Chained to the Beast

Chapter 5: The Revelation

On the fifteenth day, she was in her room when she felt Kade's presence spike with something that felt like rage and pain all mixed together, she sat up.

Then her door burst open.

Raina stood in the hallway with blood on her hands, behind her stood two men that Aria didn't recognize, one was older with hard eyes and a familiar face, the other was younger with an expression of casual cruelty.

"Get up," Raina commanded. "The Alpha wants to see you, now."

Aria threw on clothes and followed Raina through the compound, wolves stopped and watched them pass, their expressions unreadable, when they reached Kade's office there were already several people waiting.

Kade was sitting behind his desk and his entire body was radiating fury, next to him stood a woman with dark hair and cold eyes that reminded Aria of looking in a mirror, the woman was smiling and there was something predatory about that smile, in the corner of the room stood an old woman dressed in dark robes, her eyes were milky white and her fingers were stained with what looked like ash or soot.

"Aria," the woman said. "Hello, my name is Celeste, I'm your stepsister."

Aria's blood went cold, Celeste, her stepmother's daughter, the beautiful perfect daughter that her father had always preferred, what was she doing here.

"I came to tell you something," Celeste continued, she pulled a thick folder from a bag and handed it to Kade. "Your arrival here wasn't an accident, neither was your father's debt."

"What are you talking about?" Aria asked.

"I'm talking about the fact that someone went to a lot of trouble to get you here," Celeste said, she was enjoying this, Aria could see the pleasure on her face. "Someone engineered your father's gambling debt specifically so he would be forced to sell you to the Silvercrest Pack."

Kade opened the folder and his expression darkened with each page he read.

"Who?" he demanded.

"That's what I was hoping you would help me figure out," Celeste said, she looked at Aria. "Someone inside Silvercrest is working with people outside the pack, someone wanted you specifically inside this compound, but not for the reasons you think."

The older man stepped forward. "I've been investigating this for weeks," he said, his voice was rough and familiar and Aria suddenly recognized him, he was one of the guards who had worked for her father years ago. "There's a pattern, financial transactions, manipulated events, but it all leads back to one thing, your wolf."

"My wolf?" Aria said. "I don't even have a wolf, I've never shifted."

"That's because they made sure you couldn't," the man said, he introduced himself as Garrett and he explained that he worked as a private investigator. "I found something interesting when I started looking into your father's past, Marcus Thornwood wasn't your father, he was paid to take you, to keep you hidden and to suppress your wolf."

Aria's mouth went dry, she looked around the room trying to understand what was happening, trying to make sense of words that didn't make any sense.

"What do you mean suppress it," she asked, her voice was shaking now.

"I mean," Garrett said slowly, "that the wolfsbane in your system isn't new, it's been there since you were five years old, someone has been dosing you for seventeen years to keep your wolf dormant."

"Why would anyone do that?" Aria asked, she could feel panic rising in her chest, could feel her heart beating too fast.

Garrett pulled out an ancient-looking book from his bag, the pages were yellowed and the text was written in a language Aria didn't recognize, but there were drawings, illustrations of a massive wolf with eyes that seemed to glow even on paper, beneath it were images of destruction, bodies, entire packs wiped out.

"Because your wolf isn't normal," Garrett said. "According to these records, your wolf is something that shouldn't exist, an ancient bloodline that was supposed to have died out centuries ago, they called them Void Wolves, destroyers, killers that couldn't be controlled."

The old woman in the corner suddenly spoke, her voice was like gravel scraping against stone. "I can smell it on her," she said, she moved forward and her milky eyes seemed to stare right through Aria. "The darkness, the hunger, it's waking up, I can feel it stirring beneath her skin."

"Who are you?" Aria asked, she took a step back but Raina was behind her, blocking her exit.

"I am Morgana," the old woman said. "I am a witch, and I have seen what your kind can do, I have watched Void Wolves tear through entire territories, I have seen the bodies they leave behind, the c*****e, the destruction."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aria said, she looked at Kade desperately. "I've never hurt anyone, I don't even have a wolf."

