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035 | In the Hospital
Last Updated:
2023-11-22 20:17:55
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“What, exactly, did you tell Ethan?”Zoe looked out of place in the pack hospital, too sharp and dark for the rumpled white bedding and soft cream walls. Even her back was held rigid as she surveyed me, her eyeliner creasing into folds as she narrowed her eyes at me.She’d been kinder than normal until now, although she wasn’t one to fuss, which I was darn glad of. Ethan had been acting like a mother hen since he’d discovered our mate bond. He’d barely let me out of his sight. It would’ve been sweet… if it had been real.I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. With everything that had happened with the Rogues, I’d let my other concerns slip. Even Ethan telling me he thought I had cheated on him, when he’d been the snake kissing Selene on that stage, had faded into dim unimportance.Dying – okay, sort of dying – had thrown everything into sharp relief. Sammy was all that mattered to me. I hadn’t given up on my revenge plans – far from it – but the reason behind it felt less like the
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Aurora’s POVIt wasn’t awful because I didn’t want Violet back. In fact, it wasn’t awful at all to begin with.Sammy was asleep on my hospital bed. He’d spent the evening here with me, chattering away about the pack’s day care and the friends he was making. He’d told me about staying with Zoe and how much fun he was having with her, but how much he missed me. My heart had panged with every word.“–And Auntie Zoe gave me chocolate ice cream for breakfast!” He’d slapped a tiny hand over his mouth, his eyes going wide. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that,” he’d whispered, a blush crawling up his rounded cheeks.I wouldn’t normally let him have dessert for breakfast, but given the circumstances… “Don’t tell Auntie Zoe you told me.” I’d put a finger to my lips. “But if it’s okay with you, then it’s okay with me.”He’d grinned. “Really, Mum?”“Really.”“I’m going to have ice cream for breakfast every day!”I didn’t care if the sugar rush lasted forever, as long as he was coping with the tur
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Ethan’s POVAria’s eyes narrowed. Or were they Aurora’s eyes? “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied, so smoothly that I almost believed her.‘Mate!’ howled Sterling, over and over and over again. ‘Violet’s back, Violet’s back!’I crossed my arms tightly over my chest. “Sterling can smell Violet. I can feel the mate bond between us. There’s no point lying about it.”“I’m not lying,” she sniped. She didn’t seem scared or even worried; she just seemed annoyed. Annoyed at being caught out? Or was she annoyed at not being believed?I inhaled deeply. It had been six years since I’d been close enough to Aurora to smell her, but breathing her scent in took me straight back. It was as though we’d never left the past. That time suddenly ceased to exist. We were back together, spending lazy mornings under the covers, two steaming cups of coffee on the nightstand and a book face-down on Aurora’s lap. Her hair smelled of her favourite shampoo – one from the local salon that just smel
Last Updated : 2023-11-26The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 039 | Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Aurora’s POVI had one last-ditch attempt at making a plan. In the ten seconds I had to come up with something genius, the best I could do was: plead innocence.‘You’re innocent until proven guilty,’ Violet agreed, though she didn’t sound convinced.I didn’t have a chance to think of anything better. Ready or not, it was game time. There were torturous moments where I believed it could never work. Ethan kept insisting that I was Aurora, his dark eyes so intense they scared me. Then he looked at Sammy, and my heart iced over. No. He could do what he wanted to me – but he wouldn’t lay a finger on Sammy. I would die protecting my son, and I would force my way out of my grave to keep on protecting him if I had to. I’d done it before. I’d find a way to damn well do it again.“Ethan, I don’t know what’s going on.” I pleaded with him, hating my simpering tone but sticking to it as I saw the first glimmer of confusion taking hold of him. “I’m not your dead wife. I’m me.”He looked so devast
