MasukLucasI go over everything again in my head, like I am lining up scattered photographs on a table and finally seeing the picture they form together, and then slowly the initial confusion begins to clear as a thought comes in my mind... which seems a plausible reason why Aurora experienced this.“Was Aurora with her mom when she was…” I start, then stop. My eyes move to Aurora without meaning to, searching for a word that will not cut her open. I find nothing usable. “When her mom was… attacked?”Aurora looks at me. Just looks. Her eyes are wide, alert, watching my face like she is trying to figure out what I already know. Then she turns to Arthur, waiting. She does not speak. That tells me more than words would.“Yes,” Arthur says, and nods once. “She was with her.”“Ruby took her out on a walk,” he continues, voice even but thinner than before. “Hunters and rogues attacked her. She hid Aurora inside the tree trunk.”Aurora inhales sharply. I catch it immediately. The breath stops hal
LucasAurora’s grip tightens around my hand so suddenly that my arm jerks back. She stops walking like she has hit an invisible wall. I turn toward her, already scanning her face, because something has shifted. I know her too well now to miss this.Her eyes are wide, unfocused, like she is seeing something that is not in front of her. There is a haze there, a distance that makes my chest tighten. Her breathing changes, shallow and sharp, and then I feel it. That familiar pull of her wolf, only stronger this time. Her wolf's presence swells in a way that makes my wolf stir hard inside me.Her eyes darken.“Aurora,” I say her name softly, but she does not hear me.She stands frozen for half a second, body tense, every muscle locked. Then she yanks her hand from mine and takes off running toward the house.“Aurora,” I snap, already moving.She is fast. Damn, she is fast. Her strides eat up distance like it means nothing, like something is pulling her forward with force she does not quest
AuroraMy hands tangle into his hair, fingers sliding through the thick strands like they belong there. His breath is warm against my skin, every brush of his lips sending a quiet shiver through me. I notice everything. The way he exhales when he presses closer. The way his mouth lingers, like he is listening to something beneath my skin. I have always wanted him. There has never been a moment where that felt untrue, and I have never tried to pretend otherwise.He knows that about me.There is nothing shameful in wanting the person you love. Wanting their touch. Wanting their attention. Wanting the way they say your name when they are not thinking about anyone else. I want him in every way a person can want another, and that has always felt simple. Honest.But this feels different.This is not just desire. It is not just heat or closeness or the familiar rush that comes when his hands find me. This is something sharper. Deeper. A pull that feels almost painful, like something inside m
LucasThere aren’t any hybrids that I know of, so this is an area I am walking into without a map. I feel it in my chest as a quiet pressure, not panic, not fear, just this constant awareness that I need to understand what is happening to her before it turns into something she cannot put into words. I have spent my life knowing exactly where I stand, what I am, what rules apply to me. This is new. This is unknown. And it is wrapped up in Aurora, which makes it matter more than anything else ever has.She sits across from me with her knees drawn in a little, shoulders relaxed but not fully. Her fingers brush the inside of her wrist, slow and absentminded, like she is trying to calm a pulse she does not recognize yet. I notice how her breathing evens out every time she looks at me, even though her eyes still carry confusion. Soft confusion. Not fear. That matters.Each time her gaze meets mine, I feel it again. That faint reach from her.My wolf reacts instantly, alert in a way it has n
LucasThe presence hits me sharp enough that my wolf pushes forward without permission. I blink once, slow, trying to steady myself, but the moment I reach deeper into Aurora’s mind, the pull gets stronger. It is not dangerous. It is not a threat. It is something else. Something I did not expect to feel in her.And it explains everything.Her emotions are not just tangled. They are layered. Overlapping. Like two different people are trying to feel through the same heart.No wonder she is overwhelmed. No wonder she keeps spiraling without understanding why. None of her emotions sit still. They tilt one way, then the other, like they belong to two different people who both want control. The confusion in her is not because she is lost. It is because she is feeling too much. Two currents running at once inside the same river, trying to merge but also trying to move in their own directions.One is familiar. It is the Aurora I know.And then there is the other presence.The one that is sti
LucasThere is something I finally understand about Aurora. Something I used to think was adorable, almost playful. The way she can brighten in seconds. The way her mood lifts as if someone flipped a switch inside her. I used to think it was magic. Her magic. But now I see it is a shield. A trick she learned to keep the world from seeing her hurt. She thinks she is hiding her pain, but all she does is show me how much she has carried alone.It breaks something in me. Seeing how easy it is for her to pretend she is fine.“So, what do I have to do?” she asks, voice soft but curious. She shifts into a crisscross position on the grass right in front of me. The breeze moves little strands of her hair, and she tucks them behind her ear like she wants to look presentable for whatever she imagines this process is.“Hold your hands or look into your eyes, you know, to transfer my mind or whatever.”She looks so genuinely excited that I cannot help smiling. It is not fake. I know her face by







