The room fell silent, the only noise the constant hiss of the wall torches shattering the quiet. Selene's heart pounded against her eardrums as she saw the figure step forward before them.
His pace causing the hairs at the back of her neck to stand on end, as a beast move across the darkness of night. Killian did not release her, his body shielding her front and the stranger.
The man halted inches from the whirling light, showing the lines of his face—sunken eyes, temple-jaw scar, and the air of command that made Selene's back shiver. No common danger, he. "Killian," the man snarled, his voice heavy with something undefined. "Too long."
Killian's jaw was clenched. "Not long enough, Aldric."
Selene's stomach curled. The name echoed somewhere deep in the depths of her brain, summoning some existence she never had. She sorted through the stranger, looking for something that made him hers, and came up with nothing but a greasy feeling of discomfort.
Aldric glanced at her, just missing a blink. "And you," he said slowly, lips curling in a sneer. "You are the lost Luna that people talk about."
Selene stiffened. There was something in his voice that rang warning bells in her head. He recognized her—possibly recognized her more than she recognized herself.
Killian shifted, his fists tightly clenched at his sides. "Get on with it, Aldric. I have no use for specters of the past."
Aldric laughed, a cold sound. "Ah, but I am not a specter. I am very much alive. And I have news that will change all."
The atmosphere in the room was thick with unspoken reality. Whatever it was that Aldric was going to say to her, she knew only that it was merely the tip of the iceberg of something much, much worse.
Selene's own breathing eased as she watched tension mount between the two men. Killian stood rigid, his broad shoulders a barrier between her and Aldric. His fists were clenched at his side as if he struggled not to reach for his sword.
Aldric tilted his head to the side, lip-scars folding into a slow, mysterious smile. "You were always so impatient, Killian." His eyes returned to Selene for one last time, weighing, his fingers hovering over the mark on her collarbone. "And stupid."
Selene clenched her fists. She did not like the manner in which he looked at her. It was not respect, and she did not want others to look at her with respect and admiration. No, Aldric examined her as a puzzle to unravel strand by strand until he reached the truth that lay within.
Killian's voice was a growl in his throat. "Speak your mind, or I'll kill you myself."
Aldric laughed, the sound echoing off the stone walls. "You always like to fight first. But I'm not here to fight—yet." His eyes turned cold. "I've come to warn you."
"Warn me?" Killian growled, advancing, his body taut with restrained rage. "You're a liar and a traitor. Why the devil should I listen to you?"
Aldric didn't smile. "Because this time I don't have to lie." His voice dropped, his eyes flashing with something nasty. "You think your enemies cluster beyond your gates, Killian. But they're already inside, hiding, waiting for their opportunity."
Selene felt sick. Her back ran cold.
Killian's eyes lit up. "What do you mean?
Aldric breathed, leaned in just close enough to shatter the light. "The Council," he told her. "They never intended to let your Luna live. They've been waiting for you to fall back—to fail." His lip curled. "And now they have their ideal tool."
There was a moment of silence between them, thick with unspoken horrors.
Selene swallowed hard. "What tool?"
Aldric's gaze was steady on hers. "You."
Selene's heart pounded at Aldric's words.
She'd been used before—handled, hunted, betrayed—but there was something that irritated under her skin and it wasn't any of them.
Killian moved quicker than she had the time to respond. One moment he stood at her shoulder, the next he'd Aldric slammed into the stone wall, his forearm buried in the man's throat.
"You speak in riddles, Aldric," Killian's voice was icy with menace. "Straighten out. Now.".
Aldric's sneer did not waver, even when his breathing was in short, gasping hanks. "Still. so. predictable," he wheezed. "Choking on me is not going to alter the reality."
Killian did not yield. His jaw was gritted up like a fist so that Selene could have sworn she heard teeth crunch.
"The Council," Aldric sneered, "has waited… for her powers… to emerge. And once they have, they know now what to do with her as well." He smiled through a half-mouth. "She's the key to it all. The kingdom, the mate bond, the throne. Think you they will permit you to hold onto her?"
Selene forced herself to advance, pushing away the terror whirling within her belly. "Why?"
