15

AURORA

“That's Queen, Bitch. And if you don’t mind, I don’t want to play games or waste time. Tell me what you want.”

“You really haven’t figured it out?” he replied.

The two men standing behind me stiffened right away. Their bodies tensed like they were ready to jump in. A quick lift of my hand stopped them. I wanted to understand what he was doing before anyone acted.

A small smile formed on my lips, though it felt forced.

“Then why take others?” I asked. “If I’m the one you came for, let the rest of the Ironwood Pack go. You and I can settle this ourselves.”

“You mean your father?”

Anger rushed through me at once. It rose fast and hot, but I pushed it down. Losing control in front of him was not going to happen again.

“Clearly you know plenty about me,” I said. “Why not explain what you actually want? Then we can see if there’s any way to reach an agreement.”

His eyes stayed fixed on me. Cool and steady. That look stirred something deep in my stomach. He seemed far too confident about what he knew. The strange part was that I could not bring myself to turn away.

“You truly don’t remember me?” he asked. A low growl slipped into his voice.

He stared straight at me while his tongue moved slowly across his lips, like a wolf watching its meal before taking the first bite. Maybe that was exactly how he saw this moment.

Both of us had rejected each other once. Things had clearly not ended the way he thought they would.

My eyes moved over him slowly.

Dark denim pants. The fabric looked old and worn along the edges. A loose polo shirt covered his body, stretched tight across the widest chest I had seen since the last night we spent together.

My head snapped up.

Those eyes.

The same icy blue.

Recognition struck hard.

My gaze drifted down again. The same straight nose. The same full red lips. Lips I had kissed again and again during long nights in his dorm room bed.

Dear gods.

All those memories were supposed to be gone. Buried in the past.

A step back came without thinking. My hand pressed against my stomach as it twisted.

This could not be real.

But the calm confidence in his expression told me everything.

He found me.

“Damon,” I whispered before I could stop myself. My voice came out rough.

“There you go, sugar,” he said with a slow smile. “Knew you would remember.”

That old nickname hit my chest like a blow. The wall I had built around those memories began to crumble. All the pain from the night he left me crying and alone in the woods rushed back.

“But you’re a… a...”

“A freak?” he finished.

My head shook. I turned away from him because looking any longer felt impossible.

This should not be happening.

“That’s right, Aurora,” Damon said calmly. “I’m a freak of nature now. And that happened because of you.”

Silence fell across the room.

Everyone turned to look at me.

“What kind of nonsense is this?” Theron demanded as he stepped forward.

Damon moved without warning.

His hand sliced across Theron’s chest, tearing the front of his shirt open.

“I want this room cleared,” Jax ordered loudly. “Reed, get everyone out. Every single person.”

He grabbed the guard by the front of his shirt and pulled him closer.

“You and your men guard the outside. No one enters or leaves until I give the order. Do you understand?”

Reed looked pale.

“Yes, sir.”

He hesitated for a moment.

Jax shoved him toward the door.

“I said now.”

Whispers filled the station as boots moved across the floor. One by one, the men left until the building was empty.

No words came to mind.

Nothing about this situation made sense.

“As for you,” Jax said as he stepped toward Damon. Even as a human, he carried the presence of a predator. “I thought we were done with you.”

“You know him too?” Theron asked, stepping closer.

“Of course I do,” Jax answered. “Anyone who comes near Aurora is someone I pay attention to. Thinking otherwise would be foolish.”

A growl came from Theron.

If Jax wanted to provoke him like that, he could deal with it himself.

My eyes moved to Jax in confusion.

Damon had been a secret. At least that was what I believed.

Every meeting happened late at night. Quiet and hidden.

Not once had I sensed Jax nearby.

Even on the last night.

That night I had been alone when Jax found me.

“How?” I asked.

“Wolves aren’t the only ones with instincts,” he replied calmly. “When the woman you know that well is sleeping with someone else, you feel it. You may be different, Aurora. But you are not always better.”

