Chapter five: Brewing storm

Word of Aria's mixed heritage ran through the land as the raging flame locked on the wind of discord. It wasn't long before this speculation breathed its way into the Lunari pack. Through the long stone table, Thane sat at the head, and his lieutenants surrounded him. Flickering fire lit his weathered face, flashing forth his golden eyes with some devilish kind of cunning.

"Well, so the half-caste should be the great Orion's heir," said Thane, raising one side of his mouth in an unexpected smirk.

One of his lieutenants was leaning forward, his face solemn. "The Umbra pack will be divided. Orion's judgment for keeping it secret will come under huge scrutiny."

"And with each doubt, their unity cracks," Thane said with a cold and calculated voice. His fingers drummed rhythmically on the table. "This is a chance. If they lose faith in Aria, their leadership could, by mere implication, be weakened.

And this we shall exploit and assert our domination."

Luca, who was standing near the edge of the room, watched slightly uneasy. His father's words bore the weight of tradition, but his instincts said there was something wrong in this scheme. He could imagine the fire in Aria's eyes when they spoke at the river.

"And yet... father," Luca began, weighing his words cautiously, "aren't we risking this being the exact opposite? Forcing them at their lowest point, it could come back to bite us. A dangerous scenario; when desperate, any wolf is dangerous at most."

Thane gave him a staring order, yet somewhere in his eyes seemed to be a flicker of approval. "Caution is fine, but we will not let compassion betray strategy. We shall strike when the time is right. Until then, just watch carefully. Learn their weaknesses."

Luca nodded, despite a knot of unease churning in his gut.

Aria crouched by the riverbank, the gentle flow of moonlit water rippling through her reflection. Her fists formed at her sides, nails biting into her palms as she fought the surge of emotions. 

threatening to overwhelm her.

Like a doll that had been put under the butcher's knife to be stared at, with her identity shabby and betrayed before all eyes, with her status in the Umbra pack threatened and weighed down by every ounce of disapproval from her father hastily pounded on her chest. There was no need for her to be here. A pang of unease, which she found impossible to explain, stirred itself inside her in the stillness of soft footfall behind.

He approached her carefully, as though not wanting to do anything that might trigger her.

Moonlight illuminated his sharp features almost like a specter crafted of glimmer and demureness.

They sat quietly for some time; it was as if the night air was coiling up around all they could not yet say.

"You shouldn't have come," Aria said, her voice strained yet firm. She did not look at him; she was fixated on the river, as if what it carried away could take her pain with it.

"I had to," he replied, stepping closer. His voice was low and soft as if he were afraid of scaring off a wounded animal. "I've heard what happened. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

A bitter laugh came from the depths of her throat. "Okay? You think I look okay, Luca? My own pack sees me as an outsider. My people betrayed me, and your father...he's probably sharpening his knives, ready to tear us apart while we're weak." Finally, she turned to face him, her eyes aflame with a mixture of anger and despair. "So tell me, heir of the Lunari pack, why are you here?" 

Why do you care?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

"Because I see you," he said, sincere. "Not as Umbra's heir, not as my father's enemy—just you. And I see that you are hurt."

Sincerity stabilized her acrid walls, forcing her to look up into his earnest eyes, shimmering with tears not spilled. "You wouldn't; no, a meek voice lay open a case—so I don't know which me."

Luca met her eyes with no qualm. "Because I care for you, Aria."

She hesitated and felt herself waver at the very moment that the walls of her heart began to tremble. She shook her head. "You shouldn't do it. It's dangerous. For both of us."

"Dangerous doesn't equal wrong." He stepped closer, eliminating the distance until she felt the warmth of his body seeping between them. "I know what we're up against. I'm aware of what our families would do if they found out. But somehow, I know that you don't deserve what's being done to you. And I will not stand idly by and allow you to face it alone."

Aria felt her breath catch as her heart raced with a mélange of emotions. She wanted to push him away, to demand that he leave her and never come back. But his sincerity sang balm to her not-yet-convalescent spirit, and inwardly, she leaned toward him for comfort. "You don't understand, Luca. They will never accept me. Not as I am."

“They are acting like fools.” His voice was calm and decisive as he spoke up. “Aria, you’re tough. You are stronger than you think you are. Besides, the realization of whether they will accept you or not does not change who you are,” he said.

A single tear rolled down her face, and she wiped it off her face, hating the fact that she had let her guard down. “What’s your motive for taking such a big risk?” she mumbled. “What do you want to get by this?”

“Because I see you,” he replied without hesitation. “You are not an Umbra or a human-animal hybrid or any other label people would like to put on you. I see the real you. And I—” He stopped for a moment, and a huge silence embraced him like a shadow. “I can’t leave that alone.”

Aria looked at him, her heart opening up to him. For the first time in days, the hurricane inside her seemed to grow still. She made a hesitant move, and her hand brushed his. The connection was so intense it was like they were two parts of the same electricity circuit.

“I know I can’t.

Not by myself. I don’t even know what to do, but I can tell you this much for now. I don’t want to be alone,” that was the last thing she would admit.

“You’ve got me. Not now.” Luca said, his voice heavy with a vow.

They were together, the moonlight weaving an enchanting ambiance around them, the river softly whispering by their feet. They were isolated in the dreamlike utopia where nothing but the two of them remained—an onerous love threatening to either rescue or ruin them both.

...But the waiting squad, hidden in the darkness of the forest, kept the lovers under surveillance. Soon, the fleeting peace would end. The game they had become unwitting pawns in was about to get a whole lot more complicated. Little did they know the stakes were much higher than they could even begin to comprehend.