LOGINAuroras POV“I’m not leaving,” I said again.Rowan stood at the far side of the table, hands braced against the wood, shoulders squared like he was holding back an earthquake.Zander was closer to me, but I felt the tension in him all the same—tight, coiled, dangerous.This wasn’t about strategy anymore.This was about who we were going to be.“Aurora,” Rowan said carefully, his voice low and steady in that Alpha way that usually grounded everyone in the room, “listen to me.Morana isn’t hunting blindly. She’s thinking. She’s waiting for the moment she can fracture us.”I stepped closer. Close enough that he had no choice but to look at me.“She already tried,” I said quietly. “And it didn’t work.”Zander let out a sharp breath. “You felt that separation differently because of your heat. That doesn’t mean—”“It means everything,” I cut in, my voice rising. “It means she was counting on me to break.”The bond pulsed—warm, fierce, alive.Rowan’s jaw tightened. “We’re not saying you’re w
Aurora’s POVThey thought they were being careful.I realized that the moment the room went quiet when I entered.Maps rolled halfway closed. Voices cut off mid-sentence. Rowan straightened too quickly. Zander’s jaw tightened in that way it always did when he was already preparing to argue.I didn’t ask what they were planning.I already knew.“You’re doing it again,” I said quietly.Rowan turned first. “Aurora—”“—don’t,” I interrupted, my voice calm but unyielding. “Don’t soften it. Don’t lie to me. You were planning to move me.”Zander rubbed a hand over his mouth. “We were planning to keep you safe.”The bond stirred—not angry, not panicked.Steady.Anchored.“I am safe,” I said. “Standing here. With you.”Rowan stepped toward me, concern etched deep into his expression. “Morana isn’t circling anymore. She’s positioning. If she strikes, she’ll aim for leverage.”“And you think I’m leverage,” I said.Silence answered.That hurt more than I expected—but it didn’t weaken me.It clari
Aurora’s POVMy heart and body didn’t calm right away.Even after Zander came back—after the relief, the clinging, the way my body finally stopped shaking—there was still an echo. A faint tremor beneath everything, like the ground after an earthquake.Rowan noticed it first.He always did.“You’re still holding tension,” he said quietly, his hand resting flat between my shoulder blades.“I don’t know how not to,” I admitted. “It’s like I’m waiting for it to hurt again.”Zander sat across from me, elbows on his knees, watching me with that intense focus he got when something mattered too much. “Rory… when I stepped out there, you didn’t just feel the bond stretch.”I looked up. “What do you mean?”“You pulled on it,” he said gently. “Hard.”Rowan’s brows knit together. “I felt that too. Like you were trying to drag him back through it.”Heat crept up my neck. “I wasn’t trying to. I just—panic hit and my body reacted.”Rowan exchanged a look with Zander.Not alarmed.Curious.“Can you f
Aurora’s POVI woke with the bond already feeling tight and strained.Not in a painful way —just alert.Like the world was holding its breath.Rowan was sitting beside me, one hand resting on my knee, posture calm but rigid. Zander stood near the table, arms crossed, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on a map spread across the wood.They stopped talking the moment my eyes opened.That alone told me everything.“Don’t,” I said hoarsely.They both looked at me.“Don’t stop,” I repeated. “Whatever you were saying—finish it.”Zander opened his mouth.Rowan beat him to it. “Aurora, you need to rest.”I pushed myself upright despite the ache still lingering through my body and the bond flaring in protest.“I rested,” I snapped. “I survived my first heat. I can handle a conversation.”Zander flinched.Rowan exhaled slowly. “This isn’t about handling it. It’s about—”“—you two are deciding my future without me?” I finished.Silence slammed into the room.The bond tightened sharply, not from pain—but
Rowens POVMorana’s presence still clung to the air like frost that refused to melt.I stood at the window long after she’d vanished from sight, jaw tight, senses stretched thin. The mountains were quiet again—but it was the wrong kind of quiet. The kind that came after something had been seen.“She wanted us to notice her,” I said finally.Zander didn’t look away from Aurora.“She always does.”Aurora lay curled on the couch beneath a thick blanket, color slowly returning to her cheeks after another wave of heat passed through her. Her breathing had evened, but I could feel the ache still humming in the bond—low, persistent, demanding closeness.My wolf stirred uneasily.Too soon. She is not ready to be without us.“I should go,” Zander said, even as his hand stayed on Aurora’s ankle, grounding her. “Scout the ridge. Confirm direction. Make sure she didn’t leave traps.”Aurora stirred instantly, a soft whimper slipping from her lips.The bond tightened like a vice.Zander froze.“…o
Aurora’s POVI woke slowly.Not the way I used to—jerking awake, heart racing, bracing for danger.This time, I woke because my body reminded me that something real had happened.I was sore.Not painfully—just deeply, thoroughly aware of myself. Of where I’d been held. Of how completely I’d been cared for. Every muscle felt used and warm, like I’d run for miles and then been wrapped in blankets afterward.I breathed out softly.Rowan was behind me, his chest a solid wall of warmth, one arm curved around my waist like it had always belonged there. Zander was in front of me, one leg tangled with mine, his hand resting possessively—but gently—over my hip.Both of them were awake.I felt it in the bond before I opened my eyes.Steady. Watchful. Calm.“How do you feel?” Rowan asked quietly, his voice low with morning and concern.I shifted slightly and winced—not from pain, but from tenderness.Zander immediately stilled. “Hey. Easy.”“I’m okay,” I whispered. “Just… feeling it.”Rowan’s ha







