. “Not like this.”
Aria blinked, confused. “But you said—”
“I know what I said.”
He dragged a hand through his hair.
“But if I take you before the bond fully settles, you won’t survive it.”
Aria’s stomach dropped.
She stepped closer, unable to stop herself.
“Kairo…”
He turned sharply, pinning her gently against the wall with his hands cageing her face, not to trap her…
…to stop himself.
“Aria.”
His voice shook with a struggle so intense she felt it through the wall.
“I swear to the moon, if you look at me like that again, I will break every rule I made to keep you safe.”
Her breath hitched.
“I’m not afraid,” she whispered.
His eyes flashed violently.
“You should be.”
“Why?”
Kairo lowered his forehead to her shoulder, breathing her in with a shudder.
“Because the next time you tremble in front of me…”
He lifted his head, lips brushing her throat, barely, barely touching.
“I won’t stop.”
Aria’s entire body melted.
He moved back only an inch, eyes glowing with raw hunger and restraint.
“This is the last warning I’m giving you,” he whispered.
“Until the bond settles…”
His voice deepened, dark and sinful.
“…you need to stay away from me.”
She swallowed.
“What if I don’t want to?”
A deep, primal, unrestrained growl vibrated through his chest.
Then he stepped back, as if ripping himself away from a fire.
“Then,” he whispered, “you will be the one who destroys us.”
- Writer
