LOGIN~AURORA~My knees had gone completely numb.That kiss. . .it still burned on my lips. Not even Vincent had ever kissed me with such raw, consuming hunger. Cassian's mouth had claimed mine in a possessive way.My body had responded before my mind could catch up, leaning into him as if it already knew him. As if it had been waiting for him.The moment we stepped out of the castle, I could hear Vincent's voice behind us."Wait!"I spun around, heart skipping a beat with foolish hope. Maybe he had finally come to his senses. Maybe guilt had finally touched him and he was about to tell the Moon Reaper the truth, that we were mates, that this marriage was a mistake.But Vincent didn't even glance at me.His furious gaze was locked solely on Cassian. "You may think you're untouchable, Reaper, but disrespecting the King of the South is a direct insult to his allies. I won't let that stand."Cassian didn't flinch. Not even a flicker of concern crossed his sharp, devastatingly handsome face.
~CASSIAN~I couldn't believe my eyes.It was her, the girl I had glimpsed earlier while entering the Kingdom. I couldn't get her out of my head. And now she stood before me as my bride?A dark amusement formed in my chest. Had she truly tried to run away to escape marrying me? This was the Varkas princess? The first daughter of Alpha King Kairos Varkas himself? When I'd first seen her, she had been dressed like a common servant. A clever little disguise, perhaps to try to escape this marriage. "Lord Cassian," the Alpha King's voice echoed. "It is my pleasure to have you here with us today."I barely spared him a glance."Spare me the greetings Kairos," I said flatly. "I came only for the girl."Gasps spread throughout the ballroom. I could feel their shock, their outrage at the way I spoke to their beloved king. It only made the corner of my mouth twitch with dark satisfaction. He may rule these lands, but to me he was nothing more than an enemy wearing a crown. This marriage w
~AURORA~I'd tried to run away. Tried to escape before the Moon Reaper could force me back to his Kingdom where I would stay as his wife.But the guards had found me. They couldn't whip me as punishment, not today, not when I was being offered as the sacrificial bride. They needed my groom to believe I was the true Varkas daughter, untouched and pure.One wrong mark on my skin, and he would know. So they dragged me back in silence even though I knew they desperately wanted to bruise my skin like they'd done so many times in the past. Now, here I stood in the ballroom of the Varkas Palace, dressed in a wedding gown, waiting for my life to finally be completely over. It hugged my curves too tightly, as if even the dress wanted to remind me I didn't belong. Or maybe they'd intentionally make it this way to suffocate me. Almost the entire pack was present. Even my mate was here."Look at her," one of the elder she-wolves sneered. "Finally, she will no longer blight this palace with he
~CASSIAN~Marry a bloody she-wolf. Curse the grand council and their rules.How the hell was I supposed to bind myself to a woman from the family my people despised more than death itself? How could she even survive here, in the heart of our territory, when every soul would sooner tear out her throat than offer her a smile?The Council claimed it was to end the bloodshed once and for all, especially after the latest brutal attack.They swore a witch on their high seat had foreseen it: a union between Thorne and Varkas would end the cycle of revenge. Prophecy. Sure.Lies. I knew better than to believe their nonsense.To make matters worse, I wasn't being offered any Varkas. No, they were handing me the Alpha's firstborn daughter—the pampered princess who had never wanted for anything in her perfect life. Daddy's little jewel, always granted whatever she wanted.The Council didn't mention loyalty, only marriage. It was a loveless union anyway. If the Varkas daughter had a lover, she
~AURORA~The hall seemed to spin. Whispers all around us, but they faded into a distant sound. Seraphina and Vincent. . .betrothed? How had I never known? All those years pining, suffering in silence, and they'd been promised to each other? I felt like a fool. He wasn't just someone I'd developed feelings for. No. It was more than that. He was my mate. He promised that we would marry someday, that he would make me his Luna and eventually reveal our love to my family. His words gave me hope in a life that often felt filled with suffering and disappointment. But today, I discovered that all of his promises were lies. Everything I believed in was false. I looked at them now. A perfect match: the princess of the South and the heir to the North throne, destined to rule the kingdom after his father's passing.Seraphina laughed, a sound that felt like a shoe stomping on my heart. She stepped into his arms without hesitation, pressing her body against his as she tilted her face up. "I
~Aurora~The cellar smelled of damp stone and fresh blood.I knelt on the cold floor, arms raw from the earlier whippings, tasting iron where my lip had split."The prophecy demands a Varkas daughter," Lady Elowen, my stepmother had hissed earlier this evening, shoving me forward in the great hall while her true daughter, Seraphina, smiled while watching everything unfold. "You'll do. Better a worthless outcast than risking my Seraphina's life with those monsters."I hadn't argued. I never did. Obedience was the only armor a powerless wolf possessed.Above me, the pack was celebrating. I could hear the muffled roar of laughter, the clink of cups, the low sound of drums rehearsing for tomorrow's binding. Tomorrow, the Varkas wolves would hand their Alpha's firstborn daughter to the heir of the Moon Reapers clan and end centuries of war. Except, nobody but the Varkas knew the truth. I was not his firstborn daughter. His real first-born was Seraphina since my mother—his first wife, had