"You do," Morgana said, she raised her hand and Aria felt something inside her respond, something dark and hungry that made her gasp. "You've always had it, it's been sleeping, waiting, and now someone is trying to wake it up."

Kade suddenly stood up and his entire body was tense with fury, he pulled a silver blade from his desk drawer and Aria's breath caught in her throat.

"When you were five years old," Garrett continued, his voice was quiet now, almost gentle. "Your wolf emerged for the first time, you killed twelve people in one night, your entire pack, your family, everyone, Marcus Thornwood was hired to take you away, to dose you with wolfsbane every day to keep that thing inside you asleep."

"No," Aria said, she shook her head violently. "No, that's not true, I would remember that, I would know if I had killed people."

"You don't remember because your mind blocked it out," Garrett said. "Trauma does that, especially to children, but the wolf remembers, it's been waiting all these years."

Celeste smiled and there was malice in that smile. "That's why someone wanted you here," she said. "Someone wants to weaponize you, they've been slowly reducing your wolfsbane doses, that's why you've been feeling the bond stronger, why you've been having those dreams, your wolf is waking up."

Aria felt something shift inside her, something that made her skin prickle and her vision blur for just a moment, she pressed her hand against the wall to steady herself.

"I don't believe you," she said, but her voice sounded weak even to her own ears. "This is insane, you're all insane."

"Believe what you want," Morgana said, she stepped closer and Aria could smell herbs and smoke on her clothes. "But I can see the truth, I can see the beast inside you, and it's hungry, it wants blood, it wants to kill."

"I'm not a killer," Aria said, she looked at Kade and she could feel something through their bond, something that felt like fear and anger and desperation all mixed together. "Tell them, tell them this is crazy."

But Kade didn't say anything, he just stared at her with those cold calculating eyes, the silver blade gleaming in his hand.

"You knew," Aria whispered, the realization hitting her like a physical blow. "You've known this whole time what I supposedly am, that's why you kept me locked up, that's why you let them hurt me during training."

"I had to be sure," Kade said, his voice was flat, emotionless. "I had to know if you were dangerous, if the wolf was really there."

"And now?" Aria asked, she could feel tears burning in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. "What happens now?"

Morgana raised her hands and began to chant, the words were in that same strange language from the book, Aria felt something pull inside her, something trying to claw its way to the surface.

"Stop," she gasped. "Stop whatever you're doing."

"I'm testing you," Morgana said, her voice was rising now, power crackling in the air around her. "I'm calling to the beast inside you, if it's really there, if you really are a Void Wolf, it will answer."

Aria felt her skin begin to burn, felt something dark and terrible stirring in her chest, she tried to push it down but it was too strong, too hungry, her vision flickered and for a moment she saw the room differently, saw the people in it not as humans but as threats, as prey.

"Kade," she said, and she hated how desperate her voice sounded. "Something's happening, I can't control it."

Kade moved faster than she'd ever seen him move, he was across the room in an instant with the silver blade pressed against her throat, not cutting, not stabbing, just there, cold and deadly against her skin.

"Answer me truthfully," he said, his voice was low and dangerous. "Can you feel it, can you feel the wolf trying to surface."

"Yes," Aria whispered, she could barely speak with the blade against her throat. "But I don't know what it is, I don't know what's happening to me."

"She's lying," Morgana spat. "She knows exactly what she is, she's known all along, this is an act."

"I'm not lying," Aria said, she looked into Kade's eyes and she could feel the bond between them, could feel his conflict, his fear. "I swear I don't understand what's happening."

The thing inside her pushed harder, Aria felt her bones beginning to shift, felt her teeth sharpening, she gasped and tried to pull away but Kade's grip was iron.

"I'm sorry," Kade whispered, and Aria felt his anguish through their bond even as the silver blade pressed against her neck. "But I can't let you destroy everything."