2

AURORA

A small shiver moved down my spine when he touched me. It was not fear. Not fully. It was the shock of everything changing at once. My heart beat too fast, trying to catch up with words that had already been spoken. The air felt thin.

Theron stepped closer and rested his hand on my shoulder. His grip was firm but careful. Warm. Steady. It grounded me when nothing else did. For a second, the noise in my head quieted.

His eyes held mine. There was doubt there, but also resolve. Even with my father’s influence pressing down on us, the choice had felt right in that moment. Right enough. We both carried responsibility. The Ironwood Pack came before pride. Before comfort. If we stood together, maybe we could guide the pack into something better. Something fair.

Change would not come easily. It never did. But it could happen.

On our terms.

Not my father’s.

Our goodbye was brief. No drawn-out promises. No extra words. Then they turned and walked away, their shadows stretching long in the fading light. Twilight swallowed their shapes little by little.

Only when they disappeared did the pressure lift.

The alpha command faded from my skin like cold water draining away. Breath rushed back into my lungs. My thoughts felt like my own again. Clear. Sharp.

The ring on my finger caught what little light remained. It looked innocent. Simple. But it felt heavy. Too heavy.

How had yes come so easily?

The question hit hard, and anger followed right behind it.

A scream ripped out of me before I could swallow it down. It echoed into the open space and came back empty.

Becoming queen of the Ironwood Pack was my birthright. It was not a favor. Not a bargain. It belonged to me because I had earned it. Because I had trained for it. Bled for it.

Spit hit the ground where my father had stood minutes earlier. The gesture felt small, but it was something.

He was impossible. Locked inside old ways of thinking. Rules mattered more than people. Tradition over truth. Half of those laws were outdated and rotting, yet he guarded them like sacred scripture.

The pack did not need to be dragged backward. It needed strength. Vision. Someone willing to question what no longer worked.

This could not be the only path.

There had to be a loophole. An old clause buried in pack law. A ritual overlooked. Some sliver of moon magic that could undo an arranged mating. I would search every record if I had to.

There had to be another way.

Threatening to give leadership to another ruling family if I refused? Just because they were men? The insult burned. The unfairness of it made my hands shake.

A mate chosen without consent. A wolf I had not spoken to in two years. No conversation. No warning. Just a decision made for me.

Claws slid free from my fingers. They dragged slowly down the dorm wall when I stormed inside. The sound was harsh. Plaster cracked beneath them. White dust fell to the floor. I did not care about the damage.

Across the room, Jax watched me carefully.

The door slammed hard enough to rattle the frame. A growl rose from my chest, low and sharp, warning him not to push.

“Aurora,” he said evenly. Calm, like always. “You need to breathe. Losing control right now won’t help.”

“What difference does it make?” The words snapped out. “Calm or furious, the outcome is the same. I still have to obey him.”

“Maybe,” he replied. “But if your wolf pushes forward like this, you risk exposing more than anger. Don’t give him that satisfaction.”

“Easy for you to say. He’s not planning your life.”

The unfairness of that statement registered even as it left my mouth. Jax had stood beside me since we were young. Friend before protector. He knew how to steady me when the wolf pressed too close to the surface. He understood silence. Understood when not to speak.

He was constant.

But it was not the same as...

Damon.

The name surfaced before I could stop it. Heat rose to my face.

That was who I needed.

“Going out,” I muttered, already moving toward the door. “Alone.”

“If you walk out like this, it’s going to explode,” Jax said, stepping in front of me. He did not touch me, but he blocked the way. “Let me come with you.”

“I don’t need protection.” My chest rose and fell too fast. “I can handle myself.”

A faint smile tugged at his mouth, like he was holding back something sharper.

“Feeling like you don’t need it usually means you do,” he said. “And maybe someone reminding you of that.”

The tone shifted. Subtle. But there.

I turned slowly. “Excuse me?”

That smile came fully then. It changed his face. Too handsome. Too confident. It unsettled me more than anger did. Being near him every day blurred lines that should stay clear.

“You heard me,” he answered quietly.

A shifter and her protector crossing that line would ignite the entire pack. Rumors. Judgment. Consequences. Damon already complicated things. Now a forced bond added a third weight to the scale.

Three men filling my thoughts. Duty tied to one. Loyalty and tension tied to another. Love tied to a human who did not even know the full truth.

The pressure behind my eyes built.

How could any of this be explained to Damon? Humans were not allowed to know about shifters. Only protectors carried that knowledge. It was one of the oldest, strictest rules.

That alone should have made him impossible.

Still, he was different. Strong in a way that did not come from rank or bloodline. Quick to anger. Quick to defend. He lived by his own code. Hardship had shaped him. There was something wild beneath his skin.

He should have been born a wolf.

The wolf inside me stirred in agreement.

One problem remained.

He was human.

Fists clenched until nails bit into skin. So many rules pressed down on me. Pretending feelings did not exist when they clearly did. Pretending desire followed clean lines when it did not.

The wolf did not understand choosing only one. It felt unnatural to her. Love did not narrow itself. It expanded.

Breaking those rules felt honest.

Time was slipping through my fingers. Once the bond with Theron was sealed fully, there would be no argument left. No space to fight. My father believed love was secondary to structure. To power.

But what if it did not have to be?

The ring on my finger felt colder now.

A silent howl rose inside my mind. The wolf rejected the cage being built around her. She paced. She pushed against the walls.

Turning away from Jax was easier than standing there and thinking about what he represented. He was the most forbidden choice of all. At least with Damon, no sacred vow had been broken. There was no mating bond yet.

Yet.

If there was any hope of changing my father’s mind, every rule had to be followed perfectly. No scandal. No proof that he was right about me being reckless.

The wolf hated that plan. She wanted Damon. She wanted Jax. She wanted choice.

Impossible.

The reminder echoed inside me. Whether it was meant for her or for myself did not matter.

“Don’t follow me,” I said again, already stepping into the hallway. The door slammed before he could respond.

Weeks with Damon had built something real. Stolen kisses. Quiet talks in the dark. The way his hand fit into mine like it belonged there. He had said he loved me.

He deserved more than half-truths.

A quick message left my phone. Meet me in the woods near your dorm.

He suggested his room instead. Four walls felt suffocating even in thought. Needed open air. Needed space where the wolf could breathe.

The night air cooled my heated skin as I stepped outside. The ground felt uneven beneath my feet, like the world had shifted slightly off its axis.

Balance was gone.

Everything was changing, and there was no clear path forward.