Chapter 3 3-FINDING ANSWERS

[ AURORA'S POV ]

I blinked against the dim light, the world turning as my eyes darted open. The sharp, earthy scent of herbs stung my nose, making me cough and choke.

I jerked upright, heart beating, scanning the unfamiliar room. "Mabel?" My voice cracked, small and desperate.

From the doorway, Elder Mariam stepped forward, her robes rustling softly. "You're awake," she said, her voice calm but steady, carrying the weight of someone who had seen too much.

I scrambled to my feet, knees wobbling, eyes frantically searching the room. "Where... where is Mabel? My father?" The words tumbled out, ragged, almost pleading. "Where is everyone?"

She held me firmly, fingers pressing into mine, anchoring me. "My child," she murmured, voice low, patient. "I asked the guards to bring you here, from the gathering."

Her hands, warm and lined with age, closed over mine. I clutched them like a lifeline, tears streaming down my cheeks. My sobs shook my shoulders as I sank to my knees beside her. "Help me... please... do something," I gasped, voice breaking with every word. "My wolf can't just vanish like that. Help...please."

She squeezed my hands, and I could feel the faint pulse of her own heartbeat beneath my fingers. "Aurora... Some wolves don't come on the wolf awakening day. Some arrive stronger, some never arrive at all. But-don't lose hope. You mustn't give up yet."

I pressed my forehead to hers, gripping her hands as if letting go would make everything vanish. Sobs rattled my chest, hot and unstoppable. The room swirled around me-her perfume, the herbs, the soft rustle of her robes-and for the first time in hours, it felt like a tether, a small thread I could hold onto.

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I walked back to the gathering and climbed the platform once more. The wood was cold beneath my bare feet, familiar in a way they made my chest tighten.

I reached inward, searching-pushing past the echo of my breath, past the frantic ponding of my heart.

The same hollow silence stared back at me. My shoulders sagged. Whatever strength had been holding me up upright slipped away, and I stumbled off the platform, legs unsteady.

I made it only as far as the nearest tree before my knees gave out. I sank weakly beneath a tree, my back pressing into the rough bark as if it were the only thing keeping me upright. The night air felt colder here, heavier. My body finally gave in, trembling like it had been holding back, shoulders caving inward as the sounds of the ceremony blurred into something distant and hollow.

I closed my eyes.

Images of their betrayal flash across my mind unbidden, twisting my stomach. My fingers clenched the bark, I squeezed as if I could hold back the memory.

But I couldn't.

Seraphina's hand on Mabel's arm.

The way his body had angled toward hers. Holding her in place as if she's the most expensive treasure in the word.

The certainty in his voice when he chose her.

I hadn't watched them leave. Seraphina was laughing and smiling as they called her Luna.

Her leaning into him, already comfortable, already claimed. His arm around her like it belonged there, like it always had. The pack parted for them. My butt sat rooted to the ground. The world shifted around me, laughing and claiming what I had imagined for myself. I couldn't feel my hands.

A jagged ache tore through my chest. I gasped, shoulders jerking as the air escaped me in a strangled sound. My heartbeat slammed against my ribs like a caged thing. A broken sound escaped my throat before I could stop it, and then the tears came-hot, uncontrollable, sliding down my face and dripping onto my hands clenched in my lap.

I wiped at them angrily, but they kept coming.

When I forced my eyes open, I searched the clearing without meaning to.

My parents were gone.

The space where they had stood earlier was empty, trampled grass and fading footprints the only proof they had ever been there. No one was looking for me. No one had stayed behind. It was as if my failure had erased me completely.

My fingers curled into the dirt, gripping the soil until it worked its way beneath my nails. I welcomed the ache in my hands. It was solid. Real. The grit under my nails dig into my palms. The sharp ache grounded me, real and heavy.

"No..." I whispered, voice cracking. My lips trembled, word barely escaping as if the sound itself could break in my throat.

The words sounded fragile, like they might shatter if I said them too loudly.

My throat burned.

I pushed myself up unsteadily, legs wobbling beneath my weight. My legs wobbled beneath me. I sank my teeth into my lower lip, forcing one trembling step after another. The word spun, but I didn't fall. Sitting there wasn't helping. Letting the memory replay was killing me.

I needed answers.

Or maybe I just needed to hear him say it again-to my face-to be sure Seraphina did not tie him down with a pup.

That must be it. The reason why he acted like that toward me. I will accept it. I will take the pop as mine.

I turned and ran.

I ran without looking, feet carrying me instinctively through the road. The path to the pack house stretched ahead of me. lit by ceremonial lanterns that blurred through my tears. My dress snagged against branches, my breath tore painfully from my lungs, but I didn't slow.

The pack house looked bright with different ceremonial lanterns but was silent. Ahead, the echoes of what I couldn't undo pressed in on me, cold and unyielding.

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I burst into the pack house, my breath tearing in and out of my chest. The heavy doors swung wide, slamming against the stone walls with a sharp echo that rang through the halls.

No one stopped me.

The guards standing by the entrance glanced up, recognition flickering across their faces. I was Aurora Vale. The Alpha's chosen-at least I had been. Their hands stayed at their sides as I passed, eyes following me in silence. No challenge. No orders to turn back.

That hurt more than if they had blocked my way.

My footsteps slapped against the cold marble floor as I moved deeper into the house. The air pressed against my skin, thick with authority and expectation. My stomach knotted. Every echo of footsteps, every shadow along the marble walls, weighed on my like stones.

I didn't slow down. I didn't hesitate.

The doors to the king's lounge stood ahead-tall, carved with ancient symbols of dominance and rule. Light spilled out from beneath them. Voices murmured inside. Familiar. Intimate.

My hand trembled as I reached for the handle.

I pushed the doors open.

Heat hit my face as laughter echoed in the lounge. My eyes darted around, scanning quickly, every muscle taut, every straining.

I'm looking for only one person. My mate.