With shaking hands, I tore the second note apart. Three days. I had three days to leave or be kicked out.
But who? Even though it said "A friend," friends didn't scare you. Your friends didn't leave you blood-red notes to be careful.
It hurt my heart to look up and down the empty hallway. This could have been done by anyone. Dear Margaret Stone. One of the fighters from the practice area. Even Emma, sweet as she seemed.
I crumpled the paper and shoved it into my pocket with the first letter. Two threats in two days. What would tomorrow bring?
Sleep came in pieces that night. Every creak of the old building made me jump. Every footstep in the hall made me hold my breath. When morning finally came, I felt like I'd been hit by a truck.
Emma brought breakfast again, but her normal cheerfulness was gone. She kept looking over her shoulder like she expected monsters to jump out of the shadows.
"Everything okay?" I asked.
"Fine," she said quickly. Too quickly. "Just... be careful today, alright? Things are tense around here."
"Tense how?"
But she was already backing toward the door. "I have to go. Kitchen job calls."
She left me alone with cold eggs and rising dread.
I spent the morning in my room, trying to make sense of everything. The notes. The pack's hate. Kael's coldness. Nothing added up. Why mate me to an Alpha who couldn't stand the sight of me? Why bring me here just to hurt me?
Around noon, someone knocked on my door. I braced myself for another fight, but instead found a small girl with pigtails and missing front teeth.
"Are you the rogue lady?" she asked.
"I guess I am."
"Grandma Selene wants to see you. She said it's important." The girl held out her tiny hand. "I'm Lucy. I'll take you to her."
Selene. The pack doctor. I'd heard rumors about her that she was ancient, wise, and knew things others didn't. Maybe she could give me answers.
Lucy led me through parts of the pack house I hadn't seen before. Down narrow stairs that seemed older than the rest of the building. Past doors with strange symbols cut into the wood. The air grew cooler with each step, and something made the hair on my arms stand up.
"Here we are," Lucy stated, stopping at a heavy wooden door. Strange herbs hung from the roof, filling the air with sharp, earthy scents.
"Thank you, little one," came a voice from inside. "Run along now."
Lucy skipped away, leaving me standing alone. I raised my hand to knock, but the door swung open by itself.
"Come in, kid. We have much to discuss."
The room beyond was unlike anything I'd ever seen. Shelves lined every wall, packed with jars of strange substances. Dried plants hung in bunches. Candles flickered even though it was daytime. And in the center sat a woman who seemed cut from time itself.
Selene Blackthorn was ancient but not weak. Her silver hair ran like water down her back. Her eyes were the color of storm clouds, and when she looked at me, I felt like she could see right through to my soul.
"Sit," she ordered, pointing to a chair across from her. "We don't have long."
"Long for what?"
"Before they realize you're here." She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The walls have ears in this place, child. Not all of them friendly."
My stomach clenched. "Are you the one sending me notes?"
"Notes?" Her eyebrows shot up. "What notes?"
I pulled the crumpled papers from my pocket and gave them over. Selene's face got darker with each word she read.
"Blood ink," she grumbled. "And not just any blood. This holds intent. Power." She looked up at me with sharp eyes. "Someone wants you gone very badly."
"But who? I've only been here two days."
"Sometimes two days is two days too long." Selene stood and moved to one of her shelves, pulling down a jar filled with what looked like black sand. "Tell me, child, what do you know about your family's history?"
"Not much. My father never talked about the past."
"Of course he didn't." She sprinkled the black sand into a bowl of water. "Some secrets are too dangerous to speak aloud."
The water began to spin, even though she hadn't touched it. Images formed in the dark liquid faces I didn't know, a forest that looked familiar, and something that made my blood freeze.
A girl who looked exactly like me, but younger. She was running through trees, fear on her face. Behind her came something dark and twisted, reaching out with claws made of shadow.
"That's not me," I whispered. "No. That's your sister."
My heart stopped. "Lyra? But she's dead. She drowned ten years ago."
Selene's laugh was bitter as winter wind. "Dead? Child, death is not always the end. Sometimes it's just the beginning of something far worse."
The pictures in the water shifted. Now I saw the same girl, but different. Her eyes were empty, like windows into nothing. Her smile was too wide, too knowing. And around her, darkness seemed to dance.
"This is what threatens you," Selene said. "Not notes written in blood. Not angry pack members. This."
