Caleb’s P.O.VIt was there again, that strange, unshakable connection between Aurora and Caroline. I couldn’t pretend I didn’t notice it this time. The way they seemed to feel each other’s pain, the silent exchange of thoughts that didn’t require words—it was eerie. It wasn’t just a coincidence; it couldn’t be. But how the hell was I supposed to bring this up to her? After everything Aurora had already been through, dropping another unexplainable bomb on her felt...wrong.Still, it gnawed at me. Should I tell her? Should I explain what I've noticed? Should I tell her what our friends and I had discovered not long ago about the Lunar Sisters?I sat on the edge of the bed, running my fingers through my hair, debating with myself. What good would it do to burden her with more questions when neither of us had answers? I sighed, looking over at her as she lay there, her face peaceful for once, her chest rising and falling steadily. It hit me then—what she needed wasn’t more mysteries to sol
Aurora’s P.O.VCaleb’s lips pressed into a thin line as he forced himself to smile, and he shook his head, but his eyes betrayed him. They were filled with worry.“It’s nothing,” he said quickly, his tone too rushed, even though he tried to mask it with a smile. “You’re just overthinking it, Aurora. You’ve been through a lot recently and maybe that’s overwhelming you.”But Caleb’s shocked expression earlier had only solidifies the unease swirling in my chest. I don’t need him to say anything; I can feel it in the silence between us, the way his eyes dart like he’s trying to make sense of something impossible.I knew I had said something to freak him out, but I just didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was the fact that I could feel the bond in a way that didn’t seem possible even two days ago? But the sensation was fleeting. It came and went in pulses, just like now, when Caleb’s emotions seemed to be completely shielded from me, unlike just a minute ago when I got this clear idea that he
Caleb’s P.O.VI push open the door to the game room, stepping inside to find Caroline, Jade, and Damien already waiting. Caroline’s eyes immediately snap to me, her expression sharp, expectant.“Where’s Aurora? Is she suspicious of anything yet?”I close the door behind me, offering a reassuring smile. “She’s with Riley. Helping him with his schoolwork. She doesn’t know yet.”Caroline doesn't seem entirely convinced, but she nods, her gaze flicking to the others in the room. "Good. We can’t let her know just yet. We need to find solid proof before we tell her about our suspicions."“Wild guesses, you mean.” Jade sighs, but Caroline decides to ignore him.I shift on my feet, glancing around the game room. My gaze eventually lands on Damien, who’s lounging casually, but the tension in his body says otherwise."So, what's with him still hanging around here?" I gesture toward Damien, a slight frown pulling at my lips. "Won't your parents get suspicious with him being here all the time?"Ja
Caleb’s P.O.VA silence fell over the room, the words hanging in the air. It felt like everything in me froze. Caroline’s face was unreadable, but I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. She wasn’t just theorizing, not this time. She believed it.“Wait,” I said, my voice quiet but intense. “You think you’re sisters? How is that even possible? You’ve got to be mistaken. You know what you’re implying, right?”Caroline nodded slowly, her gaze unwavering. “I don’t know what to think anymore, Caleb. Everything feels like it’s been flipped on its head. This connection between Aurora and me…maybe it needs a much more simpler explanation than urban legends and Lunar sisters and all this witch shit!”I was silent for a moment, processing her words. Part of me wanted to argue, to dismiss it, but something in my gut twisted. Could it be true? Could it really be as simple as Aurora and Caroline being real sisters? And what did that mean for everything else?Damien, who had been listening quietly,
Caleb’s P.O.VI slammed the car door behind me, staring up at Aurora’s house, feeling the weight of the situation press down on me. The old, rundown house loomed ahead of us, containing mysteries yet to be deciphered. I looked over at Damien, already halfway out of the car."You can wait here," I muttered, trying to keep my voice even. "I’ll investigate inside. This doesn’t involve you."Damien paused and shot me a look, like he wasn’t going to let me off the hook that easily."Caroline told me we’re doing this together," he said as he got out of the car and came to stand in front of me. "She wants us to bond over this mission. She’s counting on us, for our future."I felt my blood start to boil, frustration bubbling up like a wave. I grabbed Damien by the collar, yanking him closer with a firm grip before slamming his back against the car, unable to hold back my anger any longer."Look, I’ve let you fuck around with our situation long enough, but this is my mate’s house," I hissed thr
Caleb’s P.O.VI exchanged a glance with Damien, his expression mirroring my unease as we moved further down the hallway. The air was thick, oppressive, carrying the unmistakable stench of decay.My footfalls stirred up dust from the floor, which was coated in a gritty layer of dirt and debris. I hadn't been to this house when Aurora was still here, but the one thing I could tell was that she was the heart of this house. And now that she no longer lived here, the house seemed to be dying.I reached out to steady myself against the wall, but immediately drew my hand back in disgust—the surface was slick with dampness, streaked with black mold, and dotted with cobwebs that seemed to move, as if alive."This place just keeps getting worse," I muttered, my voice strained. I adjusted my grip on the wall to steady myself; the darkness here had us both using our wolf’s vision. "How the hell did it get like this? It’s like no one’s been here in decades."Damien, walking slightly ahead of me, pa
