The Moon Goddess lied

THE THREE WHO CAME

CHAPTER EIGHT

> "When destiny finally reveals its face, the first thing it takes from you is the comfort of believing you understand it."

Auren couldn't move.

The stranger's words remained suspended in the silence.

"I've found you."

The third man stood beneath the trees, completely still.

Unlike the other two, he didn't try to approach.

He watched her.

Something was unsettling about his gaze.

Not anger.

Not curiosity.

Something far older.

Auren's wolf stirred again.

This time, it didn't whisper.

It pulled.

A sharp ache spread through her chest, forcing her to place a hand over her heart.

The man beneath the trees noticed.

His expression changed almost imperceptibly.

"You feel it."

Auren swallowed.

"Feel what?"

"The bond."

The word seemed to shake the air around them.

The dark-haired stranger beside her immediately stepped forward.

"Don't."

The third man's eyes shifted toward him.

"You cannot stop it."

"I can stop you."

"And yet you haven't."

The tension between them tightened.

Auren looked from one to the other.

"Would someone please tell me what is happening?"

Neither answered.

Then the second man stepped forward.

The one who had called himself the Crown.

His amber eyes remained fixed on Auren.

"Your name is Auren Vale."

It wasn't a question.

Auren frowned.

"Yes."

"You're a member of Blackwood."

"Yes."

"Your parents are Gareth and Liora Vale."

Her eyes narrowed.

"How do you know my family?"

The man didn't answer immediately.

Instead, his gaze moved to the moonstone pendant around her neck.

Something flashed across his expression.

Recognition.

"That pendant."

Auren instinctively covered it.

"What about it?"

"Where did you get it?"

"My mother."

His eyes hardened.

"Of course."

Auren's patience snapped.

"Stop speaking in riddles!"

Her voice echoed through the forest.

The three men fell silent.

Even the creature lurking beyond the trees seemed to pause.

Auren stepped forward.

"I don't know any of you. I've never met you before tonight. Yet all of you somehow know my name, my family, and apparently something about me that I don't even understand."

Her voice trembled.

"I'm tired of everyone knowing my destiny except me."

The words left her lips before she could stop them.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Then the man beside her lowered his gaze.

"You deserve answers."

Auren looked at him.

"Then give me some."

He hesitated.

"My name is Caelan Thorne."

The name struck something inside her.

Auren's breath caught.

She had heard it before.

Not with her ears.

Somewhere deeper.

Caelan noticed her reaction.

"You know me."

"No."

She shook her head.

"I don't."

"But your wolf does."

Auren looked away.

That frightened her because she knew he was right.

Caelan took one careful step closer.

"I am the Beta of the Northern Territory."

Gareth immediately stiffened.

"The Northern Territory?"

Caelan nodded.

Auren looked at her father.

"You know him?"

"His reputation."

Gareth's voice was cautious.

Caelan's attention returned to Auren.

"I felt the bond the moment the Moon Sanctuary reacted."

"The Heart," Auren whispered.

Caelan's eyes widened.

"Who told you that?"

Auren stared at him.

"I saw it."

Something passed between them.

A silent understanding.

Then Kael spoke.

"Enough."

Caelan turned.

Kael's expression had become colder.

"We didn't come here to explain ourselves."

"Then why did you come?"

Kael looked at Auren.

"Because the Moon called."

Auren's heart sank.

"And you're the Crown."

"Yes."

The word carried no hesitation.

No apology.

Just certainty.

Auren looked toward the third man.

"And you?"

He stepped forward at last.

The darkness seemed to follow him.

He was taller than she expected, dressed entirely in black, with dark hair falling across his forehead.

His eyes were unlike the others.

They weren't bright gold.

They were a deep, muted gold, almost swallowed by darkness.

His gaze never left hers.

"Ronan Vey."

Auren's chest tightened.

"The Grave."

Ronan gave the slightest nod.

"Yes."

Three names.

Three men.

Three bonds.

Auren suddenly felt as though the ground beneath her had shifted.

Then a roar tore through the forest.

Everyone turned.

The creature emerged from the trees.

Auren's breath caught.

It was enormous.

Far larger than any wolf she had ever seen.

Its body was covered in thick, shadow-like fur, but its eyes burned crimson.

Gareth stepped forward.

"Everyone behind me."

Kael's expression hardened.

"That isn't a wolf."

Caelan's claws extended.

"I know."

Ronan stared at the creature.

For the first time, something resembling fear appeared in his eyes.

"Then what is it?"

The creature opened its mouth.

A distorted sound rolled through the forest.

Auren's pendant suddenly burned.

She cried out.

All three men turned toward her.

The creature did too.

And then...

It spoke.

Not with a wolf's voice.

Not with a human voice.

With something ancient.

Something that seemed to come from beneath the earth itself.

"She belongs to the Moon."

Auren froze.

Ronan's eyes narrowed.

Caelan stepped in front of her.

Kael's expression darkened.

The creature continued.

"She always has."

Then its crimson eyes locked onto Auren.

"But she was never meant to live this long."

The forest erupted.

Trees shook.

Birds scattered into the night.

Gareth raised his blade.

"Take Auren inside!"

"No!"

Auren stepped forward.

She didn't know why.

Something inside her demanded that she stay.

The creature stared at her.

And suddenly, Auren heard another voice.

Not from the creature.

Not from the three men.

From the moonstone.

"Remember."

Auren's vision blurred.

For one heartbeat, she saw a woman standing before the Moon Sanctuary.

The same silver veil.

The same impossible presence from her vision.

The Veiled Woman.

She reached toward Auren.

And whispered:

"The first lie was that the Moon chose you."

Auren gasped.

The vision vanished.

The creature was gone.

The forest was silent.

No footprints.

No broken branches.

Nothing.

As though it had never existed.

Auren looked around.

"Where did it go?"

No one answered.

Then Ronan spoke.

"It wasn't here for us."

Auren slowly turned toward him.

"What?"

His eyes remained fixed on her.

"It came for you."

Silence settled over the forest.

Caelan looked at Auren.

Kael looked at her.

Ronan did the same.

Three men.

Three bonds.

One impossible destiny.

Then, from somewhere beyond the trees, a woman's voice whispered through the night.

"Run, Auren."

Auren's eyes widened.

She knew that voice.

It was the same voice that had warned her before the Awakening.

The same voice that had whispered to her in the Moon Sanctuary.

The voice that had told her to run.

But this time, it added something else.

"Before they remember who you really are."