novelraw The Ruin They Named Me:
The Ruin They Named Me:
[POV: Aria]
The halls of the packhouse were quieter than usual after dinner—thick with tension and the unspoken weight of everything that had been said and not said. I walked slowly, barefoot, the cold stone floor grounding me as I tried to process the whirlwind of the evening.
Dayana’s lies still echoed in my ears, and Hayden’s defense of me had left my heart twisted in a knot of relief and disbelief. I hadn’t expected it—had never dared to hope for it.
He’d stood up for me. He’d chosen me. But I still couldn’t let my guard down. Not with them here. Not with her.
The corridor near the guest wing curved around a quiet sitting room—one rarely used, mostly for nobles or pack guests who preferred privacy. I wasn’t headed there. I was just passing through.
Until I heard them. I froze the moment I recognized my Mother’s voice.
“You shouldn’t have brought it up,” she was saying, her tone clipped. “We agreed. The fewer who know, the safer we all are.”
“She needs to know, to understand her place finally,” Dayana replied. “And it’s hers, too.”
Mother scoffed. “She was born of shadow. What else do you expect from a creature like that?”
My stomach dropped.
I stepped back into the alcove of the hallway wall, heart thundering. The shadows pooled around me, wrapping me in silence. Neither of them knew I was there.
“She always was the cursed one,” my Mother muttered. “Ever since the prophecy. I knew it the moment I saw that mark on her face.”
Dayana’s voice lowered to a near whisper. “Two daughters, born under the moon’s shadow. One will bring ruin. The other, glory.”
“And it’s true,” Mother said. “You’ve risen like the moonlight. You are our hope, Dayana. The one destined to lead.”
“And Aria?” Dayana asked with a slow, poisonous edge. “The destroyer?”
A beat of silence.
Then Mother sighed. “You’ve seen what she’s capable of. She draws chaos to her like a flame draws moths. She was never meant to rule, never meant to stay. We were foolish to keep her as long as we did.”
I didn’t wait to hear more. I turned and fled, my steps silent as the shadows that carried me.
By the time I reached the balcony off the north wing, I couldn’t breathe.
The night air hit my face like ice. I clutched the railing, knuckles white, eyes staring blankly out at the darkened forest.
The prophecy.
I had always known something was off about the way they treated me. The cruelty. The neglect. The pain. I thought it was favoritism. Hatred. Disappointment.
But it had been destiny? From the beginning?
Two daughters. One to bring glory. The other… ruin.
My throat closed. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to scream or throw up.
Had they always known? Is that why they kept me weak? That's why did they made me feel small? That's why they let Dayana torment me without consequence?
Because they thought I was supposed to become a monster?
I pressed a hand to the mark on my cheek, the crescent-shaped birthmark that had always set me apart.
Had it always been a warning?
My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes. Not from sadness. From rage.
How dare they?
How dare they bury something so important—so defining—and act like my very existence was a curse to be tolerated?
And worse… what if it was true? What if I truly was the destroyer? What if I brought danger to Crimson Fang? To Hayden?