Zyren didn’t allow Aria to pull away from him, no matter how much she tried. His arms remained locked around her, unyielding, even as she watched the tall man with brown hair and piercing blue eyes approach them. The soft fur-covered ears atop his head twitched ever so slightly, drawing Aria’s gaze. She couldn’t look away from them, not even if she wanted to.
He was taller than anyone she had seen in a while—save for Zyren himself. His presence was hard to ignore, and it only grew more intense as he came closer. Her heart skipped when Zyren’s voice cut through the silence, low and firm.
"King Jared," he said, the weight of the title hitting harder than Aria expected.
But she had barely registered the name before something strange and utterly disorienting occurred. A word—one she hadn’t expected—echoed over and over in her mind.
Her eyes widened as she looked around, trying to understand where the voice had come from. But no one else reacted. No one else seemed to hear it. Her gaze shot back to the tall man. His eyes were locked onto hers, unwavering and unashamed. Something about the way he looked at her made her skin flush with heat.
Mate? she thought in disbelief. Is he saying I’m his destined lover? Or... something worse?
It made no sense. He hadn’t even spoken—at least not out loud. But she had heard the word as clearly as if it had been whispered directly into her ear.
"Jared!" Zyren barked next, the sharpness in his tone breaking the strange moment between her and the stranger.
He didn’t bother with the formal title this time. It was intentional. Deliberate. His irritation was clear.
"I didn’t know your eyesight had gotten worse with age," Zyren added coldly, obviously referencing the fact that Jared had taken one look at Aria and hadn’t looked away.
Jared didn’t take the bait. Instead of responding with words, he merely smiled and shook his head, finally tearing his eyes away from Aria. He turned his full attention to Zyren, the mood between them shifting fast. Whatever history they shared, it wasn’t pleasant.
The tension was thick, almost suffocating. Aria could feel it roll off them like heat waves. Zyren’s crimson eyes burned with tightly leashed fury, while Jared’s gaze now held something closer to disdain.
"You could enter the main city and talk proper—" Jared politely began, but Zyren cut him off without hesitation.
"Cut the act! " Zyren snapped, gesturing with a sharp flick of his wrist to push the soldiers and guards around him further back. He didn’t want any of them hearing what was coming next.
Jared mirrored the action, much to the frustration of two of his council members, who looked as though they wanted to protest. But they stayed silent. His authority over them was absolute.
They had only just ensured privacy when Jared’s eyes flicked back to Aria. She stood rigid at Zyren’s side, unwilling to move even an inch away from him. His arm remained firmly around her waist.
"You want her to stay?" Jared asked, his tone unreadable. Yet his gaze... it was warm. Disarmingly so. It made Aria’s chest tighten. She almost smiled in response, though she didn’t dare let it show.
Zyren answered before she could say a word.
"She stays," he said simply. But his eyes held warning—daring Jared to challenge him.
Jared’s response was a shrug, but it was clear he wouldn’t forget it. He straightened, and his voice carried more weight when he spoke again.
"You asked for this meeting. If this is about the forest monsters, we might as well end it now."
"It’s not," Zyren said sharply. "It’s about Zygons."
That name, that word, made Jared freeze for a moment—then he laughed. A humorless sound.
"What? Those flesh-eating, shape-shifting creatures with energy cores? They’ve been wiped out for years."
Zyren didn’t look amused. In fact, a scowl formed on his face.
"Wiped out?" he repeated, voice low. "No. They were hunted into hiding. That’s all."
Jared folded his arms across his chest, his stance becoming more rigid. He raised his chin and looked at Zyren with open disbelief.
"What evidence do you have?" he asked. His tone was skeptical, almost dismissive.
Zyren didn’t reply at first. He couldn’t say that it was just a feeling—an unshakable sense that something terrible was coming. He didn’t have solid proof, not yet.
"What evidence do you have that they’re truly gone?" Zyren countered instead, and for the first time, Aria noticed a shift in Jared’s expression.
A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. The easy calm in his eyes wavered. And for a brief second, Aria could have sworn she saw it—fear. Just a trace, but enough to make the air feel heavier around them.
’Zygons... what the hell are they?’ she wondered, trying to keep her breathing calm as she listened. The conversation had taken on a tone too serious to ignore.
"You know how strong even a single colony is," Zyren said, each word carefully spoken.
Jared sighed, the sound heavy, like a burden he didn’t want to carry.
"I refuse to act on ’ifs,’" he replied. "If you have real evidence, bring it forward. Then we’ll deal with it—like we did before."
He was done talking. That much was clear.
Aria didn’t need Zyren to speak to know how displeased he was. She could feel it in his silence, in the tension of his body, in the way he held her tighter.
She stayed still, keeping the coat around her drawn close. The cold air bit at her skin. It was still dark, too dark for her to see clearly, though the werewolves had no trouble. She could only make out faces by the flickering light of a single lamp someone had lit nearby—undoubtedly by Zyren’s order.
’Anyone watching would think he actually cares,’ she thought bitterly. But all she could remember was how she had begged him to spare her brother.
"Fine," Zyren said finally, his voice calm again. That cool detachment returning like a mask.
He moved slightly, preparing to turn and leave, but Jared’s next words stopped them both.
"I have some humans. I can give them to you," Jared said, like it was a trade of no real consequence.
"I have enough," Zyren responded at once, pulling Aria even closer until her body was pressed to his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, strong and steady. His scent filled her nose—warm, comforting. It only made her angrier with herself. She turned her face away.
"An artifact, then," Jared offered next. That made Zyren hesitate. Aria felt it. Ancient relics were rare and powerful. Even the vampire clans possessed only three between them.
Zyren’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. "What do you want in return?" he asked warily.
Jared didn’t pause. He pointed directly at Aria.