[ AURORA’S POV ]

“Elder Mariam,” my father called sharply.” Check her. Aurora can be dumb at times.”

A few snickers flickered at the edge of the crowd.

Elder Mariam approached. Her presence was heavy as she placed her hands on my shoulder, and heat shot through me, curling up my spine and prickling my skin. My chest fluttered, I sucked in a sharp breath, hoping, praying, for the spark to ignite.

This was it.

I reached inwardly desperately.

There was nothing.

The warmth passed through me without resistance, like a light passing through glass.

Elder Mariam's brow furrowed.

Her hand pressed more firmly. Seconds dragged. The Mummurs grew louder.

My knees weakened. I swayed,  and caught myself before anyone could notice.

Then her hand withdrew.

The cold rushed back in, sharp and unforgiving.

I turned towards my family.

My mother stood perfectly still. My father’s jaw is tight, his disappointment unmistakable,  in public, burning.

Elder Mariam straightened.

“There’s no wolf,” Elder Mariam said. 

My hands dropped to my sides. The space in my chest stretched, hollow and aching. I swallowed, but my thirst refused to make a sound.

I opened my eyes slowly, and I let my breath hitch. My vision blurred and I blinked hard until tears spilled over.

I grabbed the elder Mariam’s hand, gripping it tightly.

Almost pleading through tremor, “No, no please check again. There must be a mistake. Touch me. Check it again, I could feel your power wash over me. There must have been a mistake. I can’t be empty.”

I held her hand tightly, placing it over my chest. She took her hand away from me. And stepped back slowly. She looked back at my parents and shook her head with pity.

“I’ve checked three times,” she said gently.” There’s no wolf. The child is….Empty.”

The word echoed once in my head, hollow and loud. My vision blurred, and the floor rushed up to meet me.

I looked at my mother, desperate for something. The surprise on her face lasted only for a moment. Then her lips curved into relief. I was shocked.

“Aurora darling,” she said loudly for all to hear.” Having no wolf doesn’t diminish your worth. Some of us are meant to serve others in some ways. So I say we go home and get a good rest huh?”

My father's expression hardened into a cold calculation.” I looked away, couldn’t look at him.

“Mother,” I whispered, stumbling toward her .” Please, there must be a mistake.” I said, holding onto her manicured hands.

She pulled her hands away from me roughly.” Go home,” she said. Turning away from me.

Her words burned me. It hit me like fire along my skin. My chest tightened, and I staggered a step, breath catching in ragged gasps.

“Go home,” perhaps next year, the goddess might decide to bless you with a wolf.” my father said before I could reach his side.

My hands balled into fists at my sides, nails digging into my palms. Every warmth, every sparkle of hope drained from me. I rushed forward to my mate’s side, heart full of panic, I reached his side and placed my hand over his.

But he’s not the same man I knew. Something in his expression shifted. His hand fell from mine, and his gaze hardened.

I blinked, confused.

“I… I thought” I began, but he stepped back.

“Don’t touch me with those dirty hands of yours. You’re not worthy enough.” He said.

The word rang in my head. Heavily.

“What…what do you mean?Mabel, it’s me. Aurora.”

But instead of telling me it’s okay. Instead of telling me he would help me find a solution. His voice rang out.

“I, Alpha Mabel,” he boomed, his voice echoing across the clearing, “will not choose Aurora Vale as my mate.”

My heart skipped a beat, and the bright certainty in my chest wavered. He was joking. I keep saying to myself 

His eyes swept past me, landing on my sister. Seraphina stepped forward, her expression triumphant, her hand brushing against his chest with ease.

“I choose Seraphina as my Luna and wife,” he declared.

Gasps rippled through the crowd. My knees trembled.

“No…no, Mabel. You can’t do this to me. What about what we shared?”

“We share nothing, Aurora. I chose you because I thought you were stronger than your sister and now that I know you’re not. You’re of no use to me any longer.”

I step back. My ears couldn’t believe what it’s hearing.

“And Seraphina is also pregnant with my child. The future Alpha of the pack.” He added.

My gaze moved to Seraphina who was holding on to Mable tightly. Her lips stretch into a broad smile.

That was when I knew that he was not only rejecting me, but he had been cheating on me with my sister. And she’s carrying his pup. Hot tears streamed down my face, blinding me. I couldn’t stop them, they spilled in a steady, burning river.

“That’s a good choice, Alpha,” my mother said, her voice calm and approving, eyes shining as she looked at Seraphina.

“Aurora. Now that the  Alpha has chosen your sister as his Luna. You wouldn’t mind would you?

Her question landed like a stone in my chest. My legs gave way, and the world tilted, the ground rushed up to meet me as vision streaked with tears and pain.

“My word is law, and it is final, Mable’s voice thundered across the clearing. “From this moment on, you will all respect Seraphina as your Luna. Her words must be obeyed.”

Seraphina’s lips curved slowly, deliberately. She stepped closer to him, her fingers spreading over his chest, stroking as if she owned the very heartbeat beneath her palm. Her eyes never left mine.

She smiles wider.

Mabel turned, guiding her away, and the pack moved without hesitation, bodies shifting, heads bowing, a path opening before them. They passed through the crowd hand in hand.

I stayed where I was.

My ears rang. The clearing blurred faces melting into shadows as they walked farther away. My fingers twitched, useless at my sides, as if my body hadn’t caught up with what my eyes were seeing.

Darkness swallowed me.

[ 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.

