LOGINPlease don’t kill me! *Hiding behind the laptop* I know I said this was supposed to be the last chapter, but your girl got a little... ahem... carried away while writing it. It ended up exceeding, well... 7k words. *Smiling sheepishly* So, unfortunately, it had to be divided. Hope you don’t mind the extra bit of content!
AuroraEach step he takes feels like something clicking into place. The room shifts around him. Conversations lose their rhythm. Glasses pause halfway to lips. Someone laughs too loud and then stops. I catch all of it because my mind does that thing where it notices too much at once. Lucas has that kind of presence that bends attention without trying. The kind that makes rooms rearrange themselves around him. It would take a miracle for him to walk in somewhere and not pull every gaze his way.Mine.The thought hits me fast and unapologetic. A tight, possessive warmth wraps around my chest, not painful, just insistent. I watch the way his shoulders move beneath his suit jacket, how his gaze stays forward even when he knows people are staring. He does not scan the room. He does not look impressed or curious. He walks like he already knows what is about to happen next, already sure of the next move... sure of himself.The Russells stiffen first. Mr. Russells shoulders draw back a touch,
AuroraThe music fades in a soft, polite way, like it knows it has done its job and should step aside now. Lucas loosens his hold first. Always him. Always controlled. He steps back just enough to remind the world where the line is, even if my body wants to pretend that line does not exist.Then he takes my hand.Not possessive. Not rushed. Just his fingers closing around mine, warm and familiar, and he lifts my hand between us. His lips brush my knuckles, light enough to feel like a secret meant only for me. The sensation spreads fast, heat unfurling through my chest, my arms, my mark responding with a quiet throb that makes me suck in a breath.I look at him, searching his face. His eyes are calm, unreadable to anyone else. To me, they say everything.He guides me off the dance floor, releasing my hand only when we reach the edge. For a moment I stand there, watching him walk away like he belongs here, like he has always belonged here. He joins a group of men near the far side of th
AuroraRestless does not even begin to cover it.I stand near one of the tall windows, fingers curled around the stem of a glass I have not touched in minutes, and something under my skin refuses to quiet down. My mark burns in a slow pulse, not painful, just insistent.It draws my attention again and again, a quiet tug that makes it hard to focus on anything else.I shift my weight, then shift again.Nothing helps.I do a quick scan of the room, the way I always do without thinking. Old money smiles, polished laughter, bodies angled just enough to show interest without revealing too much. I register who is watching whom, who leans in closer, who checks their phone when they think no one notices. It is automatic. A habit built from years of being told to observe before reacting.Still, the pulse does not stop.I do not know why it is happening, and that bothers me more than the sensation itself. I have questions lined up in my head, but no one to direct them at. My wolf side is restle
AuroraI stand in front of the mirror longer than necessary.Not because I am admiring myself. Not because I am nervous about the guests filling the house downstairs. It is because my eyes keep drifting to the same place, like they have a mind of their own.My neck.Just near my collarbone, faint but unmistakable, the mark rests there. It is not dramatic. Not loud. But it does not need to be. It says everything without saying anything at all. It is a claim, a promise, a truth written into my skin.Lucas.The thought of him softens something in me even while the anger still simmers under my ribs. That anger has not gone anywhere. It waits. It hums. It reminds me of the conversation in Dad’s study, of the Russells, of plans being made around me instead of with me.If it were up to me, I would walk out of this room with my shoulders bare. I would let everyone see exactly who I belong to. Let them read it and choke on it. Let Grandma clutch her pearls in quiet horror. Let the Russells und
AuroraLast night with Dad stays with me in a way I did not expect. Nothing about him changes on the surface. Same posture. Same clipped tone. Same way of looking at me like he is measuring something invisible. And yet, there is something else threaded through it. Something quiet. I realize it now when I have started seeing Dad in a different light.All my life, I thought disappointing him was my greatest failure. I kept trying not to, and somehow kept doing it anyway. I followed his rules because I thought obedience was the same thing as loyalty. I mistook silence for strength. What I never understood was that he did not want me small and agreeable. He wanted me sharp. Visible. Unmovable when it mattered.The irony sits heavy. I never cared what others thought of me. Their opinions slid off easily. But his reactions always lodged somewhere deep, even when I pretended not to notice. The disappointment in his eyes was never loud. It was subtle. A flicker that vanished too fast to chall
AuroraThe house greets me the way it always does. With silence that feels practiced.For a second, I let myself hope. Hope that I will hear footsteps that are not trained to move quietly. Hope that my dad will be home. But as usual, he is not here. Instead, there is motion without warmth. Servants glide past me, nodding politely, already busy with tasks that have nothing to do with me. Someone is polishing the banister like it offended them personally. Another is directing a team of florists who are debating shades of white like it is a life or death decision.I do not need to ask what is happening. I already know. My grandparents’ anniversary is turning into an event. Not a gathering. An event. The kind that gets talked about, photographed, remembered. Grandma will make sure of that. I can already picture her overseeing everything with sharp eyes and a pleasant smile, ensuring that every detail screams Blake without anyone needing to say it out loud.Celebrities. Politicians. People







