Chapter 22 Aurora
Aurora
“What happened to Louie?” I whisper, racing toward the naked woman sprawled across the grass.
Ezra clears his throat, placing a careful hand on my shoulder. He’s still in “don’t scare Aurora” mode. Every movement is deliberate. Every touch lands with intention.
It should unnerve me.
Instead, it makes me feel safe.
“Aurora, please don’t worry. Hellhounds have many abilities. Shifting into human form is one of them. It’s rare, but it does explain why Hell chose her to protect you.”
A pause, his lips twitching like he’s about to be so fucking rude.
“Though … she is rather small.”
The insult lingers, ripe for the taking.
“So … this is Louie?”
She’s beautiful. That shouldn’t surprise me, but the truth is … it kind of does.
The tiny figure curled on the ground can’t be more than five feet tall, her hair a dirty-blonde tangle streaked with black, just like her fur.
A massive Celtic hound stretches across her back, jaws open in a silent snarl, inked in bold black with faint glints of color that catch the light. Intricate knotwork winds down her arms and legs like armor, proof she’s always been a fighter.
My fierce, foul-mouthed protector, terrifying as a canine, now looks delicate, almost fragile. And that unsettles me more than I want to admit.
Iain’s feet enter my periphery, a blanket dangling in one hand.
I snatch it without thinking, too stunned by the rare act of consideration from such a gigantic asshole, then tuck the blanket tightly around Louie.
A shadow tendril brushes my wrist, then retreats.
Ezra stands just behind me, his presence all-consuming, his tempest-dark gaze unwavering.
“Keep an eye on her, little blackbird,” Iain murmurs, eerily soft for such a big-ass man.
“She might be your protector, but she’s been under that spell a long time. Suddenly shiftin’ like that without meanin’ to could leave her confused. Maybe even violent.”
Ezra lifts Louie off the ground with unnerving ease and settles her into the back seat of my car.
While he fusses over her, Iain steps closer.
Too close.
I flinch when he drops to his knees before me.
“My fiery, violent queen,” the wrakh murmurs, the words landing with the weight of a hymn … or maybe a dirge. It’s hard to tell with him.
“I’m here to serve. You need something killed, burned, or cursed into the next fuckin’ life? You let me know.”
Every muscle in my body seizes when his lips brush the back of my hand, his breath warm as it ghosts across my skin.
And honestly? Out of everything that’s happened in the past eighteen hours …
This might be the least fucked-up.
Ezra moves in an instant, a breath of shadows and swirling darkness.
He yanks my hand away, his grip firm, his shadows curling tight around my wrist in silent warning.
The growl that rumbles from his chest isn’t even remotely human. It vibrates in my bones, rattling something deep.
Iain chuckles, rising to his feet with zero urgency.
“Ez, you better get used to this. I won’t be the last to kneel before her, beggin’ for the chance to kiss her hand.”
Ezra growls low in his throat. Iain smirks, completely unbothered.
The air crackles with tension, thick enough to choke on.
Then, with a lazy stretch, Iain saunters to the front door, tossing a glance over his shoulder.
“I expect payment by the end of the week. Now, respectfully, get the fuck off my property.”
The door slams shut, sending his rubber duck wreath tumbling to the ground.
Ezra keeps hold of my hand as we walk to the car in silence.
I’m overwhelmed. Period.
Strange, fucked-up shit is officially my new normal.
As I settle into the driver’s seat, I ask, “Where to?”
“My house. I have a secure room Louie can use until she wakes up. I also have books we can reference alongside the notebook Iain gave us. I want us to have an idea about what might happen when you gain your power.”
He scrubs a hand down his face.
“No offense, Aurora, but you attract shitty surprises like plague corpses attract flies.”
I feel attacked. But he’s not wrong.
The drive is mercifully quiet, that is until I pull into Ezra’s driveway and my brain blue-screens.
What the actual fuck? This is not what I expected.
A sleek, modern house, built of reflective glass and wrapped in shadows, melds into the forest like a trick of the light. It shifts with the trees, vanishing then returning, hiding in plain sight.
“Wow …” I breathe, leaning over the wheel. “Your house is insane.”
Ezra blinks, clearly caught off guard.
“Huh?” His fingers flex slightly, an unconscious tell. “Oh. I’m glad you like it.”
His voice is steady, but there’s something else there.
Something hesitant.
“I had it built so I could see the outdoors from anywhere in the house. I spent most of my life outside, but I enjoy modern amenities. This was my compromise.”
My pulse trips.
