Aurora's POVI feel like I'm floating. I'm weightless, just shifting around the endless darkness like a kite without a string. I don't feel my body. Nothing physical, really. Just a vast expanse of black that gives way to nothing and no one.It feels peaceful. It feels like that moment before you fall deep asleep, that period of darkness that will only become a colorful dream later on. I know that I should be somewhere else. I have a vague memory of needing to get away from something, but the nothingness is so comforting that I just make no effort to get out of it.Memories start to come back. I remember Beta Benjamin telling me to leave to spare everyone the scandal, and I remember wandering into a forest only to meet a scary figure in the dark....Am I dead now?If this is death, then what people say is not true at all. This feels like genuine tranquility, and nothing like the suffering they all tell me.I prepare to get lost in this forever if it is indeed death, but then I feel a
Aurora’s POVA pair of cool blue eyes pierce through the darkness, so bright that I flinch when they meet my gaze. I stagger back, my feet getting caught in a protruding root. I fall back, and that’s when the wolf emerges.It’s sleek white fur glows in the dark, but it’s spattered with so much blood that I can only see spots of it. The smell of copper fills the air, getting stronger as it draws closer to me, baring its teeth. Hunger is emanating off it. Starvation.But how come I can’t bring myself to look away?“Wake up,” I tell myself. I know this is just a dream, but now it’s getting painfully real and I want to get out of here. “Wake up, Aurora….”But I don’t stir. Not even a little. The white wolf just stares at me, its gaze way too intelligent. Too predatory.It’s going to attack, I thought. But no. Instead it starts to shift into an image of a naked man, glorious under the moonlight, all muscle and smooth skin. I trace my gaze up to his face, but before I can make out his featu
Aurora’s POVNo. This can’t be. Maybe I’m just being an idiot. Surely I can’t tell who’s my mate just from his scent?“Good evening, everyone,” the man says, and his voice adds yet another layer of desire in my body. “I’m Mason Chase, the—”“We know you!” Dad beams just when Mom comes out of the kitchen with my cake.He gets up to shake his hand, and Mom just plops down my cake on the table without really caring just to greet this guy Mason. I try my best to smile, but the emotions whirling in my chest just won’t permit me to process anything but the pressing desire in the pit of my stomach. As they clamor over him, laughing and joking, I find myself taking note of everything about him.His hair is brown, but not mousy. It’s this sleek chestnut color that shines under the lights. His eyes are hazel, almost green but not quite. He has a sweet smile, the kind that reaches his eyes. He looks kind and gentle and just everything that my abrasive sister isn’t.Suddenly, I feel a wave of jea
Aurora’s POVA rush of cold encloses my body. Suddenly my hand is too slack for the phone, but I don’t drop it. All the frustration from getting stalked and having the same mate as my sister finally catches up to me, and I find myself throwing the phone across the room.The sound of it clattering against the wall makes the conversation stop in the dining hall. My mom calls out, “Are you okay, sweetie?”“Yeah.” I can’t even feel my lips moving. “I just need some air.”With that, I rush out into the backyard and sit alone in the gazebo. In the distance, I can see a bunch of cars making their way to the driveway. I panic for a while, but then I see that it’s just the cars of Margot’s friends. They seem to be coming over for my birthday.Trust Margot to make my day about her and turn it into her party.Soon enough, the house gets filled with people. My parents seem to be happy, though. Why wouldn’t they? I have always been the outcast, and I have no friends to come over.I just wait in si
Aurora's POVMason starts to shake me, his eyes burning with an emotion that's way too close to hate for me to stay comfortable. I pry myself off of him, taking a couple of steps back. But all the distance I try to put between us is just erased by him still advancing towards me.The mate pull is indeed still there. It's making me feel almost giddy with our closeness even though I know that he's angry right now.I just close my eyes when he gets close enough, when his face is just inches from mine. It's either a kiss or a scream, and I don't think I'm prepared for either....But nothing comes. Instead, I hear the familiar click clack of high heels on the stones set in the garden. I open my eyes and I find that Mason is already walking away from me, towards a familiar figure in the distance.It's Margot, coming in to check on us."Is everything okay?" she asks Mason, but her eyes are on me. "Rory? What is happening?""Nothing," is all I can say.Mason is the one who decides to speak. "I
Aurora's POVMy breath gets stuck in my throat. My chest is so tight with unreleased air that my vision is also starting to get white at the edges. I hold onto the brim of the sink for support, wanting to get away. Needing to get away. But I just stand there like some sort of a masochist, listening to them.I feel... Dirty. Unpure. And the first surge of repulsion for myself for even keeping up with this is the only thing that drives me to get away and go back to my own room.I slam the door, having a dark hope that the sound would somehow make them stop. But of course it doesn't. Tears are leaking out of my eyes and I wipe them furiously, angry with myself."Why did it not work?" I ask Vega, not bothering to hide my anger. "You're my wolf. You're the one tied to this whole mate business. Why did our rejection not work?""I don't know," she says, and I can sense the desperation in her tone. "It should have worked. That's how it goes for a lot of people who denounce their mates. I don'
Aurora's POV"What is that supposed to mean?" I demand, my anger getting so strong that I have to make a conscious effort not to scream so no one hears me.Thankfully, the rest of my family and Mason seem to be too busy laughing and enjoying each other's company to ever notice that some unknown pervert is calling me right now.I know it would be easier to just put the phone down and stop the conversation right then and there, but I want to just stop it right here and right now. I'm just so done with this, and perhaps if I keep the conversation long enough, I would recognize the voice and identify whoever this is."You are not my destiny," I tell him in a cold whisper. "I don't know you. And if you have the balls, maybe you should show up and just get this over with."The man from the other line lets out a laugh, and this time, he sounds truly amused that his laughter softens into a somewhat boyish sound that triggers something in me.As though knowing this, the man's voice once again
Aurora's POVThe day passes pretty fast, which is a huge relief in my end. I just didn't want it to go any faster, and time seemed to fly indeed.Now it's nighttime, and I'm back in bed curled up safe. I locked the window out of fear, and I didn't get the chance to tell my parents about what happened. It's probably for the best, since they are too busy entertaining Margot and Mason to ever pay me attention.Speaking of those two, they didn't stay for the night. I'm glad they're back at their university so they can snuggle and I don't have to see them, but I have to admit that it still hurts.But like what Mom said. Supress and kill.I'm doing exactly that as I try to get some sleep. It's been exhausting, and I just want to sink into the realms of dreams and just forget everything.Thankfully, the stars seem to align and I fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow.At first, the only thing that surrounds me is darkness. But slowly, more and more colors loom into view, except that