The Wolf Who Ate The Sun

Everything was fine, until it wasn't. It was an accident, a careless beta had forgotten the stove on, and now the den of the Gemstone pack was in ashes, if Aurelia could turn back time to remind the stupid beta, if she could throw all flammable items and damn them she'd give her life. Because her pack didn't deserve this, they didn't deserve to scream in agony as they burned to death.

Aurelia was no better than the cries of her pack, she couldn't breathe anymore for the smoke was too heavy, her wolf was burning, and just before her eyes closed she could feel her body sweat, and a soft murmur in her ears "stay." And just like that she passed out.

Aurelia woke up in pain, her hair blonde locks were in a frizz, half her clothes were singed, and her right eye hurt. She looked around, taking in the vast surroundings of damp wet soil and a lush waterfall nearby. Butterflies painted the green forest Aurelia found herself in, and fireflies danced under the blazing sunlight.

Her head flicked to the sound of a broken twig, she instinctively growled as people came into view, multiple scents attacked her senses, aloe, coffee, roses, marigold, but one scent caught her attention the most, it was the sweetest of vanilla, with a singe of smoke while carrying the scent of wild honey, together combined? The scent was delicious.

"Mate." Aurelia muttered in a daze, her eyes searching for the owner of the scent.

"An Alpha Rogue? That's rare, you are in the northern territories, just past the kingdom of the Silver Wolves."

A lavender haired omega came into view. Standing just a little apart from the others, as if distance itself came naturally to him.

He was lean, not fragile—but light-built in a way that suggested speed over strength, like he could slip through forests and ease through conversations. There was a quiet confidence in the way he held himself, shoulders anything but taut, almost...like a relaxed posture, yet unforced. Nothing about him felt aggressive… Yet nothing about him felt easy to ignore either if that made sense, to Aurelia it didnt, not really.

The omega's skin was a milky white, light practically bouncing off of him, and his lips naturally tinted a glossy pink. Aurelia's breath hitched as her wolf stirred, the mysterious man looked at Aurelia, as hint of recognition sparked.

“...Lior…?” The lavender haired omega whispered, and like a call,Aurelia's inner wolf buzzed, the simple feeling causing her skin to glow.

“I…” Aurelia breathed in confusio, as her heart beat faster, while the fuzzy feeling in her head turned sharper.

Her voice came out fractured, like it didn’t belong to her body anymore, almost huskier even.

'Lior'

The name meant nothing—yet it landed inside her chest like something heavy, something that should mean something, her wolf thrashed inside, uneasy and desperate to communicate, as if it couldn't...

Her wolf stirred again, uneasy now. A feeling between, a memory itching at the edge of familiarity.

The lavender-haired omega didn’t move closer right away.

He just looked at her.

Properly, lile a quiet examination. Like he was trying to match her face to something only he could see, perhaps a picture in his mind?

The omega's honey gold eyes softened for a brief moment, that warm honey tone dimming into a quieter, more careful hue. The kind of expression you wore when you found something you had been searching for, but weren’t sure it was allowed to still exist.

Around the omega, the other wolves stayed back, watching. Waiting nearby as if on guard. None of them spoke.

Aurelia swallowed, forcing air into bitter lungs that still felt half full of smoke. Her right eye throbbed sharply, a reminder of the fire. The first thing to burn.

“Don’t…” she started, then stopped, because she didn’t even know what she was trying to say.

Don’t what?

Don’t look at me like that?

Don’t know me? Recognize me?

Don’t make me feel like I’m supposed to know you?

The omega finally stepped forward.

Each step was controlled, deliberate, as if he was approaching something fragile that might break if he moved wrong.

Up close, Aurelia could see everything more clearly.

The faint uneven waves of his lavender hair, the way it framed his face without trying to tame itself into perfection. The subtle curve of his lashes when he blinked slowly, like even that took thought. The softness of his mouth didn't match the steadiness in his eyes.

