Aurora was eighteen when she met him properly.
Not that she hadn't known Rylan before—they'd grown up together, played together, trained together. He was the son of one of Kael's trusted wolves, a boy with warm brown eyes and a laugh that filled whatever room he was in. They'd been friends for as long as Aurora could remember, the kind of friends who finished each other's sentences and knew each other's secrets.
But something shifted that spring.
It happened during a training session—nothing special, just a routine sparring match. Aurora had been paired with Rylan, as she often was, their skills well-matched. But when he caught her wrist to block a strike, when his fingers wrapped around her skin and held, something changed.
Their eyes met.
And the world stopped.
"You're staring," Ry