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Aurora’s POVThe next day, I’d healed enough to leave the pack hospital. The day after that, I decided I was done with resting and needed to get back to work.I had a few new scars on my torso and down my arms and legs, but none of them bothered me as much as the angry red scrape down my cheek. Violet promised they’d heal in time, thanks to her wolfish accelerated healing, but I didn’t want them to disappear one day in the future. I wanted them gone now.Although I’d healed physically, I hadn’t begun to get over the trauma of my attack. Every time I saw that slash down my cheek in the mirror, or my glassy reflection in a dark window , I was dragged back to those frozen woods, to that icy stone slab, to Dominic’s arrogant smirk – and to the pain that followed it.Sammy was the only thing holding me together. With no purpose but healing, I’d struggled to draw myself out of the past and into the present. If not for my son, I might have lost myself a second time in the pristine white of t
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Aurora’s POV It took me half an hour to pull myself together enough to finish the drive home. I didn’t want to, but… I knew what I had to do.I’d stumbled out of the car, squinting into the too-bright headlights for a glimpse of Selene’s blonde hair. After she’d waved and winked at me, she’d skipped away, agile on her high heels even in the autumn rain. I’d stood, leaning on the bonnet of the car for support, trying to spot her as fogginess and dizziness took hold of my mind.I’d seen Selene twice now, and I could’ve sworn I’d heard her laughing at me in the woods with Dominic. My skin crawled as the sound lingered in my memory. If she’d been in the coffee shop, the woods, and now here…She wasn’t in Berlin. She was here, in Midnight City.Either she was lying to Ethan – or Ethan was lying to me. I had to confront him. I weighed the risks as I navigated the city roads. Unless they were in on it together, Ethan felt like less of a threat to me than Selene Snowfield did. After all, it
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Ethan’s POV‘What is your problem?’ huffed Sterling as I bolted out of Aria’s room. ‘You practically ran out of there.’‘I don’t know.’ I slammed the door open and kicked it shut behind me. Then I fell back against the wood with a groan. ‘Something’s not right.’‘Well, yes. Obviously.’‘Why does she care about Selene so much?’ I pushed away from the door and started to pace. ‘It doesn’t make any sense.’‘It does,’ he said levelly, every word carefully considered. ‘She’s our mate. Selene is your wife. She might be jealous.’Because every word was so well chosen, my back prickled at his choice of might. ‘She might be jealous?’‘It would make sense.’I sighed. ‘But?’‘But it would also make sense if our earlier suspicions had some truth to them.’‘What do you mean?’This time, it was Sterling who sighed. ‘Who would have more reason to hate Selene than anyone?’It took me a moment, but when I got it my heart dropped right down to my feet. ‘Aurora,’ I said.‘Exactly.’I dragged a hand thro
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Aurora’s POVAfter that, everything sped up. I became a blur of motion as I rang an ambulance and did CPR. Through it all I heard the rush of water in my ears, felt the tightness in my chest that came from gasping for air in a panic, was the thrum, thrum, thrum of a drum beat, pounding desperately as I tried to save Remington’s life. My heart beat twice as hard, like it was trying to compensate for his.It was no use. I had failed. Remington was dead, limp on the sofa in his eerily pristine flat. I had come here for him, for his son, his son who was visiting him today, and I had let him down. I’d let them both down.I went through the motions when the ambulance arrived. I helped them, then made cups of tea as they moved his body onto his bed. I stayed politely out of his son’s way when he arrived, his reddened face streaked with tears, his hands clasping helplessly at nothing. A hand clapped me on the shoulder. “We just need to take a statement,” said the police officer.I’d been so
Last Updated : 2023-12-07
