AURORA It was raining. It never rains around here. I heard people whispering about it, saying that the earth knew that someone had just taken a great man, which was why it was weeping. I would not be surprised if they were right, even though I was not the type that believed in superstition. Today was the burial of Damian. I had cried so much for the past three days that I could not even recognize myself when I looked into the mirror. It was like a stranger was looking back at me every single time, and it terrified me to my bones. Damian’s body had been prepared as usual by the elders, and he was about to be cremated in the boat and sent in the ocean, so he could find peace. It was how burials happened apparently, since I have never really been to one. The last time I lost someone, I was not allowed to stay back for either of their funerals. I was shipped off to marry this man. The man that I was cremating now, and sending back to the earth that had brought him to life. I won
AURORA I clutched my diamond emerald necklace on my neck as I felt pain in the lower part of my body. He was doing it again. Damian was cheating on me with his girlfriend Evelyn while I stood there trying to look pretty beside him for the ball. But that was even the least of my concerns, even though I had been married to him for four years and he never attempted to treat me right. I had just found out that my ungrateful and wicked husband had killed my mother. I was not sure of it. I looked at the necklace closely in the mirror. I have owned it for several years but it had never shown me something like this before. When I was getting ready and I was clasping it on my neck, I had a vision and saw Damian standing in front of my mother’s dead body. Could he have really been the one that killed her all those years ago? I could not sit here and continue thinking about it because I was not going to get any answers. I needed to go and ask him. I looked over at the divorce papers
AURORA He looked like he was born of a fruit plucked from Heaven. The man stood way taller than me, and the authority around him was impossible to ignore. He had medium, well styled raven hair. His skin was tanned and the angles of his face were sharp. His chiseled jawline and high cheekbones made him look surreal. His eyes were piercing and green, almost making me tremble in my shoes. Who was this man and why have I never seen him here before? From his well styled and obviously expensive suit, I could tell that he was an important and rich man. “I am so sorry,” he looked down at the spilled wine and then at my clothes. I could not help but notice the little accent in his voice that made my heart flutter. “Come on, let me get you cleaned up.” “No, that is fine.” I called out for one of the waitresses. When she saw the spill, she cleaned it up with some wipes. I did not want water to touch my clothes yet. I was planning to dry clean it to keep the quality intact. “I am so so
DAMIAN “Gosh, you are so perfect.” I whispered to my girlfriend, Evelyn as we left the royal ball. The royal ball’s main purpose was for alliances with other packs that I was not on good terms with. I wanted to cut off that tradition but as much as I hated to admit it, it was very good for creating new allies and new business collaborations. It was easy to ignore my enemies when I had the most beautiful woman in the world by my side. I decided that I wanted to announce my girlfriend to all of them today. I was never going to marry Evelyn and she knew that. Divorcing my mate was going to make me seem weak and that was something I could not afford right now, especially with some of my half-brothers who wanted the throne for themselves even though I was the heir. As the alpha, I could have as many women as I wanted even when I was married or mated. Aurora was forced to marry me because of some mate bond between us that I did not even care about. It was almost hilarious because th
AURORA We got on the way and three hours later, we arrived at Ethan’s pack. The massive gates opened to reveal a sprawling landscape unlike anything I’d ever seen. Ethan slowed the car, glancing over at me with a reassuring smile.“Welcome to Blackwater, Aurora,” he said softly. I took in the sight before me. The towering trees, lush greenery, and rows of beautiful old buildings were very different from the kinds we had back in my pack. It was different in a good way, or maybe I felt that was because I was finally away from Damian. Everything felt peaceful to me. I was so glad I made this decision. When he stopped the car, a guard stepped forward and opened the door for me. I smiled at him, whispering some words of gratitude before I got down. Ethan passed over the key to another guard who was going to park the car. He came beside me as we walked into the palace. “Take a moment to settle in. You can make yourself comfortable here, Aurora. I’ll come back soon to introduce you to ev
AURORAWe spent the next few minutes there, just enjoying the view and when the sun eventually went down, we decided to go back into the pack. I was exhausted and needed to sleep. Ethan led me down a grand hallway lined with portraits. Each of them was perfectly crafted, and I could tell that they cost a lot of money. I like to paint so I would probably like to remake the portraits in my free time.“I want you to meet my mother,” he said, glancing at me as we headed back to my quarters, which was close to his. “And don’t worry. She is well… she’s got her opinions, but she means well.”I nodded, trying to calm the flutter in my stomach. Meeting his mother seemed like a monumental step, even if I kept reminding myself this was just a temporary arrangement. Still, I couldn’t ignore the slight anxiety gnawing at me. After what had happened with Kiara, I was afraid that I was going to find one more person here who hated me. I was not new to people disliking me, but for some reason I wante
