LOGINDamian didn't listen.Over the next several days, I saw him everywhere. At the training grounds. At the medical wing. At the small café I frequented in the neutral territory. I started to wonder if he was following me.I refused every invitation he sent. I returned every gift he left at my door—unopened.Meanwhile, something extraordinary happened.Sebastian Stone and I discovered we were fated mates.The bond hit us both like a thunderbolt. One moment we were walking through the Nightshade gardens, talking about nothing. The next, the air between us shimmered, and I felt it—a pull deeper than attraction, deeper than choice. The moon's own blessing.Sebastian's eyes blazed gold. Mine did the same.We didn't need words. We just knew.After that, Sebastian became more protective. Every time Damian appeared in the distance, Sebastian would gently take my arm and steer me away. He didn't hide his jealousy, but he didn't let it turn ugly either. He just held my hand a little tighter and rem
Christmas came to the North, cold and bright.I was enjoying a rare evening of peace, sitting by the fire with my father, when the doorbell rang. A moment later, a servant announced an unexpected guest.Damian Blackwood.He stood in the doorway, looking strangely out of place in our formal hall. Gone was the arrogant, careless boy I remembered. The man before me was quieter. More contained. He had grown into his frame, and his eyes held something I couldn't quite name."Alpha Prime," Damian said, nodding respectfully at my father. Then his gaze shifted to me. "Aurora."My father raised an eyebrow but said nothing."I… didn't have anywhere else to go tonight," Damian said. His voice was steady, but there was a stiffness to it. "May I join you for Christmas dinner?"It was hard to refuse someone on Christmas. My father, ever the diplomat, invited him in.Damian walked past me and sat down—deliberately, it seemed, in the seat next to mine. I thought about moving, but that would have been
After Damian stormed off with his threat about never forgiving me, I didn't see him again.My father, Caspian Nightshade, sent me a screenshot of Damian and Juliette Ashford's official relationship announcement on social media. I glanced at it once and deleted it.What was the point of following someone who no longer mattered to me?I told my father to stop sending me anything about Damian. No more screenshots. No more updates. Nothing.For a long time after that, Damian and I had no contact at all. But that was mostly because I had blocked him everywhere. I also refused to let any mutual friends act as messengers on his behalf.Sitting in my new position—heir to the Alpha Prime, training to take over the throne—I finally understood what my father had always tried to tell me. Running a pack, let alone every pack in the North, was exhausting. But it was also fulfilling.Every day brought new challenges. New disputes to settle. New wolves to heal. New alliances to forge.And somewhere al
I spent the rest of that ceremony with a fire burning in my chest. All I wanted was for it to end so I could leave.But just as people began filtering out, Damian's mother caught my arm."Aurora, dear. I'm so glad you came. I've missed you."She pulled me into a warm embrace, and for a moment, I almost forgot why I was angry. Elena Blackwood had always been kind to me. She kept me talking, and Juliette Ashford stood off to the side, her smile growing tighter with every minute Elena ignored her.Elena didn't seem to care about Juliette's feelings at all. She took my hand and placed it on Damian's arm."Damian, you're the Alpha now. That means taking care of the people who matter. Stop making Aurora cry. Human or wolf, she's precious. I know whatever brought you two together wasn't easy."Damian pulled his arm away. He let out a short laugh. "She doesn't need me to take care of her. She still hasn't unblocked my number."There was something strange in his voice. Almost like resentment, m
Back in the North, I forced myself to stay busy. I filled my days with one responsibility after another—training, medical research, pack diplomacy. Anything to keep my mind from drifting back to the past.My father, Caspian Nightshade, occasionally showed me screenshots from Juliette Ashford's social media. Damian and Juliette were having a wonderful time in Switzerland.What struck me as strange was that Damian had never been someone who posted about his life. His accounts were always quiet. But now, he was posting almost every day. A breathtaking view of the Aletsch Glacier. The summit of St. Peter's Bell Tower. Candlelit dinners with Juliette smiling beside him.Even though I wasn't following him anymore, friends kept reaching out to ask why I hadn't gone to Switzerland with Damian. In every photo, the spot next to him belonged to Juliette now.That spot used to be mine.I didn't know how to explain. I just told them I had accepted my father's invitation.Every time someone mentione
I hung up the phone and refused my best friend's offer to come keep me company. But the memories from last night kept forcing their way back into my mind.The way his arms had wrapped around me so tightly. The heat of his breath on my neck when he was lost in the moment. The sweet, empty promises he whispered in my ear while the bed creaked beneath us all night long.I shook my head hard, trying to shake the memories loose. I curled up on the bed, pulling my knees to my chest. The kind Damian from before and the cruel Damian from today kept switching places in my head, over and over.It wasn't until nearly dawn that I finally sank into a restless sleep.Damian hadn't sent me a single message all night.There was a time once when I got too drunk at a party and he couldn't reach me. He had nearly lost his mind with worry. After that night, he texted me every evening to say goodnight, just to make sure I was safe. It became our habit.It took years to build that habit. And apparently, it
Harrison Cole turned the phone camera toward the dance floor.Damian and Juliette Ashford were kissing in the middle of the prom. Not a peck on the cheek. A real, passionate, eyes-closed, lost-in-each-other kiss. Damian looked completely consumed by her.That was when it hit me.Last night, when we
I froze the moment I heard those words. My heart twisted so sharply that I could barely breathe.The others in the room were stunned for a second, but laughter quickly followed."Only Damian could use our top student as a practice dummy for sex. You've got charm, man.""I feel sorry for all those gu







