Aurora's POV
The guest room was nicer than anywhere she'd ever lived.
Aurora stood in the doorway and stared at the soft bed with the cream colored blankets. The private bathroom with actual heated water. The windows that looked out over a forest that wasn't locked behind pack barriers. Everything about this room screamed comfort and safety.
Nothing about it felt real.
Maya stood in the doorway, giving her space. Giving her time. Understanding without being told that Aurora needed a moment alone to process what had just happened.
"I'll be downstairs if you need anything," Maya said gently. Then she closed the door.
And Aurora finally let herself break.
The sobs came so hard she couldn't breathe. She collapsed onto the bed and her entire body shook with the force of it. Everything she'd built over six years was gone. Her title. Her pack. Her home. Her future. All of it erased because her wolf had recognized its mate.
She cried for the life she'd lost.
She cried for Ryker's betrayal. For the realization that everything he'd told her about love and loyalty had been lies wrapped in protection. For the understanding that she'd been groomed to be his weapon, not his heir.
She cried for her parents. For the hatred she'd carried toward the Southern Pack for fifteen years. For the enemy she'd just walked into a compound with and chosen willingly.
The sobs tore through her chest like claws.
She cried until her eyes were swollen. Until her throat was raw. Until there was nothing left inside her except empty exhaustion.
When she finally stopped, the room was completely quiet. Outside the window, Southern Pack territory was dark and peaceful. Nothing like the tension that had defined Northern Pack life.
A soft knock came at the door.
Aurora sat up, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
Maya entered quietly, carrying a glass of water. She didn't comment on Aurora's red eyes or swollen face. Didn't offer empty sympathy. She just sat on the edge of the bed and handed over the water.
Aurora drank it because her throat needed it. Because doing something normal felt like an anchor in an ocean of chaos.
"The mate bond is real," Maya said after a moment. "I can see it on both of you. The way you look at each other. The way the connection sings between you."
Aurora's laugh was bitter and hollow.
"He's my enemy," she said. "His pack killed my parents. I was nine years old. I watched my house burn. I hid in a cellar while wolves attacked and tore apart everything I had."
The words felt like poison coming out of her mouth. Like she was finally naming the hatred that had defined her entire life.
Maya was quiet for a long moment. Then she asked a question that changed everything.
"Is that what you were told?"
Aurora's breath caught.
She opened her mouth to answer, then closed it again. Because the question wasn't challenging her story. It was asking if the story itself was real.
"What do you mean?" Aurora asked carefully.
Maya turned to face her fully. Her brown eyes were serious and kind at the same time.
"What if both packs were lied to?" Maya asked quietly. "What if someone wanted us hating each other? What if the raid wasn't what you were taught?"
The room started to spin.
Aurora had never questioned the official story because Ryker had pulled her out of the ashes. He'd saved her life. He'd given her a home when she had nowhere else to go. He'd promised her a future. Why would he lie about something so fundamental?
Unless the lie was the entire foundation of everything he built.
Unless the reason he'd raised her was because the story he'd told was false.
"I don't understand," Aurora whispered.
But part of her did understand. Part of her was already connecting dots she'd never allowed herself to see before.
Maya took the empty water glass and set it on the nightstand.
"I've been researching the raid," Maya said quietly. "The one that killed your parents. The one that started the feud between our packs fifteen years ago."
Aurora's heartbeat accelerated.
"And?" she prompted.
"And the official story doesn't match the evidence," Maya continued. "The medical records from that night don't make sense. The witness statements contradict each other. The timeline is all wrong."
Aurora stood up and walked to the window. She could see the dark forest stretching out beyond the pack house. Could feel the weight of questions that didn't have answers yet.
"What are you saying?" Aurora asked, even though she already knew.
"I'm saying your parents died in a raid," Maya said carefully. "But I'm not sure the Southern Pack started it the way you were told. I'm not sure the raid happened the way Ryker told you it did."
The words hung in the silence between them.
Aurora thought about Ryker finding her in the ruins. Thought about how convenient that was. How perfectly timed. How he'd appeared exactly when she needed saving.
What if he'd been there because he knew what was coming?
What if he'd orchestrated it?
"Why are you telling me this?" Aurora asked, turning back to face Maya.
"Because you deserve the truth," Maya said. "Because your mate bond is real and that means you're part of our pack now. And because whatever happened fifteen years ago, whatever lies were told, they've kept us at war with the Northern Pack for no reason."
Aurora's hands were shaking.
"Do you have proof?" she asked.
Maya stood up. She walked to a shelf in the corner and pulled down a folder. When she opened it, Aurora could see documents. Medical reports. Witness statements. Records with dates and signatures.
"Not complete proof yet," Maya admitted. "But pieces that don't fit the official story. And I think if we look deeper, if we find out what really happened, it might change everything."
She pulled out one page specifically. A document with names written in different handwriting. Names that Aurora recognized.
Her father's name.
And underneath it, in different ink, another name written in the margin like an afterthought.
Marcus Frost.
Aurora's blood went cold.
"That name," she said, pointing. "Marcus Frost. He was..."
"A Northern Pack warrior," Maya finished. "Sienna's father. And according to these documents, he had contact with Southern Pack members right before the raid. Which makes no sense unless..."
Unless the raid wasn't an attack between packs.
Unless it was something else entirely.
Unless everything Aurora believed about her past was a lie constructed by the one Alpha she'd trusted most.
"We need to know the truth," Aurora said. Her voice was steady now. Determined. "We need to know what really happened."
Maya nodded slowly.
"Then we're going to find it," she said. "But Aurora, once you start looking for the truth, you can't unsee it. You can't go back to believing the lie once you know it's false."
Aurora looked at the documents in her hands. At the evidence that her entire life had been built on something false.
She thought about Ryker. About six years of loyalty. About a mate bond with a wolf she was supposed to hate. About a future that couldn't exist if the past was a lie.
"I don't want to go back," Aurora said quietly. "I just want to know why."