Aurora’s P.O.V
The music was already playing softly in the background, and the party had barely just started when I suddenly felt someone grab me from behind. I turned, startled, and before I could even speak, Caroline’s arms were around me, squeezing me so tight that I almost lost my balance.
“Aurora!” she sobbed into my shoulder, and instantly, my own eyes burned with tears. I clutched her back just as fiercely, feeling her trembling, and whispered.
“Caroline, oh my God, I still can’t believe you’re really here?” My voice cracked, and the moment I said it, I broke down with her. We were both crying in the middle of the deck, not caring who was watching, not caring that everyone else had gone quiet for a second before turning their attention back to their chatter. She kept holding on, her tears wetting my suit jacket, and I didn’t even care.
“When did you even get here?” I finally asked, pulling back just enough to see her face, though our hands still clung together like we were afraid one of us would vanish if we let go.
Caroline sniffled, her lips trembling as she wiped at her cheeks. “I got here this morning. Caleb… he’s been planning this for weeks, Aurora. He wanted everything to be perfect, absolutely perfect. He didn’t want to tell you because he wanted it to be a surprise.”
I gave a broken laugh, shaking my head, and pointed at myself, at the fitted business suit I had rushed into because I came straight from work.
“Perfect? Really? Tell me, Caroline, how is this perfect? I could’ve at least worn a dress, something…anything, that didn’t make me look like I was walking into a boardroom.”
Before Caroline could answer, Caleb suddenly appeared at my side, sliding an arm around my shoulders in that calm, steady way he always did when he wanted me to know everything was fine.
“You look perfect, Aurora,” he said firmly, his voice warm and grounding. I turned to look at him, half wanting to argue, but he squeezed me closer and went on.
“Do you know why? Because this suit isn’t just clothes, it’s you. It’s who you are now. A strong businesswoman. Someone who knows what she wants, someone who’s ready to conquer the world. And that’s exactly how I want to remember you standing here today.”
My throat closed, and I bit my lip hard, shaking my head because I didn’t trust myself to speak without breaking down all over again.
“Caleb…” I whispered, and he just smiled at me, brushing his thumb against my shoulder in reassurance.
Caroline, still teary-eyed, gave a watery laugh. “You two are going to make me cry again. As if I haven’t cried enough already.” She reached up then, her fingers trembling as she touched the chain around her neck. I froze the second I realized what she was doing. Slowly, she unclasped the pendant…my pendant, the one I had given her so long ago, and her hands shook as she held it out toward me.
“Caroline,” I breathed, my hand instinctively going to my chest. “You can’t…”
“Yes, I can,” she cut me off gently, her voice soft but firm, the way it always was when she had made up her mind.
“This belonged to you first. You gave it to me when I needed it, when I didn’t believe I could hold myself together. But now… now it’s time for you to have it back. Because that’s what we promised to do. And because tonight, Aurora, this moment…it’s yours.”
Before I could protest, she stepped closer, lifting the chain and carefully looping it around my neck. My hands came up to stop her, but she shook her head quickly, whispering, “Don’t fight me on this, please.” Her fingers brushed against my skin as she fastened the clasp, and then the pendant rested right against my collarbone, heavier than I remembered, almost like it carried all the memories of everything we had been through.
I swallowed hard, blinking fast as tears threatened to fall again. “Caroline… I don’t even know what to say.”
She smiled through her tears, cupping my cheek for just a moment. “Then don’t say anything. Just know that this is where it belongs.”
Caleb leaned in, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. “And you,” he murmured softly, “are exactly where you belong too.”
At that, I finally let the tears fall again, though this time they weren’t just from sadness or surprise, they were from something deeper, something that felt like home.
I turned to Caroline, my voice soft but trembling with the weight of all the emotions swirling in my chest.
“Does this mean you’re back for good?” I asked, searching her face for even the smallest flicker of doubt, praying she wouldn’t tell me she was only visiting.
Caroline smiled faintly, but her eyes glistened with something deeper. She shook her head gently before nodding, and I couldn’t help but laugh nervously at the contradiction. “I missed home, Aurora,” she said, her voice breaking just enough to make my throat tighten. “But more than that… I missed my pack. I missed my sister. I don’t think I ever realized just how much until I was gone.”
I reached out and squeezed her hand. “You don’t know how much I needed to hear you say that. I’ve been so afraid that maybe we’d lost you for good.”
Her laugh was a little wet, almost choked. “You could never lose me. I was just… taking some time to grow, that’s all. But I’m here now. I’m staying.”
Before I could reply, people started coming up to us, one by one. It was overwhelming, the way their faces lit up, the way their words carried warmth I hadn’t realized I’d been starved for. Caleb slipped an arm around my waist as members of the pack congratulated us on the wedding, offering small gifts wrapped in bright paper, some bringing simple bouquets of wildflowers tied together with twine. Each voice blended into the next…“We’re so happy for you, Alpha.”
“You deserve this joy, it’s about time, really.”
I laughed, shaking my head as my arms grew fuller with trinkets and blossoms. “You’re all going to spoil me before the wedding even happens,” I teased, and Caleb chuckled beside me.
Then Avery approached, her smile brighter than the bundle of sunflowers she held. She wrapped me in a hug so tight I thought my ribs might crack.
“Congratulations, Aurora. I couldn’t be happier for you,” she whispered against my shoulder.
I pulled back and searched her face, my heart suddenly heavy with a question I couldn’t hold back. “Avery… How's Maggie doing?”
Her expression shifted immediately, her smile softening into something more careful. “She’s doing a lot better,” she said slowly, as though testing each word before she let it out. “Stronger, calmer… but she’s still not ready to face you yet.”
My breath caught. “Not ready to face me?” I repeated, my voice dropping to a whisper. “Does she… does she hate me that much? Or is this because of Jade?”
“No, Aurora,” she said softly, almost as if she was trying to convince me to believe her words as much as she believed them herself.
“It’s not because of Jade. Maggie… She feels responsible for what Ashton did. In more ways than one. She blames herself for not seeing it sooner, for not stopping him, for not speaking out when she should have. She thinks that if she had been braver, if she had stood up faster, none of this would have fallen on us the way it did.”
I frowned, my chest tightening as I leaned forward. “That’s not fair,” I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief.
“None of this was her fault, Avery. She didn’t ask Ashton to lie, she didn’t tell him to hide things, she didn’t make him the monster he turned out to be. Why would she put that weight on herself?”
Avery sighed, rubbing her palms together as though she was trying to find the right words.
“Because that’s who Maggie is, Aurora. You know her. She carries guilt like it’s stitched into her skin. She thinks she has to pay for everything, even the things that don’t belong to her. And right now, she thinks she has to step back, to take time away, to repent in her own way.”
I let out a shaky breath, frustrated but understanding, though it hurt me more than I wanted to admit. I looked at Avery, my lips trembling before I spoke. “Then tell her this for me,” I said, my voice firm though my eyes burned with unshed tears.
“Tell her that one day, when she’s finally ready, she’ll be able to come back and face me with no regrets in her heart. Tell her I’ll be waiting for that day. I’ll be waiting, even if it takes years. But she has to promise herself that she won’t let that guilt consume her forever.”
Avery squeezed my hand gently, her voice almost breaking as she whispered back, “I’ll tell her, Aurora. I promise I’ll tell her. And I’ll tell you something else too… I wish for that day just as much as you do. I wish with everything in me that she’ll come back to you, stronger, freer, and unafraid. Because that’s the only way she’ll heal… and the only way you both will.”
I nodded slowly, swallowing down the ache in my throat as I whispered, “I wish the same, Avery. More than anything, I wish the same.”