Aurora’s P.O.V
“Caleb told me what happened yesterday.” Caroline sat on the bed opposite to me, reapplying the bandage on my arm. It was almost healed, that too in a matter of a couple of days, but she insisted that I keep it on for another day or two, so it can heal properly without any permanent bone damage.
“Are you going to tell me that it’s just a kiss?” I asked, looking at her beautiful face to see her reaction. “Are you going to tell me to give him another chance as well?”
Caleb’s kiss had taken me by surprise; caught me completely off-guard. But if I was being very honest, it had left me breathless and wanting more at the same time…until the realization of what he had stolen had set in. It hadn’t been just a kiss; it had been a dream for me, to kiss the boy I love on my first proper date.
However, I had soon realized that there had been another completely different reason for my disappointment in Caleb. And it hadn’t just been because of a stolen first kiss. If Caroline asked me to forgive him, or give him another chance as well, then would I really do that? Was it really childish of me to want him to apologize to me?
But Caroline gave me a smile instead, while shaking her head. “No; I want him to work for a chance to apologizing to you properly for being an ass.”
I blinked back my surprise at her words, as she finished up on the bandages and placed my hand gently on my lap. But instead of letting go, she held on.
“I’m happy that you were able to speak your mind, Aurora.” Caroline told me, her eyes shining with kindness. “And I want you to keep doing that. Say exactly how you feel. If you’re sad or happy or angry; express them, let others know. You’ve suffered too much to stay silent any longer. Let it all out.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, emotions clouding my eyes once more.
It had taken a near death experience for me to speak out my mind to Caleb. But even then, I had instantly been plagued with guilt. Not because of the way I had accused him of stealing my first kiss and telling him to leave; but because I had been silent for so long that the silence had become a part of me. Even when my father had been beating me to death, I had tried not to make noises so as not to scare Riley.
But it was also for the same reason that I couldn’t let my emotions control me forever either. I couldn’t always speak out when I was sad or angry or hurt.
“I can’t,” I told her, shaking my head. “I don’t have that kind of luxury, Caroline. I have to think about Riley as well.”
“I respect that you care about your brother so much, but that’s another reason why you should be more open with your emotions, rather than bottling them all up inside.” She willed for me to understand. “Don’t let your love for him be a cage, because soon it’ll turn to resentment. The relationship that is your sanctuary now might end up becoming your prison.”
“You sound like you understand what I’m going through...” I trailed off, not knowing how to explain it to her.
“Is that surprising?” She gave me a sad smile. “I guess it would be. What could a girl like me, who seems to have everything anyone could want in life, be sad about? What resentments could she possibly have? That’s what you’re thinking, right?”
She sighed, leaning her back against the headboard, looking lost in thought for a second. Her stance mirrored that of Caleb’s from yesterday, when he had looked at me before leaving, his eyes looking lost, and suddenly, a realization came to my mind. Her and Caleb…they were actually like mirror images of each other. And I wasn’t talking about their looks. It was the way they behaved, so similar to each other that it was hard to tell if they were related to the other or not. They were too much alike.
“My parent’s, along with the rest of the pack, thought I would end up with Caleb.” She told me what I already knew. “But it’s not because of how close we were ever since we were born…very few people know the truth that the proximity that we had was forced upon us. My parents wanted me to be the Luna so badly; they thought that they could manipulate the mating bond between us if we always stayed together.”
Suddenly, I felt my heart thrash against my ribcage in fear. “Can it really? Can the bond be manipulated?”
Now wasn’t this a surprise? Not a day ago, I had actually been hoping that if I got out of the way, Caleb and Caroline could be together and be the Alpha pair that their pack would never revolt against. But now that I was hearing Caroline talk about it…why did I feel this sudden sense of fear that the mating bond between me and Caleb might actually end up breaking apart?
Caroline shook her head; that sad smile still on her lips. “No. A mating bond can’t be broken or rejected once the imprint sets in place. The night of Caleb’s birthday was a rude awakening for my parents, when he imprinted on you rather than me. But I couldn’t have been happier.”
“Why?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it have been better if it had been you?”
“Don’t you get it?” Caroline asked instead. “That’s exactly what everyone said. That’s exactly what everyone wanted.”
“Everyone but you…” I realized what she meant with a start. “Why?”
“I love Caleb, like any sibling would love another. But that’s about it.” She shrugged her shoulders. “We know each other too well; in fact, we are very similar people.” She repeated my thoughts from earlier, much to my surprise. “To me, Caleb is the one person who I can always rely on during troubled times, but I could never imagine him as a partner for life. And besides, I’m tired of living up to everyone’s expectations. I don’t want to be the person that my pack wants me to be. I just want to be myself.”
“Your love towards Caleb…it turned into your cage…your resentment.”
I finally understood what she was meaning to tell me all this time. She and Caleb had been forced into a relationship together because others had wanted them to work out, but it wasn’t what Caroline had wanted. The love she had once felt towards Caleb; be it as a friend or as a sibling…it had become her cage, because she hadn’t been able to express herself clearly to everyone.
But as Caroline described her bond with Caleb, I understood the underlying message that she wanted to tell me as well. That she never had any romantic feelings for Caleb.
“I’ll try.” I told her then. “I’ll try to show more of myself too. But…can you tell me something? I saw you two…that night when you guys came to the diner…I saw you two about to kiss…”
Caroline blinked a few times, before she burst out laughing. “Oh my! You little peeping Tom!”
I felt my cheeks heat up with embarrassment at her words. I never really wanted to say this to anyone, but I guess curiosity got the better of me.
“Aurora, if you have to stay and peep on someone, please do that until the end.” Her laughter died down to a chuckle. “Caleb and I never kissed. It was the time when Caleb still wasn’t sure if you were his mate, so he suggested that we kiss and get this over with, so that our pack would leave us alone. But in the end, we just ended up laughing our ass off, unable to actually do it.”
“Oh…I see…” I felt oddly relieved to hear that from her, and I think Caroline knew that too.
Caroline’s smile was genuine as she patted my hair and got up from the bed to leave. “I’ll be heading back now.” She told me, picking up the bag that had the medical supplies. “I’ll ask the kitchen staff to bring your lunch to your room.”
“Thank you,” I returned her genuine smile. “For everything you’re doing for me.”
“I’m glad I was able to help.” She waved me goodbye as she headed out. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will.”
She was half-way to the door before she paused and turned to face me. “Oh! Before I forget…Caleb and the rest of the team will be practicing overtime for an upcoming match…so don’t be disappointed if he doesn’t show up to apologize right away. It’s not because he isn’t trying…it’s just that he’ll be busy this coming week.”
“Why would I be disappointed?” I asked Caroline, a frown on my face, but she didn’t answer. She simply just smiled and left the room, leaving me to figure out the rest.
It was only at night, when I was having dinner with Riley in my room, that I actually started to miss Caleb. I kept staring at the clock, watching the hands tick away time as I kept on wondering if he had finished practice and come home yet.
Was he doing alright? Had he eaten dinner yet? He wasn’t over-stressing himself, was he?
Riley seemed to notice my dilemma as well. “Sis? Are you okay?” He asked in a small voice, looking up at me through his lashes.
“Yes, I’m fine.” I gave him a reassuring smile. “Why? Do I not look okay?”
“You look sad.” Was his simple answer.
Sad? Was I really that affected that Caleb hadn’t visited me today? Or was I expecting too much already?
But as I debated about all the possibilities inside my head, I failed to notice something that I should have. A pair of frosty green eyes watching me from the woods below…A premonition of a coming danger that none of us were aware of.