Facing Judgment
Aurora's pov
Cold.
That was the first thing I felt.
Cold seeped into my bones, curling around me like something alive.
I stirred slowly, my head throbbing, my body aching as if I had been dragged through the forest which, in a way, I had
My lashes fluttered open.
Darkness.
Dim light flickered somewhere beyond, casting long, uneven shadows across rough stone walls.
Confusion settled in first.
Then I shifted and metal clanged.
My breath caught.
My hands shot out, fingers gripping cold iron bars.
A cage.
Panic exploded in my chest.
“No—no, no…” My voice came out hoarse, trembling as I scrambled to my knees. “Help! Someone—please!”
What was I doing in a cage? Did those hunters put me in here?
My heart pounded violently as I pushed against the bars, but they didn’t budge.
I was trapped.
Locked in like an animal.
“Help me!” I shouted again, louder this time, my voice echoing through the space. “Please!”
I froze when I heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
A figure emerged from the shadows a man, broad-shouldered, his expression hard and unreadable. In his hands, he carried a small tray.
“Stop whining.”
His voice was cold and dismissive.
“Eat,” he added, shoving the tray through a small opening in the bars. “You’ll need your strength.”
My brows furrowed, confusion mixed with fear. “Why am I in a cage?” My voice cracked slightly. “Why am I not in my home?”
His eyes darkened.
“Because,” he said flatly, “you’re a traitor.”
The word hit like a slap.
“What?” I whispered, shaking my head. "What do you mean I'm a traitor?"
“You’ve been conspiring with the Beast.”
My breath hitched.
Roman. They think I was conspiring with Roman? How ridiculous.
And wait a minute they knew where I was but they didn't bother to come for me.
This is insane.
A sharp, bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it. “You’re insane.”
He didn’t react.
“There is no beast,” I continued quickly, forcing my voice to steady. “I wasn’t with anyone. I—I was in the next town.”
The lie felt heavy on my tongue, but I pushed through it.
“I ran away,” I said, lowering my gaze just enough to seem believable. “I wanted a better life. That’s all.”
I would never tell the truth, the truth that I was fated to the beast they feared. If they find out I don't know what they would do.
I couldn't put Roman and his pack at risk god knows what these people were capable of.
The man's stare lingered, searching, judging.
Then he straightened slightly, unimpressed.
“Eat,” he repeated.
My hands clenched in my lap. “I want to see my parents.”
Something flickered in his eyes brief, unreadable.
“They’ll come,” he said after a moment. “When the elders decide what to do with you.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“What… to do with me?” I echoed softly.
But he was already turning away.
The shadows swallowed him whole, his footsteps fading until there was nothing left but silence.
Heavy and oppressive.
I sat there, staring at the tray in front of me, at the stale bread, it looked hard and the water was slightly murky.
My stomach twisted it wasn't from hunger but from fear.
My fingers trembled as I pulled my knees to my chest, pressing myself into the corner of the cage as if I could disappear into it.
Traitor.
The word echoed in my mind.
No matter what happens they can't know about the truth, about the bond.
My chest tightened painfully.
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
I wiped it away quickly, my breath unsteady.
I had made it back home. Where I thought I'd be safe and protected away from the vampires and Roman himself but look where I am now.
__________________________________________________
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor before I even saw them.
My heart lurched when the bars rattled and the cage door swung open.
My parents stood there, framed in the dim light, their faces was hard, tense. Especially my father. His jaw was tight, his eyes sharp as they fixed on me.
“Where have you been?” his voice was low, dangerous.
I swallowed, forcing my voice steady. “I… I was in a small town…called Oakville.”
My mother’s eyes widened, concern mixed with frustration. “What were you doing there? And why did you leave the village?”
“I… I hated staying in Eldermist,” I admitted, keeping my tone calm though my stomach twisted. “I wanted a better life.”
My father’s eyes narrowed further, a shadow passing over his face. “You’ve disappointed me… you’ve brought shame on our family.” His words were sharp, each one like a cut. “The village suspects that you’re conspiring with the Beast. Tell me the truth—are you?”
I shook my head quickly. “No. There’s no such thing as the Beast. I wasn’t conspiring with anyone.”
For a moment, silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. My mother’s hands trembled slightly at her sides, but my father didn’t respond. His stare burned into me, accusing and unyielding.
Then, from the shadowed corner of the hall, a figure stepped forward.
“Rowan,” someone announced quietly, and my stomach dropped.
The elder’s eyes scanned the room, cold and calculating. “Guard,” he said, voice echoing in the chamber. “Open the cage.”
The door swung wide, and I stumbled out cautiously, brushing against the cold metal.
“Take her to the village square,” Rowan ordered, his gaze still fixed on me. “The village will decide her fate.”
