Stefano's POV
Three weeks had passed. Twenty-one days since Aurora disappeared into the night. And I was no closer to finding her.
I stood in my study staring at the map spread across my desk. Red marks showed every location we'd searched. Black marks showed where we'd found traces of her scent that led nowhere.
"Alpha." Marcus's voice came from the doorway.
"The northern patrol found something."
I looked up . "What?"
"Tracks. Wolf tracks heading toward Deephowl
border." He came in. "But they are old. At least two weeks."
"Show me." I grabbed my coat.
"Sir, it's nearly midnight. Perhaps we should
wait…"
"Now, Marcus." With authority.
We rode hard through the forest, six guards following behind. The moon was nearly full, bright enough to see clearly. When we reached the northern border, I jumped down from my horse before it stopped.
"Where?" I asked.
Garrett, one of the young patrol wolves, pointed
nervously. "There, Alpha. Near that fallen oak."
I knelt, examining the disturbed earth closely. The tracks were faint, almost washed away by rain. But they were there. Paw prints too small for a male wolf, the stride suggesting desperation.
"She ran," I murmured. "She was running."
"Or to something," Marcus said quietly behind me.
I ignored him, following the trail deeper into the woods. The others followed at a distance. The tracks led toward the stream, then…nothing. Lost in the water.
I stood there, holding fist. So close. We had been so close.
"Search both banks," I ordered. "If she crossed,
there will be tracks on the other side."
"Alpha," Garrett said quickly. "The other side is Deephowl territory. We can't cross without permission from Celeste."
"I don't care about permission!" The words came out of my mouth vigorously."That's my mate out there!"
"Stefano." Beatrice's voice made me turn. I hadn't heard her approach. She sat on her horse at the clearing's edge, with her pale face reflected by the moonlight "You need to come back. You are tired."
"I'm fine."
"You're not." She came done from her horse, walking toward me. "You haven't slept properly in weeks. You barely eat. The pack needs their Alpha whole, not broken."
"My mate needs me," I said through bitting my teeth.
"Aurora…" Beatrice's voice shaked. "Aurora might
be gone, Stefano. I know that's painful, but…"
"Don't." I held up a hand. "Don't say it."
"Someone has to." Her eyes filled with tears. "She could be dead. And you destroying yourself won't bring her back."
The words hit me. "She's alive. I would know if she wasn't. The bond…"
"The bond is silent," Beatrice interrupted gently.
"You've said so yourself. You can't feel her anymore."
It was true. That was the worst part. From the moment Aurora collapsed, our mate bond had gone dark. Not severed, just…muted. Like trying to hear a whisper across a distance.
"I would know if she died," I insisted. "The bond would break completely."
"Unless the poison affected it," Marcus suggested carefully. "We still don't know what was used."
I wanted to argue, but doubt crept in slowly. What if they were right? What if I was chasing a ghost?
No. I shook my head firmly. I couldn't think that way.
"Alpha," Garrett called from downstream. "I found something!"
I ran immediately. There, caught on a low branch
over the stream, was a piece of fabric. Pale blue silk, torn and muddy.
My hands shook as I pulled it free. Aurora's
ceremony dress. I had recognize it anywhere.
"She crossed here," I said, voice rough with emotion. "She made it across."
"Into Deephowl," Marcus said. "Which means we
need permission from Celeste Nightweaver if we want to search further."
Celeste. The ancient witch who ruled Deephowl territory. Powerful, unpredictable, notoriously protective of her lands.
"Then arrange it," I ordered. "Tomorrow. I don't care what it costs."
Back at the pack house, I couldn't sleep. I paced
around my room, holding the scrap of blue silk in my hand. Outside my window, I could see the ceremonial grounds where Aurora should have been crowned Luna.
Where instead, she had been poisoned.
A knock at the door pulled me from dark thoughts.
"Come in."
Beatrice entered carrying a tray. "I brought tea. And food, though I know you'll probably ignore it."
"You didn't have to."
"Yes, I did." She set the tray down, then sat in one of the chairs by the fireplace. "Stefano, I need to talk to you about something serious."
Tension in her tone. "What is it?"
"The pack is starting to lose faith." She said it quietly, but the words stung deeply. "They see their Alpha consumed by grief, barely functioning. They're whispering that maybe you're not fit to lead anymore."
"Let them whisper." I returned to the window. "I
don't care."
"You should care." Her voice stronger. "Because if you fall, the whole pack falls with you. And there are those who would take advantage of that weakness."
I turned quickly. "What do you mean?"
Beatrice hesitateda. "Marcus has been…spending time with some council members. Having private meetings."
"So? He's Beta. That's his job."
"Not these kinds of meetings." She stood, moving closer. "Stefano, I think he's positioning himself to challenge you for Alpha."
The words hit like cold water. "Marcus wouldn't."
