Aurora’s POV
I stared at the girl Ethan had been kissing. Everything faded into the background as I recognised my own features on her face.We had the same long, blonde hair, the same green eyes, the same full lips, the same freckles over our small, straight noses. We even had the same beauty mark!
What was going on? Who was this girl?
Violet whined. ‘I don’t like this.’
I stood, frozen to the spot, unable to do anything but watch as my lookalike steadied herself on Ethan’s muscular arm.
Was Ethan seriously cheating on me? With a girl that looked so much like me?
Zoe stormed up onto the stage, dragging me with her. With all the fury of a lioness, she shoved the DJ out of her way and snatched his microphone. “To the bitch that kissed someone else’s mate over there – The Midnight Club doesn’t welcome cheaters!”
The music stopped. There was a beat of total silence – and then the whole club erupted with chatter. I felt numb to it all.
Then I heard what they were saying.
“Why is Zoe here?”
“Who’s the girl next to her? She looks so much like Selene!”
Did nobody know who I was? Had Ethan not mentioned me once? Did they even know he was married?
“This is Ethan Savage’s Luna!” Zoe shouted into the microphone. “This is Aurora, his mate and his wife!”
Oh, god. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole. I tugged on her sleeve. “Zoe,” I protested, but she was determined to embarrass the two cheaters.
I didn’t care about that. I just wanted the truth.
Silence swelled. I looked between Ethan and my lookalike. He cleared his throat, then gestured at the DJ to keep playing. The music came back on, quieter than it had been before.
Outside, the first roll of thunder shook the sky.
The crowd forced a few awkward laughs and went back to dancing, although I didn’t miss the glances thrown my way. My cheeks burned. I tried to ignore the whispers about me, but it was impossible to ignore my lookalike when she strode over to me and held out a slim, long-nailed hand.
I didn’t shake it. I just stared at it. Rings that looked like they cost more than my entire college tuition glittered on every one of her perfectly manicured fingers.
She cleared her throat. “Excuse me?”
I forced myself to meet her eyes. My gaze snagged on the beauty mark beneath her left eye again.
She flexed her hand. “My name is Selene. Selene Snowfield.” She put extra emphasis on her surname, as if it meant a lot.
I frowned. That name sounded familiar…
Zoe was mouthing, “Famous heiress,” at me. That had to be it, then.
I managed to pull myself together enough to say, “Hello.” I’d never normally be so rude, but what was I supposed to say to the woman who’d just kissed my husband? Hi there, Selene, it’s a pleasure to meet you? Yeah, right.
Slowly, Selene withdrew her hand. “You’re Ethan’s mate, then?”
“Yes.” I swallowed hard. “And his wife.”
She smiled at me like we were old friends. “Oh, dear! That must’ve been quite the shock for you, seeing the two of us just then.”
“You could say that,” I said dryly, narrowing my eyes at her.
“Ethan and I are old friends,” she went on, either missing my tone or choosing to ignore it. “Best friends, in fact. What you saw was just a silly game. I hope you aren’t angry, Aurora.”
My spine prickled when she said my name.
Zoe stepped in front of me and put her hands on her hips. “He’s still her mate, Selene. His behaviour – and yours – was unacceptable. Just because you’re besties,” she sneered the word, “it doesn’t mean you can kiss.”
Gently, I caught her shoulder and pulled her back a step. “Thank you,” I whispered, “for looking out for me.”
“Always,” she replied, shooting Selene and Ethan a glare. I couldn’t bear to look at either of them.
“Excuse me, Miss Zoe?” A waited hovered at the edge of our group. “We were going to call your father, but seeing as you’re here…”
She sighed. “What is it?”
“An urgent matter. One that requires the utmost discretion.” His voice got quieter as he spoke.
“I’m in the middle of something.”
“It’s okay, Zo. I…” I mustered up the courage to look at Ethan. “I want to talk to him privately anyway.”
“Are you sure?”
I nodded.
“Really sure?”
“Zoe, go. It’s fine. I’m fine.”
She sneered at Ethan. “I don’t want to leave you alone with him.”
“I’ll be fine.”
If I said fine enough times, would I eventually be it?
Eventually Zoe conceded and left with the waiter, although she kept shooting anxious glances back at me.
I suddenly felt very alone without her.
