Aurora's POV
The morning sun shined through my windows, too bright and harsh. I woke with a gasp, my body full with sweat despite the cool air.
"Another nightmare?" Darius's voice came from the doorway.
I sat up, pulling the blanket around myself. "I saw
faces. People I should know but don't. A man with dark hair and blue eyes. He was…grieving."
"Stefano," Darius said quietly. "Your mate."
"It felt so real." My hand moved to my chest. "Like
something was pulling at me from inside."
"The mate bond," he explained, entering with a tray of food. "Even with your memories gone, your soul recognizes him. It's trying to reach out."
I took the offered plate, though I wasn't hungry at all. "Does he feel it too?"
"Likely. The bond works both ways." Darius sat across from me. "But he believes you're dead, so he'll think it's just grief playing tricks."
The thought of someone mourning me, someone I couldn't remember, twisted something painful in my chest. "Maybe I should go back. Even without my memories, I could…"
"No." The word was sharp, final. "Not yet. You are not ready."
"How will I know when I am ready?"
"When your powers are under control." He pointed to my marked arm, where the golden crescent glowed faintly. "That mark isn't just decoration. It's a conduit for immense power. Right now, it's dormant, protected by the Goddess's seal. But as your training progresses, that seal will weaken, and the power will emerge.
"What kind of power?"
Darius stood, motioning for me to follow. "Come. I'll show you."
We went outside to a clearing behind the cabin . Morning mist on the ground, making everything feel off.
"Close your eyes," Darius instructed. "Feel the mark on your arm. Focus on it."
I did as he said. The mark tingled against my skin, warm and alive.
"Now reach deeper. Past the physical sensation. Into the magic itself."
I concentrated, trying to sense what he described. At first, there was nothing. Then, slowly, I felt it. A current of energy, golden and pure, flowing through my veins like liquid light.
"I feel something," I whispered.
"Good. Now imagine that energy moving to your hands. Picture it gathering in your palms."
I focused harder. The energy shifted, responding to my will. It gathered in my hands, warm and tingling.
"Open your eyes."
I did. My hands were glowing with golden light.
"Incredible," I breathed.
"That's just the beginning." Darius pointed to a dead tree at the clearing's edge. "Now direct that energy outward. Push it toward the tree."
I tried. The light flickered, then died completely.
"Don't force it," Darius said patiently. "Guide it. The power wants to flow. You just have to show it where."
We practiced for hours. By midday, I could consistently summon the light and direct it in short bursts. But I was tired, my body shaking from the effort.
"That is Enough for today," Darius said, catching me as almost fell. "You did well."
"It doesn't feel like enough." I looked at my hands, now normal again. "If someone attacked right now, I couldn't defend myself."
"Magic takes time to master." He led me back inside. "Your werewolf side will return gradually as well. For now, rest. We will continue tomorrow."
That night, I dreamed again. But this time, it wasn't Stefano I saw.
It was a woman. She looked exactly like me: red hair, hazel eyes. But her expression was twisted with hatred and jealousy.
"You took everything from me," she hissed venomously. "Everything that should have been mine."
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Don't you know?" She laughed bitterly. "I am your reflection. Your shadow. Your twin."
I woke with a start, the name echoing in my mind. Beatrice.
Over the next two weeks, my training intensified. Darius taught me combat forms, how to channel magic into attacks and shields, how to sense other supernatural beings. My werewolf nature began to resurface, though I couldn't fully shift yet.
"Your wolf is suppressed by the trauma of death," Darius explained one evening as we sat by the fire. "When she's ready to emerge fully, she will."
"What was she like?" I asked. "My wolf, I mean."
"Strong. Pure. White as fresh snow with eyes like liquid silver." He stared into the flames. "She was magnificent."
Something in his tone made me uneasy. "How do you know so much about me? You said you knew my mother, but…"
"I have been watching over you for a long time, Aurora."He kept eye contact. "Longer than you realize."
"Why?" I leaned forward. "What am I to you?"
His expression shuttered completely. "Someone I failed once. I won't fail again."
Before I could press further, he stood quickly. "It's late. Get some rest. Tomorrow we work on defensive shields."
But sleep wouldn't come. His words circled endlessly in my mind. I failed once. What did that mean?
I rose quietly, moving through the cabin. Darius had retired to his own room. This was my chance to look around, maybe find some answers.
The main room held nothing unusual. But a door I had never seen him use caught my attention. I tried the handle. Locked.
Magic hummed from behind it: wards and protection spells. Why would he need such powerful locks on one room?
My fingers touched the wood, and my mark suddenly flared with heat. The lock clicked.
The door open silently.
Inside was a small workshop. Shelves lined with bottles, books, strange artifacts. And on the center table, a collection of vials filled with golden liquid.
I picked one up, holding it to the light. It glowed with the same radiance as my mark.
Blood. This was blood.
My blood.
"You weren't supposed to see that."
I turned around. Darius stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable.
"What is this?" I held up the vial, hand shaking badly. "Why do you have my blood?"
"It's not what you think."
"Then explain!" My voice intensed. "Because it looks like you have been harvesting my blood while I sleep!"
"I needed it," he said calmly, stepping into the room. "For your protection."
"Protection?" I backed away. "How is stealing my blood protection?"
"That mark on your arm makes you a beacon to
every supernatural creature within a hundred miles." He moved closer. "I have been using your blood to create masking charms, to hide your presence from those who would harm you."
