CHAPTER 219: AURORA

Aurora’s POV

Shock is an understatement for what I’m feeling right now.

My eyes fluttered open to find my sister and Lilith hovering over me, their eyes filled with worry.

"Aurora, are you okay?" my sister asked softly.

I couldn’t even bring myself to reply. Okay? No, I wasn’t okay. I had just watched the love of my life accept another woman—a she-wolf—as his mate.

My chest tightened painfully. Leon. My Leon. The one who always cared for me even when I wore my strongest armor, hiding my heart from the world. The one whose eyes once saw me as if I were the most precious thing alive. And today... he chose someone else.

Tears slipped down my cheeks as Alice squeezed my trembling hand.

"Oh, my dear girl," she murmured, her voice breaking. "You never told me you were in love with him."

I turned my head away. I wasn’t ready to talk—not yet. I just needed to breathe, to process, to somehow calm the storm inside me. Deep down, I had known this day would come. I had known Leon would find his mate. But some foolish, selfish part of me had always believed he’d reject her... and come for me.

But he didn’t. He accepted her. And that "her" was none other than Sophia.

Why? Why would he choose her over me?

My heart bled with each breath as Alice stood abruptly.

"Calm down, Alice," Lilith said gently.

"Calm down?" Alice snapped, twisting to glare at her. "Look at my sister! She can’t even talk properly, and you’re telling me to calm down because some damn man played her?" She shook her head, anger flashing in her eyes. "I’ve always said it—men are dangerous beasts. Look what he’s done to her! He’s down there thriving, acting like he didn’t just shatter her heart into a thousand pieces."

She moved to storm off, but Lilith grabbed her wrist. "Alice. Enough. You need to calm down. Everything will be fine. She’ll be fine. We’ll figure it out."

I finally found my voice, soft and trembling. "Sister..."

She turned immediately and rushed to me, clasping my hand again.

"Make it stop," I whispered brokenly. "Please, make it stop."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Aurora..."

"Please," I begged. "You’re a Crescent—you can help me. You can make the pain stop."

She shook her head helplessly. "You’re not a Crescent, Aurora. You’re a witch. I can’t turn off your emotions."

"Then make me one," I said desperately. "Make me a Crescent. I can’t... I can’t go through this pain. I can’t stay here, watching him with his mate. Watching him do the things he promised me—with her." My breath hitched as my voice broke. "It’ll drive me insane."

I could barely breathe.

Lilith’s voice came softly through the haze. "Are you sure he even knows you’re in love with him?"

I blinked, stunned, turning sharply toward her. "What do you mean?"

She hesitated.

Just yesterday, Leon had stood with me on the rooftop, his hand in mine, whispering how much he loved me—how he wanted to spend his life with me. And now she was asking if he even knew?

Alice exhaled sharply. "Because he said whatever was between you two was just child’s play."

"What?" My voice cracked.

"He said he was a child then," Alice continued bitterly. "That he’s a man now. That what you two had didn’t mean anything."

The air left my lungs. My vision blurred.

Just yesterday he said he loved me. Just yesterday he promised that no matter what came from the mate’s search, he’d return to me. And now... today... he’s calling it child’s play?

Confusion clouded my thoughts, but the heartbreak inside me was morphing—slowly—into something else. Anger.

I felt the rage that burned in Alice’s tone start to awaken in me too. But even through it, Lilith’s calm voice broke through.

"We can’t act rashly," she said firmly. "We have to let bygones be bygones. Right now, we just need to get Aurora out of this park."

"No!"

Everyone turned toward the door. Hazel stood there, clutching Heather in her arms. Little Heather clung to her mother’s hair, her wide eyes darting between us.

"She will stay," Hazel said firmly. "If she leaves, it’s over."

Lilith frowned. "You don’t expect her to stay and keep fighting for someone who just publicly denied her, do you? Hazel, what you had with the triplets was different. You were mated to them. Aurora isn’t. She’s a witch, he’s a werewolf—it’s not the same kind of bond."

Hazel’s expression hardened. "And that’s where you’re wrong." She pointed at her mother.

Alice scoffed. "Oh, please. Don’t start preaching about love again, Hazel."

Hazel stepped closer, her voice low and fierce. "It wasn’t just the mate bond that held me and the triplets together. It was sacrifice. It was patience. It was pain. It was love. And I believe Aurora can do all of that."

