(Aria's POV)
"Get inside. Now." Lyric pushes me toward the compound building as Uncle Cassian's words hang in the air.
But I plant my feet, refusing to move. "No. I want answers." I glare at the old man who tortured me for fourteen years. "You made my life hell. You called me cursed. You let your family treat me like garbage. And now you show up saying you're sorry?"
Cassian flinches like I slapped him. "I had to make them believe I hated you. It was the only way to keep you safe."
"Safe?" I laugh, sharp and bitter. "You locked me in a closet! You starved me! You—"
"I kept you alive!" Cassian's voice cracks. "Every day I had to watch you suffer and pretend I didn't care. Do you know how hard that was? You're my brother's daughter. My blood. And I had to break you to save you."
Tears burn my eyes. I don't want to believe him. I can't.
"Who are you hiding me from?" I demand.
Cassian glances around nervously. "Not here. Too many ears. Inside, quickly."
Lyric hesitates, then nods. We follow Cassian into the main building and into a small private room. Lyric locks the door behind us.
"Talk," Lyric orders. "And it better be good."
Cassian sinks into a chair, suddenly looking ancient. "The Thorneblood family wasn't destroyed for treason. That was the lie they told everyone." He looks at me with those violet eyes—the same shade as mine. "We were murdered because we were too powerful. Because we threatened the Alpha system itself."
"I don't understand," I whisper.
"Omegas aren't supposed to have power," Cassian explains. "The whole hierarchy is built on Alphas being dominant and omegas being submissive. But Thornebloods were different. We were omegas who could command Alphas. Who could manipulate fate bonds. Who could channel ancient magic."
The violet light. The power that exploded from me tonight.
"Nineteen years ago, your father discovered something terrible," Cassian continues. "Corruption in the Council. Alphas abusing omegas, destroying mate bonds for political gain, using dark magic to maintain control. He was going to expose everything."
"So they killed him," Lyric says quietly.
"They killed everyone." Cassian's hands shake. "Your mother, your father, your aunts, uncles, cousins. Every Thorneblood with active powers. They only left you and me alive because our powers hadn't awakened yet. Mine never did—I'm too old now. But you..." He looks at me with fear and hope mixed together. "You were always going to be the strongest of all of us. They've been watching, waiting for your power to emerge so they could eliminate you too."
My legs give out. I sit hard on the floor, trying to process this.
"Tonight at the ceremony," I say slowly. "My power awakened because of the rejection."
"Yes." Cassian leans forward. "Mate bond trauma can trigger dormant abilities. The moment you used your power in front of everyone, you painted a target on your back."
"Who?" Lyric asks. "Who ordered the massacre?"
Cassian hesitates. "I don't know all of them. But I know one name. The person who led the attack on our estate that night." He takes a shaky breath. "Morrigan Vale."
The name hits me like ice water. "Zander's chief advisor?"
"She's been manipulating the Shadow Realm for decades. She raised Zander after his father died. She's the one who probably convinced him to reject you tonight." Cassian stands and grips my shoulders. "Aria, you need to disappear. Change your name, hide your power, never use it again. It's the only way to survive."
But I'm not listening anymore. My mind is racing.
Morrigan Vale killed my family. She's been controlling Zander. And tonight, she made sure he rejected me—probably to trigger my powers so she could identify and destroy me.
Rage burns through my veins, hot and fierce.
"No," I say.
"Aria, please—"
"No." I stand, and violet light crackles around my fingers. "I'm not hiding anymore. I'm not running. They took everything from me—my family, my childhood, my mate. I'm done being their victim."
Lyric grins. "Now that's what I like to hear."
"You'll die," Cassian says desperately. "Morrigan has powerful allies. You can't fight them alone."
"She won't be alone." Lyric crosses his arms. "She has me."
Before anyone can respond, pain explodes through my chest. I gasp and stagger. The broken mate bond flares to life, burning like fire.
Through it, I feel Zander's emotions: agony, terror, desperation.
He's dying. The curse is killing him right now.
"What's wrong?" Lyric catches me before I fall.
Images flood my mind through the bond—Zander collapsing in his fortress, shadows consuming him, guards shouting for healers. He's calling my name in his mind, begging for help.
And underneath his pain, I sense something else. Regret so deep it feels like drowning. He wants to take it back. He wants to undo the rejection.
Too late.
"It's Zander," I choke out. "Something's wrong with him."
"The curse," Cassian says grimly. "It's accelerating. He doesn't have weeks—he has days at most."
"Good," I spit. "Let him suffer."
But even as I say it, the bond pulses with his agony and I feel sick. I hate him. I want him to hurt like he hurt me.
So why does feeling his pain make me want to cry?
"Aria." Cassian's voice turns urgent. "If Zander dies, the curse will spread. It will consume his entire bloodline, his realm, everyone connected to him. Thousands of innocent people will die."
"That's not my problem."
"Yes it is." Cassian grips my face, forcing me to look at him. "Because Morrigan cursed him on purpose. She's counting on you refusing to help. She wants him dead so she can take full control of the Shadow Realm. And once she has that power, she'll come for you next."
My blood runs cold. "What?"
"Don't you see? This is all part of her plan." Cassian releases me, pacing frantically. "She made Zander reject you to trigger your powers. Now she's letting him die so she can rule his realm unchallenged. And once she consolidates that power, she'll hunt you down and finish what she started nineteen years ago."
"So what do I do?" My voice cracks. "Let Zander die and wait for Morrigan to kill me? Or save him and forgive the man who destroyed me?"
"There's a third option," Lyric says quietly.
We both look at him.
"Save Zander, but don't forgive him. Use the situation to get what you want." Lyric's eyes gleam with cunning. "Make him grovel. Make him give you power, position, resources. Break the curse, save the innocent people, and then walk away with enough strength to destroy Morrigan yourself."
It's manipulative. Cold. Exactly the kind of thing an Alpha would do.
I love it.
"Can I do that?" I ask Cassian. "Break the curse without actually forgiving him?"
Cassian thinks for a long moment. "Maybe. The curse requires the mate's willing participation. But it doesn't specify that you have to mean it." He meets my eyes. "You'd be playing a dangerous game. If Zander discovers you're using him—"
"Let him." The violet light flares around my hands. "He used me first."
Through the bond, Zander's pain spikes again. He's begging now, calling for me in desperate mental whispers that make my chest ache.
I close my eyes and make my decision.
"Tell Zander I'll see him," I say. "But on my terms, in my territory. He comes to me. Alone."
Lyric grins like a wolf. "I'll send the message."
Cassian looks worried but nods. "Be careful, Aria. Zander may have rejected you, but the mate bond still connects you. The more time you spend with him, the harder it will be to resist—"
"I won't forgive him," I interrupt. "Ever. I'm going to use him, save his people, and then destroy everyone who hurt my family."
"Even if it destroys you in the process?" Cassian asks softly.
I think of my parents burn
ing. My childhood stolen. Tonight's humiliation.
"Especially then."