It sounded reasonable. But something in my gut screamed wrong.
"You are lying," I whispered.
His expression shoke. "Aurora…"
"No." I summoned the golden light to my hands, holding it between us. "Tell me the truth. All of it."
For a long moment, he said nothing. Then he smiled, and it was nothing like the kind mentor I had known.
"You want the truth?" He bends his head. "Very well. I didn't rescue you from those men by chance. I arranged for them to find you."
The words hit me so hard. "What?"
"The cabin where you woke? I placed you there. The maid who tended you? Mine. Everything has been arranged to bring you here, to make you trust me." His eye light's up. "And it worked perfectly."
"Why?" Tears run down my eyes. "Why would you do this?"
"Because I need your power." He raised his hand, and suddenly I couldn't move. Some invisible force held me in place. "Your blood, your magic, your divine blessing. With it, I can achieve what I have been after for centuries. Godhood."
"You are insane," I gasped, struggling against the binding.
"Am I?" He approached, taking the vial from my frozen fingers. "I have spent two hundred years planning this. Watching. Waiting. And when you died, when the Goddess brought you back, I knew. This was my chance."
"Who are you?" I asked. "You said your name was Darius Shadowmere, but that's not true, is it?"
"No." He leaned close, his breath cold against my face. "My name is Cassian Grey. And I am your father."
The world tilted violently. "No. You are lying. You said my father…"
"Died?" He laughed harshly. "That's what I let everyone believe. It was easier that way. Easier to watch from the shadows, to manipulate events, to ensure everything fell into place exactly as I needed."
"You killed me," I whispered, the realization crashing over me. "You are the reason I died."
"I arranged it," he corrected. "Your sister was my willing tool, corrupted by jealousy I carefully nurtured over years. She poisoned you, yes. But I was the architect."
Rage surged through me, hot and fierce. The golden light exploded from my hands, shattering his binding spell. I attacked im, but he was faster. His hand caught my throat, lifting me off the ground.
"Temper, temper," he repeated. "You are stronger
than I expected. Good. That means the extraction will yield more power."
"I will kill you,"
"You will try." He threw me across the room. I hit the wall hard, I saw stars. "But first, I need you alive a bit longer. Just until I have taken everything you have to offer."
He raised his hands, dark energy swirling around them. I tried to summon my light again, but
exhaustion dragged at me.
"Sleep," Cassian commanded, and the world went dark.
When I woke, I was bound to a chair in the workshop. My head bleeding, and I could feel something draining from me—a steady pull on my energy.
Tubes. Connected to my arms. My blood flowing into collection vials.
"Ah, you're awake." Cassian appeared, checking one of the vials. "Excellent. The process works better when you're conscious."
"How long?" My voice was weak.
"Three days." He set down the vial, writing something in a journal. "I've collected quite a substantial amount. But I need more. Much more."
Three days. I'd been unconscious for three days while he drained me.
"You won't get away with this," I said.
"Who's going to stop me?" He smiled. "No one
knows where you are. No one's coming for you."
But even as he said it, I felt it. A pull. Faint but growing stronger. The mate bond.
Stefano. He was looking for me.
Cassian must have seen something in my expression because his smile faded. "Don't even think about it. The wards around this place block all supernatural signals. Your precious mate won't find you."
"He will," I insisted. "And when he does…"
"When he does, he'll find your corpse and a note explaining how you couldn't bear the pain of your memories and took your own life." Cassian leaned close. "Tragic, really. But neat. Clean. No loose ends."
"Except you," I spat.
"Except me," he agreed nicely. "Who will disappear into legend, a god walking among mortals."
He turned back to his work, humming softly. I tested the bonds holding me. They were reinforced with magic, impossible to break in my weakened state.
But I had to try. I had to get free.
I closed my eyes, reaching for the power within me. The golden light flickered weakly, barely a spark. But it was something.
I gathered it slowly, carefully, trying not to alert Cassian. Building it up bit by bit until I had enough for one desperate attempt.
"Now," I whispered, and released everything at once.
The bonds exploded in golden fire. Cassian turned around, shock on his face.
I yanked the tubes from my arms, blood spilling everywhere. Pain screamed through me, but I ignored it, focusing on the door.
I ran.
Behind me, Cassian shot in fury. "You can't escape!"
But I was already out of the workshop, through the cabin, bursting into the forest beyond. My legs shaking , barely carring me. Blood dripped from my arms, leaving a trail.
I couldn't stop. Couldn't think. Just had to run.
The forest blurred around me. I heard Cassian crashing through the grasses behind me, getting closer.
"There's nowhere to go!" he shouted. "You will just make this harder on yourself!"
Ahead, I saw it. The stream. The border to Deephowl territory.
If I could just cross it…
A force slammed into my back, sending me sprawling. Cassian appeared above me, eyes shining in anger.
"Foolish child," he hissed, raising his hands to kill me.
I closed my eyes, accepting the end.
But it never came.
Instead, I heard a wolf's howl. Loud, furious, filled with promise of violence.
My eyes snapped open just in time to see a massive black wolf crash into Cassian, jaws snapping for his throat.
More wolves poured from the trees. A patrol. They had followed my blood trail.
And leading them, in human form with murder in his eyes, was someone I should have known.
Stefano Greystone. My mate.
He had found me after all.