AUBREY

I've been hearing from Jax more frequently lately, his demands growing increasingly urgent and specific. Each message brings fresh pressure, fresh reminders of my mission, making the conflict raging in my chest burn hotter with each passing day. Every moment I spend around Knox, despite knowing his father ordered my family's slaughter, every time I catch myself genuinely laughing with Iris, every maternal gesture from Queen Grace that makes my heart ache with longing—it's tearing me apart from the inside.

The familiar tap-tap-tap at my window tonight makes my stomach clench with dread. The massive crow perches on the stone sill, its obsidian eyes reflecting the moonlight as it fixes me with that unnaturally intelligent stare.

"There's information hidden in the Ancient Heart. Documents, evidence—everything you need to understand the truth about your pack's extinction."

My breath catches, but confusion follows immediately. "What do you mean? I already know the truth. I remember King Alexander's face, his voice ordering the massacre."

"Do you? Or do you only remember fragments?" His mental voice takes on that silky, dangerous tone. "There's so much more to that night than what your traumatized mind has pieced together. The real reasons behind the attack. The full scope of their betrayal."

A chill runs down my spine. "What kind of information?"

"The kind that will show you exactly why they chose your pack specifically. Why your father had to die first, before the others? Why they kept you alive?" A pause, heavy with implication. "Unless, of course, you've grown too attached to your new family to want the complete truth anymore."

The challenge in his voice makes my spine straighten with defensive anger. "Of course I want to know everything."

"Then prove it. Tonight. The guards change shifts at midnight—you'll have a fifteen-minute window to reach the Ancient Heart undetected. What you find there will either strengthen your resolve or confirm that you've become everything I feared you would."

The connection severs abruptly, leaving me alone with the crow's mocking stare. It gives one harsh caw before spreading its wings and disappearing into the night, taking Jax's presence with it.

I stand there in the darkness, my mind racing. More information about my pack's destruction, hidden in the most sacred place in the kingdom. Answers to questions I didn't even know I should be asking - why my father died first, why I was kept alive. The not-knowing gnaws at me like a persistent wound.

"This feels like a trap," Aria whispers from the depths of my consciousness, her voice tight with worry. "Why would evidence about our pack be hidden in their most sacred site?"

"Maybe that's exactly why it's there," I argue back. "Hidden in plain sight, where no one would think to look."

But doubt gnaws at me, even as I try to reason with myself. Whether this is manipulation or genuine information-gathering, I need to know. Not knowing is tearing me apart. The constant questions about what really happened that night, whether the memories I've recovered are the full truth or if there are still pieces missing... it's eating me alive.

I move to my wardrobe and select the darkest clothes I own—black leather pants that won't rustle, a fitted black tunic, soft-soled boots that will make no sound on stone floors. If I'm going to do this, I need to be invisible.

The castle corridors are eerily quiet at this hour, moonlight streaming through tall windows to cast everything in silver relief. I move like a shadow through passages I've memorized over the past weeks, avoiding the main routes where guards might patrol. My enhanced hearing picks up the distant sounds of the night watch—boots on stone, muffled conversations, the creak of armor.

The servants' passages are my salvation, narrow corridors designed for staff to move unseen through the castle. I slip through them like smoke, counting the minutes until the guard change that will give me my window of opportunity.

When I reach the edge of the forest, I pause to check the patrol patterns one final time. Just as Jax predicted, I can see the guards moving away from their posts, heading back to the castle for their shift change. Fifteen minutes before their replacements arrive.

Fifteen minutes to reach the Ancient Heart, search for whatever evidence Jax claims is there, and return without being detected.

I shift into my wolf form, bones cracking and reforming with practiced ease. My silver fur gleams in the moonlight as I take off through the forest, paws silent on the moss-covered ground. The familiar trees blur past as I push myself to top speed, trusting my wolf's enhanced senses to guide me through the darkness.

The Ancient Heart feels different at night—more ancient, more otherworldly. The bioluminescent fungi cast their ethereal blue glow across the clearing, making everything look like it exists in some fairy tale realm. But there's something else here too, something that makes my wolf's hackles rise with instinctive warning.

"Danger," Aria growls, her presence suddenly sharp and alert. "Something's wrong here. This place... it reeks of dark magic."

I shift back to human form, my skin prickling with unease as I study the sacred grove. She's right—there's an underlying scent beneath the familiar pine and earth, something that tastes like copper and shadows. It reminds me of Avery's magic, that sickly-sweet corruption that clings to everything she touches.

But I'm here now. Whatever the risk, I need to know what Jax was talking about.

I begin my search methodically, checking every ceremonial stone, every carved symbol that marks this as sacred ground. My hands trace over ancient runes, looking for hidden compartments or loose stones that might conceal anything. I examine the base of the massive First Tree, running my fingers along its gnarled bark for any sign of a hollow or cache.

Nothing.

Minutes tick by as I search with growing desperation. Whatever evidence Jax claimed was here, I can't find it. The stones are solid, the tree intact, the ground undisturbed except for—

I freeze, my nostrils flaring as I catch a familiar scent. Something has been here recently, something that left traces of disturbed earth near the tree's roots. Something that was removed rather than hidden.

Doubt begins creeping in, Aria growling that this might all be one of Jax's tricks. I can't shake the unease I feel; Jax's recent obsession with gathering intelligence and issuing orders is starting to seem excessive. The questions burn in my mind—why would evidence about my pack be hidden in the royal family's most sacred site? It doesn't make sense.

Just as I decide to retreat, a familiar scent wafts through the air—Knox.

My heart slams against my ribcage. I can't get caught.

Without a second thought, I shift and bolt toward the lake. The moment my feet hit the shoreline, I dive in, ignoring the icy sting that bites into my skin. The cold is brutal, stealing the air from my lungs, but I force myself deeper into the mineral-rich water, hoping it masks my scent.

I stay submerged for what feels like forever.

When I finally resurface—gasping, trembling—I shift back into human form. The cold sinks into my bones, and I shiver uncontrollably, scanning the trees for any sign of him.

I freeze when I see him standing at the water's edge, his piercing gaze illuminated by the moonlight. His tall form is silhouetted against the stars, every line of his body tense with alertness. In his eyes, I catch my reflection—completely bare under the shimmering light.