Third Person’s POV


    Aurora stepped out of the hospital’s ss doors beside Caelum. Her expression was glowing, her lips curving with barely contained joy.


    Caelum tilted his head, studying her with a faint frown. “You’re certain nothing’s wrong with your health?” His voice was low, careful. It wasn’t his ce to pry into the specifics of her examination–wolves had pride, and even Alphas had limits when it came to delicate matters like this.


    Aurora’s fingers brushed across her abdomen, her eyes shining. “Nothing’s wrong, Caelum. In fact…” She lowered her voice, almost trembling with excitement. “I’m so happy.”


    The physician’s words were still ringing in her ears–confirmation that her suspicions were true. She carried Caelum’s pup inside her. The future Alpha heir of the Silverfang Pack.


    With this child, she would have a shield stronger than steel.–No matter what truths Caelum might discoverter, no matter what shadows from the past threatened to unravel her carefully spun lies, he would never turn his back on the mother of his heir. He loved her–or at least she had convinced herself that he did. And with a child binding them, he would be hers forever.


    Her eyes darkened for a heartbeat, a sh of predatory intent breaking through her smile. That damned wolf detective–Lee–who had dared to threaten her, to corner her with usations… she would make him pay. She would make sure he carried scars from crossing her that wouldst his entire lifetime.


    Caelum caught the shift in her energy, though he didn’t understand it. His brows drew together. “Happy?” he repeated, suspicion threading his tone. “What exactly—”


    He didn’t finish the sentence.


    A sleek ck vehicle rolled to a stop at the curb in front of them. Its doors opened with precise, dangerous timing. Wolves stepped out–hard–eyed, broad–shouldered enforcers carrying the unmistakable scent of the Irond Coalition.


    “Aurora,” one of them said, his voice cutting through the air like the snap of a de. “Our Alpha, Ss, wants to see you.”


    Aurora froze. So did Caelum.


    “What?” they said in unison.


    Cachum’s posture shifted, dominance surging from him instinctively. His silver aura rippled at the edges, sharp enough to make lesser wolves bow, “Why would Ss want to see her?” His voice was dangerous, the growl beneath it threatening violence.


    But the Irond wolves didn’t flinch. They didn’t answer. Instead, with a motion of the hand, two of them moved forward in perfect synchrony and seized Aurora.


    “Caelum!” Aurora’s voice rose, sharp with panic as she was shoved into the waiting vehicle.


    “You dare-” Caelum’s roar cut the air, but before his Alphamand could strike, two more wolves rushed him. Even as he fought back, they shoved him into the vehicle beside her. The doors mmed, and


    173


    s


    with a low growl of the engine, the car pulled away from the hospital, leaving the scent of tension and <b>fear </b>lingering in its wake.


    Freya stood by the river’s edge, the moonlight tracing silver across the restless water. She had always hated this ce, though once it had been the site of something she believed in. Once, she had dragged Caelum from these waters, his breath shallow, his life bnced on the edge. Back then, she had not realized how that act of instinctivepassion would tether her fate to his.


    And she had not imagined that Aurora–another wolf entirely–wouldter im the credit as her own.


    Meeting Aurora here again felt cruelly fitting. This was where it had begun. This was where it would unravel.


    Beside her, Ss stood like a shadow carved from iron. His gaze never left her face. “Whatever you decide to do to Aurora,” he said, his voice carrying the weight of absolute certainty, “do it. Even if the skies themselves copse, I will bear the weight in your stead.”


    Freya’s throat tightened. Her wolf prowled beneath her skin, pacing, snarling, its fury coiled tight. “Even if what I want is her blood on my hands?” she asked quietly.


    Ss’s lips curved, though his eyes were dead serious. “If you raise your hand, I will be your de.”


    Freya’s fists clenched at her sides. Before she could respond, the sharp vibration of her WolfComm cut through the night. She lifted it, pressing the call through.


    “Freya!” Kade ckridge’s voice rang out, rough with excitement. “Where are you? I’ve got something you’ll want to see.”


    “By the river,” she replied. Her voice was calm, but her pulse thundered in her ears.


    “The river?” Kade hesitated. “Strange. Because what I’ve found… it ties back to Aurora.” His voice lowered, thick with implication. “Stay where you are. I’ming to you.”


    The call ended. Freya slid the device back into her coat, her gaze never leaving the ck waters.


    “He’sing,” Ss murmured.


    Freya nodded once. “And whatever he’s bringing… it’s tied to her.”


    Headlights red, breaking across the night as another vehicle rolled to a stop. Doors opened, and Irond enforcers stepped out. They dragged two figures with them–Aurora and Caelum.


    Aurora’s hair was disheveled, her face pale with shock. Caelum bore the marks of a fight–his jaw swollen, a bruise darkening across his cheek. His fury was palpable, thrumming in the air like the growl of a caged


    beast.


    When his eyes fell on Freya, they burned with outrage. “Freya Thorne,” he snapped, his voice <b>raw </b>with betrayal. “Was it you? Did you order Ss to drag us here like criminals? Is this your revenge for the Lunar Severance Phase? For the divorce?” His teeth bared, his aura shing like steel. “Is this humiliation <b>what </b>


    you wanted?”


    Freya’s eyes didn’t leave Aurora. “I’ve no interest in humiliating you, Caelum.” Her voice <b>was </b><b>steady</b>, but her wolf raged beneath the surface, straining against her control. “My interest <b>lies </b>only <b>in </b><b>her</b><b>.</b><b>” </b>


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    Ss’s brow furrowed. His sharp gaze turned on his own men. “I told you to bring Aurora. Why bring


    him?”


    One of the enforcers bowed his head quickly. “Alpha, he was with her. We feared interference. Better to control the threat.”


    Aurora twisted in her captors‘ grip, her voice shrill with defiance. “Freya! You pride yourself onw, don’t you? On rules and order? Do you know what you’ve done? Forcing us here like this is abduction. It’s a crime. I’ll see you dragged before the High Tribunal!”


    Freya stepped forward slowly, her fists clenched until her knuckles whitened. The river’s cold wind snapped at her hair, but it was nothingpared to the storm brewing inside her chest.


    “A crime?” Her voice cracked like thunder. “And what about yours, Aurora? How many crimes have you. hidden beneath that pretty mask?”


    Aurora’s lips parted, her bravado faltering.


    Freya’s wolf surged, her eyes gleaming with a predator’s gold. She closed the space between them, her voice a low snarl that carried across the water.


    “The border fire,” she said. “The ze that devoured the Iron Fang Recon Unit. The night so many of our brothers burned alive.” Her voice broke, grief colliding with fury. “It was your cigarette. Your carelessness. You killed them.”


    Aurora stiffened, her body trembling.


    “And then,” Freya continued, her voice rising with raw anguish, “you lied. You stood before the packs, and you said you saw the Beta captain smoking. You let his ashes carry the me while the true guilt stayed buried in your chest.”


    The silence that followed was suffocating. Even Caelum’s anger faltered, his gaze darting between the two women, suspicion dawning in his eyes.


    Freya’s wolf pushed against her ribs, desperate to tear, to rip, to finish what should have been ended long ago. But she forced herself still, her hands trembling as she red at the wolf who had stolen her fate, her family, her truth.