She turned to me then, her eyes softening. "I know Leon loves you, Aurora. And I know you love him too. Something’s off—something’s happening that we don’t understand yet. Don’t run. Stay. Let’s figure this out. Please."

My lips trembled as I looked at her.

Hazel took a deep breath. "Even if Leon somehow learns to live without you... I can’t. I can’t imagine being in the High House without you. Or leading without having my beta witch beside me."

Her words shattered the fragile wall I’d tried to build around my heart.

Maybe my sisters are right. Maybe I just need to leave and clear my head. But this is all wrong. "I need to leave," I said, shaking my head. "I’m leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

"No, Aurora, you need to stay and fight!" Hazel shrieked, her voice slicing through the tension.

"Stay and fight? For what exactly?" I screamed back. Ida flinched and began to cry, her small sobs echoing in the room.

"I’m sorry," I whispered immediately, reaching toward her, but Hazel shook her head, patting Ida’s back.

"It’s not your fault," Hazel said softly. "Aurora, I understand you, but I can’t just allow you to leave."

"Then stay out of this," Alice snapped. Her tone was sharp enough to draw blood. She turned to Lilith, and Lilith gave a small nod before stepping forward to take Hazel’s hand.

"We need to go, Alpha," Lilith said quietly.

"No, Aurora, you can’t leave!" Hazel pleaded, twisting out of Lilith’s grip. "If you leave, they’ll get married, have babies—and everything will fall into place. You’ll lose him forever. But if you stay and fight, there’s still a chance. You can save him!"

"Save him?" I echoed bitterly. "Save him from the mate bond?"

"No," Hazel said, eyes glinting with desperation. "Save him from whatever my stepmother and sisters have done to him. Whatever trance, whatever spell..."

"This isn’t about spells," Alice cut in, her voice low and fierce. "If it was a spell, I’d have known the second he opened his mouth. This is about choice. You gave him that choice, Hazel. As the Alpha, you did. And he made his decision."

Alice took a step closer, her voice trembling with restrained fury. "You even mentioned Aurora’s name in front of him, and he denied her. He dismissed her like she was nothing. I will not stand by and watch my sister be humiliated. So please, Alpha, I’m only holding my tongue because of your title. Don’t push me to forget my place."

The room grew tense. My sister’s anger was thick enough to choke on. Lilith quickly moved closer, taking my hand in hers. "Hazel, please," she murmured. "Let’s go."

Hazel turned to me, her eyes soft but pleading, shimmering with unspoken words. Then she looked down at Heather, who was half-asleep in her arms. "You need to rest, Aurora," she said quietly. "We’ll talk tomorrow."

And just like that, she left.

Alice exhaled heavily. "You’re coming home, sister. Tomorrow."

That night, I couldn’t sleep. My mind was spinning with too many thoughts—his face, his smile, his betrayal. The High House had been my home for the past ten years, but now it felt like a prison.

I got up and slipped out to the rooftop. The night air was cold against my skin, clearing my head for the first time in hours. This rooftop used to be mine and Leon’s place. Our secret haven. I still remembered every conversation, every laugh we shared under the moonlight. And now, I was leaving all of it behind.

I breathed in the wind and closed my eyes, until I felt it. That familiar pull in my chest. I could always feel him whenever he was near. That’s how deeply my heart belonged to him.

My eyes darted across the courtyard, and there he was. Leon.

My heart lurched instinctively, and before I knew it, I almost stepped forward to meet him—just like I always used to. Every night, we would sneak out, talk, joke, dream about the future.

But tonight... he wasn’t alone.

My steps faltered. He was with Sophia.

The realization hit harder than before, tearing through me like a blade. I had somehow managed to forget that he had chosen her—right in front of me. But seeing it again with my own eyes made the pain unbearable.

He was holding her hand. Smiling. Whispering something that made her blush. Then, slowly, he dropped to one knee.

My breath caught in my throat as he pulled out a ring. Not just any ring.

The oak ring.

The same one he and I carved together during our first hunt. The one he promised he’d use to propose to me.

And now, he was sliding it onto her finger.

Sophia gasped, covering her mouth, tears of joy glistening in her eyes.

And me? I couldn’t even move. My world shattered right there on that rooftop, piece by piece, as the man who once promised me forever gave our promise to someone else.

"No," I whispered, my voice breaking. "No, Leon. No..."