The night was too quiet.
Even the wind seemed to hesitate beneath the silver glow of the moon.
Ayra stood at the edge of the cliff, her gaze lost in the distance, where darkness swallowed the horizon. Beside her, Aren Elion Thorne remained still silent, as if the past had reached out and pulled him away from the present.
From behind, footsteps approached.
"Lia… wait," Kael murmured, but it was already too late.
"...I've always wondered," Lia said softly, her voice breaking the stillness. "How did you two meet?"
The question lingered in the air.
Aren's expression darkened. His jaw tightened, but he said nothing.
Ayra did not turn. For a moment, she simply watched the moon… and when she finally spoke, her voice was quieter than the night itself.
"Do you really want to know?"
There was something in her tone
something heavy.
Something… old.
Kael stepped forward, his gaze steady. "You never told us about the time before the pack."
Silence.
Then
Ayra slowly turned.
For a brief second, her eyes shifted.
One glowed crimson.
The other shimmered silver.
Lia froze.
Aren closed his eyes.
And Ayra smiled… but there was no warmth in it.
"If I tell you," she whispered, "you may not look at me the same again."
The wind rose.
The past stirred.
Aren finally spoke.
"It didn't begin with us," he said.
His voice was low. Certain.
"It began… with a child the world tried to erase."
Ayra's gaze darkened.
"Before I was Luna…"
A pause.
"Before I became Gamma…"
The moonlight flickered across her face.
"I was the reason my family died."