"Wouldn't he?" Beatrice had sad eyes. "You have been absent, distracted. The pack needs strength, and if you can't provide it…"
"Then what?" I asked. "What exactly are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting you remember that you are Alpha," she said firmly. "That you have responsibilities beyond your personal pain. Aurora would want you to take care of the pack."
Aurora. The name was both comfort and blade.
"Don't," I warned quietly. "Don't tell me what Aurora would want."
"Someone has to." Beatrice leaves but, pause at the door. "I loved her too, you know. She was my twin, my other half. But I can't let her death destroy everything she cared about. And neither should you."
She closed the door softly behind her.
I sat on the chair , exhausted completely. Was she right? Was I failing the pack by holding onto hope?
My hand touched my chest, over my heart, where the mate bond should pulse with life. But there was nothing. Just terrible, empty silence.
"Where are you, Aurora?" I whispered to the darkness. "Where did you go?"
No answer came. Only the flickering fire and wind outside.
The next morning, I met with Marcus to discuss Celeste.
"She's agreed to see you," Marcus reported. "But on her terms. You go alone. No guards, no weapons."
"When?"
"Tonight. At the border." He paused. "Alpha, are you sure? Celeste is dangerous. She could use this…"
"I don't care." I stood. "If there's any chance Aurora is in Deephowl, I am taking it."
Marcus's expression was unreadable. "As you wish, Alpha."
That evening, I rode to the Deephowl border
alone. The forest grew denser, trees older and twisted by ancient magic. The air itself felt different, charged with power.
At the marked boundary, I get down on my horse and waited.
She appeared like mist. One moment absent, the next standing before me. Celeste Nightweaver looked exactly as the old tales described: silver-streaked brown hair, eyes that saw through flesh into soul, an aura of power that made even an Alpha pause.
"Stefano Greystone," she said, her voice carrying multiple layers. "You seek entry to my lands."
"I seek my mate," I replied carefully. "Aurora Lane. She disappeared three weeks ago. We believe she crossed into Deephowl."
Celeste bends her head, studying me. "And if she did? What makes you think she wants to be found?"
The question caught me completely off guard.
"She's my mate. Of course she would want…"
"Would she?" Celeste interrupted. "Or did someone close betray that trust so deeply that she fled, preferring the unknown?"
"What do you know?" I stepped forward. "Have you seen her?"
"I have seen many things." Celeste's eyes gleamed knowingly. "The question is, what have you chosen not to see?"
"Stop speaking in riddles!" Frustration bled through. "Just tell me if she's alive!"
"That is not my truth to tell." She turned, beginning to walk into the forest. "But I will say this, Alpha. Look closer to home. The enemy you seek wears a familiar face."
"Wait!" I called after her desperately. "Is that all? You won't help?"
She paused, glancing back. "I will give you one gift. Your mate lives. But the woman who returns will not be the same one who left. Prepare yourself, Stefano Greystone. The trials ahead will test more than your strength."
Then she dissapeared like she was never here.
I stood alone in the forest, her words echoing endlessly. Aurora was alive. The relief nearly brought me to my knees.
But her warning troubled me. Look closer to home.
A familiar face.
Who?
I climb my horse and rode back, mind racing fast. Who had been close to Aurora? Who had access to poison her?
Maia, her maid. But Maia had been locked in the dungeons since that night, and investigations revealed nothing beyond her preparing the drink.
The council members? No, they had all been in the ceremonial hall when Aurora collapsed.
Beatrice? I dismissed the thought immediately. She was Aurora's twin sister. They had been inseparable their entire lives.
But Celeste's words haunted me. A familiar face. Someone close.
When I reached the pack house, Marcus was waiting in my study.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"She confirmed Aurora is alive." I poured myself a drink, needing something to steady my nerves.
"But she won't tell me where."
"That's...actually good news, isn't it?" Marcus looked surprised. "At least you know she survived."
"Yes." I downed the drink in one gulp. "But Celeste said something else. She warned me the enemy is close to home."
Marcus went very still. "Close to home?"
"Someone with a familiar face." I watched him carefully. "Someone who had access to Aurora."
"What are you suggesting?" In a cold tone.
"I'm not suggesting anything." I set down the glass. "I am stating facts. Someone in this pack house poisoned Aurora. And I am going to find out who."
Marcus held kept eye contact for a long moment.
"Of course, Alpha. Whatever resources you need."
After he left, I sat alone in darkness, Celeste's words playing on endless repeat.
The woman who returns will not be the same one who left.
What did that mean?
And more importantly, who had I been blind to all this time?
I pulled out the piece of blue silk, holding it up to lamplight. Somewhere out there, Aurora was alive. Changed perhaps, but alive.
"I will find you," I promised the empty room. "And when I do, whoever hurt you will pay with their life."
The lamp flickered, and for just a moment, I could have sworn I smelled lavender and moonlight.
Aurora's scent.
Or maybe just my desperate imagination clinging to hope in the darkness.