Chapter 1

Aurora’s Pov

The pain woke me instantly before the sun did.

It always started in my chest, a harsh burning that spread down my arms like poison moving through water. The rejected bond didn’t care that I had a summit to attend or a daughter to protect. It just took what it wanted from my body, piece by piece, every single night.

I lay still until the worst of it passed. Then I got up, because staying in bed never fixed anything.

The apartment was cold. I didn’t bother with the heater. Julian used to say cold rooms kept me humble, kept me from getting comfortable, kept me from forgetting what I was. Eight years of marriage taught me things I still carry in my body even now, long after I’d buried him in my past. I checked the door locks twice before I even reached for my clothes. Once was never enough. It only meant I never really checked.

I drove across town before the streets woke up, following the same route I always used, then doubling back once just to be sure no one followed.

Zara opened the door before I knocked. For some reason, she always knew when it was me.

“She’s still asleep,” Zara whispered, while stepping aside.

I found Maya curled in her crib, one small fist pressed against her cheek. Seven months old and she already had Smith’s stubborn mouth. “You look worse,” Zara said quietly from the doorway.

“I’m fine.”

“You keep saying that.”

I didn’t answer. I reached into the crib and let Maya’s fingers wrap around one of mine. She didn’t wake. She never did when I visited like this, in the dark, before the world remembered I existed.

“I have to go to Chicago today,” I said.

Zara’s face changed. “The summit.”

“Yes.”

“Smith will be there.”

“I know.”

I bent down and kissed Maya’s forehead gently so as to not wake her up. My hands weren’t steady when I pulled away. I hid them in my jacket pockets before Zara could see.

“If something happens,” I started.

“Nothing is going to happen.”

“If it does,” I said again, “you know what to do.”

Zara’s lips slightly opened, but she nodded. We’ve had this conversation before. Papers were signed. Plans were made. I don’t like to think about what it meant that I needed a backup plan for my own daughter, but I learned the hard way that the world didn’t wait for you to be ready before it took things from you.

I left before I could talk myself into staying.

**********

The uniform still fit the same as it always had, tailored to a body I stopped apologizing for years ago. I pulled it on slowly, watching my reflection in the mirror above my dresser. There was a scar along my ribs, thin and pale now, from a night I didn’t let myself remember unless I had to. Julian gave me that one during our second year together, back when I still believed the bruises meant I’d done something wrong.

My phone buzzed. Marcus is waiting outside.

I grabbed my folder off the counter and walked out without looking back at the empty apartment. There was nothing there worth looking back for. Everything that mattered was seven miles away, asleep in a crib, safe for one more morning.

Marcus didn’t say anything when I climbed into the passenger seat. He just handed me coffee, the way he always did, and pulled onto the road.

“You didn’t sleep,” he said after a while.

“I never do.”

“Aurora.”

“Drive, Marcus.”

“Smith’s already confirmed,” Marcus said eventually. “He’ll be there before we are.”

My stomach dropped, but I kept my face still. “I don’t care.”

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

Marcus looked at me, then back at the road. “The whole continent knows what happened between you two, Aurora. You rejected the Supreme Alpha in front of three hundred witnesses. Walking into a room with him today isn’t nothing.”

“It’s not going to stop me from doing my job.”

“I know that. I’m not asking you to sit this one out. I’m asking you to be careful.”

I looked out the window at the gray highway blurring past.

“Something’s wrong with the route,” I said, changing the subject before he could push further.

Marcus frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The convoy path they sent over. It runs past the old rail yard twice.” I pulled the folder onto my lap and flipped to the map. “That’s a blind stretch. No cover, no clean sightlines for our people, but plenty for anyone watching from the rooftops.”

Marcus took the folder from me at the next light, studying it. His frown deepened. “You’re right. I missed that.”

“You had four other things to worry about. I only had one.”

He handed the folder back with something like relief on his face. “I’ll get it rerouted before we land.”

I nodded and looked back out the window. Suddenly, the car slowed as we came off the highway, the city skyline rising gray and sharp against the morning light. Marcus’s phone buzzed on the dashboard and he read the message, before looking at me the way he always did right before delivering something I wouldn’t want to hear.

“What,” I said.

“Supreme Alpha Smith Calloway,” Marcus said slowly, “has already arrived.”