MasukAuroraThe mansion stretched across acres of land, but it was nothing like Ricky's. No gold statues. No fountains designed purely to show off. No ridiculous displays of wealth.This place was different. More dangerous.Dark stone and tinted windows made it look less like a home and more like a fortress. High walls surrounded the estate, watchtowers rising at intervals, armed guards stationed on each one. The further we walked in, the more uneasy I felt — because unlike Ricky's territory, where wealth was flaunted openly, this place flaunted something else entirely.Power. Raw power.A truck rolled past us, loaded with metal crates, men carrying assault rifles immediately swarming it. Then another truck. And another. Some carried ammunition. Others held racks of rifles, cases of handguns, and larger equipment hidden beneath dark tarps. The entire compound looked less like a pack territory and more like a military operation preparing for war."Is he a weapons dealer?" I asked quietly, l
Aurora“Well, thanks for saving my pack last night,” Ricky let out as servants carried our luggage out of the mansion and loaded it into the back of the vehicles. The morning sun reflected off practically everything around him—his chains, his rings, his watch, and probably half the mansion itself. Somehow, despite having survived an attack only hours ago and losing enough blood to make most people stay in bed, he still looked like a wealthy businessman attending a social gathering. “I will always be grateful for that.”“Don't be,” Jaxon replied. “The attack happened because of us. We did what we had to do.” Then after a brief pause, he extended his hand toward Ricky. “In fact, thank you for putting aside the past and helping us. I hope together we can win this war.”“We will, buddy.”Ricky grabbed his hand without hesitation and shook it firmly before patting Jaxon on the back.“Don't worry about that. Money buys everything.” He grinned. “Even extra soldiers.”I watched Jaxon's eye tw
AuroraBy the time we'd reached the ground floor, everything was in absolute shambles.Wolves and rogues were everywhere. Soldiers were fighting them throughout the mansion grounds, some in wolf form, some with weapons in their hands. The sound of snarls, growls, gunshots, and screaming civilians crashed together into one chaotic mess. People were running in every direction. Some civilians were desperately trying to escape while others were shifting right in front of us and throwing themselves into the fight.And that was when I spotted Ricky.The old Alpha was standing in the middle of the chaos with blood staining one side of his robe, fixing the gold chain around his neck with one hand while firing a gun with the other.“Ricky, man! What the fuck aren't you shifting?” Jaxon asked, clearly confused as he was already unbuttoning his shirt to prepare for shifting.“My wolf isn't as fucking strong as it used to be,” Ricky barked back as he fired another shot into a charging wolf and dr
AuroraApparently, Ricky had been testing Jaxon all along.In his own words, he'd wanted to see whether the same man who had permanently scarred his face years ago still stood by his principles — or whether desperation had finally worn him down enough to abandon them. And if Jaxon had taken that route, if he'd bent everything he believed in simply because he needed help, Ricky would have ordered our deaths without a second thought. Right there at the border. No warning, no speech, no dramatic pause. Just two bodies bleeding out in the dirt while he finished his cigar.That realization settled over me like cold water.What disturbed me most wasn't that he would have done it. It was that I believed him completely. I could still see the look in his eyes when he'd said it — no anger, no theatrics, just a quiet, absolute certainty. As if killing us would have been nothing more than a routine business decision.I shook the thought away and turned back to the mirror, dragging the comb throug
Aurora A terrifying silence.Complete and utter silence. That refused to move. None spoke a word—not even Jaxon, not even Daniel. All of us stood there—trying to make our ways with what Ricky had just asked. The same thing that’d caused wars.And before I even knew it….“What?” I blurted before I could stop myself.Several heads turned toward me and I immediately regretted opening my mouth.Fuck. Why could I not just keep my mouth shut?Ricky, unfortunately, looked delighted.“Ah, finally,” he said, pointing his cigar in my direction. “The pretty one speaks.”“I wasn’t trying to participate,” I added quickly.“Yet here we are.”I rolled my eyes.Hard.Beside me, Ryan muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, “Good luck.”God! I hated this situation.He asked for the same thing that Jaxon hated from his core and suddenly? I could not keep my mouth shut anymore.“That’s your demand?” I asked anyway. “You want them to let smugglers move through their territories? The same thin
Aurora“What an unpleasant surprise, Alpha Jaxon,” Ricky opened his mouth as he approached the border, slowly taking off his glasses. That was when I finally got a proper look at his face and immediately noticed the large scar running along the side of his eye. It wasn't some small injury that had faded with time. It was deep, ugly, and looked more like the mark left behind by a blade than a fist. The kind of scar that permanently altered someone's face. For a moment I found myself staring at it, wondering who had managed to leave something like that behind before Daniel casually answered the question I hadn't even asked yet.“That's from Jaxon, by the way,” he informed me. “During their last fight.”My eyes widened.I looked at the scar.Then at Jaxon.Then back at the scar.“So, not only are we here to ask a smuggler for help, we're here to ask a smuggler that Jaxon permanently scarred?” I whisper-yelled, looking between all of them. “Are you all fucking crazy?”“We are here for a d
AuroraWe'd reached the pack house half an hour ago.Jane had been rushed to the hospital for scans, broken bones, and a full checkup. Daniel, stubborn as ever, decided he could tend to his own wounds. And Jaxon—he was here, seated in front of me while I cleaned and dressed his injuries. They weren
AuroraAs my lips met his, I felt it instantly—a violent shiver tearing through Jaxon's body, like something deep in his soul had been yanked back into place.For the first few seconds, there was nothing.He was frozen beneath me. Unmoving. Gone.Panic clawed at my chest, but I refused to pull away
AuroraAs my words lingered between us, Lilith took a step back—barely a movement, so slight it could've slipped past anyone else's notice. But I saw it. She'd already burned through most of her blood spells. I could feel it in the way her power faltered, in the tightness around her eyes."You woul
AuroraJaxon took us to a horse farm.Yes—a horse farm.Not that I minded, but someone in our group looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Not just uncomfortable—pissed off and terrified. And if you guessed Daniel, congratulations—you'd be a hundred and one percent right. The poor man looked sec