And his scent—smoked vanilla and wild honey—grew stronger.

Too close now.

Too real.

Aurelia’s wolf reacted immediately, not with aggression, but something sharper, deeper.

Mine.

The thought wasn’t spoken.

It wasn’t even fully formed.

But it pressed against her instincts like it had always been there, simply waiting.

Rowan’s gaze flickered, just slightly, at her expression.

He noticed.

Of course he did.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said quietly, voice low enough that it didn’t reach the others behind him. “Not alone. Not like this.”

Aurelia frowned harder, frustration cutting through the confusion. “I don’t know where ‘here’ is.”

A pause.

His expression shifted again—something subtle, but it tightened at the edges.

Like that answer wasn’t new.

Like he had heard it before.

Rowan’s fingers curled slightly at his side, then relaxed again, as if he was stopping himself from reaching for something he wasn’t allowed to touch.

“You really don’t remember anything,” he asked, softer now.

It wasn’t a question.

Aurelia shook her head once, sharply.

“No.”

Silence stretched between them.

Then Rowan exhaled, slow, controlled, like he had just accepted something heavier than he expected to carry.

“…Then you’re even further gone than I thought.”

His eyes lifted again to hers, and for the first time, the softness in them cracked just enough to show something underneath.

Something like grief perhaps.

“And Lior,” he added quietly, almost like he was speaking to himself now, “is not going to make this easier.”

Aurelia stood at the edge of the Lumen Pack’s territory longer than she meant to, eyes scanning the trees as if they might suddenly offer answers if she stared hard enough.

They didn’t.

Only that same strange silence that seemed to follow her ever since she woke up.

Rowan stayed nearby, not close enough to crowd her, not far enough to disappear. A deliberate distance. Controlled. Like everything about him was chosen carefully.

Aurelia hated how aware she was of that.

“Why do they listen to you?” she asked suddenly.

Rowan didn’t look surprised by the question.

“They don’t,” he said. “Not fully.”

“That doesn’t answer anything.”

A faint pause.

Then, almost softer: “It explains enough.”

Aurelia turned slightly toward him. “You’re not their Alpha.”

“No.”

“Then what are you?”

That question made him stop walking. For the first time, something in his expression shifted—subtle, but real. Like the answer wasn’t simple enough to place into a single word.

Rowan looked at her for a long moment.

Then said, quietly.

“I’m the one who finds things that shouldn’t be lost.”

Aurelia frowned. “That sounds like a fancy way of avoiding the question.”

A faint exhale left him—almost a laugh, but not quite.

“Maybe.”

They walked again.

The forest thickened as they moved deeper into Lumen territory. The scent markers changed here—cleaner, sharper, layered with multiple wolves. This wasn’t a roaming pack.

It was structured, protected, but mostly? It was alive.

Aurelia’s wolf remained restless, but no longer only from confusion.

Something about this place felt… wrong...

Like déjà vu without the memory of ever stepping foot here.

Rowan glanced at her once, then spoke again.

“You asked about Lior.”

Aurelia didn’t respond, but she didn’t ignore it either.

“That name,” Rowan continued carefully, “it is your wolf's name now.”

She stopped walking.

“So Lior is me?”

Rowan hesitated.

Just long enough for her to notice.

Then, “Almost.”

Aurelia’s voice dropped.

“almost?”

Rowan’s gaze softened, despite the grief.

“Lior died,” he said.

A beat.

Then, quieter.

“…on the same night your pack burned.”

“How do you know my pack burned? Who is this Lior you keep mentioning?” Aurelia asked.

Rowan sighed.

“How about this? Let's get you cleaned of these ashes, and get you situated, you just lost your pack. Then tomorrow I'll answer your questions. As to what I am? I am the pack's Luna, or was to put it correctly. I will answer the rest tomorrow like I said. So just follow me, and I'll show you to your new den.” Rowan reasoned.