ARC’S POV:
   The second we step into the room, I already know it’s going to be a goddamn disaster.
   It smells like pinewood and overpriced cologne. Two twin beds sit across from each other with a narrow aisle between them. One window. One bathroom. Zero exits from the fact that I’m stuck with him.
    Although, on the plus side, it's a very spacious room. If I'm careful enough, I can avoid him totally. I will stay on my side and he will stay on his. Hopefully.
   Jon throws his bag onto one of the beds and turns to look at me like he’s been waiting to do this all day.
   "Of all the people I could’ve ended up with," he mutters, jaw tight. "Why the hell did it have to be you?"
    I close the door behind me and toss my duffel onto the floor. "Trust me, mutt, I’m not thrilled about it either."
His nostrils flare. "Don’t call me that."
   "Then don’t act like one," I shoot back, stepping past him. Our shoulders bump.
   The tension is sharp, electric, thickening the air between us.
Jon’s eyes narrow. "I know what you did, Arc. You fed from her."
I freeze.
    "You think I wouldn’t smell it on her?" he growls. "Her blood. You marked her."
   I spin around, fury boiling behind my ribs. "It wasn’t like that. I didn't mark her either. Get her facts straight. She let me."
    He steps closer. "You manipulated her. She didn’t know what she was doing."
    "I asked her," I grit. "And she said yes. Don’t paint me as the monster just because she chose to help me."
    He’s so close now I can see the flicker of amber in his eyes, the wolf just beneath the surface. "You don’t deserve her."
I scoff. "And you do? Don't forget that you are not so innocent either."
His fists clench. "At least I don’t make her afraid."
    That one hits too deep. My vision blurs with anger.
    "Keep telling yourself that," I say coldly.
"See how far it gets you."
   Before I say something I’ll regret or do something I’ll regret, I turn away, grabbing my phone and stepping out into the hallway. I need air. I need space. I need to not punch him through a wall.
    I walk past the elevator and take the stairwell down a level, then out through the side exit into the cool Australian air. Night has fallen and the quiet hum of the city beyond the hotel grounds is a welcome contrast to the pressure that’s been building all day.
    I press my phone to my ear. Dron picks up on the second ring.
   "Please tell me you’ve found something," I say, pacing the concrete walkway.
   "Arc," Dron’s voice is low, urgent. "You’re not going to like this."
"Go ahead," I mutter. "I’m already having the worst day."
   "I dug into some restricted archives. Old vampire records, stuff not even your mum probably knows about."
  A pause. I can hear him breathing hard, like he’s been running.
    "There was a Seer. Centuries ago. Mated to both a vampire and a werewolf. She was powerful. Beyond comprehension. But the bond tore her apart. The two species; us and them, are natural enemies. The magic tried to balance it, but in the end…"
"What happened?" I demand.
    "She died. Violently. And so did everyone close to her. The vampire’s entire bloodline was wiped. The werewolf pack was nearly decimated. It started a war that bled for generations."
    I go still, the world tilting slightly beneath my feet.
"You’re telling me this has happened before?"
   "Yes. And it didn’t end well. The Elders scrubbed it from memory, tried to pretend it never happened. But if history’s repeating itself-"
    "It won’t," I cut in. My voice is hard now. Determined. "I won’t let that happen to her."
    Dron exhales. "Then you’d better prepare. Because the second others find out what she is, they’ll come for her. And not everyone will care about her blood the way you do."
  I hang up the call and go back upstairs. I pace the length of the hallway just outside our room, Dron’s words still echoing in my skull.
    "She’s a Seer… and if the blood signs match what I found, she might be the last of her kind."
Great. That’s exactly what I needed to hear.
I lean against the cold wall, fingers drumming against my thigh. The world feels like it’s shifting beneath my feet, and for a second, I let it. I let the panic grip me, claw into my chest and remind me of the kind of hell I’ve walked through to get here.
Why her? Why did it have to be her?
The Seers are supposed to be extinct. Gone. Murdered. Their bloodlines erased like a nightmare no one wanted to wake up from. And yet, here she is... alive, fiery, and tangled in a bond I never asked for.
And now… she’s in this damn hotel. With that wolf-boy down the hall.
Before I can respond, a loud commotion erupts from inside the hotel. I hear shouting, a girl’s voice rising above the rest, shrill and cruel.
"You’re just a charity case! No wonder nobody wants you - your real parents didn’t even stick around!"
My stomach drops.
Aurora.
I’m already running before I realize it, the phone slipping from my grip as I race through the doors and toward the chaos unfolding in the lobby.
Something in me cracks wide open.
And I know that this is only the beginning.
AURORA’S POV:
    My breath is short, chest tight, and the world around me blurs at the edges as if someone’s pressed fast-forward on the scene. Celeste’s voice still rings in my ears, sharp and venomous. 
   'At least I have real parents. You’ve just been passed around like a charity case your whole life.'
Everything is too loud. The fluorescent lights overhead burn like fire into my skull. My heart thunders against my ribs. My skin feels like it doesn’t fit right. Like I’m unraveling.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t-
The bathroom door bursts open and someone comes in. 
"Aurora!" Cali’s hands are on my arms, steadying me, but they feel miles away. "Hey! hey, it’s okay. Just breathe, alright? Look at me."
    My vision blackens at the edges. I gasp, a shallow, broken thing.
"I can’t-" I choke. "I can’t-"
Then another voice. Deeper. Raspier.
"Aurora?"
Arc.
   Everything inside me lurches at the sound of his voice. He’s not supposed to see me like this. No one is. Not the foster girl. Not the broken one.
But I’m crumbling, and I don’t know how to stop it.