Chapter Six: The Truth in Her BloodAria's POV
The forest was quiet now.
The kind of quiet that feels like it's holding its breath. Kael's hand stayed wrapped around mine as we walked deeper into the thick trees. My legs ached. My heart was racing. But I didn't stop.
We were finally free. But we had no idea where to go.
Kael didn't ask. He didn't push. He just followed, trusting me even when I didn't know where my steps were leading.
But deep down, I knew where I was going.
To her.
My grandmother.
The woman the pack didn't speak of. The one who disappeared before I turned six. They called her a traitor. A rebel. A madwoman.
But I remembered her differently.
She was strong. She spoke the truth, even when no one wanted to hear it. And she was the only one who ever told me that the Moon didn't choose fear she chose love.
They said she ran away.
I remembered it differently.
She walked.
And now, I needed her.
We found her cabin just past the cliffs that kissed the riverbank hidden behind overgrown vines and tall trees. Moss covered the roof. Smoke drifted from the chimney. It looked forgotten, but alive.
Just like her.
Kael stood close behind me as I raised my hand and knocked on the crooked wooden door.
It creaked open a moment later, and there she was.
Her hair had gone fully silver. Her eyes, still sharp. Her face, older, but fierce.
She looked at me like she'd seen me in a dream. Like she already knew why I was here.
Then she smiled.
"You finally stopped listening to them," she said.
And pulled me into her arms.
We sat around a fire, wrapped in old blankets that smelled like lavender and herbs.
I told her everything.
About Lucian.
About the bond ceremony.
About the prison.
And Kael.
She listened. Silent. Calm. But when I spoke about how they tried to force me into the bond… how they said it was the Moon's will her eyes hardened.
"They lied," she said simply.
Kael, sitting across from her, looked surprised. "But the bond "
She shook her head. "The bond means nothing without love. The Moon never makes mistakes. If your heart rejects the match, it was never real to begin with."
I leaned in. "But they said he was my mate. They marked it at my birth"
She scoffed. "They marked what they wanted. Not what the Moon chose. The Moon doesn't force. She guides. She leads you toward the one your soul already belongs to."
Kael looked at me, his jaw tight. "So… we weren't wrong ?."
"No," she said. "You were the only ones right."
She leaned forward, her voice gentler now.
"Tell me one thing, Aria. When you're with him… do you feel peace?"
I looked at Kael.
I thought about his touch. His voice. The way I felt when his arms were around me. The fire in my chest when he makes love to me . The calm that followed.
"Yes," I whispered.
"Then he's your mate," she said. "Not because someone told you so. But because you know it. In here."
She said as She placed her hand over my heart.
"The Moon speaks through that."
That night, Kael and I sat by the window in the loft she gave us. The bed was small. The walls smelled like cedar and old books. But it felt like the safest place we'd ever been.
He hadn't said much since the fire. Not because he didn't want to. But because we were both still holding the truth like it might break in our hands.
I sat beside him, pulled my knees to my chest, and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"So… I'm yours," I whispered.
He turned to me, a quiet smile on his lips. "You always were."
He said as he placed kisses on my forehead
I looked down at the mark he'd placed on me in the forest. Faint. Fading.
"Do it again," I said softly.
His breath caught.
He took my face into his palms
"Aria" he said
I put my index finger on his lips
"I want to feel it this time. All of it. Not just fear and running. I want it to be real. I want to choose you. Completely."
I said softly
His eyes burned with something deep. Not hunger. Not fire.
Devotion.
He stood and crossed the small space between us. His hand cupped my cheek.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He didn't rush.
Kael never did.
He kissed me slow like he was learning me again. My lips. My breath. My body.
And when his mouth traveled to my shoulder, and his teeth grazed the skin beneath my collarbone, I didn't flinch.
This time, I wanted the mark.
Not as a claim.
But as a promise.
I felt the pull of the bond soft, like silk wrapping around my soul. I felt the warmth flood my chest, the glow behind my eyes. It didn't hurt. It didn't burn.
It healed.
When it was done, I looked up at him. "Did it work?"
Kael's fingers trembled as he brushed my hair from my face. "It worked," he said. "You're mine. And I'm yours."
He kissed my lips softly
We curled into each other, heart to heart, breath to breath.
No thrones.
No titles.
Just us.
The next morning, my grandmother handed me a rolled-up map.
"This will take you to the eastern valley," she said. "Beyond the ridge. I looked at her sheepishly
Grandma who still uses maps this days
Kael laughed
My Grandma shook her head
There are others who've escaped the Moon Decree. You won't be alone out there." She said
I looked at her. "Why didn't you come back?"
Her eyes grew sad.
"I did once," she said. "But no one listened. They were too afraid of truth. So I waited. For someone like you to come."
I stepped forward and hugged her tight.
"Thank you for not bending," I whispered.
She smiled against my hair. "Thank you for breaking."