로그인Aurora.My father’s words landed like a physical blow, scattering every tidy memory I had preserved of my mother across the cold concrete floorboards. For twelve long years, I had believed she was just a gentle local news reporter who wrote human interest pieces about community gardens and lost her life in a tragic intersection accident on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.Now I was forced to reconcile that comfortable memory with a woman who vanished into thin air, returned three days later with golden light burning behind her pupils, and chose to take that secret to her grave without ever warning her own daughter about what was lurking in her blood.“What do you mean she vanished for three days?” I asked, stepping slightly away from Roland’s side so I could face Arthur directly, my voice shaking before I caught my breath to steady it. “Where did she go, Dad? Who took her?”Arthur’s shoulders slouched beneath his coat, his hands digging deep into his pockets as he stared at the dusty floorb
Roland.I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her eyes, the brilliant gold bleeding through her dark hazel irises like an ancient flame waking up after centuries of sleep.For one terrible, paralyzing second, my heart dropped into my stomach because I wasn’t entirely sure if the woman standing in my arms was still the Aurora I knew.The light wasn’t just reflecting off her pupils; it radiated from deep within her bloodline, pulsing with a raw, ancient energy that made the wolf beneath my own skin shiver in quiet recognition.Aurora noticed the sudden shift in my face long before she understood what was happening to her own body. The soft, emotional warmth in her expression vanished, replaced by a sudden spike of panic as she gripped my arms tighter.“Roland?” she asked, her voice tight and breathless as her eyes searched mine. “What is it? Why are you looking at me like that? Are you hurt?”“Aurora, don’t move,” I murmured, my voice barely a whisper as I kept my hands steady against her w
Roland.I don't remember making the decision to move. One second I was slumped sideways against the damp concrete wall, lightheaded from blood loss while watching Magnus’s gloved hand streak toward her throat, and the next I was thrusting my body squarely between them.I grabbed Aurora by the waist, yanking her backward against my chest as my arms locked around her frame. Magnus’s fingers snapped shut on thin air where her throat had been a heartbeat ago.The physical effort nearly drove me to my knees, a blinding tear of heat ripping through my side as my wound tore open again. Warm blood spread beneath my shirt, but I barely registered it. All I could think about was the hand that had almost touched her.Before Magnus could reset his stance, Adrian moved. My father stepped into the gap with the crushing speed of a prime Alpha, his heavy hand clamping down over Magnus’s wrist like a steel vise. Three shifted wolves bristled beside him, their low, vibrating snarls filling the narrow s
Aurora.The temperature in the narrow hallway dropped ten degrees the second Adrian Blackwood stepped over the ruined steel frame of the stairwell door. It wasn't a sudden explosion of blood or teeth, but the sheer, crushing weight of his presence altered the room completely.A dozen massive wolves fanned out behind him in synchronized precision, their low growls vibrating through the concrete floor like an engine idling in the dark. For the very first time since this nightmare began, Magnus’s smooth, unbothered calm visibly fractured, his eyes widening as his calculated trap collapsed around his polished shoes.I tensed every muscle in my body, bracing for impact as I fully expected the corridor to turn into a war zone within seconds. My pulse hammered against my ribs, yet I forced myself to remain still. One wrong movement could trigger the violence hanging over us like a loaded weapon.Adrian didn't launch himself forward, nor did he order his pack to attack. He simply stood in the
Aurora.Roland’s weight pressed heavy and trembling against my shoulder, his skin burning hot as dark blood continued to seep into the fabric of his torn shirt. For the first time all night, the threat surrounding us wasn't some abstract corporate conspiracy or a distant shadow from my father's past.It was a brutal ultimatum sitting right in front of us, with Roland's very life weighed directly on one side of the scale.I thought about every single moment I had spent lying to myself over the past few months. Every time I had stubbornly called our arrangement a business just to shield my own fragile heart from getting crushed.The press junkets, the fake photos, the staged arguments... it was all an illusion I had constructed to keep from falling completely off the deep end.Looking at Magnus’s cold, expectant smile, I realized with brutal clarity that there was no version of tonight where I would let a bitter old man’s ultimatum dictate who I was allowed to love.I took a slow breath
Roland.I forced every ounce of remaining strength into my legs, driving my boots into the concrete floor to stand fully upright between Aurora and the open elevator doors.Blood loss made my vision swim with dark spots and my wounded side burned like liquid fire, but I locked my knees to keep from swaying. Whatever Magnus came here to accomplish tonight, he was not going to touch her while I still had breath in my lungs.Magnus didn’t rush us, nor did he reach for the holster hidden beneath his coat. He stepped out of the metal car with maddening composure, leaning lightly on his silver-topped cane as his dark eyes swept over the three of us.A faint, terrible smile touched his lips. He looked like a man who had planned this exact reunion down to the second.“Look at you, Alpha,” Magnus said, his tone smooth and entirely unbothered by the metallic smell of blood filling the corridor. “Watching you bleed out on your feet just to shield a woman you spent all season claiming was just bu







