AURORA’S POV
The weight of the world pressed against my shoulders as I stepped out of the golden, well decorated tiger cage. My heart was still racing, though I tried to mask it with a steady stride. I should have felt relieved that Lucien had intervened—that he’d appeared like a shadow before the tiger could react. But instead of gratitude, something bitter twisted inside me.
I hadn’t needed saving.
The goddess was silent. My wolf, too, had retreated the moment the tiger’s golden eyes locked onto me. Yet, when I’d fed him, he hadn’t lashed out the way the others always did—snarling, clawing, desperate to assert dominance. This one was… calm. Observant. Almost as if he recognized me.
A rare breed, unlike any I’d seen in my life.
And a part of me whispered that maybe Damion kept these
