The forest did not sleep.
Even at dawn, when pale silver light stretched between the trees, Ariana felt it watching — the world shifting, adjusting, waiting.
The twins walked quietly beside her, their small fingers curled into her coat. They were exhausted but alert, too aware for children their age. Too powerful.
And behind them, Jayden followed.
He had not left their side once.
Not during the escape. Not during the night watch. Not during the tense silence that now stretched between him and Ariana like a fragile thread.
She could feel his gaze on her back.
Heavy. Unanswered. Hungry for truth.
They stopped near a clearing surrounded by old stone ruins — ancient markers of vampire territory long abandoned after the last clan war. Ariana knelt to check the twins' pulses, brushing their hair back gently.
"You're safe," she whispered.
For now.
Jayden stepped forward slowly. The air shifted around him — not aggressive, but powerful. Controlled dominance.
"You're pushing them too hard," he said quietly.
Her jaw tightened. "I'm keeping them alive."
His eyes darkened at that. "So am I."
The words hung between them.
The twins looked up at Jayden.
Not afraid.
Drawn.
Ariana felt it again — that invisible cord between them. It vibrated in her chest like a warning bell.
Jayden crouched to their level, careful, measured.
"What were you doing last night?" he asked gently.
The older twin hesitated. "It just… happened."
"What did?"
The younger one looked at Ariana, then back at Jayden.
"When you were close."
Ariana's breath caught.
Jayden's expression shifted.
"Close?" he repeated.
The twins nodded.
"Our power feels… stronger when you're near."
Silence.
The forest seemed to inhale.
Jayden didn't look at Ariana this time. His golden eyes remained on the children, calculating, sensing, testing something inside himself.
Slowly, he extended his hand.
"May I?" he asked softly.
Ariana's instinct screamed no.
But she forced herself to nod.
The older twin placed their hand in his.
The air pulsed.
A sharp burst of golden light flashed between their skin — not violent, not dark — but warm.
Resonant.
Alive.
Jayden froze.
The twin gasped softly, eyes widening — but there was no pain.
Only recognition.
Ariana felt her knees weaken.
He feels it.
He knows.
Jayden withdrew his hand slowly, staring at his palm as though it had betrayed him.
"That's not coincidence," he murmured.
"No," Ariana whispered.
He looked up at her.
And this time there was something different in his gaze.
Not suspicion.
Not curiosity.
But something dangerously close to fear.
"What are they?" he asked quietly.
The question hit her like a blade.
She opened her mouth.
Closed it.
If she told him now — Everything would unravel.
Before she could answer, a cold voice drifted from the edge of the clearing.
"Children born of two bloodlines should not exist."
They all turned.
From the shadows stepped Lucien — a rogue vampire elder long exiled from the main clans. His presence was refined, controlled, unsettlingly calm.
Ariana stiffened.
Jayden rose instantly, positioning himself in front of the twins without thinking.
Lucien smiled faintly.
"Ah," he murmured. "Protective. How predictable."
"What do you want?" Jayden asked, voice cold.
Lucien's eyes shifted to Ariana.
"The prophecy is accelerating."
Ariana's heart slammed.
Jayden's posture went rigid. "What prophecy?"
Lucien ignored him.
"To hide them is futile," Lucien continued. "The vampire council has already felt the shift. The twins are the beginning."
Jayden's jaw tightened.
"Beginning of what?"
Lucien's gaze sharpened.
"Of collapse. Or rebirth."
The forest wind picked up suddenly, rustling leaves violently.
Ariana stepped forward slightly. "You said the beginning. What finishes it?"
Lucien's smile thinned.
"The third."
The air went still.
Jayden looked at Ariana sharply.
"The third what?"
Lucien's voice dropped to something almost reverent.
"The third child."
Ariana felt the ground tilt.
The third child prophecy.
It wasn't rumor. It wasn't myth.
It was known.
Jayden's voice darkened. "Speak clearly."
Lucien's eyes flicked between them knowingly.
"The twins carry balance. But the third will carry power."
Ariana's pulse thundered.
Jayden's hand clenched slowly at his side.
Lucien took a step back into shadow.
"You cannot outrun destiny, Ariana."
And then he vanished.
Silence fell heavily.
Jayden turned slowly toward her.
"Third child," he said.
Not a question.
A statement.
Her breathing grew shallow.
"You knew about this."
"Yes," she admitted quietly.
His eyes burned now — not angry.
Wounded.
"And you still won't tell me what they are?"
Her throat tightened painfully.
"I'm trying to protect them."
"From what?"
"From you."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Jayden recoiled slightly as if struck.
"From me?" His voice lowered dangerously.
"You don't understand how powerful you are," she said, emotion cracking through her control. "Or what your blood does."
His eyes widened almost imperceptibly.
"My blood," he repeated.
The twins instinctively stepped closer to him.
Ariana's heart shattered.
Jayden looked down at them.
Then back at her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
"You're not protecting them from me," he said.
His voice wasn't loud.
But it trembled.
"You're protecting me from the truth."
The accuracy of it stole her breath.
Before she could respond, one of the twins suddenly winced.
Energy flared violently around them — stronger than before.
Jayden reacted instantly, grabbing the child gently, steadying them.
Golden light erupted — brighter than last time.
This time, it wasn't subtle.
It roared.
Ariana felt it ripple through the clearing like a shockwave.
The younger twin gasped.
"It hurts!"
Jayden's voice shifted immediately, protective, desperate. "Look at me. Stay with me."
The energy stabilized under his touch.
Not fighting him.
Aligning.
Matching.
Ariana's knees nearly buckled.
It was no longer instinct.
It was synchronization.
Jayden looked down at the child in his arms.
Then at Ariana.
And this time there was no doubt in his eyes.
No confusion.
Only devastating realization forming slowly.
"They're connected to me," he said.
Her silence answered him.
The forest seemed to close in around them.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"How?"
Ariana felt tears burn her vision.
The truth trembled at the edge of her lips.
Five years of secrecy. Five years of survival. Five years of protecting them alone.
And now the line between protection and betrayal had finally broken.
"They are—"
A distant howl cut through the forest.
Not wolf.
Not vampire.
Something worse.
Jayden's head snapped toward the sound instantly.
Ariana's pulse spiked.
More enemies were coming.
And this time, they were hunting specifically.
Jayden turned back to her, eyes blazing.
"This conversation is not over."
His tone was firm.
Certain.
Possessive in a way that made her breath hitch.
He stepped closer — too close.
"If anyone touches them," he said quietly, dangerously, "I will end them."
Her heart pounded against her ribs.
Not just from fear.
But from the raw, primal intensity in his voice.
He didn't know fully.
But he felt it.
The bond. The pull. The blood.
And now the prophecy had named a third child.
Ariana's hand moved unconsciously to her abdomen.
The faintest flicker of warmth pulsed there.
And for the first time in years…
She wasn't sure she could keep this secret much longer.