“As I was saying,” said Selene, her voice purposefully loud as she guided me over to a booth, “Ethan and I are childhood friends.”
I sat down on the very edge of the seat and picked at my cuticles beneath the table. I could feel two sets of eyes burning into me.
“I couldn’t believe it when Ethan told me he’d married an Omega.” She laughed, the sound like wind chimes. “Now I’ve seen your face, I can understand why.”
My gut twisted. How dare she? And what was she implying – that he only liked me because I looked like her? Under the table, my hands curled into fists.
I thought about the tender way my husband kissed my beauty mark. Had that been for Selene? Had he pictured her in my place all along?
“You know, I really should’ve met you sooner,” Selene continued. “You clearly need to learn more about being a Luna, Aurora.” Her voice was saccharine sweet. It didn’t sound nice; it sounded patronising. “If you’d come to more social events, I might have known you really existed.” She let out another tittering laugh. “I was starting to think he’d made you up.”
“I was never invited,” I spat, finally meeting her eyes with a glare. “How can it be my fault if I was never invited?”
“I didn’t mean to upset you!” she cried, loud enough that half the crowd turned towards us. Her lip wobbled. Turning to Ethan for help, she whimpered, “I didn’t mean to upset her, Eth.”
Hearing her call him that made anger burn in my belly. I gripped the edge of the table and felt it crumble beneath my fingers. My eyes flared. How had I…
“Don’t be cruel to Selene,” hissed Ethan, putting an arm around her. “She hasn’t done anything wrong.”
I gaped at him in disbelief. How could he sit so close to her and not hear the malice in her voice?
“Ethan, I–”
“Don’t bother. I’ve already informed you that I want a divorce. You have no right to interfere anymore. If you have any issues with the prenuptial agreement, you can discuss it with me. Are you asking for more money?”
“This isn’t about the money,” I rasped, reaching for him.
He yanked his hands away. “Don’t touch me,” he snapped.
Tears burned my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall. I couldn’t.
I’d already been publicly humiliated by my husband. If I cried now, they’d won. Maybe they already had…
As I tried to gather myself, the whispers of the crowd flooded my head.
“I can’t believe that’s his mate. She looks so much like Selene…”
“It makes sense, though, doesn’t it? Ethan and Selene grew up together, and he always wanted to be with her.”
“He did?”
“He did. But when she turned eighteen, she found her mate in another pack and left Ethan behind. He was in bits.”
It hurt to listen, but I had to. This sounded more like the truth than anything I’d heard from Ethan or Selene themselves.
“Well, Ethan eventually found his own mate. Her. Nobody knew who she was, just some Omega none of us had ever heard of. We were all dying to meet her. After all, what Omega could turn the head of a prestigious Alpha?”
Someone gasped. “One that looks exactly like Selene.”
“Obviously.” A sigh. “Ethan never brought her here, or to any pack events. Whenever anyone asked about her, he was reluctant to even say her name. Now I guess we know why.”
“But why is Selene back now?”
“Gosh, you don’t hear anything, do you?” Another sigh. “Her mate died.”
Violet howled so loudly in my head that it drowned out the rest of the gossip. ‘Kill her!’ she cried, over and over and over again. ‘Let me shift out so I can kill her!’
I struggled to hold my wolf back. ‘You can’t kill her!’
But I was angry, too. I stood up abruptly, drawing more eyes to me. I no longer cared.
“Why have you come back, Selene?” I asked.
“Because I wanted to see Eth,” she purred, shuffling over to sit closer to him. “He always makes me feel better.”
The vision of her kissing him filled my mind. One moment, I was stood in front of her – the next, I was grabbing her collar and dragging her up out of her seat.
“Leave him alone,” I snarled.
“He doesn’t want you.” Her voice was flippant. “Maybe you should be the one to leave him alone.”
“I’m his mate!”
“Not anymore, you aren’t.” She smirked up at me.
I saw red. I tightened my grip on her neck.
And then Selene pretended to faint. She gasped, even lifted her hand to her forehead, winked at me – and then she fell gently backwards, right into Ethan’s arms.
He lifted her up and held her to his chest, glaring at me. “You are cruel, Aurora. How could you hurt her?”
My lips flapped uselessly. “No, I – she – I...”
Pain lanced through my stomach. Ethan had always been my protector, so I reached for him instinctively. If I’d ever needed help before, it had been him I’d gone to.
