Aurora’s P.O.V
I woke up gasping, my chest heaving as if I’d been running for miles. Cold sweat trickled down my face, and my hands instinctively clutched at my head, pain searing through it like a jagged knife.
For a moment, the world was a blur, the echoes of voices and the distant hum of machines melding into one cacophony. My breath came in shallow bursts, and I was too disoriented to distinguish reality from the vivid nightmare clawing at my mind.
“Aurora!” Caleb’s voice cut through the fog like a lifeline. His hands were on my shoulders, firm yet gentle, shaking me just enough to ground me.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re safe. Look at me. Aurora, look at me!”
I blinked, my vision sharpening as I met his concerned eyes. The fear in them mirrored the turmoil I felt inside, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if I was still in that school parking lot, trapped in suffocating grip of that shadow. My hands trembled as I reached out to touch Caleb’s arm, needing to feel something solid, something real.
“Caleb…” My voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “Is Riley… Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Caleb reassured me immediately, his arms wrapping around me in a protective embrace. His warmth was like a balm against the icy chill that had settled in my bones.
“He’s asleep with my mom in her room. She didn’t want him to see anything that might upset him. He’s safe, Aurora. I promise.”
I let out a shaky breath, the tight knot of fear in my chest loosening just a fraction. Caleb’s steady presence was like an anchor, keeping me tethered to the present. But as the panic began to fade, a tidal wave of emotion surged forward. The memory of those hands—large, rough, and unforgiving—gripping me flashed in my mind. The pressure, the helplessness, the sheer terror. It all came rushing back, and before I could stop myself, I crumbled.
Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and relentless, as sobs racked my body. “I… I can still feel him, Caleb,” I choked out between gasps.
“Those hands… crushing me, suffocating me. I thought I was going to die.” My voice broke, and I buried my face in my hands, overwhelmed by the weight of it all.
Caleb held me tighter, his hand rubbing soothing circles on my back. “You’re not there anymore, Aurora. He can’t hurt you now. I’ve got you, okay? You’re safe.” His words pulled me further away from the darkness threatening to consume me.
I clung to him, my fingers gripping his shirt as if letting go would send me spiraling back into that nightmare.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I admitted, my voice muffled against his chest. “I don’t know how to stop feeling this way.”
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Caleb murmured against my hair. “I’m here. We’ll get through this together. One step at a time.”
For the first time since waking, I felt a flicker of hope. It was small and fragile, but it was there, nestled in the safety of Caleb’s arms. And for now, that was enough.
But the peace didn’t last long.
“What happened at the parking lot, Aurora?”
I blinked at him, caught off guard by the directness of his question. “At the parking lot?” I asked, though I knew exactly what he was talking about. Still, I hesitated, the memory of what happened lingering uncomfortably in my chest. But his gaze didn’t waver, and I knew he wouldn’t drop it. So I took a breath, leaning back slightly as I tried to piece my thoughts together.
“When I got there,” I began, trying to keep my voice steady, “it was... too quiet. I didn’t like it. The lot was empty, not a sound, not a shadow, nothing. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. So I decided to just sit in your car for a bit and wait for you to get back.”
Caleb’s brow furrowed, his jaw clenching like he was bracing for the rest. “Did you get to the car?”
“No, not really,” I admitted, biting my lip. “I saw someone standing by the school entrance. I couldn’t make out their faces, but they were just... standing there. Not moving, not doing anything, just standing. And I don’t know why, but something about it made me want to reach out to that person... so I went to the gate.”
“You went to them?” Caleb repeated, his voice thick with frustration. “Aurora, are you serious? Why would you—”
“I didn’t know, okay?” I shot back, cutting him off, my own frustration bubbling up now. “I didn’t know it was going to be—” I stopped, the words catching in my throat.
“Who was it?” Caleb pushed, his voice softer now but still demanding.
I sighed, shaking my head before finally meeting his eyes again. “It was my dad, Caleb. It was my dad standing there.” My voice cracked on the word, and I hated how vulnerable it made me sound.
Caleb’s eyes widened, and for a moment, he looked like he wasn’t sure if he’d heard me right. “Your dad?” he echoed, the disbelief evident. “Aurora, are you sure—”
“I know what I told you,” I interrupted, my voice firmer now. “He was there. Clear as day. Standing right in front of me. And the way he looked—Caleb, it wasn’t normal. It was like... like he wasn’t really…him.”