"I don't understand."
"Your sister didn't die in that river, Aria. She was taken. Changed. And now she's coming back."
"That's impossible. I saw her drown. I watched the water take her."
"You saw what you were meant to see. But the banned forest has its own rules. Its own hunger." Selene's eyes burned into mine. "And it's been feeding on her for ten years."
Terror crawled up my spine like ice. "Feeding on her how?"
"Pain. Fear. Guilt. Every tear you've shed, every moment of blame you've carried—it all feeds the darkness that holds her." Selene grabbed my hands, her fingers surprisingly strong. "That's why you're here, child. That's why the mate bond brought you to Kael. The forest needs you both."
"For what?"
"To finish the circle. To finish what was started a decade ago." Her grip tightened. "But if you stay, if you play into its hands, everyone you care about will suffer. The pack. Kael. Even little Emma who brings you breakfast."
My head spun. "Then I should leave. Tonight. Before"
"Before what? You think running will stop this?" Selene's voice cracked like a whip. "The darkness has already marked you. Distance won't save anyone."
"Then what do I do?"
"You fight. But not the way you think." She released my hands and moved to another shelf, pulling down a small cloth bag. "Wear this always. It will help hide your smell from things that hunt in shadows."
The bag felt warm against my hand, pulsing like a tiny heartbeat.
"There are others who will help you," Selene continued. "Ronan suspects something is wrong, though he doesn't know what. And Kael... his coldness isn't what it seems."
"He hates me."
"He fears you. There's a difference." She sat back down, suddenly looking every one of her many years. "The mate bond you share is old. Powerful. It threatens the very thing that holds your sister captive."
"Because it's real love?"
"Because it's planned love. The kind that can break spells and shatter dark magic." Her storm-cloud eyes met mine. "But only if you're both strong enough to claim it."
A sound from above made us both freeze. Footsteps. Heavy boots on the stairs going down to Selene's sanctuary.
"Someone's coming," I whispered.
Selene was already moving, pushing jars back onto shelves and blowing out candles. "Quick. The back entrance."
She pushed aside a tapestry, showing a hidden doorway. "Remember what I told you. Trust no one completely. Question everything. And whatever you do, don't go into the forest alone."
"But"
"Go!"
I slipped through the secret door just as the main entrance burst open. Through a crack in the wall, I saw three people enter. Dear Margaret Stone. A man I didn't recognize. And behind them, someone in a dark hood whose face I couldn't see.
"Where is she?" Margaret demanded.
"I don't know what you mean," Selene answered calmly.
"The rogue. We know she was here."
"Many people visit me, Margaret. I'm the pack healer."
"Don't play games with us." The hooded figure spoke, and something about the voice made my skin crawl. "We have work to do, and she's in the way."
"Then perhaps you should choose different work."
The hooded person stepped closer to Selene. "Perhaps you should remember where your loyalties lie."
My hands clenched into fists. I wanted to burst through the wall and defend the old woman, but Selene caught my eye through the crack and shook her head slightly.
Not yet, her expression said. Not now.
"My loyalty is to this pack's true Alpha," Selene said firmly. "Not to shadows and schemes."
"Careful, old woman. Accidents happen. Even to healers."
They left without finding me, but their words echoed in the small space. Accidents happen. Was that how they planned to get rid of me? Make it look like an accident?
When Selene finally let me out, her hands were shaking. "It's worse than I thought," she whispered. "They're not just trying to drive you away. They're preparing for something bigger."
"What kind of something?"
"The kind that ends with blood and darkness ruling this pack." She gripped my shoulders. "You have two days left, by their count. Use them wisely."
I made my way back to my room through empty halls, my mind spinning with everything Selene had told me. Lyra was living. Something dark was coming. And the people threatening me weren't just jealous pack members—they were part of something bigger.
At my door, I found Emma waiting with tears running down her face.
"Aria," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want to, but they said they'd hurt my family if I didn't"
"Emma, what are you talking about?"
She pulled a folded paper from her pocket with shaking hands. "They made me give this to you."
I opened it with dread, already knowing what I'd find. But this message was different. Instead of warnings, it contained just one line:
Tomorrow night. The banned forest. Come alone, or others will pay the price.
And below that, a signature that made my blood turn to ice:
Your loving sister, Lyra.