I Belong To You Aurelius

Chapter 4: The Claim

f**k f**k f**k f**k f**k.

The words repeated in Thalia’s mind like a prayer to a goddess who’d stopped listening to her years ago, and her wolf was screaming at her to run, to shift and bolt into the forest, every instinct howling that staying here meant death.

But then he spoke, and the words made absolutely no f*****g sense.

“Have we met before?”

Her mind went completely blank. The terror building in her chest stuttered, replaced by pure confusion that left her frozen with blood dripping down her chin and her hands still shaking from the fight.

What did he mean by that? Was this some elaborate prank, some twisted game where he pretended not to recognize her before having her dragged back in chains? Or was he actually serious, actually asking like he didn’t remember her at all?

She opened her mouth but no sound came out.

“My lord, it’s nothing really.” Celina’s voice cut through the silence as she stepped forward awkwardly, positioning herself between Thalia and Aurelius. “Just some disagreement between servants. I was about to separate them when you arrived.”

Aurelius didn’t even look at her. His eyes stayed locked on Thalia’s face as he took a step towards Thalia, the moonlight bouncing off his dark hair and making his grey eyes seem almost silver.

The air shifted the moment he took a second step.

Thalia felt her legs start to shake as he moved toward her, and it wasn’t just fear anymore. There was something about the way he walked, the way he carried himself, that made every wolf instinct in her body go still and watchful. This wasn’t like Marcus, who wore his alpha status like expensive clothes he’d been given. This was different. Dangerous.

She tried to stand, her body screaming in protest from the beating, but she managed to get her feet under her even though her knees felt like they might give out.

Behind Aurelius, Marcus ruffled his hair in frustration. She caught the flash of anger in his expression as he glared at his sister, though he said nothing. Instead he turned to Aurelius with a forced smile, and Thalia noticed how Marcus’s posture had shifted slightly, his shoulders not quite as squared as they’d been moments before.

“Really, it’s just servants being servants,” Marcus said lightly, but there was something in his voice now that hadn’t been there earlier. “Nothing that requires your attention, my friend.”

Aurelius stopped directly in front of Thalia, close enough that she could smell him now, a wild scent that made her wolf stir despite her terror. Close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.

“I asked you a question,” he said, his voice low and controlled but carrying weight that pressed against her skin. “Have we met before?”

Her legs felt like they might give out entirely. Terror flooded through her, making her hands shake worse than before, and she forced herself to speak even though her voice came out thin.

“No, my lord.”

Aurelius’s expression tightened, something that looked almost like pain flashing across his face before his features smoothed back into that cold mask. Then he growled, actually growled, the sound rumbling from his chest in a way that was entirely animal, and his hand shot out faster than she could track.

His fingers gripped her chin, tilting her face up to meet his eyes, and the hold was just shy of painful. Her wolf whimpered at the touch, torn between the urge to bare her teeth and fight, and something else, something that wanted to tilt her head further and expose her throat.

“You’re f*****g lying to me,” he said, and there was something dangerous in his voice now, something that made even Celina take an involuntary step back. “Why are you lying?”

Her mind raced, trying to understand what was happening, trying to piece together how this made any sense at all. His face had been the last thing she’d seen before she’d jumped into the river that night, months of running from that moment, and now here he was asking if they’d met like none of it had ever happened.

She suddenly realized something right there, he actually didn’t recognize her. Somehow, impossibly, he didn’t know who she was and did not remember.

The realization gave her a thread of hope to cling to, thin and fragile but there, and she grabbed onto it because it was the only chance she was going to get.

“It’s possible we’ve crossed paths before, my lord,” she said carefully, keeping her voice steady even though her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. “I’ve moved from place to place, served in different packs. Perhaps you saw me somewhere and simply don’t remember.”

Aurelius laughed, but there was no humor in it. His grip on her chin tightened just enough to make her wince, and his eyes bored into hers, pupils dilating in a very dangerous way like a predator recognizing prey trying to escape.

“You’re still lying,” he said softly, dangerously. “But don’t worry. I’ll find out what you’re hiding from me soon enough.”

Marcus’s voice came from behind Aurelius, strained and tight in a way that said his wolf was responding to whatever Aurelius was putting into the air. “Aurelius, do you know this girl?”

She saw Marcus’s face clearly then, and it was at the same time he looked at her properly for the first time and his expression transformed immediately into something ugly as he recognized her.

Her stomach dropped as she noticed Celina’s gaze also lock onto her with barely concealed rage, and she could smell the shift in the air now, their hostility sharpening into something almost physical.

She was going to die. Not from whatever Aurelius might do if she survived it, but from Marcus and Celina making sure she never made it through the night.

Aurelius stared at her for a long moment, his hand still holding her chin, his eyes searching her face like he was trying to solve a puzzle. Then he spoke, still not looking away from her.

“It’s possible,” he said finally, and the bewilderment in those two words was somehow worse than if he’d simply said yes.

Marcus and Celina both went silent, clearly not understanding.

“Aurelius, she’s nothing,” Celina said quickly, her voice taking on a desperate edge. “She’s just my maid, barely worth noticing. There’s no way you could have met her before, she’s not important enough to—”

“Do you have use for her?” Aurelius interrupted, still not turning around, and something in his tone made Marcus’s wolf clearly take notice because the Red Claw heir’s spine straightened unconsciously.

The question was directed at Marcus, and Thalia watched the Red Claw heir’s expression shift through several emotions too quickly to track.

“Well,” Marcus said slowly, carefully, like he was testing how far he could push. “She’s no one important. Not someone we’d miss if she were gone.”

Aurelius finally released her chin, but somehow that made everything worse because now she didn’t know what he was thinking, couldn’t read his expression as he turned to face Marcus and Celina properly.

He was silent for several long moments, and Thalia could feel her heart hammering so hard she thought everyone must be able to hear it.

Then Aurelius spoke, and the words carried an edge of command that made every wolf in the vicinity go still.

“She’s coming with me back to my pack.”