Novels by Aurora

The room suddenly felt too small. "How do we fight that? How do we fight beings powerful enough to reshape reality?""I do not know yet. But Serena has an idea. She wants to contact other ancient beings. Beings who opposed The Covenant three thousand years ago when it was first formed. Beings who might help us now if we can convince them we have a chance to win.""What kind of beings are we talking about?""Old ones. Dragons. Phoenixes. Fae lords. Creatures from before humans dominated the world. They went into hiding when The Covenant rose to power but they never forgot. And they never forgave."Dragons. Phoenixes. Fae lords. These were things from fairy tales, not real life. But then again, a month ago I did not believe in ancient gods either."How does Serena plan to contact them?""She is performing a summoning ritual tonight. She needs a royal bloodline alpha to anchor the spell. I volunteered but she wants you instead. She says your power is purer. Less corrupted by my years as

"Again!"Aurora's command echoed across the training field. I tried to move through the shadow she had created but my body stayed solid. No matter how hard I focused, I could not master shadow walking the way her pack could."I do not think this is working," I panted, exhausted from trying for three hours straight. "Maybe Healer Alphas cannot learn shadow walking.""Or maybe you are trying too hard." Aurora dismissed the shadow and walked over to me. "You approach shadow walking like you approach healing. Like you can force it to happen through willpower alone. But shadow walking is not about force. It is about surrendering to darkness. Becoming part of it.""I do not understand.""When you heal someone, you push your power into them, right? You force golden light through their injuries and make them better.""That is how healing works, yes.""Shadow walking is the opposite. You have to pull yourself into darkness instead of pushing power out. You have to let go of your physical form

Aurora approached me as I was gathering my notes. "I would like to speak with you privately, if you have time.""Of course. We can go to my office."Once we were alone, Aurora's friendly expression turned serious. "I need to tell you something that I could not say in front of the others. My pack has been watching you for months, Mary Hart. Since you first awakened your wolf. We knew who you were before you did.""What do you mean?""Your mother and my grandmother were friends. Close friends. When The Covenant came for your mother, my grandmother tried to help her escape. She failed. They both failed. And my grandmother spent her last years mourning that failure." Aurora sat down heavily. "She made me promise something before she died. She made me promise that if another Healer Alpha emerged, I would protect her. Help her. Make sure she did not face The Covenant alone like your mother did."My throat felt tight. "Your grandmother cared about my mother.""They were like sisters. The las

Mary's POV"You want to attack Montana again in three weeks?"Theodore stared at me like I had grown a second head. The emergency council meeting I had called was not going well. Every pack leader looked skeptical at best and openly hostile at worst."Three weeks gives us time to treat wounded, recruit reinforcements, and plan a better assault," I explained, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "Archon Shade says The Covenant is planning a counter offensive. We need to strike first before they organize.""Or we need to fortify our territories and prepare to defend them," Alpha Reed argued. "We cannot keep throwing wolves at Montana and hoping for different results. We tried that yesterday and lost fifteen people.""We lost fifteen people because our intelligence was incomplete and The Elders used magic we were not prepared for," I countered. "But now we know what we are facing. Now we can plan accordingly.""Do we know?" Alpha Weston Hale's father stood up, his expression cold.

Eventually, the tears stopped. I pulled back and wiped my face. "We need to interrogate Archon Shade. He knows things about Covenant operations. Things we can use.""That can wait until tomorrow. Right now you need to rest.""I have rested for eight hours. We need to move forward. Like you said, one day at a time." I stood up, my legs shaky but holding. "Where are they keeping him?""Mary, you do not have to do this tonight.""Yes, I do. Because if I stop moving, if I stop fighting, the guilt will consume me. So I need to do something useful. Something that helps us win this war."Owen studied my face for a long moment, then nodded. "He is in the detention level. But I am coming with you.""I would not have it any other way."We walked through the quiet coalition headquarters toward the detention level. Most wolves were sleeping or recovering from the assault. The hallways felt empty and haunted.Archon Shade was locked in a reinforced cell with magical wards to prevent escape. When h

"Forty three casualties. Fifteen dead. Twenty eight critically wounded."Theodore's voice was heavy as he read the report to the assembled pack leaders. We had gathered in the coalition war room twelve hours after the Montana assault. Everyone looked exhausted and defeated.I sat between Owen and my mother, trying not to think about the fifteen wolves who had died because of my decision to go after those extra prisoners. Fifteen families who would never see their loved ones again."The facility sustained heavy damage but remains operational," Theodore continued, his expression grim. "The Elders evacuated to a secure location within the mountain. We did not achieve our primary objective of destroying Montana headquarters.""But we rescued sixty eight prisoners total," I spoke up, my voice sounding too loud in the silent room. "And we captured Archon Shade. That has to count for something."Alpha Hale stood up, his face hard with anger. "It counts for fifteen dead wolves, Miss Hart. Fif