DAMIANI sat alone in my room, anger and resentment simmering like fire under my skin. I have never been this angry in my life. Everything I have always wanted had come to me with ease. Women, money, the crown of my pack. This felt like a huge slap to my face. The thought of Aurora leaving and rejecting me stirred something deep and ugly within. I’d never felt so betrayed, so abandoned. She had the audacity to leave, and for what? To go to that pretender, Ethan Grey. My fists clenched involuntarily. If only she knew the type of man he was. Now that she was gone with him, all I could think about was how to rescue her. I have made mistakes in the past, dammit, but she was making an even worse mistake leaving with him. He was the enemy of the pack for a damn reason.As I brooded, the door creaked open, and Evelyn stepped in. Her soft, delicate presence which was usually soothing felt wrong. I had never felt like I wanted to be away from her until now. She crossed the room and sat beside
AURORA Every day in Blackwater felt like walking through a circus, only that I was the one being showcased. The stares, the whispers, the looks of barely concealed suspicion were something I couldn’t escape daily. It seemed like everyone in the pack had something against me. And though I tried to brush it off, the weight of their judgment was slowly eating me up inside. I wondered if they were really doing all of this because they were wary of me or because there was something else. How did all of them know so fast that I was from their enemy pack? I knew some of the people from this pack came to my pack for college and I do not see them getting treated like that. I wanted answers to why I was treated this way so badly that I was desperate. Ethan had told me I’d be safe here, that this could be a fresh start, but so far, it felt anything but welcoming.This morning, as I walked through the palace, a small group of maids stopped talking as I passed, their conversation shifting to low
AURORA It was raining. It never rains around here. I heard people whispering about it, saying that the earth knew that someone had just taken a great man, which was why it was weeping. I would not be surprised if they were right, even though I was not the type that believed in superstition. Today was the burial of Damian. I had cried so much for the past three days that I could not even recognize myself when I looked into the mirror. It was like a stranger was looking back at me every single time, and it terrified me to my bones. Damian’s body had been prepared as usual by the elders, and he was about to be cremated in the boat and sent in the ocean, so he could find peace. It was how burials happened apparently, since I have never really been to one. The last time I lost someone, I was not allowed to stay back for either of their funerals. I was shipped off to marry this man. The man that I was cremating now, and sending back to the earth that had brought him to life. I won
AURORA I wished there was a way to leave the fucking pack. Finally, Nancy had gotten me some blood even though it was not one that I would like to drink. It was animal blood, and it tasted low quality but at least it kept me alive. I felt like I had not unlocked all of the potential that I had until I was able to feed on normal blood from a person. I was looking forward to that. I had stayed with my brother mainly because I did not want him to feel alone after all of the months he spent alone. Counting down, it has already been a year since he was captured. Just a few more months to come. I also wanted to ask Damian why the hell hadn’t he brought back Silas to life until I realized that the day had passed. I was in the prison, and I had missed my only chance of getting back my true love. I cried for the entire day, and Logan and Nancy tried to comfort me but there was very little they could say. I couldn’t even say it was Damian’s fault. I was the one that made him do whatever he
DAMIAN I tried to get back into schedule after I waited three hours for Aurora to come and meet me but she did not. I had wanted to go and check if she was alright but that did not sound like a great idea. If she needed space, then perhaps I should grant her that. If she wanted to speak to me, then she would come and meet me. I paced in my room until I couldn’t anymore, so I headed to my bathroom and got ready for the day. I popped some of the hangover pills I had to help with the headache that was still prominent. Then I checked my reflection before I headed outside to my office where I was going to sign some documents for the new houses that are been built in the pack. When Alpha Matthew eventually surrenders, I would like to start building on the land so I was already starting to prepare it now. The birth rate had increased by some percentage, and in a few years to come there would be a shortage of homes people could afford. We needed something on a budget but also good qual
