Aurora’s POV
“Helena, I’m fucking lost,” I curled up on the couch, my voice shaking. “They look at me like I’m some kind of monster.”
Since that disastrous Pack gathering, Mom and Roman had completely cut me off. My texts went unanswered, my calls ignored. Right after the gathering, Mom had kicked me out of her house. The whole thing was awkward as hell, with everyone acting like I didn’t exist. Was this how Thea felt all those years? It was ironic that I was now experiencing the very thing I used to inflict on her.
“I warned you so many times,” Helena’s voice came through the phone, not an ounce of sympathy in it. “From the day you told me you were pregnant, I kept telling you to come clean, but you never listened.”
She had warned me. Every time she tried to bring up Wyatt, I’d instantly activate my defenses like a damn firewall. For six years, she kept trying to make me face reality, and for six years, I kept running from it. Sometimes I’d even get angry, we’d fight, and wouldn’t speak for days.
“I know,” I sighed, completely drained.
Sleep had become a luxury. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Thea’s angry face, Mom’s disappointed expression. These phantoms followed me, making rest impossible.
“No, you don’t,” Helena said mercilessly. “I don’t think you understand how much pain you’ve caused not just your family, but Wyatt and Jaxon too. Pups are a blessing from the Moon Goddess, but you treated your son like a curse. Have you ever thought about how Wyatt felt all these years? I still don’t understand why you did this, or how you could.”
In truth, it had been easy. Erasing Wyatt from my life was as simple as deleting an unwanted file. My human side never wanted him, never acknowledged him. I only want to
bear Sebastian’s children.
“Cut the crap, Helena,” I interrupted irritably. “I don’t need a moral lecture from you.
What I need is a way to get my family to accept me again, to get everything back on
track.”
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Hate–1
“Listen to yourself!” Helena’s voice rose sharply. “You’re still only focused on yourself! Aurora, I’ve supported you in many things, but you know this is the one thing I never agreed with. You’re my friend, so I have to tell you: the way you treat your son is fucking despicable.
“You know they were just a mistake to me. All I ever wanted was Sebastian. I never truly accepted Jaxon, let alone his child.”
Why couldn’t anyone understand my pain? Why did they assume motherhood was automatic? Was I supposed to love Wyatt unconditionally just because my body created
him?
“Wake the fuck up, Aurora,” Helena snapped. “You’re still dreaming. Sebastian and Thea
already have a son, and from all indications, he doesn’t want anything to do with you.
That means your dreams of a family with Sebastian can only exist in your own
imagination.”
I deflated instantly. I couldn’t argue because deep down, I knew she was right. My dreams
had started crumbling the day Thea announced she was pregnant with Sebastian’s child.
Sebastian had already told me he didn’t want anything to do with me, and now he knew about Wyatt.
Thea had successfully turned everyone’s perception of me upside down. I looked like a
demon in her light. She was the caring and loving mother of pups, while I was the cold- hearted woman who abandoned her own child. She’d destroyed the image I’d carefully
maintained for years without even trying.
“I get how you feel, Aurora, but honestly, I’m glad Thea exposed this secret,” Helena
continued. “Wyatt needs his mother, whether you accept that fact or not. Maybe it’s time
you let go of your obsession with Sebastian, acknowledge that you’re a mother, and start
acting like one.”
Hate–2
Panic surged through me. Acknowledging that I was Wyatt’s mother meant saying goodbye to my dreams with Sebastian for good. I didn’t want to think about that. I didn’t want to let go. I remained silent, fighting her words in my mind.
“Aurora? Are you still listening?” Helena pressed.
I knew she was waiting for my agreement, for me to say “I’ll try” or something similar. But
I couldn’t.
Just then, the doorbell saved me.
“Someone’s at the door, Helena. I’ve got to go,” I said quickly, almost desperate to escape
this conversation.
“Don’t think this is over, Aurora. You can’t keep-”
I hung up, cutting off her unfinished lecture.