My father took a step forward, his expression softening slightly, though the tension in his shoulders remained. “She wasn’t conspiring with the Beast,” he said firmly, glancing at Rowan. “She was in another town, nothing more.”
Rowan’s eyes flickered with something unreadable, and then he nodded slightly. “One of the hunters has proof,” he said evenly, almost casually, like the words were meant to crush me before they even spoke. “They claim she was with the Beast.”
My stomach dropped.
Proof.
The word felt like a knife twisting inside me.
I looked at my parents, desperation clawed at my chest. My father’s eyes were dark, his expression unreadable, and my mother’s hands trembled.
__________________________________________________
Roman’s pov
The room felt too small, too tight like the walls were closing in with every passing second.
A storm brewed inside me, barely contained as I stood at the head of the table, staring down at the map spread beneath my hands. Eldermist was marked clearly small, insignificant to most but not to me.
“She's here,” I said, my voice low, controlled but strained.
Kael stood to my right, arms folded, his expression sharp with focus. Rynn leaned slightly over the table, studying the routes that were marked.
“We can’t just walk in there,” Rynn muttered.
“I know that,” I snapped
My fingers pressed harder against the table, the wood creaked slightly under the pressure. My mind kept drifting to Aurora, the way she looked at me in the car.
My chest tightened painfully.
“We go in quietly,” I continued, forcing my thoughts back to the present. “No army. No attention. We get her out and we leave.”
Kael exhaled slowly. “And if they don’t hand her over?”
My jaw clenched.
“They will.”
But even I didn’t fully believe that.
Because this wasn’t just about territory. This was about fear.
Humans don't trust us neither do they
Understand us.
And if they believed Aurora was tied to me—
The door creaked open and everyone turned.
Kiera.
She stepped inside without hesitation, her posture straight, her gaze fixed on me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my tone immediately hardening.
“I’m helping you get Aurora back,” she said simply.
A dark laugh left me.
“No,” I said flatly. “You’re not.”
Her brows pulled together. “Alpha—”
“It’s because of you she’s gone.”
The words cut through the room like a blade.
Kael shifted slightly but didn’t interfere.
Kiera stiffened. “That’s not fair—”
“Not fair?” I stepped away from the table, my voice rising just enough to carry the anger beneath it. “I left her here because I thought she’d be safe.”
My chest rose sharply with each breath.
“I trusted this pack to protect her. To keep her out of danger.”
My eyes locked onto hers, cold and furious.
“And instead you exposed her.”
Kiera’s jaw tightened. "She was bored and missing you so I thought I could cheer her up by taking her out."
"Well you shouldn't have."
The room fell silent again.
“You know Nicholas is after me,” I continued, my voice dropped dangerously low. “You know he’s already attacked the pack.”
My hands curled into fists at my sides.
“And still you took her out of the palace.”
Kiera didn’t respond immediately this time.
Because she knew.
She knew I was right.
I turned away from her, dragging a hand through my hair as frustration burned through me.
“I don’t want to control her,” I said, more to myself than to anyone else. “I never did.”
That wasn’t entirely true but it wasn’t a lie either.
“I just want her safe.”
The admission came out rough.
“There’s a war coming,” I continued, forcing strength back into my voice. “With the vampires. With Nicholas.”
I looked back at them all of them.
“And she’s a target whether she knows it or not.”
I missed her more than I should. More than I wanted to admit.
Her absence clawed at me, leaving something hollow in its place.
It felt like a piece of me had been ripped away and taken somewhere I couldn’t reach.
My jaw tightened as I forced those thoughts down.
“We leave before dawn,” I said firmly, turning back to the map. “We find a way in without being seen. No mistakes.”
One by one, the others began to leave, sensing the shift in my mood. Rynn was the last, giving Kael a brief glance before stepping out.
It was just us.
Kael exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. “You’re too hard on her.”
I didn’t respond.
Because I didn’t care.
“She cares about Aurora,” he continued. “And right now, she might be the best way in.”
That got my attention.
“What are you suggesting?”
“Send her in,” Kael said. “Let her pretend to be human. She gets close, finds Aurora, and signals us.”
I stared at the map again, my mind already working through it.
Risky.
But possible.
Before I could respond a sharp pain hit my chest like a blade, stealing the air from my lungs.
I staggered slightly, gripping the edge of the table.
“Roman?” Kael stepped forward instantly.
I shook my head, breathing hard.
"It's not my pain, it's hers, Aurora's."
My heart pounded violently as the pain pulsed through the bond raw, real, and not my own.
Fear followed then something worse.
Suffering.
My eyes darkened, something primal rising fast beneath the surface.
“They’re hurting her…” I muttered, my voice dropping into something dangerous.
The room seemed to shift around me, my control slipping with every second that pain echoed through me.
My fists clenched hard.
“She’s in pain.”
And this time I wasn’t waiting, I was going to Eldermist to get her.