In Sumturm City...
The morning sunlight filtered through the glass windows of Lucas's office, casting a golden hue over the polished wood and leather furniture.
Lucas sat at his expansive desk, papers scattered across its surface, though his attention was far from the documents in front of him.
His mind was elsewhere—focused on the one thing he couldn't shake.
Aurora.
For the past two days, his every attempt to track her down had led him to nothing but dead ends.
Her usual haunts—Sophia's apartment, Venus Café, the studio she worked with—had all come up empty. Each failed attempt had only increased his frustration, the gnawing sense of loss deepening within him.
He clenched his jaw, trying to focus on the report before him, but it was no use.
The thought of her—possibly with Hades, sharing his room, his bed—burned through his mind like wildfire. His wolf stirred uneasily inside him, growling in disbelief, insisting that Aurora wouldn't betray him like that. But Lucas couldn't help it. The image of her with Hades wouldn't leave him.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed through the hallway, and a knock on the door followed.
Lucas looked up just as Amos, his assistant, stepped inside.
The man's face was drawn, exhaustion written in every line.
He had clearly been working tirelessly, following Lucas's instructions to find out where Aurora was and uncover anything suspicious about her.
Lucas's heart rate quickened as he put down the report, his face brightening slightly.
"So," he said, leaning forward in his chair, "what information have you gotten about Aurora?"
Amos approached the desk, his expression grim. He took a moment before answering, as if carefully weighing his words.
"It's been... difficult, sir," Amos began. "I've gone through every record I could find, and... she's quite suspicious. It's exhausting trying to pin down her real background."
Lucas's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by suspicious?"
Amos hesitated, then pulled a folder from the bag slung over his shoulder. "Right through her birth certificate, school records, even some of her old employment history—her surname, her family name, it's never been clear. In fact, it's like she deliberately erased parts of her past."
Lucas frowned, leaning back in his chair, his fingers drumming against the desk. "You're saying there's no record of her family?"
"None," Amos confirmed. "I spoke to a few people who knew her back in high school. They said no one ever visited her—not once, from elementary school all the way to college. It's as if she had no relatives, no family at all. The only person she was ever close to was Sophia."
Lucas's frown deepened. "And what about her time in high school? Anything unusual?"
Amos nodded slowly, flipping through the folder. "Her high school days were strange, too. Apparently, back then, her surname wasn't known either. She was often teased by the other students who called her an orphan, the daughter of beggars. People just... assumed she came from nothing."
The silence in the room grew thick, Lucas's thoughts racing. He had known so little about her past—too little.
And now, with her gone, it felt as though there were parts of Aurora he had never even touched, pieces of her life she had kept hidden from him all this time.
"So that's what everyone thought of her," Lucas muttered, his voice tight. "The daughter of nobody."
Amos nodded. "That's the general consensus, sir."
Lucas sighed deeply, the exhaustion he had been trying to suppress now weighing heavily on his shoulders.
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing a hand over his face.
He had asked Amos to look into Aurora's background, hoping it would provide some clarity, something to explain her sudden disappearance from Sumturm City.
But now, all he was left with was more questions.
"What else did you find?" Lucas asked after a moment, his voice low.
Amos shook his head, his expression one of defeat. "Nothing concrete, sir. Every trail led to a dead end. It's almost as if someone went through great lengths to cover up her past."
Lucas sat in silence for a moment, his gaze distant as he processed everything.
Aurora's life, the woman he had thought he knew so well, had always been shrouded in mystery.
But why? What was she hiding?
"Keep digging," Lucas finally said, his voice steady though his mind was spinning. "I want to know everything—no matter how deep you have to go."
Amos nodded, but there was a hesitation in his eyes. "Of course, sir. But... with all due respect, what exactly are you hoping to find?"
Lucas didn't answer immediately.
What was he hoping to find? The truth, certainly.
But more than that—he wanted to understand. He needed to know why Aurora had kept so much from him, why she had slipped through his fingers without him even realizing.
"I just need to know who she really is," Lucas said quietly, almost to himself. "I thought I knew her... but now, I'm not so sure."
Amos stood quietly, waiting for any further instructions, but Lucas waved him off with a tired hand. "That'll be all for now, Amos."
The assistant, Amos nodded, leaving Lucas alone with his thoughts.
As the door clicked shut behind him, Lucas leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and burying his face in his hands.
The weight of everything pressed down on him—the confusion, the frustration, the feeling of having lost something precious without even understanding why.
His wolf stirred again, more restless this time.
"She wouldn't betray you," it seemed to say, the words echoing in his mind. "She's not with Hades. She's not."
But Lucas couldn't shake the feeling that he had been blindsided, that Aurora had slipped away into a world he had never been allowed into.
And now, he was left to piece together the puzzle of her life.
Whatever secrets Aurora had been hiding, Lucas was determined to uncover them. Even if it meant finding out truths he wasn't prepared to face.