Aldric's eyes flashed to hers. "Because they're afraid of you, little Luna." His tone was on the edge of mockery, but beneath it was something else—a feeling. "You don't have any idea what you are, do you?"
Her stomach revolted.
"I am Killian's mate," she said. But the words did not ring true.
Aldric laughed. "And yet the bond didn't shatter when he rejected you." His eyes sparkled. "Do you think that's because—
Selene had wondered the same. All that she had endured, all that she had done to try and push Killian away, and still the link remained. It was not natural. It was not normal. And now, it would appear, she wasn't alone in being surprised by that.
Killian finally pushed Aldric back with a harsh shove. "Stop playing games. Tell me what you know."
Aldric sat up, rubbing his throat with a satisfied grin. "The Council's been tight-lipped, Killian. Centuries. They've made you believe your mate was dead. They've made you believe you were powerful." He strode further into the room, his voice low. "The truth? They've been playing you all along."
Selene's heart ached.
Killian's knuckles whitened. "And I'm supposed to trust you?"
Aldric's smile wavered. "Do as you please. But sooner or later, you'll find out for yourself." His eyes returned to Selene. "You might very well ask. why they didn't say anything to you at all."
The silence hung.
Selene's heart pounded in her ears. She'd spent every second since then trying to untangle what was real and what wasn't, and the more she searched, the thicker the web.
Killian snarled at a breath, his gold-shot eyes burning with rage. "You came all this way for nothing but to plant seeds of uncertainty in our minds?"
Aldric bent his head. "No. I'm here to deliver a decision." He crossed his arms. "More is at stake than you can even begin to conceive. If you keep on fighting in the dark, you'll be destroyed." His face became stern. "But if you want to live through what lies ahead, you'll need my help."
Killian produced a humorless, frosty laugh. "Your help? You'd be mad to consider I could have your trust."
Aldric simply grinned. "Then don't, then. But when you finally discover what's occurring. remember this." He remained at the doorway. "Because when you finally do understand what is happening. it'll be too late."
And with that, he was gone into the darkness, the only reminder the fading words on the breeze.
Selene's eyes snapped to Killian, her heart twisting. "What if he's right?"
Killian did not say anything at first. His jaw was clenched, his eyes distant.
Then finally he did speak, "Then we're already at war."
Selene stood stock still where she was, Aldric's words ringing in her mind.
You would be wondering. Why would they hide you at all?
Cold ball in her chest. Not a threat—this was the reality she had been attempting to deny. The rejection, lost memories, unbroken bond… all wrong. And now that the Council was now involved in all of this had her stomach churning with worry.
Killian's expression was unreadable. His amber eyes glowed in the dancing light of the torches, his body coiled tight for a warrior ready to leap into some impending blow. He was the Alpha King, the most powerful king of the kingdom—but for the first time, Selene witnessed something in his eyes that turned her stomach into a knot.
Doubt.
He shoved her away, yanking at his hair with an agitated hand. "We have to plan," he growled roughly. "The Council won't be playing waiting games. If Aldric is bluffing, they've had centuries to plan."
Selene's throat constricted. "And if he is?"
Killian released a drawn-out breath through his nostrils. "Then we're playing ghosts." His jaw clenched. "But I can't risk it."
She glared at him. Killian was never domesticated, and so logical. He did not act on impulse, and he did not flinch with the deceit of a traitor like Aldric. But today, there was something different.
"Killian."
She waited. "What aren't you telling me?"
His eyes flicked to hers, quick and guarded. "Nothing you don't already know."
A lie.
She could see it.
Before she could push him for more, the door groaned open and Darius stepped in. His face was grim, his body tense.
"There's been an attack," he said.
Selene nodded quicker. "Where?"
"The eastern border. A small outpost," Darius said. "The guards were killed before they could raise the alarm. And. They left a message."
Killian's growl was like an animal. "What message?"
Darius held out a bloody parchment. Killian took it, reading the words with his eyes. His expression darkened with rage as he read.
Selene approached, her stomach knotting. "What does it say?"
Killian's hand around the parchment tightened. And then, in a whisper so soft she could barely hear the words, he read:
"Return what was taken… or we shall take it ourselves."
Selene's breath caught.
The Council was not the same anymore.
And they were to come and pick her up.