No objections

As they walked down the hall, Royal looked at her, his eyes filled with a sincerity she didn't dare trust. "I promise you, Aurora, I mean no harm to your sons."

However, Aurora remained silent, her eyes fixed ahead, her mind consumed by a single desire. To put as much distance between herself and Royal as possible.

"You think you know me so well? Just because I had a hand in making you who you are today does not mean I will repeat the process with your sons." He went on as they began walking down the stairs.

Aurora quickly parted ways with him, disappearing into the throng of guests. She reached for a glass from a passing server and took a small sip.

Unfortunately for her, as soon as everyone caught sight of her, a buzz of whispers and giggles erupted, like a swarm of butterflies flitting from guest to guest.

Eyes sparkled with curiosity, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of gossip and speculation. It was clear that her arrival had added a dash of excitement to the evening's festivities.

"She is aging gracefully, despite her fall from grace."

"I heard she is a mother now! Wonder why the duke did not try to win custody?"

"I know, right? Guess he did not want to deal with diaper duty!"

"It is clear, she won custody of the children in the divorce,"

"Have you seen Royal Dumont lurking around? That eccentric scientist has resurfaced."

"I bet he is still conducting his twisted experiments on her. She should be grateful she is contributing to the greater good, protecting humans from being oppressed by those shifters."

Aurora's lips twisted in a sarcastic smile. "Humans." She sauntered over to the food table, snatching a black berry from the platter.

"They never change." she whispered, her eyes rolling as she popped the fruit into her mouth. Her gaze shifted to the stage, where her parents stood with bright smiles on their faces.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome, everyone, to this grand gala honoring our lovely daughter, Aurora Dumont!" Charlotte announced, pulling everyone's attention to her.

But Aurora's reaction was a casual "Hmm," accompanied by a flick of her wrist, as she sipped her drink with an air of nonchalance.

Charlotte's features darkened momentarily, her gaze flicking to Aurora with a hint of displeasure. But, with a swift recovery, she donned a dazzling smile and announced, "Enjoy the evening, everyone!"

She and her husband, Oliver Dumont then made their way down to the main floor, their faces beaming with warmth, masking the tension that had just crackled through the air.

As the party resumed, with guests laughing and chatting, Aurora remained stationed at the buffet table, her eyes fixed on her parents.

She observed them, listening in on their conversations with the two men and one woman who had joined them, forming a tight-knit group of five.

While the festivities swirled around her, Aurora stayed put, her attention riveted on the Dumonts, her gaze piercing through the noise as she eavesdropped on their exchange.

"I thought we had agreed to discuss this tomorrow, Oliver," The first man, John Agreste said, his voice low and urgent.

Aurora's ears perked up, her interest piqued.

John Agreste was a wealthy and influential businessman who founded and chaired Agreste Industries, a renowned company that revolutionized the development and manufacturing of weapons.

Underground, he was crafting weapons tailored to eradicate shifters.

She took another sip of her drink.

"This gala offers the perfect opportunity for us to discuss this, John," Charlotte coaxed him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

But John brushed her hand away. "She was just a child, easily manipulated for fifteen years until she escaped and married that duke. Not many know her true nature, and we cannot afford to reveal it now. We have been here before, Charlotte. We cannot start again. Our hopes are futile."

"We have the upper hand, John," Oliver assured him, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. "Our grip on her is secure. She is alone, with no one to turn to but us."

Aurora's face clouded, her eyes flashing with irritation, but she remained silent feeling relieved that they believed she had lost her werewolf abilities.

They were oblivious to the fact that as an Alpha werewolf, her senses were inherently ingrained impossible to extinguish or weaken.

The Dumonts, an influential and affluent family, felt suffocated by the dominance of wolf shifters, who held sway over human society. However, they were not alone in their feelings of oppression.

Like many humans, they felt marginalized and powerless against the superior strength and influence of the shifters. The rulers of the world.

Driven by their loathing, they dedicated themselves to eradicating the wolf shifter population, viewing them as a plague that needed to be eliminated.

Lady Veronica Laurent, a renowned fashion influencer and designer of exquisite male and female attire crafted from rare materials, expressed her concern. "Even if you say that, she might still betray us at any moment."

Underground, she was based on creating armors using exceptionally rare and exotic materials, far surpassing the quality of her mainstream designs.

"It is her personality, that split personality merged with her wolf, that is the issue. If she..."

"Werewolves are notorious for their loyalty to their packs. La Mort, like Aurora, will go to great lengths to defend her offspring." Charlotte interjected sternly.

Veronica simply sighed, still uneasy.

Aurora smirked.

'Ignorant humans.' La Mort laughed.

"Hmm." Aurora popped another berry into her mouth, drained her glass, and then carelessly dropped it on the table.

She grasped the tray of berries and began to saunter around the room.

It was wisest to place a large distance between them.

"Very well, we will provide every necessary resource. She should restart her efforts as soon as possible," the youngest member of the group declared, his unfamiliar striking features and chiseled good looks making him stand out to Aurora.

She looked at him in the corner of her eyes. What was his rush, and who was this stranger anyway?!

Highly offended and frustrated, she turned on her heel and strode out of the ballroom, escaping into the garden. There, she savored the berries, their sweetness a balm to her frazzled nerves.

"Sixteen years and the only thing that changed is the fifth member of the "shifters must be wiped out" mongrels." She tsked, licking her lips.

Then, her eyes drifted to the star filled sky, the crescent moon hanging low. But even the celestial beauty couldn't lift her scowl.

While other wolves would revel in the moon's beauty, she felt only a hollow ache that only served as a reminder of her own deficiencies. The absence of her wolf.

Her wolf was dead, but her essence had been reduced to a faint ember, barely keeping her senses alive.

After finishing the berries, she carelessly dropped the tray on the nearby table and stretched out her arms. "La mort, do you have any objections? We are being called upon yet again to eradicate our own kin."

Without warning, a mirror image of herself appeared before her, identical in every way except for her eyes which gleamed with a deep, unsettling purple and the maniacal laughter that contorted her face.

La mort was her split personality, a manifestation of her darker aspects that had merged with her weakened wolf, which she had lost touch with.

This alter ego absorbed and contained all her dark emotions and desires.. A personality that protected her....

'I have no objections.'

'But he must be destroyed.' La Mort's expression turned grim, her brow furrowed in a deep frown. 'Only death can quench our thirst for vengeance.'

Aurora smirked. "Rest assured, we will make him bleed."