LOGINAURORANobody moved.Nobody breathed.At least, that's what it felt like.The woman's hand remained stretched toward me, her expression soft and patient as though she genuinely believed I would walk across the border and into her arms.A few minutes ago, I might have.That realization unsettled me more than anything else.I stared at the countless footprints disappearing into the mist behind her.Thousands.Not dozens.Not hundreds.Thousands.The sight sat heavily in my stomach.Because armies didn't gather by accident.Armies gathered because someone called them.And according to the message left behind by the scouts, they weren't here for territory.They weren't here for resources.They were here for me.The woman followed my gaze.For the first time, something flickered across her face.Not anger.Not fear.Annoyance.The expression vanished so quickly that I almost convinced myself I'd imagined it.Almost."Aurora."Her voice drifted across the border again.Gentle.Familiar.Wro
AURORAThe longer I stared at the woman beyond the border, the harder it became to think clearly.It wasn't magic.At least, I didn't think it was.It felt more like grief.Like every unanswered question I had carried for years had suddenly taken shape and was standing only a few hundred feet away from me.I wanted to believe it was her.Moon Goddess, I wanted it so badly.I wanted her to be alive.I wanted her to have a reason.I wanted every lonely birthday and every sleepless night and every year spent wondering where she had gone to mean something.But Darius's words wouldn't leave my head.If that's your mother, she'll come to you.It was such a simple statement.Yet the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.Because he was right.She wasn't coming.She wasn't speaking.She wasn't running toward me.She was just standing there waiting. Almost like she expected me to be the one to cross.The realization left a bitter taste in my mouth.For years I had waited for my moth
AURORA"Mom."The word barely left my lips.For a moment, nobody moved.Nobody spoke.The mist continued drifting lazily across the Hollow Lands as though the world hadn't just tilted beneath my feet.I couldn't breathe.I couldn't think.I couldn't look away.The figure stood motionless beyond the border, half-hidden behind twisting gray fog and dead trees. I couldn't see her face properly. I knew that. A part of me understood that the distance was too great and the mist was too thick.Yet none of that seemed to matter.Because somehow I knew it was her.The certainty hit me with a force that left me shaking.Years.I'd spent years imagining this moment.Years wondering if she was dead.Years wondering if she was alive.Years wondering if she ever thought about me at all.Now there was a woman standing inside the Hollow Lands and every part of me wanted to run to her."Aurora."Draven's voice came from somewhere beside me.I barely heard him.My chest felt tight.Painfully tight.The
AURORANobody spoke for almost an hour after we left. The packhouse disappeared behind us slowly.First, the walls vanished then the towers then the rooftops until eventually there was nothing left except forest and sky.I kept looking back anyway. I don't know why. Maybe because despite everything that place had done to me, it had somehow become home.The realization was disturbing.I hated it.My horse shifted beneath me as we followed the narrow mountain path leading north.The air felt colder and sharper here. Like winter had settled over this part of the world and refused to leave.Ahead of me, Draven rode in silence. Behind me, Darius kept scanning the forest. Selene and Lyra followed further back.Nobody was relaxed, not after what we'd learned.Not after hearing hundreds of Hollow Ones were moving toward the border.The silence lasted until Lyra finally snapped."I'm bored."Darius groaned, "There it is.""There what is?""The reason nobody likes traveling with you."Lyra look
AURORAI didn’t sleep not even for a minute. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw something different.My father, the notes, the spiral symbol, and the dead scouts hanging from the border markers.Then there was my mother. The woman I had spent years grieving, the woman I hated for leaving.The woman I was now crossing into the most dangerous place in existence to find.By the time dawn arrived, I was already dressed.The sky outside my window was still gray when someone knocked.Three sharp knocks then silence. I already knew who it was.“Come in.”The door opened immediately.Darius stepped inside carrying two travel bags over one shoulder.He looked annoyingly awake.“Have you slept at all?”“No.”“Good.”I frowned, “How is that good?”“It means I won’t be the only one miserable today.”I rolled my eyes, “You’re impossible.”“That’s what Draven says.”“Because it’s true.”A grin spread across his face. For a second, he looked younger and less like an Alpha. More like the reckless idi
AURORAI should have gone to sleep.Everyone kept telling me that.Draven told me.Selene told me.Even Lyra, who usually treated every situation like a joke, had looked me straight in the eye and said, “If you collapse halfway to the Hollow Lands, I’m leaving you there.”But the moment I stepped into my room, I knew sleep wasn’t happening.Too much had changed.The room was quiet.The same room that had once felt like a prison.The same room where I had cried myself to sleep wondering if I would ever see my father again.The same room where Draven had first started sneaking in to check on me when he thought I wasn’t paying attention.Back then, I hated him.Or at least I tried to.Now everything felt different.I walked over to the window and pushed it open.Cold air rushed inside immediately.Outside, the packhouse was alive.Guards moved across the grounds carrying weapons and supplies. Wolves ran messages between buildings. Horses were being saddled near the stables.Nobody was sl
AURORAThe moment Darius left, I broke down completely. I didn’t try to be strong or pretend to feel numb. The tears came fast and hard, tearing out of my chest like they had been waiting for permission.I curled into myself on the floor and cried until my throat burned and my chest hurt.What hur
AURORAMy knees felt like they were breaking as I struggled to keep up with Darius. My shoulders burned so badly I could barely lift my arms. I tried to walk straight, but my legs kept shaking.The maids and guards in the hallway looked away quickly when they saw us.Darius didn’t speak to me. His
My door opened without a knock.I looked up quickly from where I sat on the edge of my bed. My body still felt tired. My mind was even worse. The whole hall scene kept replaying in my head like a punishment on its own.A guard stood there. Behind him was a maid I didn’t recognize.The guard spoke f
AURORA“Well, well, well.”The voice cut through the room like a blade.I froze on the floor, my heart slamming hard against my ribs. Slowly, I lifted my head.Alina stood in the doorway.She leaned against the frame like she owned the place, her arms crossed, her eyes bright with satisfaction and