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Ethan’s POVI couldn’t stop staring at Sammy. I’d been pummelled by revelations today - Aurora was alive, and here, and she was willing to forgive me - and, perhaps even more incredible than that…I had a son. We had a son.The woman I had pined for was here, her warm body pressed to mine, our son slumped against us, asleep, and I couldn’t believe it. My life had been turned upside down. That didn’t mean I wasn’t angry. Damn it, I was furious. She’d kept my boy from me. ‘You can’t blame her for that,’ sighed Sterling. ‘I know. Don’t make me remember,’ I replied, but it was too late. My mind was spinning down the one path I wanted to always avoid.I’d been swayed by idiocy and left my mate out in the cold. The fact she’d lost our other baby because of me…I wasn’t the same man I’d been then. I couldn’t believe I’d treated her like that.But I had.I’d pushed her to make those crazy choices. She’d gone to extremes to keep herself, and our child, safe from me. It made my throat fill
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 077 | I Am Both
Aurora’s POVThe words lingered in the air between us. I could’ve reached out and plucked them with my fingertips. They were a palpable thing - a curse I wished I could recall.Then Ethan let out a single, sharp breath.My chest squeezed as I watched the emotions racing across his handsome, chiselled face. His jaw tensed, then relaxed, then tensed again.I waited on tenterhooks for him to speak.“I knew it,” he said eventually, the words rough around the edges. “Not for sure, but… I felt a connection to him. And, damn it, Aurora, he looks just like me.” His brow creased; he refused to meet my eyes. “I wondered why I wanted to be close to him. Separate from wanting to be close to you, I mean. I-“ He cut himself off and dragged a shaking hand through his dark hair. I had so much to say, but I held my tongue. He needed to process this. He finally looked at me. “You kept my son from me.” It wasn’t an accusation. It was simply a fact. A cruel, horrible, awful fact.“I had no choice. I wo
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 076 | Fatherhood
Aurora’s POV Ethan spent the night. Not in the way I’d anticipated or even hoped - and yet it was infinitely better. I longed to share a bed with him, skin on skin, a melding of bodies and minds as we kissed and talked and made love… But instead he was here, taking care of us. I had a front row seat to watch my son’s relationship with his father bloom. Before everything had happened, I’d dreamt about bringing up a child with Ethan. Then I’d feared him ever finding out the truth. Now, telling him the truth felt like the most natural thing in the world. How he hadn’t seen it for himself I didn’t know. They looked so alike, sat together on the sofa, heads bowed as they spoke. Ethan ruffled Sammy’s hair; my heart squeezed painfully. ‘It’s only a matter of time until he works it out,’ Violet said. ‘He knows who you are now, and he knows how old Sammy is. It wouldn’t take a genius to put two and two together.’ I bit my lip. ‘I hadn’t thought of that. I’ve had so much else to think
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 075 | Who Took Him?
Aurora’s POV I glanced back at Ethan. He nodded, his jaw set. He stepped closer to me, a silent promise that he - quite literally - had my back, no matter what I opened the door to reveal. I opened it. Sammy lay crumpled on the floor. I dropped to my knees with a cry. “Sammy, sweetheart, look at me,” I pleaded with him. He mumbled something incoherent. I scooped him into my arms; Ethan held the door open for me so I could bring him inside. His eyelids flickered as I laid him down on the sofa. “Sammy?” I whispered, pushing a lock of dark hair off his forehead. He looked so pale, but I could see the steady rise and fall of his chest and hear the soft intake of his breaths. “Shit,” Ethan cursed, running both hands through his hair. He looked between me and the still-open door. “They only just knocked. Whoever took him has to still be close, Aur. I can go after them, or I can stay here with you and Sammy.” I cradled Sammy’s icy cheek. I wanted him to stay, to comfort
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 074 | Sammy is Missing
Aurora’s POVWith shaking fingers I clicked on the light. The cold white flash burnt my retinas. “Sammy?” I called out softly, still hoping he was in the bed, still hoping he was where he was meant to be. I took a step closer.The duvet had been pulled back. A book had been left abruptly, as if dropped, face-down with its spine groaning. Sammy would never leave a book like that.My gut churned.“Sammy!” I cried, panic flaring in my voice.I tore around the room, flinging back the curtains and opening the wardrobe. There were no thoughts in my head, nothing concrete or sensible that would help me find him. There was just terror, raw and biting.Ethan was drawn into the room by my shout. “Is everything okay?”“Sammy’s gone.” I spun around to face him. My bottom lip wobbled. “He’s not in here.”Ethan nodded, reaching out a hand to comfort me even as his expression hardened. I knew that look; that was the Alpha in him stepping forward, the part of him designed to deal with any crisis. H
