LOGINAuroraMom and Dad rushed into the hospital room so fast that the door slammed against the wall behind them.Their eyes frantically searched through the rows of beds until they landed on me.Dad exhaled sharply, relief crashing through him so hard it almost looked painful. He crossed the room in seconds. “What happened?” he demanded, his voice rough around the edges. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”The panic in his face hit me harder than my injuries had.He really had rushed here.Mom reached me right after him, tears already spilling from her eyes. Her trembling hands cupped my face like she needed to make sure I was truly there. “I got so scared, baby,” she whispered “I thought something happened to you.”Guilt twisted inside my chest.“Mom, Dad…” I forced out softly, managing a small smile. “I’m okay. Really. Don’t worry.”It was a lie.My entire back felt like someone had taken a hammer to it repeatedly. Every breath sent pain shooting up my spine, and the massive bump at the
Aurora“You and I were never anything, Lilith,” Jaxon said, his voice cutting clean through the space. “And we never will be.”“Why, Alpha?” she asked softly, stepping closer. Blood dotted the ground behind her with each step. “I look exactly like Rose.” Her smile twisted. “If you could love her, why not me? I wouldn’t betray you like she did. You’d have my word.”“The only woman I’ll ever love,” Jaxon said, threading his fingers through mine, “is standing right here.” His grip tightened. “And you are nothing like Aurora. You never will be.”Lilith’s face warped, the softness gone in an instant. “Then you don’t have a choice,” she said. “We spare you—if you choose me. And Baron gets your little bitch.”Daniel let out a short, humorless laugh. “You’ve lost your mind.” He looked her over, slow and deliberate. “Who the hell would pick you over Aurora? You look like something that crawled out of a grave.”I caught it then—what he was doing.Not escalating.Provoking.“Careful,” Lilith sai
AuroraThe moment Lilith's voice slithered inside the house, every cell in my body ignited. I was on my feet before I even registered moving."I will fucking kill that bitch today," I snarled under my breath, already striding toward the door — but Jaxon's hand locked around my wrist."We can't think from anger right now, baby." His voice was low, controlled, but something underneath it cracked. "She has the mountain witches with her. She's stronger than all of us combined right now. This isn't going to be easy."The breath that left me was ragged. "She almost tore us apart, Jaxon." My eyes met his, and I felt it — my wolf surging up from somewhere primal, clawing at the surface, hungry for blood. "I don't care what happens to me. I want to rip her head from her body.""Aurora." Daniel's voice came sharp. "Think with your head, not your rage." He stepped closer, jaw set. "That bitch can teleport with blood magic. She's not some screwed-up monster you can outrun her instincts — and the
Aurora"So we will start with Jaxon's memories," Daniel said, as we all settled onto the sofa. My chest was tight. My hands were shaking. I was scared — genuinely, bone-deep scared in a way I hadn't been before. I didn't know what we'd find at the end of this. But I knew one thing with absolute certainty — I did not want to lose Jaxon.Jaxon's hand found mine. His fingers laced through and held."It's okay," he murmured, low enough that it was only for me, "I'm here.""Well, I don't see how that helps," Daniel muttered, dragging a hand down his face, "Save the comfort for later. Tell me what happened that day. All of it."Jaxon drew in a slow breath, like he was steadying himself before stepping off a ledge. "I was at the pack borders. Patrolling with the soldiers — they'd flagged strange activity along the perimeter that morning. And then—" he paused, "—all of them went still. Every single one. Their eyes went white. Bodies rigid like the life had been pulled right out of them. They
Jaxon"Are you just going to sit there and cry like an idiot?" Daniel scoffed, swirling the whiskey in his glass like he owned the room, "I did not give up my shot so you could sit here drowning in your own self-pity and not even try.""You had no shot to give up, delusional bastard," I shot back, pulling a long drag from the cigarette between my fingers, "She was never going to choose you. She loves me.""Loved—past tense suits it better now, don't you think?"My eyes shut. My jaw locked.He'd been at it since morning.Planted in my home like a bad habit—loud, relentless, burning through my patience with every word out of his mouth. An absolute headache, pacing and cursing and making himself comfortable in a space he hadn't been invited to overstay.And on top of all of it—he had his eyes on Aurora.That thought alone made my hands want to find his throat. Or skip the effort entirely and just take his head clean off.The only thing stopping me was the one fact I hated most.He was my
AuroraHis words echoed in my mind the entire day.And that one what if—what if the visions had been nothing but Natasha and Lilith’s manipulation—kept circling back, refusing to leave me alone.Could it be true?But then came the other what if.The one that hollowed me out from the inside.What if it had all been real?The thought alone felt like something clawing through my chest.So which was worse?Not trying at all… or finding out the truth?I already knew the answer.There was no “or.”Not trying would destroy me just as much.Maybe even more.Dad sat across from me on the couch, flipping through channels for the past few minutes. The television flickered with changing scenes, but neither of us was actually watching.The silence between us wasn’t empty.It was heavy.Loaded with everything we weren’t saying.So I broke it.“Spill it, Dad,” I said, glancing at him. “I know you want to say something.”“What?” He looked at me, slightly caught off guard, before quickly shaking his h
JaxonI watched as panic flooded his eyes—raw, intense, unmistakable. His body went rigid as he quickly pulled out, staring at me like he'd crossed a line he hadn't meant to, his entire frame tight with fear and restraint.Shit. He was already beating himself up for it."Shit. I am so fucking sorry
AuroraI walked back inside the bedroom and my eyes immediately fell on Jaxon.He was still asleep.God—this man was not alert at all when he slept. I mean, I was pretty sure I could kill him in his sleep and he still wouldn't realize it, wouldn't even stir. The thought made a suppressed smile tug
JaxonThe pack officials had gathered today, and in his superior, oh-so-righteous routine—meant to hunt down the non-existent spies in my pack—Daniel had summoned a handful of his members, including his beta. The treaty-breaking contract lay on the table like a loaded weapon, untouched, as everyone
Aurora"You can't be fucking serious, Jaxon." I paced back and forth in the room while he sat on the edge of the bed—so calm, so maddeningly unbothered—as if we didn't have a war hanging over our heads like a sword. We fucking did. And breaking the treaty, losing Daniel's support? That would cost l