But now one of his friends shoved me away, his face a mask of contempt. I grabbed my belly, wanting to keep my baby safe.
Ethan pulled a face at me. “I know you’re a liar, but you don’t need to pretend you feel unwell, too. Don’t use your pregnancy as a ploy. You just want to be more like Selene, don’t you? She faints; you faint.” He shook his head in disgust. “I know you too well, Aurora. You aren’t sick. Selene has always been of poor health. You haven’t.”
I couldn’t believe how heartless he was being. It was like my doting husband had been replaced by a man as cold as ice and as cruel as death.
“No, it’s not that.” I lifted my chin, trying to be defiant, but another dizzying wave of pain crashed through me. I staggered a step back.
Ethan sneered at me. “You’re an Omega. You’ve lived a poor life. There’s no way you could be hurt that easily.”
I swallowed down a sob. “Why are you doing this? This isn’t you! What, have your feelings for me been fake all along?”
He hesitated for a moment.
Then he ripped out the remaining half of my heart and laughed at it. “Yes. I never loved you, Aurora. I don’t know how I could ever have thought of you as Selene’s substitute. You’re nowhere near as special as she is.” He levelled his gaze at me; his eyes were hard. “In fact, you aren’t special at all.”
“But our baby,” I whimpered, barely able to see around the grey light pulsating across my vision. “Your baby, Ethan…”
He laughed coldly. “I know your secrets. I know whose child it really is.”
Unable to cling to consciousness for even a second longer, I fainted.
Aurora’s POVI woke to the steady beeping of machines and the overwhelming smell of lemon and pine disinfectant. I wrinkled my nose.“You’re awake!” cried Zoe. I opened my eyes. She was sat on the edge of my starchy white hospital bed, her expression caught between worry and fury. Swallowing hard, I managed to rasp, “What happened?”Her jaw flexed. “I can’t believe I left you alone with Ethan.” At my frown, she took a deep breath and explained. “Raina and I brought you here. She’s a friend,” she added, with a wave of her hand. “We couldn’t get you to wake up, so…”“Thank you.” I squeezed her hand. “What about Ethan?”“What about him?”“Well – where is he? Is he here? Did he come with you…” I trailed off, seeing the answer in her eyes. Hesitantly, she said, “Selene got sick, too. Her health has always been bad.” My heart plummeted as I waited for her to go on.“He’s with her,” she muttered, shaking her head in disgust. “I’m sorry, Rory. He’s a dick.”It was like she’d ripped my hear
Aurora’s POVSelene clung to Ethan’s arm like a limpet as they left. He steadied her as she wobbled; seeing that broke me all over again. Had she been right? Would he really choose her over me? His mate? His wife? His Luna?With clumsy fingers I picked up my phone. My hands shook as I waited for my parents to answer.Ring, ring, ring…We’d always had a good relationship – until now. Despite the struggles we’d faced and the poverty that had made them money-hungry once Ethan had entered our lives, I’d always thought they loved me.All of a sudden, it felt like their love for money had outrun their love for me. “Aurora? How are you?” asked my mum as soon as she picked up. “I’ve been better.” I took a deep breath. “Mum, have you spoken to Ethan lately?”She sighed. Nearby, I heard my dad’s gravelly huff. “Is this about the divorce? Ethan has already been more than generous.”Dad cut in, “Especially after what you’ve done.”I almost crushed the phone in my grip. “I haven’t done anything
Aurora’s POVFive years laterSammy grinned toothily at me. My little son was the picture of innocence as he said, “What about Simon?”I sighed. “No.”We both looked through the glass wall of my office, out into the waiting area. Simon wiggled his fingers at me and stood up.I shook my head at him. With a huff, he sat back down. “He’s been out there for a long time,” said Sammy, his gaze drifting over to one of my would-be suitors. “He must really want to be my new daddy.”Laughing, I lifted Sammy onto my lap. “Yeah,” I teased along with him, “that must be it.”Five years ago, I’d run away from my life. I’d changed everything about myself to stay hidden after faking my own death. I wasn’t Aurora Everhart anymore; now I was Aria Black.It wasn’t just my outward persona that I’d changed. Along with switching out Aurora for Aria, I’d lost the naïve, trusting parts of myself. I’d had to do whatever I could to survive, cutting ties with family and friends alike just to get away from Ethan