Opening the door, I was surprised to see Mom standing there. Her expression was stern,
but hope flared inside me anyway. She didn’t wait for an invitation, stepping directly into
my apartment.
“I’m not going to beat around the bush,” she said immediately, instantly extinguishing
that tiny flame of hope.
I closed the door and turned to face her. The disappointment and anger in her eyes nearly knocked me over, and it took all my strength not to break down in front of her.
“I want my grandson, and I expect you to formally introduce him to me,” she said firmly. “You will acknowledge him as your son and as part of the Sterling Pack. From now on, you will establish a relationship with him, get to know him, and include him in your life. This
is not a request, Aurora.”
I stared at her in disbelief. This couldn’t be real, right? She was actually forcing me to connect with him?
“Mom, you can’t ask this of me! I feel nothing for that child!” I blurted out, unable to control my emotions. I’d regretted the pregnancy from the moment I found out, so how
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Hate–2
could I possibly turn around and try to build a life with him?
The anger in Mom’s eyes instantly blazed into a raging fire. I didn’t even see her move before pain exploded across my cheek. The slap left me dizzy, unable to believe what had just happened.
I clutched my burning cheek, shocked as I looked at her. She had never raised a hand to me in my entire life. Never.
“Listen to me carefully, Aurora; I’m giving you one last chance to repair your relationship with your son and the mate you cruelly used. If you refuse, I swear as the former Luna of the Sterling Pack that I will disown you, strip you of your standing in the Pack, and consider you a traitor to our family. “She spoke in a way that reminded me of who she was when Dad was still alive, that Luna with authority. But never before had it been directed
at me.
She paused, her voice becoming pained and remorseful: “I know my treatment of your sister may have influenced you. I was wrong to ignore her. That’s my biggest regret in life. I won’t let history repeat itself, won’t let you become me. So fix your mistakes, or be prepared to face the consequences.”
She didn’t give me a chance to defend myself, turning and leaving my apartment, leaving me standing alone as if frozen in time.
Her ultimatum echoed in my head: accept Wyatt or lose everything. I knew my mother’s character; she never made empty threats. I was backed into a corner.
Why did Thea have to discover this secret and expose it? Why couldn’t she just suffer silently like she used to?
Fuck her. Fuck Thea and her self–righteous sense of justice. This was all her fault. She should have stayed quietly in her corner, being the insignificant wolfless girl she’d always
been.
As the fear gradually subsided, a burning hatred began to grow in my chest. My life had been completely overturned, and there was only one person to blame.
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Sebastian’s POV
That kiss. That fucking kiss from two nights ago still replays in my mind like a broken
record I can’t–and don’t want to–shut off.
I slouch in my leather office chair, staring at quarterly reports without absorbing a single word. My mind drifts back to her living room, to the moment when her lips parted beneath mine. I’d gone there to check on her, not expecting anything, certainly not expecting her to respond when I leaned in. But holy shit, she did.
The sensation of her mouth against mine, warm and yielding–it knocked the breath right out of my lungs. For those few glorious seconds before reality crashed down, I felt alive in a way I hadn’t in years. Maybe ever. I could spend my entire life just kissing her and it would be enough to make me feel complete.
Looking back, I was such a goddamn idiot. Every time I refused to kiss Thea during our
marriage, I thought I was punishing the wolfless weakling. I had no idea what I was missing. And for that, I’ll regret forever, because I missed so many precious moments with
her.
Now I completely unable to focus on work. I had important alliance meetings in the
neighboring state over the next few days, but all I could think about was that kiss playing on repeat in my head.
I felt like a fucking teenager. Kissing her and seeing her respond was like the excitement
of a first kiss. It had me buzzing, feeling like I was standing on top of the world.
“What’s got you smiling like an idiot?” Damien’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
I looked up to see him sitting down in the chair across from my desk.
“Nothing,” I cleared my throat.
“That’s definitely something. And if I had to guess, it has to do with Thea.”
I didn’t answer, but we both knew he’d hit the mark.
“So what happened?” he asked curiously.
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