Caleb’s P.O.V“This doesn’t make sense,” I said aloud, the words heavier than I intended. “Who could’ve cleared out this room but left the whole house to rot away? We didn’t see any forced entry. No signs of anyone coming in or out.” I looked at Damien, who was inspecting the walls with a frown.“It’s like the stuff here just... vanished.”Damien turned to me, his face as grim as ever. “I don’t think it’s safe for us to be here alone, Caleb,” he said, his voice low. “I can’t shake off this sensation that someone might as well be keeping an eyes on us. Maybe we should come back later with more people?” He shifted uneasily, his eyes darting to the open door.Before I could respond, a noise outside made us both snap to attention. A low, creaking sound, followed by the unmistakable slam of the front door. My pulse quickened as Damien and I exchanged a glance, then bolted out of the room. Our footsteps echoing in the narrow hallway.When we reached the front door, it was shut tight, the fai
Caleb’s P.O.VThe sight of it made my chest tighten, the soft pastel curtains and the neatly made bed a stark contrast to the chaos outside.This was Aurora’s room…I could scent her from every corner, as if she had only just left this room. Thankfully, it wasn’t empty like the room downstairs, but the simplicity of it all didn’t sit right with me.The room was tiny, barely having space for a single bed, a tiny study desk and a closet. It felt like a sharp contrast to the vastly different lives we had been living before we even met. And it made me feel even more guilty about how I had ignored her, scorned her before the Moon Goddess made me realize she was my mate.Damien must have noticed my hesitation, so he strode forward to take action.“We can’t stay here,” Damien said; his voice hoarse as he slammed the door shut, keeping the fire at bay, for now. “The fire will catch up to us any minute now.”“There’s got to be another way out.” He crossed the room in quick strides, heading for t
Aurora’s P.O.VThat night, after returning to my room, a storm raged outside, howling through the trees and rattling the windows like it was trying to force its way in. The air felt heavy, thick with something I couldn't quite name, pressing down on my chest as I sat curled up on the bed.Every light in the room was on, pushing back the shadows, but no matter how bright it was, I couldn’t stop my thoughts from drifting back to Lucas and what he had done. He had kept my mother’s skeleton in my room—my mother’s old room—like some twisted trophy, a constant reminder of everything he had stolen from me. The image was burned into my mind, and no matter how much I tried to push it away, it clung to me, wrapping around my thoughts like vines strangling the life out of something.I wasn’t angry that her skeleton had been destroyed when the house collapsed. If anything, I was relieved. That place—where I had suffered, where so many others had suffered—was gone, reduced to nothing but rubble and
Aurora’s P.O.VI don't know how to answer him. The words sit on the tip of my tongue, but I can't bring myself to say them. Riley is watching me, his blue eyes so much like our mother's, filled with quiet expectation. And maybe that's what makes it worse. He doesn't know—he has no idea about the truth that has weighed on my shoulders for the past few days. He doesn't know that we're more than what he assumes us to be, that the blood running through our veins is the same, tangled in a history neither of us asked for.I should tell him. Maybe, in some twisted way, he deserves to know. But what good would it do? The past won't change. Our mother’s suffering won’t be undone just because the truth is spoken aloud. And so, I keep my mouth shut, my fingers curling against the fabric of my sleeve as if that might somehow anchor me in place.Riley tilts his head slightly, waiting. I need to say something. Anything. But my throat is dry, my mind blank, and I think he notices—because his brows d
Aurora’s P.O.VThe tires crunched against the gravel road as we finally pulled into the DarkWater Pack’s territory. The journey had been long, but as we neared our destination, a different kind of weight settled over me. Anxiety, relief, and a strange sense of longing tangled together, making it hard to breathe. My fingers curled into the fabric of my pants, my knuckles turning white.As soon as the car came to a halt, Caleb was already at my side, offering his hand. I didn’t hesitate to take it, my legs slightly unsteady as I stepped out into the familiar land I once called home. The moment my feet touched the ground, a voice cut through the air, sharp and desperate.“Aurora!”My head snapped towards the entrance, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest. Riley.Before my mind could even process it, my body was already moving. I broke into a run, my lungs burning as I closed the distance between us. Riley was running too, his arms wide open, his face a mixture of overwhelming relief a