Ethan’s POVThe drive from the airport to the Eternal Bonds Pack was a breath of fresh air, figuratively and literally. I rolled down the windows and let the crisp, autumnal air buffet me as I put my foot down. The tension in my shoulders had drifted away the second I’d waved goodbye to Selene and Serena, dropping away fully as I’d watched their plane take off. Goodbye, stress. Goodbye pretending and preening and primping. Hello… I didn’t know what I was about to walk into, actually.As much as I needed to be alone – so much so that I’d told my usual driver to take some time off while I was visiting Eternal Bonds, despite his stern frown at the thought of me driving myself around while I was there – it brought with it other complications. Not having my wife bleating at me meant that feelings I normally kept squashed rose, unbidden, to the surface.I loved Selene. At least, I thought I did.She was the only woman who’d ever shown me kindness. True kindness, anyway – not like the fake
Aurora’s POVMy heart pounded as I hurried inside. When I’d seen Ethan’s car, I’d been worried I’d bump into him – but I hadn’t thought I would so soon, and so literally. I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and let my head fall into my hands. I sucked in shuddering deep breaths, trying to calm myself down enough to think clearly.Because all I could do right now was panic.He’d recognised me. It was the only explanation for his behaviour. He’d looked into my eyes, my green eyes, eyes I should’ve bought contacts for. The rest of me looked different, but this was my mate, my ex-husband. We’d spent hours gazing into each other’s eyes. He knew mine better than anyone.Even in the shadows of the porch, his eyes looked exactly the same. All of him did, from his carefully dishevelled head of dark hair to his brown eyes, such a dark brown they almost looked black. He was maybe more muscular; his biceps had strained against his shirt.Why had I even noticed that? This man was evil incar
Aurora’s POVHis knock was a death knoll. It made my knees shake. Panic consumed me.Should I hide? Should I run? I could go away again, change my name, dye my hair, get contacts this time–But he’d already seen me. He knew I was in here and, the longer I delayed, the more suspicious I’d become. Gritting my teeth, I edged my way over to the front door.His brow was tight with concern as he eyed me, and then the broken glass scattered across the floor. “Are you all right?” “Fine.” My voice came out all high-pitched and weird sounding. I coughed. “I’m fine. I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”“No, you didn’t.” He looked at me expectantly, but hell was more likely to freeze over than I was to invite him in. His shoulders sagged. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”“Well, I am.”He lingered. “The glass didn’t cut you, did it?”I shook my head.“What happened?” He toed his boot towards my foot, angling his body towards the open door behind me.I crossed my arms. “I tripped. Anyway, it’
Ethan’s POVFor the second time in less than eight hours, I found myself staring longingly at Doctor Aria as she walked away.I needed to pull myself together.I leant back against the front door, its maple-leaf wreath jabbing me in the back, and watched as she hurried towards the car park with her son. She slowed, glanced around, and, when she thought nobody could see, she dropped the coffee I’d bought her in the bin.But why? She had no reason to hate me, and yet it seemed like she did. Maybe she was in a relationship with someone, and saw my friendliness as unwanted advances. My chest pinched at the idea of her with another man, which was even crazier than the fact I’d got up before the dawn to get her a coffee.What was wrong with me?Sterling coughed out a laugh. ‘Where do I even start?’I groaned. ‘Not now. I need to think.’‘What, about how that beautiful woman wants nothing to do with you?’Pinching the bridge of my nose, I said, ‘Why wouldn’t she drink the coffee?’‘Why did y
Aurora’s POV“Mummy, what’s going on?” Sammy asked as I bundled him into his car seat.As promised, Zoe had arranged for an Omega to park a rental out here for me. She’d given me the key last night before she’d left. I’d barely glanced at it, and it was a shock to me to see that my borrowed car was a sleek, matte grey G Wagon. It was practical for Sammy and I, sturdy enough to traverse the country roads surrounding the Eternal Bonds Pack yet not too big for driving around Midnight City, but it was more expensive than every car I’d ever had combined.There was no doubt that it was for me, though. Someone had stuck a note under the windscreen wiper, with my fake name written in fancy script across it; inside was a quick introduction to the car, telling me where the fuel cap was, the start button, and a reminder to keep any gas receipts as the pack would reimburse me for my petrol costs. “I just think it would be better if you came to work with me today,” I said, worrying my bottom lip