God, I wish I could make him understand what I saw, the way my father had looked at that moment, so ashen and pale. But I didn’t know how to find the right words.
One moment he was upright, the next he was a crumpled heap on the ground. The sound of his bones cracking echoed in the air, sharp and sickening. It made a shiver run down my spine just remembering it.
Caleb didn’t respond immediately, his silence heavy, his gaze searching my face as if trying to determine whether I was serious.
“And then what?” he asked finally, his voice hoarse.
I hesitated again, the memory replaying in my mind like a bad dream. “I—I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but he just…fell to the ground in this weird way, and then…there was someone standing there…and they…my head…I just know I couldn’t breathe, and everything felt... wrong.”
His hand reached for mine, his grip firm as if he could stop the panic from rising. “Aurora,” he said, his voice steady despite the tension I could feel radiating off him. “We’re going to figure this out. Together. Okay?”
I nodded, trying to bring my breathing under control, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever this was, it was only the beginning.
"Aurora... what did you see when your father fell to the ground? Who was standing there? Did you know this person?" His voice wavered, the shock evident in every syllable. I swallowed hard, trying to push down the growing knot of dread in my chest.
"I couldn’t see his face, Caleb," I said, my voice trembling as much as his. "But…I knew…I know it was a man. He was almost like a shadow. But... something about him was wrong. It—it wasn’t normal."
“And then, what happened?” He sounded eager to find out, and I couldn’t help but swallow nervously as the memories rushed back, bringing the panic along with it.
“He wrapped his fingers around my head, squeezing so hard…and then his hands began to glow.” I stuttered out, my heart thundering in fear. “I don’t remember what happened after, but…it hurt so much. It was all I remember before blacking out.”
I expected some words of comfort, or even for him to pull me back into his embrace. But when seconds ticked by and nothing happened, I began to worry that something was wrong.
“Caleb?” I said, my voice sharper than I intended. “Say something.”
He shifted uncomfortably but still didn’t speak. The silence was unbearable, a knot tightening in my chest with every passing second. I leaned forward, my hands gripping the edge shirt.
“Was it real? Everything I saw, everything I felt—was it all true? Or… was it just some kind of hallucination?”
His jaw tightened, and he glanced away, his hands clasping and unclasping on his lap.
“Aurora…” he began, his voice low, almost hesitant. “I don’t think—”
“No,” I cut him off, my frustration bubbling over. “No deflecting. Just tell me the truth, Caleb. Was it real? Was it all real?”
He looked at me then, his eyes filled with something I couldn’t quite place. Worry? Fear? I wasn’t sure, but I hated it. He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair before finally meeting my gaze.
“It’s true,” he said quietly. “All of it. What you saw, what you felt… it’s all real.”
“Oh…my…” my voice cracked as a sob raked through my body. “What…what happened to me?”
“Aurora…” Caleb finally turned to me, holding my hands tightly in his. “We’re not sure what happened, but we’ll figure out, I promise.”
My breath hitched, and for a moment, the room spun around me. “Okay,” I managed to say, still trying to make sense of it all.
I didn’t know what kind of world I was walking into when Caleb told me I was his mate, but I was starting to think that werewolves were just the tip of the iceberg. Whatever had happened to me…whatever this was, it was only the beginning.
“Caleb, what happened to my father? He—” My voice broke, and I couldn’t finish the sentence. I looked up at Caleb, searching for answers, and when he avoided eye contact…I knew.
In fact, it felt like I knew the second I saw him collapse into that heap at my feet. But my brain, my mind just wasn’t ready to accept it.
“Is he…dead?” I asked, my voice holding no tremors.
Caleb nodded, swallowing audibly. “I’m so sorry, Aura. He was already dead when we found him.”
I stared at him, the weight of his words pressing down on me like a physical force. “So, he’s really dead?” I said bitterly. “Just…gone?”
“Aura…I’m so sorry.” Caleb held onto me, but for the first time, his warmth didn’t offer me any comfort.
“He’s really gone,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. “He’s really gone.”
Caleb reached for me, his hand hovering in the air before he dropped it back to his side. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice barely audible. “I’m so sorry, Aurora.”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My mind was a mess of jumbled thoughts and emotions. And so, I just sat there, next to Caleb, absorbing the news of my father’s death, wondering how I was going to tell Riley about this.