CChapter 320

    Five yearster…

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    The Stormridge Pack had grown quieter in the years since Riley’s passing, but within the walls of the Duskgrave estate, life still pulsed with warmth.

    Aurora Duskgrave was no longer the tiny pup Lucien had once carried from danger. Now, at seven years old, she was already a spark of life within the Pack, her wolf–blood stirring early, her lessons at Mooncrest Academy filling her days. Each morning she trotted into the lower–year halls with her books pressed to her chest, her braid swaying, and every elder in the academy whispered how sh

    e was bing the mirror of Riley Vale.

    For five years, the Duskgrave household treated Aurora as their jewel. Matriarch Duskgrave spoiled her with heirloom trinkets and wolf–lore bedtime stories. Mia baked her favorite honey cakes each week. Even the hardened warriors of Stormridge softened when she ran past them, herughter echoing across the courtyards. For Lucien, she was not only his daughter but his vow made flesh: the one thing in the world he would never fail to protect again.

    On a gray morning, Duke strode toward the iron gates of the Werewolf Detention Bastille. Carmen was waiting on the other side. The gates nged open, and the woman stepped out into the sunlight for the first time in five years.

    Her eyes squinted against the brightness, disbelief painted across her face. She had braced herself for scars, for ruin, for the cruel madness that broke most wolves in the prison. Instead, she was whole. Tired, yes, and thinner than before–but not broken.

    Every month of those five years, Mia and Duke had been there to see her through the ss walls, ito /iremind her she was not forgotten. Jace Hale hade on rare days, leaning close to the phone to tell her about the training grounds, about the politics beyond the walls, about Aurora learning her first letters. Because of Duke’s influence within Stormridge, no guard had dared to torment her. Compared to Riley, who had endured chains and silence with no one to visit, Carmen had been blessed.

    As she breathed the free air, Carmen’s wolf trembled with shame and gratitude. Riley had suffered alone. I had people. She had no one.

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    Dukeid a steadying hand on her shoulder. “Come,” he said. “Mia is waiting.”

    At the Stormridge estate, Mia was already running down the steps before the car had fully stopped. She collided into Carmen’s arms, and the two women clung to one another, their tears soaking into each other’s shoulders.

    “You’re home,” Mia whispered, voice breaking.

    “I shouldn’t be,” Carmen replied hoarsely, but Mia shook her head fiercely.

    Then another shadow approached, tall andmanding. Lucien Duskgrave, with Aurora beside him, came to greet her. Carmen’s breath caught when she saw the child.

    Aurora ran forward, flinging her arms around her aunt. “Thank you auntie,” she said in her small; ringing voice. “Thank you for bringing me back five years ago.”

    Carmen’s arms tightened around her, tears spilling freely now. Aurora’s face, with each passing year, was bing Riley’s reflection. The curve of her cheek, the storm–bright eyes–it was as if Riley lived again through her daughter. Carmen’s wolf keened inside her, mourning and grateful all at once.

    “You’ve grown so much,” she whispered, voice trembling. “You’re so strong.”

    Aurora only smiled, though her words were innocent. “Mama would be proud, right?”

    Carmen broke then, her tears falling unchecked. She nodded, unable to form words.

    Later that evening, as the firelight glowed in the great hall, Caelum burst into the manor. His boots struck hard against the stone floor, his scent sharp with urgency.

    “Alpha Lucien,” he called, his voice carrying the weight of storm and blood.

    Lucien rose from his chair/his eyes narrowing. Aurora had already been ushered away by Mia, sensing the tension in the room.

    “What is it?” the Alpha Prince asked,

    Caelum’s jaw was tight, his wolf pacing beneath his skin. “The bnce is breaking. The Alliance can no longer ignore it.”

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    19:40 Wed, 3 Sept

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    For five years, the West had been shifting. Once they had kept to their borders, their rivers, their trade routes. Now their ws stretched farther each season. They had cut into southern trade, strangled northern caravans, and sent their fangs into every border they could test.

    Lucien had ignored it. He had made a vow that his world would be only Aurora, her safety, her growth. He had no time for foreign campaigns.

    But now, Caelum’s report shook the hall.

    “Three months ago, the North and South finally rose together,” Caelum said. “They forged a war pact to push back the West. At first, they had the upper hand. But…” He exhaled sharply, anger shing in his wolf–gold eyes. “The West’s army is not what it once was. Their strength has multiplied. The North–South alliance was crushed in battle outside the Silvermarch ins. Many Alphas have fallen. The West’s banners rise higher each week.”

    Lucien’s frown deepened, the weight of his pack pressing against his instincts. b“/bAnd you think Stormridge will be next.”

    Caelum nodded. “The West is no longer content with istion. Their hunger is spreading east. And if they take the east, the Stormridge Pack will be forced into war, whether we wish it or not.”

    The fire crackled in the silence that followed.

    Lucien’s wolf growled low in his chest. He had promised himself he would not be dragged into politics again, not after Riley, not after Aurora. But the storm wasing to his doorstep.

    Caelum’s final words dropped like a stone into the hall.

    “Word spreads of their champion. A white wolf–born once in a millennium. A female warrior. Her battle power is said to be unmatched.”

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