Aurora’s P.O.V
I paced outside the room, my fingers twisting together as I tried to calm the storm raging inside me. The muffled voices behind the heavy wooden doors were impossible to decipher, leaving me with nothing but my own racing thoughts. What if they didn’t accept Ashton, Maggie and Avery? What if they refused to acknowledge the possibility? I hated the uncertainty. It was a cruel thing, filling my chest with tight knots that refused to loosen.
Time stretched, but when the doors finally creaked open, my breath caught. One by one, they stepped out. Caleb was the first, his eyes searching for mine, his lips pressing into a small smile that made my heart jolt. Then, one after the other, the rest followed, and I didn’t need words to tell me how it had gone. Their smiles—Maggie’s a bit hesitant, and Ashton’s more certain—were enough. The tension that had been gripping my spine loosened just a fraction. Maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t going to be a disaster.
"Aurora," Caleb’s voice was steady as he called me in.
I swallowed and stepped into the room. Alpha Camden sat at the head of the table, his gaze unreadable but not unkind. Caleb stood beside him, arms crossed, his expression firm yet somehow reassuring. I took a deep breath, willing my nerves to settle, and moved closer.
“We talked,” Caleb began, his tone careful, like he was choosing his words wisely. “And we all agreed—it’s best to know the truth. No more doubts. No more what-ifs.” He paused, watching me. “We think you should take the DNA test.”
The weight of those words settled over me, and I let them sink in. I had known this moment was coming, had thought about it long before this meeting even happened. And still, hearing it aloud made something shift inside me. A confirmation of what I had been fearing, yet also hoping for.
I nodded. “I agree.” My voice was steady, firmer than I expected. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Alpha Camden studied me for a moment, then inclined his head slightly, approval flickering in his gaze.
“Good,” he said simply. Then, after a pause, he added, “There’s something else.”
I held my breath as he continued. “The land,” he said, his voice carrying the weight of a decision long in the making. “The land that once belonged to your parents, where your house burned down…” He glanced at Caleb before looking back at me. “It’s going to be rebuilt. A new house. A place for your half-siblings to stay.”
The words settled deep, stirring something raw inside me. That land—so much had been lost there. My past, my home, the life I had once known. And now, it was going to hold something new. Not just for me, but for them too.
I let out a slow breath, nodding. “That’s… good,” I murmured, though the emotions behind it were tangled. Loss and acceptance, past and future colliding all at once. “They deserve that. A place they can live in, where they can belong.”
Alpha Camden held my gaze for a moment longer before giving a firm nod. “Then it’s settled.”
And just like that, another piece of the past began to reshape itself into something different.
I couldn’t help but remember the house I had grown up in, the house that I had abandoned that horrid night and never gone back. That same house that had been burned down by Lucas’s magic, taking all the memories with it, the good and the bad.
It wasn't home yet, not entirely, but once the house was built, once the walls went up and the foundation was laid, I would finally have a place that felt like my own.
“You can design it as you want.” Alpha Camden added, a small smile on his lips. “I’ll have the company speak to you directly about the new model.”
The thought sent a ripple of warmth through me, and I couldn't help the small smile that played on my lips as I turned to Alpha Camden, my heart thrumming with excitement.
"You mean it?" I asked, my voice unable to contain the sheer joy bubbling beneath it. "Can I actually help design it?"
Alpha Camden chuckled, the sound deep and familiar. "Of course, Aurora. It is your home, you have every right to make it the way that feels right to you. The architect will want to meet soon, so you can go over the details."
For the first time in what felt like forever, something felt within my control. I could decide where the windows would go, how much space I needed, what kind of walls would surround me when I needed solitude. The idea of crafting something that belongs entirely to me made my chest feel lighter.
"Thank you," I murmured, meaning it. "I want it to be perfect."
He nodded, his expression softening, but there was something behind his gaze—something restrained. I knew that look. It was the same one he always wore when the conversation was about to take a turn. My stomach twisted in anticipation, the weight of unspoken words settling over us.
