MOONLIGHT FATE

CHAPTER TWO

AURELIA POV

Tonight was only the beginning, I have learned over the years that beginnings are rarely gentle.

Caius did not move after his last words, candlelight carved sharp shadows along his face, making his expression hard to read. But beneath his composed appearance I sensed a change, the careful calculation of internal conflict between instinct and instructions. He had come here hoping to find a relic. Rather, he had found a woman who refused to kneel. "You're not scared” he said, it wasn't an admiration, he was studying me. "I was taught not to, fear attracts predators, weakness invites control and I had lived too long to make either mistakes.”

His eyes moved from me to the blazing symbol on the floor then back to me. "You speak like someone who has been hunted" “I speak like someone who isn't afraid." The medallion around his neck suddenly flashed bright light, heat spread through the chamber, Caius clenched his jaw as his fingers instantly touched the charm, the charm reacted aggressively to my presence. For the first time, he understood something important, the difference in power, the weakness in his mission. "What exactly are you?" he asked. The stone inside me vibrated softly as if amused by the question, "I'm not a thing." I said quietly, “You think this is about possession?” thick and electrified silence stretched between us. His wolf pressed against my senses, strong, controlled, alert but beneath it, I felt something else, recognition of power.

He noticed immediately the sudden change in my face the moment I sensed the shift in the air outside the forest, for a few seconds my body went still. "What changed?" he asked sharply. I didn't answer. Instead I kept listening, the symbols engraved into the stone wall dimmed just slightly as if something outside was testing their power, the stone inside me tightened like a coiled spring. “You were followed” I whisper , he turned towards me instantly but did not deny it. My chest felt heavy and cold as the knowledge hit in. You were not meant to return alone, I whispered again. His face hardened not with surprise but with confirmation. Outside the sanctuary, I heard multiple footsteps then a loud bang on the sanctuary door.

Caius turned to face the door, his stance shifting into something deadly and accurate "What is the strength of your defence"

“Strong enough to keep the unwanted out," I answered. The Stone beat harder once more within me. "And the invited?" he questioned. "They are already inside." The door slowly creaked open three figures stepped into the chamber. “Vampires”. Their presence was cold and controlled, not reckless like rogues or hunters. Their eyes scanned the room before settling on me, “step aside” the first vampire spoke calmly. Caius did not move, “we were not told to engage," the second vampire warned him. So this was a test but will he obey the order I wondered?

The medallion around Caius's neck suddenly cracked with a sharp sound. All three vampires stiffened, they were not expecting resistance from Caius, the stone inside me burned with sudden heat like something is awaking. The symbol beneath my feet explodes with silver light. The entire room grew brighter, "Interesting." the third vampire whispered,"She's not a thing." Caius voice turned cold. "Know your place,” No, Caius said softly. "I am reevaluating it.” Tension snapped too quickly, one vampire lunged at me too fast for a human eye but not mine, the stone flooded through my vein like liquid light, Without thinking, I took a step forward, silver energy burst from my palm, the vampire hit an invisible barrier and was thrown into a wall with bone-shattering force. Everybody froze, even Caius looked at me with respect in his eyes. The remaining two vampires adjusted their stance “she is unstable” one said sharply.

The energy radiating from the stone was too powerful and they were afraid. “I am not unstable” I stated calmly. "Grab her." Both vampires attacked me at the same time, but Caius moved first, he stopped one in mid-strike, his wolf partially emerging as his claws flashed. They crashed violently into the floor, the other aimed for my throat and that was his mistake, the Stone responded ahead of me. A burst of silver light struck him, throwing him to his knees, the impact cracked the marble floor beneath him. "She's activating “ Yes, I said softly but family.

A bust of pure silver light exploded from my chest, all three vampires were pinned against the wall, Caius stumbled but stood firmly. This changes nothing”, one said as they struggle to free themselves from the wall, the council will not tolerate…“the council’ I interrupted calmly “ has no authority here” at that moment it suddenly dawn on me clearly for the first time, the sanctuary, the territories and even the lands all responded to me.

Caius's eyes on me change immediately, he stops seeing me as a mission he must complete, even as a relic he must retrieve but as a force they must all reckon with. The pressure from my hold released, the vampires collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. “Leave," they felt my command and within seconds they were gone. Silence stretched in the sanctuary but something had changed permanently. Caius slowly turned to face me. “Why didn't you killed them?” Because the first strike does not win a war, because power without control turns into tyranny, because I am not who people believe me to be. However, I didn't mention any of it, rather, I looked him in the eye "because that was not the real attack" the ground suddenly shook outside heavy footsteps echoed beyond the walls, this was not three vampires coming to confirm if I truly have the moonstone, this was an army. The Moon rose higher, radiating in me through the stone in preparation for what to come.

Caius turned to face the door then looked back at me. “They declared war." I felt the truth settle deep inside my bones. "No," I said quietly. "They want to own me but I belong to no one” suddenly the external wall cracked, stone shattered as the second wave hit.