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Aurora’s POV“What’s wrong?” I asked. He hadn’t pulled back from me, not an inch. Not even a millimetre. “Don’t stop,” I pleaded.If I paused to think about this, I might never get the chance to have it again. Our relationship was too precarious. “I can’t do this out here,” he whispered, pressing tiny, butterfly kisses up my neck until his breath warmed the shell of my ear. “You’re freezing cold. And… it doesn’t feel right, our first time being out in the open.”His lips brushed over my skin with every word. Shivers of pleasure rolled freely down my spine. I was lost to them. I was lost to him.“I don’t care,” I said breathlessly.He laughed, low and sinful, and I dragged his mouth back to mine. Every piece of him felt like unchartered territory; I wanted to map each stretch of muscle and each sharp line of his face with my lips and tongue. I wanted to know him again, with no pretence between us.“You will care, later. I don’t want to stop, but I don’t want to take you like this. Yo
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 072 | Under the Cover of Darkness
Aurora’s POVMy heart leapt at his words. It felt like my soul surged towards his, that energy buried deep inside me desperate to entwine with his. It wasn’t that everything I hated about our shared past had suddenly vanished; it was simply that my need eclipsed everything else. For a split second, I was no longer the hardened woman I’d become. I let my pain slip away. I let it reveal the vulnerable heart underneath, the one I tried so hard to conceal around him.Oh, Ethan…His gaze flicked from my eyes, dipping lower, caressing my lips. “I still love you,” he rasped, like he was realising it himself for the first time. “You have every right to hate me. I know there’s so much we still need to talk about. But I know how I feel, and I know what I want.” His eyes met mine. “You.”My stomach swooped. There was still so much for us to discuss – but I had to stop kidding myself. I might have set out to get revenge on Ethan, but my feelings for him were still just as real as they’d been a
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 071 | Lies Unearthed
Aurora’s POV“Let me go,” I whimpered. But, deep down, I knew it was over. “I can’t.” His voice was raw, croaky. “I need answers.”I writhed against his grip. His fingers tightened around my shoulder. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said softly. “But I can’t let you go.”“You did before.” I struggled against him. My limbs surrendered to the power of my fear and relief, making me weak in his arms.My pulse pounded against my temples. It’s over, it said, again and again and again. It’s over. “I missed you every second that you were gone,” he croaked, and I jolted upright. I sought out his eyes as they met mine. I felt like I could see deep into his soul. “I knew meeting Aria – meeting you again – felt like coming home. I just didn’t know why.” “You hated me,” I whispered. My eyes filled with tears. “You forced me to divorce you. You tried to make me – make me…” I couldn’t say it. The mere memory of what I’d been through was enough to close my throat.Ethan dragged a hand through his
The Alpha's Rejected Mate is the True Heiress 070 | Ethan, I...
Aurora’s POV“Aria,” Ethan rasped, his voice cloaked in the same shadows as his face. I could see only a ghostly figure beside the Wishing Tree, silver moonlight slicing over the broad cut of his shoulders and narrowly missing his features. But I would know his voice anywhere, even in death.I already had, I supposed. Was this my rebirth? Was this my second chance?Edging closer to him, I tried desperately to make out his eyes. When I did, I realised they were closed. “You wanted to meet me,” I murmured.Violet had been right. It would have been a relief to see Selene standing there instead of him. I hadn’t known what to expect from Ethan, but even so his harsh posture was a surprise. His letter had been so kind, and yet he had not moved an inch towards me.“I did.” I agonised over the emphasis he put on ‘did.’I swallowed hard. “Is everything okay, Ethan?”“It was,” he groaned, suddenly breaking from his stiff posture and dragging both hands through his hair. “When I sent you that l
