The Safe House
971 Words
Chapter Six
Aurora couldn't breathe.
The words echoed relentlessly in her mind.
You're not her daughter.
Your father is alive.
They're coming for their Queen.
Everything she had ever believed about herself had shattered in a matter of minutes.
She looked down at the silver pendant resting in her trembling hand. The sapphire caught the moonlight, glowing with an eerie blue light before fading again.
"I don't want it," she whispered.
The Moon Priestess tilted her head.
"The pendant?"
"The truth."
Silence settled over the ancient chamber.
Even the wolves remained perfectly still.
Aurora's chest tightened.
"My entire life..." Her voice cracked. "Was it all a lie?"
Kael stepped forward carefully.
"No."
She looked at him, tears shining in her emerald eyes.
"You knew."
He didn't answer.
"You knew..." she repeated, louder this time.
His silence was answer enough.
Aurora's anger exploded.
"You knew!" she screamed, shoving him hard in the chest.
"You stood there... every single time I asked questions!"
Another shove.
"You watched me cry over a father I thought was dead!"
She hit him again.
"You watched me love a woman you knew wasn't my mother!"
Kael never defended himself.
Never grabbed her wrists.
Never even moved.
He simply accepted every blow.
"You had no right!" Aurora sobbed.
Her fists finally stopped.
She collapsed onto her knees, burying her face in her hands.
For several moments...
No one spoke.
Then Kael quietly knelt beside her.
"I promised."
She laughed bitterly through her tears.
"To lie?"
"To protect you."
Aurora looked at him.
His amber eyes were full of guilt.
"When I was six years old," he said quietly, "I made an oath to your mother."
Aurora frowned.
"My real mother?"
He nodded.
"I swore that if anything happened to her... I'd keep you hidden."
Aurora stared at him.
"Why would she trust you?"
Pain flashed across Kael's face.
"Because I failed her once."
Before Aurora could ask what he meant, the Moon Priestess interrupted.
"We don't have time."
Everyone turned toward her.
She raised her silver staff.
"The Crimson Fang will return before sunrise."
Kael stood immediately.
"We're leaving."
Aurora didn't argue this time.
She was too exhausted.
Too confused.
The scarred wolf approached Kael and lowered itself.
Without a word, Kael climbed onto its back.
Aurora blinked.
"You're serious?"
Kael looked down at her.
"We'll move faster this way."
"I'm not riding a wolf."
"You'll have to."
"I'll walk."
"You'll die."
She folded her arms.
"I still don't trust you."
"I know."
"Then why would I climb onto...that?"
The wolf let out an offended huff.
Kael almost smiled.
"He doesn't bite."
Aurora raised an eyebrow.
"That's supposed to comfort me?"
Another wolf approached.
Unlike the first, this one had soft silver fur and bright blue eyes.
It gently nudged Aurora's shoulder.
She hesitated.
The wolf lowered itself.
Almost...
Inviting her.
The Moon Priestess smiled.
"She has chosen you."
Aurora sighed.
"This night officially stopped making sense hours ago."
Carefully, she climbed onto the wolf's back.
To her surprise...
Its fur was unbelievably soft.
Warm.
The wolf stood smoothly.
She instinctively wrapped her arms around its neck.
Kael watched her for a second before looking away.
"Hold on."
"What happens if I don't?"
"You'll fall."
Before Aurora could reply—
The wolves took off.
They sprinted through the underground tunnels with unbelievable speed.
Cold air whipped through Aurora's hair.
Stone walls blurred past.
The tunnels twisted and turned beneath the city like a maze.
Eventually, faint light appeared ahead.
The wolves burst from the tunnel into a dense forest just outside the city limits.
Aurora gasped.
The transition was breathtaking.
Moonlight spilled across towering pine trees.
A crystal-clear river wound through the forest.
The night was alive with the sounds of insects, owls, and distant waterfalls.
For the first time in years...
There were no cameras.
No flashing lights.
No reporters.
Just silence.
The wolves finally slowed as they reached the edge of a secluded valley.
Nestled between the mountains stood an enormous estate built from black stone and dark timber.
It looked less like a house...
And more like a fortress.
Balconies overlooked the valley.
Watchtowers rose above the rooftops.
Massive iron gates guarded the entrance.
Aurora stared in amazement.
"You live here?"
Kael climbed off his wolf.
"I do."
"It's beautiful."
"It's a prison."
She looked at him.
"You really don't smile much, do you?"
"I smile."
"When?"
He thought for a moment.
"I'll let you know."
To Aurora's surprise...
She laughed.
A genuine laugh.
The first one she'd had all night.
Kael looked at her.
Really looked at her.
For just a second, the hard lines of his face softened.
Then he remembered himself and looked away.
The gates slowly opened.
Dozens of men and women emerged from the estate.
Some looked human.
Others had the same piercing golden eyes she'd seen before.
Every single one stopped when they saw Aurora.
They bowed.
Again.
Aurora sighed dramatically.
"Can everyone please stop bowing? It's making me uncomfortable."
A young woman with curly auburn hair stepped forward.
She couldn't have been much older than Aurora.
She smiled warmly.
"I'm Mira."
Aurora smiled back.
"Finally...someone normal."
Mira laughed.
"I wouldn't say that."
Before Aurora could respond, a deep horn echoed across the valley.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Every smile disappeared.
Kael turned sharply toward the eastern mountains.
Black smoke curled into the night sky.
A scout came running through the gates, breathless.
"Alpha!"
Kael faced him immediately.
"What happened?"
The scout struggled to catch his breath.
"They've burned the eastern village."
A heavy silence fell over the courtyard.
The scout swallowed hard.
"There were...no survivors."
Kael's hands slowly clenched into fists.
His eyes flashed gold.
Aurora stared at him, realizing for the first time that the war she had just stumbled into wasn't coming.
It had already begun.
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