Aurora’s P.O.VHis words were met with stunned silence, the weight of his generosity settling over the room. Relief crashed over me so suddenly that my legs nearly gave out.Ashton, Maggie and Avery, three people who had been tormented by Lucas and Harmon for so long, suffering the same fate as me and losing everyone they had…now they would finally have a permanent home. A place where they can breathe a sigh of relief without worrying about the horrible nightmares they had endured for so long.I turned to him, my eyes burning with unshed tears. "Alpha Camden, I... I don’t even know what to say. I can never repay this kindness."His expression softened as he reached out, resting a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Aurora, child, you don’t owe me anything," he said gently. "You are Caleb’s mate, and you’re like a daughter to me. There is nothing to repay. Family looks out for each other. Always."His words broke something inside me, the last fragile wall of doubt and fear crumbling under
Aurora’s P.O.VThe weight of their gazes pressed down on me, twin sets of piercing eyes scrutinizing our every move, our every breath. The two Alphas, towering figures of authority, sat before us, their expressions unreadable, their silence a vice squeezing at my lungs. I swallowed hard, my fingers twitching at my sides. Maggie, Ashton, the others—we were all standing in a row like criminals waiting for judgment. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, the room suffocating with tension as we waited for someone to speak first."Tell us everything," one of them said finally, his voice a low command that brooked no argument. "Every detail that might matter."A long pause. I could feel Maggie trembling beside me, her breath uneven. When she finally stepped forward, her voice was quiet, but the words she spoke sent ice through my veins."He kept them," she whispered, as if saying it too loud would summon ghosts. "The skeletons. Of our mothers. He... he preserved them. In our room."The silence
Caleb’s P.O.VThe weight of everything crashed down on me all at once. The battle, the bloodshed, the loss, and the unexpected kindness that had followed. My body ached, my heart even more so, but for the first time in what felt like forever, I let myself believe that maybe—just maybe—things were going to be okay.I watched as Alpha Jackson finally nodded, his expression grim yet resolute as he took in the condition of the infirmary.“Under any other circumstance, this would have been a call for celebration.” He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “But given everything… I don’t think any of us are in the mood for that.” His eyes flickered to me, searching for understanding, but I was already somewhere else in my mind. My focus had shifted entirely. I gave him a curt nod, my body already moving before my mind had fully caught up. “I’ll leave the rest to my father,” I muttered. The pack, the responsibilities, the politics—none of it mattered to me right now. Not when Aurora was still ly
Caleb’s P.O.VI didn’t know how long it took to head back, especially with Aurora in my arms, cradled tight so I didn’t lose her warmth. My body was screaming at me to collapse, to give in to the overwhelming exhaustion that had wrapped itself around my bones. Every step toward Alpha Jackson’s packhouse felt like walking through quicksand, my limbs heavy, my breath shallow. But I couldn’t stop. The others needed help, and if I gave in now, I might not have the strength to bring them the rest of the way. Silvia was slumped against me, her small frame limp, her face still damp with the tears that had drained her of consciousness. I had held her as she sobbed, whispered reassurances I wasn’t sure I believed myself. Her cries had been so broken, so raw, that it had shattered whatever was left of my strength, but I refused to let her go. I owed her that much.The others were still unconscious, their bodies battered and weakened from the blood loss. It wasn’t just exhaustion—it was surviva
Aurora’s P.O.VGuilt clings to me like a second skin, heavy and suffocating, as I step back into the circle. My hands tremble at my sides, and I barely muster the strength to lift my gaze. When I do, my heart clenches at the sight of Ashton and my two remaining siblings, their white dresses now soaked in blood, just like mine. The crimson stains tell a story I wish I could erase, a tale of choices made in desperation, of losses that will never be reclaimed. I swallow hard, my throat thick with emotion, but the weight of duty presses down harder than grief.Ashton begins the chant, his voice steady, unwavering. I try to focus, try to push aside the gnawing ache in my chest, but the image of little Violet’s face flashes in my mind. Her laughter, her tiny hands grasping mine just days ago—gone now, sacrificed to the very nightmare we tried to escape. A sharp sob threatens to escape, but I clamp my lips shut, my breath hitching as the first tear slips down my cheek. I know this is necessa
Aurora’s P.O.VThe realization hit me like a punch to the gut, a knot forming in my throat. Violet was gone. I could see her absence in the space where she should’ve been standing, and she was nowhere to be seen in the group. The air around us felt empty without her presence."Violet!" I shouted, my voice cracking with panic. The chant faltered for a moment, but I quickly pushed forward, trying to concentrate. "She’s not here!"Ashton’s eyes flashed with alarm as he noticed our hesitation. He glanced around, his expression hardening. "Where is she?" he demanded, his tone cold, but it did nothing to hide the tension that coiled in his shoulders. “Oh god…did we…leave her behind?”Before I could answer, a high-pitched cry broke through the noise. Silvia, her white hair glowing like a beacon in the fading light, was wailing uncontrollably. Her small body trembled as she reached for the house that was crumbling to the ground. "Mama! Grandmama!" Her sobs tore at my heart.Alpha Jackson was