MasukAurora’s POVThe moment the music shifted into a new melody. A soft, elegant, nothing but a polished façade for the festivity beneath, and it happened.Yoshua stepped closer.Alexander stepped forward.And the air between them sharpened so violently I felt the entire hall flinch with me.Their eyes locked, two storms colliding in the gold-and-crystal glow of the ballroom chandeliers. Alexander’s jaw clenched so tightly the muscle ticked near his ear; Yoshua’s hands balled into fists, the veins on his arms rising like cracks in stone. I could practically hear their wolves snarling underneath their skins.Alexander’s arm, which had been securely around my waist a heartbeat ago, tightened possessively as if he sensed Yoshua even looking in my direction was an offense worth blood.Yoshua’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Alexander.“Aurora was doing just fine before you barged in,” Yoshua spat.“She’s fine now,” Alexander growled, voice low enough to make the chandeliers tremble. “Step.
Aurora’s POVWhat was that?“My lady, are you alright?” Tanya’s voice broke out of my pool og thoughts.I did not realized that my mind have been wandering off for quite some hours now. I was so preoccupied by what happened and how Alexander behaved.“We need to get ready quick. The ball will be in an hour, I am sure, the alpha will find his way to your chamber any minute now.” Her soft voice whispered through my ears as she gently reminded me that I should hurry up now.I have enjoyed the warm bath so much, the time seemed to have stopped. I don’t even want to go out…“Come on, let’s get you dried up.” Josie immediately helped me get up as the towel started going through every inch of my body, removing all the waters that have cling up to my skin.I still don’t want to stand beside the alpha. This ball… it felt like it was not meant to welcome Yoshua again… it was a provocative fight between the beta and the alpha, one long overdue. I know, he did not intend to befriend him at all, n
Alexander’s POVThe mansion will never know silence again.Not with the way whispers ricocheted off its walls tonight. The ripples of excitement spreading like an infection. Even inside my office, with the hearth crackling loudly and the curtains drawn, I heard everything. Being Alpha meant my senses were sharp, but right now I wished I could turn them off.“The beta has returned—”“Did you see him? Taller than before—”“Aurora was in the living room—”“With Cayden—”I dug my nails into the armrest of my chair.Yoshua Mauve.Five years gone, and the entire pack still reacted as if a damn king had walked through the gates. My wolves had no filter. Whatever they heard or saw, I heard too. And the sound of them uttering Aurora’s name in the same breath as his.My jaw tensed until it ached.I exhaled sharply and pushed away from the desk, but the moment I shifted, another servant outside whispered.“Aurora looked shocked—”A snarl tore out of me before I could stop it.My fist slammed the
Yoshua’s POVThe carriage wheels rumbled against the forest path, shaking loose bits of dust from the ceiling. My mother dabbed the corner of her eye with her handkerchief for the sixth—no, seventh—time since we left the pack’s border.“My stars…” she whispered, staring at me like I’d resurrected from the dead. “I cannot believe five years abroad turned you into—into this.”My father nodded, stroking his mustache with irritation and pride. “You were a skinny brat when we sent you to the States. Now look at you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Menacing. Why do you look menacing?”I smirked. “Better than looking like a brat, isn’t it?”“‘Better’ depends on who you ask,” my mother muttered. “Your shoulders are too broad. Your voice is too deep. Your face—too sharp.” She squinted. “Good moon, even your aura changed. What did they feed you over there? Testosterone soup?”I laughed. “Training. Discipline. Good mentors. And a climate that didn’t shelter me like a baby wolf.”My father huffed. “In th
Aurora’s POVCayden and I slipped through the front doors as quietly as we could manage. My boots were muddy from the trip, my cloak damp with the cold morning mist. We kept our heads lowered, trying to blend with the shadows lining the wide entrance hall.“Left,” I whispered.“Right,” Cayden whispered at the same time.We froze. Looked at each other. And sighed.“We’re lost, aren’t we?” he muttered.“No,” I said, confidence wavering. “We’re… taking the scenic route.”But the scenic route apparently led straight into the one place we desperately wanted to avoid.We turned a corner—And walked directly into the living room, where half the pack council was gathered… and in the center of the room, being welcomed with open arms, was him.Yoshua Mauve.He stood with the same infuriating posture I remembered—relaxed shoulders, confident stance, chin slightly raised as if the world was a puzzle only he had the brain and the patience to solve. His chestnut hair was tied back now, a little lon
Aurora’s POVCayden and I rode in silence for most of the trip, the pine-scented wind splintering against our cloaks as we descended the narrow path toward the worker district.I didn’t know what exactly I expected to find, but the creeping dread in my stomach told me I was already late. Mary had always been private, painfully proud, and slow to ask for help. If something had driven her to such desperation that she accepted reassignment to Nova of all people… then whatever was happening to her son must have been severe.“Are you certain the neighbors here know anything?” I asked as we approached the row of small, uneven houses. Smoke drifted lazily from the chimneys; children darted between doorways; boots thudded softly against packed dirt. The hour was early, but poverty never slept.Cayden glanced at me. “If the boy was taken recently, someone had to see something. These districts notice everything, Aurora. Even what they pretend not to.”I dismounted first, my boots sinking slight