He didn’t call it a home, or a refuge. He called it a compromise. My heart squeezes uncomfortably when I think about how lonely Ezra must have been all these years.
Once I’m out of the car, I open the back door, then frown.
Louie is still unconscious. I run my fingers through her hair, worry twisting my gut.
Ezra doesn’t miss a thing. His shadows find me first, curling around my wrist with quiet certainty. A heartbeat later, he’s by my side, wrapping me in his arms, making everything a little less terrible. I let myself sink into him, just until my pulse evens out.
“Please don’t worry, Aurora. I don’t like how I feel when you’re upset.”
The tendrils writhe subtly, mirroring the ache in his voice.
“Louie is resilient, one of Hell’s strongest warriors.” His hands tighten around me. “That cum-slick spellwhore might be an asshole, but he’s right. If she wakes up confused—or worse, violent—you’ll be at risk without your power.”
He untangles himself from me, scooping Louie into his arms with ease.
As we step inside, the interior of his home steals my breath.
It’s expansive … and minimalist to a heartbreaking degree.
Ezra’s bookshop is full of warmth and clutter and life, the kind of space that welcomes you without asking why you’re there.
This place isn’t a home. It’s a skeleton made of bare walls and echoing silence, built by someone who never expected to stay. And for some reason, that realization hurts more than I want it to.
But the glass walls? They’re stunning.
The view looks like something Monet might have painted if he ever wandered into the wilds of Appalachia and let the forest swallow him whole. Even the second-floor ceiling gleams with glass, built to let the stars spill in at night.
I linger, eyes moving over the room trying to make sense of the kind of person who builds a house like this, but Ezra’s quiet mumbling pulls me from my thoughts.
When I join him, he’s laying Louie down in the spare bedroom, a glass of water already waiting on the nightstand.
A slow, aching twist pulls through my stomach.
No, no, no. He can’t do this to me.
He can’t be hot as fuck and a man who actually changed because he said he would. That’s not real.
Ezra drapes a plush blanket over Louie’s small, naked form.
He’s gentle, almost careful, like this is second nature.
I think I just caught what Scarlett O’Hara would’ve called “the vapors,” which in modern terms just means I’m thirsty as fuck for a violent shadow god with a soft streak.
I need to get a grip. Before I beg him to breed me like I’m in an unhinged werewolf app story titled Her Accidental Mate: Knot Your Average Alpha.
Although Knot Your Average Alpha was much better than its sequel, Knot Your Mate, Knot Your Problem. Like I’m supposed to believe Luna has triplets with her alpha, his beta, and his twin.
Which reminds me, I should probably clear my search history when I get home.
I press a kiss to Louie’s forehead before following Ezra into the hallway. He pulls a padlock from his pocket and secures the door.
I knew the lock was on the outside, but seeing it? Hearing it click?
That hits different.
I should ask. I should be more concerned.
But deep down, I think I already know.
And the truth is … I think I’m okay with it.
Ezra sighs. “Aurora, I can practically hear your thoughts pacing. You’re wondering why I have a door that locks from the outside.”
He fiddles with the key, his voice softer now.
“If I think my prey might leave the area, I capture them, then lock them in this room until I’m ready to feed. The mixture of their fear and their disgusting deeds makes them taste fucking incredible. But it’s not something I do often. Too many things could go wrong.”
My pulse stutters as he lifts his gaze.
“Please understand, Aurora. I’m not good. I’m a violent predator. I eat humans.”
He steps closer, shadows curling at his feet.
“But I would never turn that violence on you, little lupine. I will protect you by any means necessary.”
Ezra’s head bows slightly as he taps the key against his palm. I grab his chin between my thumb and forefinger, dragging his mouth toward mine.
“I don’t think anyone should ever be ashamed about what they need … or what they want.”
The corners of my mouth curl.
“Let me help you the next time you feed. Let me hunt with you.” The whisper slips from me, dark and full of teeth. “I want to know their terror, too. Does it taste sweet, Ezra? Does their flesh melt in your mouth?”
I am so far fucking gone. I shouldn’t want him like this.
And still, I reach for him.
His lips part slightly as I lean in, my tongue flicking against his mouth, tasting him. A shadow hesitates, curling up Ezra’s back before writhing in uncertainty.
Ezra’s lips pull into a slow, deliberate smile. He grabs my waist and hauls me in, hard and without hesitation.
Jesus fuck.
His cock presses into my stomach while his fingers dig in, hard enough to bruise.
“You surprise me, Aurora.” His voice is dark, thick, and smug as hell.
“Which is something I rarely experience anymore. To answer your question … yes. Their terror tastes delicious.”