I lied to Aurora.

I placed her sleeping body down on my bed, resting her head gently against the pillows, and draped the blankets over her shoulders. Moonlight flooded in through my window, bouncing off her perfect fucking face. What would she think of me when she found out? It had been less than a day, and I lied to her too many times.

The way she had said my name in the water, the way the moonlight made her face glow, everything about her... and I had to lie. I peeled off my shirt, tossed it into the hamper, and picked up Aurora's backpack.

A strange noise had been coming from it all day. When I opened it, two big black eyes stared up at me. I reached in, pulled out Aurora's cat, and tried to suppress a sneeze. "Moon Goddess..." I walked with the cat and Aurora's backpack to the spare bedroom across from mine and set her on the ground. "I can't believe she left you in there all day."

She walked to the other side of the room, her little butt swaying from side to side just like Aurora's did, jumped onto a high dresser, and glared down at me. I shut the door behind us and searched through Aurora's things, looking for her food.

Laptop. Chips. Pencil. Notes. Chips. Silver bloody knife that smelt like that Hound. Chips. Chips. More chips.

I stared down at the five small bags of Ruffles chips and gazed up at the cat. She licked her lips, gazing lovingly at the bags. I picked one up, opened it, and pulled out a chip. Moving it from side to side in front of her face, she followed my fingers.

After sneezing again, I put the chip in my mouth. The cat leapt right off of the dresser, wrapped her arms around my neck, and swatted the chip right out of my mouth. When it fell onto the floor, she hopped down and snatched it between her teeth.

I waved my hand in the air, trying to get rid of all the cat fur before I started sneezing and couldn't stop.

My first lie was that I didn't want the cat. I didn't care that she had it, I just... couldn't take all this... fucking shedding of fur.

I wished that was my only lie.

After opening a couple bags of chips and setting out a box--we'd have to get litter tomorrow--I left the cat in the room and walked to my office. Liam was sitting in one of the chairs in front of my desk, gazing through a file.

"How is the rogue and her son?" I asked.

He tossed the file onto my desk and stood. "Living with one of the elders. Told him to keep an eye on her. She knows more than she's saying about the stone."

I ran a hand over my face. Searching for this damn thing was so tiring. I just needed the search to be over. "Did you find any information regarding the stone at Aurora's pack?"

"No," he said. "We need more time."

I growled, nails lengthening into claws. "We don't fucking have time." Time was running out and running out quicker than I wanted. We needed the stone and we needed the stone now. I'd destroy the whole fucking world to find it. Packs. People. I didn't care who or what got in my way.

"I know," Liam said.

I snatched his throat, shoved him against the wall, and growled. "No, you don't." I pressed my lips together. Think of Aurora. Aurora. Aurora. My grip loosened on his neck, and I released him, turning my back. "You know how hopeless this all is without that stone," I said.

He rubbed his neck slightly and growled. "Don't think I don't know the consequences of not getting that stone. Her life will turn to shit without it. She'll just get worse." Liam gazed away and into the moonlight outside.

I didn't want that stone for power. I didn't want that stone to rule the lands. I didn't want that stone to become stronger. I wanted that stone for her. For Charolette. The one woman that I cared for the most, the one woman who had gotten me through every hardship, the one woman who I swore to protect from anything--even my mate, if it came to it.

Telling Aurora that I wanted power... That was Ares talking. Not Mars.

"I know," I said under my breath. I needed to clear my head. Every day that Charolette was sick stressed me out more and more. I loved her and needed her with me. "I need to go for a run."

Before I could leave the room, he caught my shoulder and tugged me back. "We have other problems."

"What?" I asked.

"Your mate."

"What about Aurora?" I clenched my jaw, narrowed my eyes, and growled.

"One, everyone is too excited to meet her tomorrow. Especially Marcell," he said.

My wolf growled at the mention of his name, that asshole was the best warrior that I had but also notorious for flirting with mated women. "I'll handle Marcell," I said through clenched teeth. "What else?"

"Two, I believe that the Hounds are tracking her down. The rogue woman said that there was a bounty on Aurora's head. The Hounds want her dead."

My wolf growled again, this time aching for blood. "Then we'll kill them. One by one." I wouldn't let anyone even try to hurt my mate. I'd rip them limb from limb before they even had the chance to touch her.

"Three..." He smiled. "I can't wait for her to get on your nerves." He walked to the door, pulled it open, and smirked back at me. "Finally someone able to test you, Ares. I don't think you're ready for it."

Ares was ready for her, for anything she could throw at me, for any lie that she could tell, for any fight she would put up with me. Ares was ready to do anything to stay in power and control of her, even if it meant lying to our mate.

The Ares in me was proud of the lies, proud that he had deceived our mate, proud that our mate was terrified of his reputation. But though he was a psychopath--I'd be the first to tell you--Ares loved that she was strong, an alpha even. He loved when she backtalked him, when she got all up into my face, thinking that she was the toughest wolf I'd ever come across.

Ares and Mars--no matter who we were to her--couldn't wait to see her wolf, to run with her up to Caraco Mountain that overlooked the forest and to decide which group of rogues we would take care of that day. I bet her fur was soft just like her hair, her scent even more tantalizing than her human form, her strength nearly matching mine.

It was all that I'd been waiting for since Mom and Dad taught me about mates twenty-three years ago. Now that time had come, and I had nearly screwed it up before it started thanks to Ares.

And my biggest lie of them all... it hasn't even come yet.