————————

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

I reached inward, searching, pushing past the echo of my breath, past the frantic pounding 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, and 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 world.

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 as 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.

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 digs 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.

———————-

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 me 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, every muscle taut, every straining.

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

[ AURORA’S POV ]

I froze just past the doorway. Seraphina lay sprawled across the living room couch as though it belonged to her alone. One arm draped lazily over the backrest, legs crossed at the ankles. Bowls of snacks surrounded her like offerings, sweet, salty, colorful. She didn’t look up when I stepped inside.

My knees trembled, not enough for anyone to notice, but enough that I had locked my knees to stay upright. My shoulders felt heavy, my chest tight, as though I had been carrying a weight too large for my small body.

   “Oh,” Seraphina’s voice cut across the room suddenly, sharp as a whip.” Look who finally crawled out. The wolfless, deciding to leave her pit.” She said tilting her head, eyes glinting.” So…..how does it feel? To be useless?”

  I blinked, unsurprised, heart stuttering. She didn’t look away as she reached for another snack, chewing slowly, like she owns everything in the room including me.

Her eyes scanned me from my disheveled hair to my shoes that were now dirty. And then she smiled.

“ Did you forget how to tell time,” she asked,” or do you just enjoy making me wait?”

I tried to speak. My mouth was open, but nothing came out.

She stood brushing crumbs from her fingers with care.” I knew it was about time you would be here. And you never disappoint."

I realized my feet hadn’t moved since I entered, so I tried to step forward. My feet wouldn’t move. My knees trembled.

No, I can't rush it. I need to let her know I’m not here to fight. And that I have accepted the child as mine, and would forgive her for sleeping with my man.

“I…. I just. I went to see  the healer.” I managed to say.

Her amusement flickered immediately.

“The healer?” She repeated. Why?”

I lifted my chin.” I wanted to know if there was…something wrong with me.”

A laugh escaped her. Soft. Cold. Disbelieving.

“And?” She prompted .” Did she magically give you a wolf?” 

“She said it might come late,” I said quietly. That's some wolves.”

“Are special?” Seraphina finished for me, lips curling .” Is that what she told you?” 

Heat rushed to my face.” She said.”

   “She lied,” Seraphina cut me off flatly. “Or you imagined it. Healers do that when they pity people.”

    My throat tightened. I swallowed once, then again, but the pressure only grew.

    “Why?” The word I had been dying to ask finally left my lips. My eyes were so blurry that I could barely see her.

    She paused mid-step, eyes widening slightly. Then she laughed, sharp and bright.

    “Oh, finally,” she said.

    I stepped forward despite the twist in my stomach. “If I did something wrong, tell me. I’ll fix it. But you can’t take my place Seraphina. You’re my sister and have always been good to me.”

    Her laughter faded.  “Sister? Good?,” she said slowly.

“You're wolfless,” She interrupted, stepping closer,” and have never seen you as my sister,” She leaned in until I could smell her perfume. Sweet, suffocating.

“Worthless,” she murmured,” useless and arrogant,” my breath seized. “I have always hated you, you’re nothing special, and yet people always like you more than me. We met the Alpha on the same day and yet he picked you over me. What makes you think you’re better than me?”

I looked at her strangely, this is not the sister I know. It’s like she’s possessed.

“I’m sorry that you have to feel that way Seraphina but we can work this out. I will raise your pup. I said, my voice shaking. “Don’t do this to me. To us.”

She laughed, her tone rang out.

“You will raise my child? Really? How dare you think I would let a low-life like you raise my heir the future Alpha to this pack? Who gave you the mindset? Let me remind you,” she said softly,” Where you belong.”

She stepped back, looking directly into my eyes earnestly, with a sly smile like a fox. Before I could even blink, she was on the floor—and what followed was a loud, deafening scream.

I barely had time to register the sound before she collapsed, holding onto her chest.

“My chest! Father! Mother! Mabel!”

A scream tore through the room. Feet pounded in all directions. Someone slammed into my shoulder. My back hit the floor hard. 

“She pushed me! Seraphina sobbed, already cradled in Mabel’s arms. Her trembling hand pointed at me.

“I didn’t,” I whispered, struggling to sit up .” I didn’t touch her.”

The slap came without warning. My head snapped sideways. Fire exploded across my cheek. I tasted blood.

Father didn’t blink. His gaze slid over me like I wasn’t there. “ Enough.”

Mabel turned to a guard, “Take her. No food, he added.” Lock her in.”

A guard appeared at my side, his hands gentle as he helped me up, my eyes glinting with quiet sorrow.

“Wait,” I shouted. I didn’t push her; she was lying against me. I did nothing of the sort.

“Enough, Mabel roared. You knew she was carrying my pup and yet you pushed her. I didn’t know you were wicked Aurora. Take her out of my sight this minute.” 

The guard now pulled me roughly pushing me towards the dungeon. How could they betray me like this?

“Father, believe me. I didn’t push her. I would never push her.” I said looking at the father's side, still struggling with the guard.

“You never should have come here, Aurora. Or even think of pushing your sister because she was chosen as the Luna. Take her away till she learns her lesson,” my father said, not looking at me.

I could hear their voices behind me as they asked Seraphina if she was okay.

The iron gate opened. I could see some prisoners in the dungeon but I was taken to another part.

The cage was looking okay compared to where they put the others. A small bed was laid at the corner and a blanket that would keep me warm through the night.

The door clicked shut. Darkness swallowed me. My chest heaved. My body trembled. And for the first time in my life, I felt completely invisible.