Five years passed like a wound that never healed.
Ariana learned to measure time not in days, but in heartbeats—the soft rise and fall of two tiny chests beside her in the dark. The twins slept curled together, instinctively seeking one another even in dreams, their breaths perfectly synchronized as if bound by something deeper than blood.
She watched them from the edge of the bed, exhaustion etched into her bones. Motherhood had carved her into someone sharper, harder, yet achingly softer where it mattered most. Every decision she made was for them. Every sacrifice. Every secret.
They were growing faster than they should have.
Their eyes—too aware. Their instincts—too precise. Sometimes, when emotions ran high, the air around them would hum faintly, like a whisper of power struggling to stay hidden.
Ariana swallowed her fear and wrapped herself tighter around control.
No one could know.
Especially not him.
Jayden Cole stood at the edge of the vampire council hall, untouched documents scattered at his feet. He hadn't read a single one. He hadn't cared in years.
The world had dulled without Ariana.
His once-immaculate control was fractured. His nights were restless, his days hollow. He still trained—harder than anyone else—but it no longer satisfied him. Nothing did.
"She vanished," one council elder said carefully. "It's time you let this go."
Jayden's golden eyes snapped up, burning.
"I don't let go of what's mine."
Silence fell.
They didn't argue. No one ever did when his voice carried that edge—the dangerous blend of grief, obsession, and power barely leashed.
He had searched every city, every border, every shadowed corner of the world. He followed rumors, traces of her scent that always led nowhere. And yet, deep down, he knew she was alive.
He felt her.
Some nights, the pull in his chest was so strong it nearly drove him mad.
Ariana felt it too.
It struck her while she was standing in the market square of a quiet coastal town, one hand holding a basket, the other gripping a child's fingers.
Her breath hitched.
Heat bloomed low in her stomach, sudden and uninvited, spreading through her veins like a remembered touch. Her pulse raced, skin prickling as if someone had whispered her name directly against her spine.
Jayden.
She stiffened instantly.
The twins sensed it.
"Mama?" one of them murmured, eyes opening—too sharp, too knowing.
"I'm fine," she lied softly, forcing a smile as she crouched to their level. "Just stay close to me."
They nodded, obedient but alert.
Ariana straightened and scanned the crowd, heart pounding. She felt exposed, stripped bare by an invisible gaze she knew far too well.
He was close.
Too close.
Jayden froze mid-step, the noise of the street fading around him.
Her scent.
Soft. Familiar. Burned into him.
His head snapped up, instincts roaring to life. The pull in his chest flared violently, dragging him forward before he could think.
She was here.
After five years of emptiness, of dead ends and silence—she was here.
His blood surged, hunger and longing twisting together in a dangerous, intoxicating mix.
"Ariana," he breathed.
She moved before fear could take hold.
The moment she felt his presence sharpen, she turned, guiding the twins swiftly through the crowd, heart slamming against her ribs. Every nerve screamed danger.
Not because he would hurt her.
Because he wouldn't.
Because if he touched her, she would crumble.
Her body remembered him too well—the heat, the way his voice had wrapped around her spine, the way desire had once overridden reason.
She couldn't afford that now.
Not with them.
Jayden spotted her hair first.
Dark. Familiar. Moving away from him.
"Stop," he said, voice low, commanding.
She didn't.
His jaw clenched as he pushed forward, instincts urging him to chase, to claim, to drag her back into his arms and demand answers.
But then he saw them.
Two small figures at her side.
Children.
His steps faltered.
Confusion sliced through him. His gaze lingered—too briefly—on their heads bent close to hers, the way she shielded them instinctively with her body.
Something twisted violently in his chest.
She vanished into an alley before he could think further.
Ariana didn't stop running until her lungs burned.
She locked the door behind them, pressing her back against it as the twins clung to her legs. Her body trembled, heat and fear tangling painfully inside her.
That had been too close.
Far too close.
She slid down the door slowly, pulling the twins into her arms, inhaling their familiar scent until her heartbeat steadied.
"He can't find us," she whispered, more to herself than them. "Not yet."
The twins nestled closer, their small hands gripping her clothes.
Outside, the air thrummed faintly—power brushing against power.
Jayden stood alone in the alley, fists clenched, breath uneven.
She had been right there.
Alive.
Real.
And she had run.
His control shattered.
The emptiness inside him cracked open, spilling rage, longing, and a sharp, unfamiliar ache he couldn't name. His knees nearly buckled as the weight of it crushed down on him.
She had looked… different.
Stronger.
More guarded.
And she had been protecting something.
Someone.
He dragged a hand through his hair, eyes burning.
"I'll find you," he vowed to the night, voice breaking despite himself. "No matter what you're hiding… no matter how long it takes."
His obsession reignited—not wild this time, but focused.
Because Ariana wasn't just running from him.
She was protecting a secret.
And whatever it was… it was worth tearing the world apart to uncover.