Lucian's POVThe first target was named Marcus Webb. Low-level conspiracy member. Logistics coordinator. Someone who'd helped move supplies. Arrange safe houses. Enable operations without directly participating.Someone who thought he was safe because he wasn't important.Someone who was about to learn importance didn't matter. Connection did. And connection to the conspiracy meant becoming target."He lives alone," Edward reported as we approached the suburban house. His voice was detached, professional, hiding whatever moral objections he still had. "No family on-site. Works from home. Minimal security. Should be straightforward extraction.""We're not extracting," Hailey said coldly from beside me. Her voice sent chills down my spine. My mate's voice but spoken by stranger. "We're making statement. Making example. Making sure everyone connected to conspiracy understands what's coming. This isn't arrest. This is message.""What kind of message?" I asked carefully, needing to underst

Twenty-three warriors assembled in the ruins of our command center. All that remained of our fighting force. All that survived the ambush and the attack. All that stood between the conspiracy and total victory.They looked at me with a mixture of fear and confusion. I understood why. I barely recognized myself anymore."The conspiracy has been playing a game," I began, my voice cold and devoid of the emotion that used to define me. "They've been manipulating us. Using Hope as leverage. Using our love as weapon. Using everything good about us to destroy us. That ends now.""What are you proposing?" Edward asked carefully. His tone was cautious, worried. "What's the new strategy?""No strategy," I said flatly. The words felt right, felt true, felt like the only honest thing I'd said in days. "Strategies can be predicted. Planned against. Countered. We're done being predictable. Done being rational. Done making decisions based on logic they can anticipate. From now on, we're chaos. We're

I wanted to argue. Wanted to insist he was wrong. Wanted to maintain that love meant never accepting failure. Never making peace with loss. Never becoming person who could live with daughter's death.But looking around at bodies. At destruction. At consequences of being manipulated. Of falling for traps. Of letting love be used against us.Maybe he was right. Maybe love had become a liability. Maybe caring made us vulnerable. Maybe the only way to save Hope was to accept we might not save her.The thought felt like death. Like betrayal. Like becoming a monster.But maybe monsters survived when loving parents failed. Maybe terrible people won when good people broke. Maybe the conspiracy's greatest victory wasn't taking Hope. It was forcing us to become versions of ourselves we didn't recognize."I don't know if I can do that," I admitted quietly. My voice was small, lost, drowning in impossibility. "Don't know if I can be that person. Don't know if I can love Hope and accept her death.

Hailey's POVThe pack house was a war zone. Bodies everywhere. Warriors. Civilians. Children. All dead. All killed while we were chasing false leads and escaping ambushes."Hope," I whispered, my voice raw and broken. "Where's Hope?"I ran through the destruction. Stepping over bodies. Ignoring the carnage. Focusing only on finding my daughter. On praying she'd survived. On hoping against hope that she was still alive."Luna!" Margaret appeared from behind overturned furniture. Her face was covered in blood and soot. Her medical coat was torn, stained with more blood than fabric. "Thank God you're back. We need help. So many wounded. So many—""Where's Hope?" I interrupted desperately. My hands grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "Is she here? Is she alive? Tell me!""I don't know," Margaret said, tears streaming down her face. Her voice cracked, devastated. "They brought her. Used her as bait like Sarah said. When we tried to rescue her, they opened fire. Killed anyone who approached

Lucian's POVThe property was exactly what you'd expect for a conspiracy safe house. Remote. Defensible. Surrounded by forest. Single access road that could be easily monitored."Thermal imaging shows five heat signatures," Morrison reported, his voice coming through my earpiece. We were positioned half a mile out, preparing for assault. "Four adults. One child-sized. Could be Hope. Could be decoy. No way to know until we're inside.""Then we go inside," I said firmly, checking my weapons. Silver bullets for supernaturals. Regular ammunition for humans. Enough firepower to handle whatever resistance we encountered. "Edward, your team takes the back entrance. Thomas, you're on perimeter security. No one leaves. No one escapes. We get Hope and we end whoever took her. Understood?"A chorus of affirmatives came through the comms. Twenty warriors. Ten federal agents. Enough force to overwhelm normal resistance. Hopefully enough for whatever the conspiracy had positioned.Hailey stood besi

Forty-eight hours after Hope's kidnapping, we had our first real lead."A traffic camera caught something," Agent Morrison said, spreading photos across the table in our makeshift command center. His voice was measured, professional, but I could hear the exhaustion underneath. "Three blocks from the convention center. Van matching the description. Timestamp puts it twenty minutes after the kidnapping."I leaned forward, studying the grainy images. My hands trembled as I touched the photo, as if I could reach through it and find my daughter."Can you enhance it?" Lucian asked from beside me. His voice was rough, worn down by two days without sleep. "See who's driving? See inside?""Working on it. But the angle's bad. Windows are tinted. Best we can tell, there were at least three people in the vehicle. Driver plus two in back.""Three people to handle one three-year-old," I said bitterly. "They're not taking chances.""No, they're not," Morrison agreed. He pointed to another photo. "Th