The words stung.

“That arrogance will one day cost the Ironwood Pack everything if you don’t learn.”

I stepped back, hurt by the comment.

“This little argument is entertaining,” Damon said, interrupting. “But it wastes time. None of it matters to what I want.”

His gaze returned to me.

“And right now, everything is about what I want.”

A strange heat moved through my body at his words.

He stood there as two things at once.

An enemy who had kidnapped my father.

And the man I once loved.

Seeing him again stirred a dangerous pull inside me.

Damn the black moon.

“Fine, Damon,” I said. “What do you want? My patience is limited.”

“My request is simple, Aurora,” he replied. “I want you to finish what you started.”

My heart started racing.

The memory of biting him rushed back. My teeth breaking his skin during that night filled with anger and rejection.

“Fine,” I said, though the word was not honest. “Where are my father and the other men?”

“Aurora, wait,” Theron said as he grabbed my arm. “We need to talk about this.”

I turned toward him with a snarl. My teeth showed without thought.

“I am the alpha now.”

My hand moved toward the knife at my side. If I had to fight for control, I would.

Pain flashed across Theron’s face before he stepped back. His hands lifted in surrender.

A quick glance went to Jax.

Anger burned in his eyes, but he stayed quiet.

My attention returned to Damon.

Three men stood in that room.

The only three men I had ever loved.

A heavy feeling settled in my chest. Something about this night told me it would end badly.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “But it must happen quickly. Your arrival came during the black moon. That is the only time it might work.”

His expression sharpened.

“It requires dark moon magic,” I continued. “And sex.”

Our eyes held.

He searched my face, trying to see if I was lying.

Everything I said was true.

What he didn’t know was how dangerous that part would be for me.

“But it’s still a long shot,” I added. “It has never worked before.”

“You give your word as alpha?” he asked.

That question trapped me.

Breaking that promise would damage my position.

“Yes,” I said slowly. “As alpha, I will try. In return, you release our pack members and promise never to attack anyone from the Ironwood Pack again.”

Several long seconds passed.

Then Damon nodded.

“Someone give me a phone.”

Jax handed him one.

Then he pulled me aside, away from the cell.

“Have you lost your mind?” he muttered. “I’m not letting you sleep with him just to try turning him into a full wolf. That’s not happening.”

“This is my decision,” I told him quietly. “Not yours. Either watch my back or spend the night locked in one of these cells.”

His hand tightened around my arm as he pulled me closer.

“You may be alpha to the pack,” Jax said coldly. “But not to me. If you threaten to lock me up again, I’ll remind you who actually holds control.”

He let go of my arm.

“But if you want to sleep with him and end up dead or banished, go ahead. Who am I to stop you?”

The words cut deeper than I expected.

For a moment it almost felt like a real wound.

“How much did you know?” I asked quietly. “Every time I met him. Did you follow me? Did you watch?”

Those nights had felt private.

Damon and I alone.

Trust had been real then.

“You are my responsibility,” Jax said more calmly. “And you were far from Stonehaven Manor. That made you vulnerable.”

Pain spread through my chest.

Damon’s rejection had already left a deep scar.

Knowing Jax had seen it happen made it worse.

“And the bite,” I asked softly. “Did you know about that too?”

His head lowered slightly.

My hand reached out and lifted his chin until he looked at me again.

“Tell me.”

“Yes.”

My hand dropped back to my side.

Resignation settled over me.

Both of us had known.

Yet we walked away without thinking about what happened to Damon after that moonless night.

His rejection broke my heart back then. But I had managed to move forward.

What happened to him after that was far worse.

Living as a changeling was like poison running through the blood.

“Don’t question my reasons for helping him,” I said quietly. “He rejected the wolf, but that didn’t give me the right to do what I did.”

A slow breath escaped me.

“It’s time to pay for our sins.”