AURORA “Have you seen him?” Nancy burst through my room, startling me until I sat down, leaving my previously lying position. She looked excited, which was odd because there was absolutely nothing to be excited about. My life was in shambles and I was in desperate need to feed. She could not find any place to get blood for me because all of the blood banks in the hospitals around had vervain in them. It seemed like it was not only Damian who took the caution to have all of the subjects take vervain to prevent them from being food to vampires. I wished I could tell him but after what he had done yesterday, I could not bring myself to do it again. Not when the incident of yesterday still haunted me. He obviously did not take me with respect. If not, he wouldn’t have done that. “Who?” I asked her. The first person that came to mind was Damian . Perhaps something had happened to him. “Logan. He is out!” I did not expect to hear that early in the morning. I got off my bed an
DAMIAN I was disappointed in myself. I did not know that I had fucked up so much until when I woke up in the morning on my bed and my head felt like it was spitting into two. I was severely hungover from the other night. The only thing I remembered at first was that I was with Kai and we were celebrating the fact that Aurora knew that I was her mate. I was not sure of it, but I knew that there were high chances of that since I had gotten my own mate bond just a few days ago. I was so excited. The celebration morphed into a party, and then when I realized I was too drunk, Kai told me to stay back until tomorrow because it was a bad idea to go to her room and speak to her in that state. I had agreed with him but as the night passed and he was asleep, my urges got the better of me and then I was on my way to her room. I remembered going there and I remembered kissing her, and she pushed me away. Now that I was sober, my ego felt even more injured than it was but I still felt so fuck
AURORA I had a hard time writing the letter because I was not sure of what he wanted to hear. I did not know if he brought me out on his own accord or because he needed me for something regarding bringing his lost girlfriend back home. Because as time passed, since the two days that I was released, he had not come to see me. It was on the second day that I finally decided to send out of the letter to him. If he released me because he still believed that we were friends, then he was going to come and see me. If not, then it is what it is. I would just forget I ever wrote the letter and bury myself out of shame. Moments after I had sent the letter a few hours ago, I had started to pace in my room out of anxiety when Nancy came back into the room. I gave her a questioning look because it couldn’t have taken her this short period of time to have taken it to the alpha and yet here she was, already back. “Why are you already back?” I asked her. “One of his sisters collected it,”
DAMIAN I had very little time to decide if I wanted her to be in my pack or if I wanted her to take her away. The anti vampire committee had been trying to get someone who would be their sample, but I did not know if I would be able to just give her away because I was selfish. It was something I was not ashamed of admitting. I didn’t want to be away from my mate. She was the closest we could get to getting the work done but I couldn’t do it. Whenever I thought of giving her away, something stopped me from doing it. I had not told Kai yet because I knew what he was going to say. He did not like Aurora that much so of course he was going to tell me to let her go. She was my mate, and this was her secret so I had to protect it. I was going to do everything to make her feel better. It has been two days since I instructed that she was let out of the cage and I have been doing everything in my power to go and meet her because I did not know how the conversation was going to go. Of c
AURORA It almost felt unrealistic as I felt the cold air of the night hit my skin. I have been so starved of this and wanted to experience it again for the entire time that I was in the cell. I hoped that Logan was going to feel that way soon too. The cold, iron bars of the dungeon door clanged shut behind me, it marked the end of a nightmarish chapter. The moon bathed the streets in its ethereal glow as I stepped into the night, my senses acutely aware of every rustle and heartbeat around me. The guards that were holding on to me had let me go and I was free to roam. My legs hurt from being trapped in one place for so long and it took me a while to stop myself from limping as I headed towards the palace. I wished there was somewhere else that I could be, but I didn’t really have a choice. The palace was the only place I could go to. On my way back, I stumbled on so many random things on the way. I hissed. If Damian wanted me to be out then at least he should have sent so
AURORA I sat there in silence, hearing what my brother was telling me about my identity that I had not found out for a long time. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was all adding up, with every word he spoke. It made sense why my parents never really liked me in the first place. I was not their daughter. I was adopted into the family when their real daughter had died, and I was replaced by her. Only the immediate family knew, and it had been kept a secret all till today. I was surprised, but it was fleeting because it all made sense to me. He said that I was a hybrid, which meant that I was a werewolf and a vampire in one body. When I had died at the Elantine’s palace, that was when my vampire side was activated. I had technically been dead since then. My heart was not beating and I would not shift on the full moon because I had the power to do that now. Not even an alpha had the same potential as I did. He was stronger than me, but I could beat him in a combat because o