Ivy tucked Aura in. She looked down at her friend with her braid a mess and watery golden eyes. Aura’s silver highlights stood out more in her black hair. The little, blue room was quiet although Ivy expected to hear more chatter from the living room. Aura had snapped when she saw Dax, which made Ivy wonder what Aura could have gone through. Dax had been Aura’s secret, brewing love. From what she had heard from Jalen, the two had been close before their Alpha had started a war with the hunters from Grim Guild. How had everything gone crazy in only a week?

Ivy kneeled beside Aura in the full bed. Aura wrapped herself in the dark blue comforter, trying to hide from the world. “Aura?”

Aura looked back at Ivy’s green, gentle eyes. She saw something between concern and pity in Ivy’s eyes, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. Her wolf instincts hated being seen as weak, but she knew she was shattered by the guild master’s torture. The things he said and made her do were heavily weighing on her. She was not the same woman she was six days ago. How could her friends understand? Would Dax understand? She had been forced to do so many things from killing to hurting herself to sexual things in only five days. The terror will live in her memory forever.

“Aura, please talk to me,” Ivy tried to persuade her friend to speak. “I want to help you, Aura. I know there are things you don’t want to talk about, but I was in Grim Guild for a while undercover. I know how cruel they are.”

Aura thought for a moment. What could she say? Ivy was the one who had said she was shattered. By all accounts, Aura believed that she was shattered. Her body was still shaky and her spine still chilled. Could she speak? What of the others in the living room? She couldn’t stand to see their pity in their concerned eyes like Ivy was doing now. Aura was a proud she-wolf and warrior, or at least she was… She was pieces of her former self.

A knock on the door pulled Aura away from her thoughts. Ivy got up and opened the door to reveal a concerned Dax stood in the doorway. “May I speak with you, Aura?”

Aura’s mouth went dry looking at Dax. Again, she wondered if she could even speak. Dax stood there anxiously, waiting for Aura to speak. She looked scared to him. This wasn’t his wild woman. This was her broken shell staring back at him. Aura had scars, wounds, her hair was no longer long and curly and her color was pale. She looked edgier with her new hairstyle but still defeated by her five days in hell. He hoped her spark of life still lay within her. Finally, she nods at Dax, permitting him to speak. Ivy decides to slip out of the room to give the two privacy.

Dax walked slowly to Aura's bedside and sat on the floor to be level with her. “Aura, you were amazing today. I watched you leap into action after five days of pure hell. You are the reason we escaped out of Grim Guild. You even caused cave-ins to impede our pursuers. Please, don’t let anything make you think otherwise.”

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Aura looked back at his gentle, hopeful blue eyes. Dax was serious about his words. He wanted her to remember that her experience doesn’t define her, but none of this was quite that simple. Aura was trapped in a mental cage of her time at the Grim Guild. Dax brushed her hand with his fingers drawing her back to the present. Her eyes were misty looking at this man that was accepting her broken self. She wasn’t sure how to express herself and just blinked at him with a thankful glint in her eye.

“Hey,” Dax cooed at her. “No tears are necessary. I would rather see your smile like on the day of our picnic.” He gently wiped her gold eyes.

“Why are you being so gentle, Dax? Surely, you wouldn’t… wouldn’t want…” Her eyes gushed at her thoughts. Dax couldn’t want her now. Not like this.

“Aura Argenti! Are you suggesting that I am so arrogant that I would reject the wild woman I have fallen for because she had a small stint in hell? Forget it! Whatever happened, whatever was done there does interfere with my feelings for you.” He said half yelling.

Aura was flabbergasted and ecstatic at his words. She felt unworthy of him, but she couldn’t believe that he still wanted her. Dax wasn’t taking any chances or having any miscommunication. “Dax, are you sure about what you are saying? Think about this. It’s only been a couple of months since we met. I am not sure I am that wild woman, I was last week. It has only been a week, right? I rushed out of here so fast, and clearly, you know what I am. I am not human, Dax.”

“Who cares?” Dax shrugged. “I like you the way you are.”

Aura’s eyes light up with his words. She suddenly felt more strength in her body and opted to sit up. “Dax, remember all of Lunaris would be against it. I am a shifter, a cursed kind that most dislike or distrust. It is forbidden for races to fall in love or wed.”

“Matters not to me. If they want to come after me, let them. I will give them a good fight in the end.” He grinned at her.

“I swear you have gone insane. I am broken. I am a shifter. I was exiled from my clan. There’s-” Aura was hushed by a finger on her lips.

“Aura, please,” He said with a grand smile. “You and I both know you are still the wild woman who crashed into me only months ago. You may need time and help to deal with what happened, but I am here. Your friends are here. So, let yourself begin to heal.”

Aura’s hand cupped Dax’s cheek. Horrible memories flooded her mind as she touched his cheek. She wanted to cower away as her hand started shaking rapidly. Aura went to move her hand, but Dax pressed his hand against hers. “Dax,” She pleaded. Her hand was still shaking in his. There was a comfortable warmth from his hand, but she still had feared from a man’s touch. Dax refused to move his hand. “I love you, wild woman.”

Aura admired his words when suddenly a memory came to mind. The guild master’s last command rang through her mind. Kill the elf queen. Her stomach was sick again as she thought of what he had said. Kill her at any cost. Damn bastard was haunting her mind.

“Please, rest,” Dax said, taking Aura’s hand and kissing it. “I will need you by my side as soon as possible for the royal visit. The queen is quite eager to meet the herbalist that saved the village.”

Aura’s head began to pulse with pain. She wanted to say no immediately, and stay as far away as she could from the queen. Her claws and fangs were at the surface trying to emerge as she fought herself to say no, but lips would not obey. At any cost… rang on her head. Damn that bastard. She quietly vowed to kill the bastard with her claws. Her lips then moved on her own. “It would be an honor.” Dax hugged her, kindly.

Damn it all! She screamed internally as tears flowed down her face.

“Aura?” Dax asked as he felt her body suddenly go limp. “Aura!” She fell back to the bed almost lifeless, only the rise and fall of her chest signaled that she was still alive.