I inhaled deeply before I asked, "Did you find anything? About Violet?"
The air between us stilled, and in that silence, I already knew the answer. I wished I hadn't asked, wished I could take back the hope that had sparked in my chest, but it was too late. Alpha Camden's expression darkened, his jaw tightening just slightly before he finally exhaled.
"There’s been no sightings of her in that area," he said, his voice careful, measured. "Alpha Jackson’s pack has been searching, but… it’s bad, Aurora."
My heart pounded painfully, but I didn't interrupt. I forced myself to listen, to take in every word even though I knew it would cut me open.
"They've only managed to recover four bodies from the collapse," he continued, his voice heavy with something that sounded a lot like regret. "The rest… there’s no way to evacuate them. The site is too unstable."
A sharp inhale lodged itself in my throat, my fingers curling into fists at my sides. I had known it was a possibility. I had braced myself for this, but hearing it—having it spoken into existence—made it real in a way that I wasn't ready for.
"So that’s it?" My voice was quiet, but there was an edge to it, a sharpness that I couldn’t smooth out. "They just… gave up?"
Alpha Camden’s expression hardened, and for the first time, I saw the exhaustion in his eyes. "No one’s giving up. But sometimes, Aurora, there’s nothing left to be done."
I shook my head, not wanting to believe that. Not wanting to accept that Violet could just be gone, buried beneath ruins and dust and the weight of everything I never got to say to her. My hands trembled, and I exhaled sharply, trying to steady myself.
"She could still be out there," I said, desperately lacing my words. "She could've gotten out, maybe she—"
"Aurora." His tone was gentle but firm, the way someone speaks when they know the truth is a wound you don’t want to face.
I looked away, blinking rapidly, refusing to let the tears spill over. I didn’t want to hear this. I didn’t want to accept that this was where her story ended, trapped beneath rubble, her name lost in the wind.
Alpha Camden reached out, his hand a steady presence on my shoulder. "I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear," he murmured, "but I promise, if there’s even the slightest chance that she’s out there, we’ll find her."
I swallowed past the tightness in my throat and nodded, even though I wasn’t sure I believed it. Because hope was dangerous, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take before it shattered completely.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry, the heat licking at my skin even from a distance. My arms wrapped around myself, though it did little to shield me from the weight pressing down on my chest. "Did you at least try to find any signs of life?" My voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper, but Caleb heard me.
He turned to me, his expression grave, eyes shadowed with exhaustion. "Alpha Jackson had his men scout the entire area," he said, his tone heavy with finality. "They used heat sensors, motion detectors—everything we had. The whole place was silent." He exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "There was no chance, Aurora. No one could’ve survived that."
His words settled like stones in my stomach, and I felt my knees threaten to buckle beneath me. No one could’ve survived. That meant Violet was gone. Any hope I had clung to, any desperate prayer that she might have found a way out, had just been ripped away from me. I bit down on my lip, willing the sting behind my eyes to subside. Crying wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t bring her back. It wouldn’t erase the horrific truth that we had been too late…that we had abandoned her to that horrid fate…
Caleb must have noticed the shift in my expression because his voice softened. "I’m sorry."
I let out a hollow laugh, though there was nothing humorous about it. "Sorry doesn’t bring her back, does it?" The words felt bitter on my tongue, and I hated myself for saying them, for taking out my grief on someone who didn’t deserve it. But the guilt was suffocating. If we had moved faster, if we had done something differently… Would she still be here?
Caleb didn’t respond immediately. He just stood there, watching me, as if giving me space to process the weight of my own emotions.
"I know you wanted to save her," he finally said, his voice steady but laced with something unspoken—regret, maybe. "We all did. But some things… some things are out of our control, Aurora."
I turned away from him, my nails digging into my palms. I hated that answer. I hated the helplessness of it. But deep down, I knew he was right. It just…didn’t make it hurt any less.