Aurelia's steps echoed down the cold, stone corridors, the guards' hands tight on her arms, dragging her through the heart of Ironfang Keep. The air was thick with the scent of damp stone and the faint, lingering smell of blood—memories of the battle, of her pack falling, of everything slipping away in one night.
She glanced at the soldiers flanking her. Their faces were unreadable, but their eyes… their eyes watched her, almost too closely. A silent judgment. She refused to flinch under their gaze, but inside, her wolf howled in rage. How had she come to this? A prisoner. A trophy.
When they pushed her into the throne room, her heart beat faster—not with fear, but with defiance. The room was as cold and imposing as the rest of the keep. Black marble pillars rose up around her, and at the far end, Kaelen sat on his throne, his presence enough to fill the entire room.
His eyes flicked up to her as she was shoved to her knees. The collar around her neck pulsed, a constant reminder of her helplessness, but she fought the urge to show it. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"Do you enjoy this?" she asked, meeting his gaze head-on. Her voice was hoarse but steady. "Keeping me here like some… prize?"
Kaelen's lips quirked upward, but it wasn't a smile. "You're more useful alive than dead," he said, his tone flat. "For now."
Aurelia's gaze shot to the court behind him. There were whispers, quiet but sharp, like knives scraping against stone. She could feel their eyes on her, some filled with distrust, others with curiosity. The murmurs shifted, from one to the next, too low for her to catch all the words, but she didn't need to hear them clearly to know what they were saying.
The Moonborn princess.
The last of her kind.
Enemy.
Her wolf stirred inside her, its presence barely contained. It was almost like it was begging her to fight, to let it loose, but the collar… the collar was a constant weight, a reminder of how much she had lost. How much she couldn't control. And as much as she hated it, as much as she wanted to rip it off and shift into the freedom she'd once known, she had to remain still.
Kaelen's gaze never left her. The way he watched her… it wasn't like how the court looked at her. They saw an enemy. He saw something else. She couldn't place it, but there was an intensity in his stare—something familiar, but cruel, like a wolf sizing up its prey.
But that wasn't all. His eyes seemed to linger just a moment too long, as if he were looking for something. Something only he knew.
Aurelia shifted slightly, feeling the raw weight of the collar digging into her skin. It burned, but she didn't let him see it.
"Are you planning to execute me now?" she asked, the words slipping out before she could stop them.
Kaelen tilted his head, the corners of his mouth curving into a dark smile. "No. But I will make sure you're… presentable for the court."
Presentable. As if she were a thing to be displayed.
"You should kill me," she added, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her. "At least then, I would die with some dignity."
He stood, slow and deliberate, like a predator testing the waters. His boots echoed through the silence as he crossed the room. With every step he took, Aurelia's heart hammered faster, but she refused to show it. She was not afraid of him. Not yet.
"You don't get to decide how you die," Kaelen said, his voice low, almost too soft. But the weight behind the words made her shiver.
She lifted her chin, meeting his eyes. "Then you'll make me die slowly, like you did my people?"
His eyes flickered. A brief flash of something—anger? Regret?—but it was gone in a heartbeat, replaced by that cold mask of indifference.
"Your people," he repeated, as if testing the words on his tongue. "Your father's soldiers burned my village to the ground. I remember. I remember everything."
Aurelia's breath caught in her throat. She had never known. She had never heard his side of it. To her, he had been just another nameless, faceless enemy. But now… now it was personal.
Her heart skipped a beat. "And what? You think this is justice?"
"I think it's survival," he said, voice tight. "I didn't want this. I didn't want to become what I am, but you've seen the truth of it. This was the only way I could survive. The only way to fight back."
She studied him, her silver eyes narrowing. She didn't know what to believe anymore. Maybe there was more to this war than what she had been taught. But the image of her father, standing tall and proud, with the blood of his enemies staining his hands… It was hard to reconcile that with the broken boy standing in front of her now.
Kaelen's eyes softened for a fraction of a second, and it was enough to make her pause. Was that regret? She didn't know. She didn't want to know.
"Don't look at me like that," she snapped. "You don't get to act like I'm the one to blame for your choices."
He looked away then, his jaw tightening. "I never asked you to."
Aurelia's wolf howled again, pushing against the collar, but she ignored it. She had to stay focused. She had to remember why she was here. Why she had to survive.
She glanced toward the court, their eyes fixed on her like she was a spectacle. She had to find a way out of this. And soon.
Kaelen's voice broke her thoughts. "You don't belong here. But neither do I."
Her eyes shot back to him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He paused, his gaze fixed on her for a long moment. "It means I don't know what to do with you. You're my enemy, but something about you… I can't figure it out. Why you're still here. Why you. Why now."
Her breath caught, but she didn't speak. For a moment, it felt like he was talking to himself more than her.
But then the moment passed, and Kaelen's attention shifted, cold once more. He turned away, addressing the court as if nothing had happened.
"Take her back to her cell," he ordered. "And make sure she doesn't try anything… stupid."
The guards grabbed her arms again, pulling her roughly toward the door. Aurelia didn't resist. She couldn't. But her mind was racing. The last words Kaelen had spoken hung in the air, unanswered.
"Why her?"