Aurelia

Caleb’s voice cut through the air behind me, cold and sharp as winter steel.

“What did you do?”

I spun around. His eyes were glowing faintly, his wolf pressing close to the surface, fury rolling off him in waves as he stared at me like I was a stranger—no, worse, like an enemy.

“Caleb… I—I didn’t—”

The rest of my words shattered with the sound of skin striking skin.

Pain exploded across my face. I staggered back, clutching my cheek as heat and disbelief flooded through me.

“Caleb…” My voice came out hoarse, broken. “You… you hit me?”

“And I’ll do far worse if anything happens to Bianca,” he snarled, his voice low and venomous, every trace of our mate bond buried beneath rage.

Before I could react, he shoved past me. His entire focus locked onto her. He scooped Bianca up into his arms as if she weighed nothing, cradling her like something precious, murmuring soothing words meant only for her ears as he rushed out of the office.

I followed in a daze, my thoughts spiraling, anger and panic twisting together in my chest. I had been set up—I knew it. But Caleb didn’t even look back. Not once. He carried her straight to his car.

I tried to open the passenger door, but the engine roared to life. Tires screeched.

The car shot forward, and I stumbled, losing my balance and falling hard onto the pavement.

My face burned—this time not from pain, but humiliation. When I pushed myself up, I realized his employees were watching. Some stared openly. Others whispered behind their hands, eyes full of judgment.

I turned away and hailed a cab.

The ride home passed in silence, broken only by the sound of my own sobs. When I finally stood in front of the house we’d shared for five years, it no longer felt like a home. It felt hollow. Empty. Just like my chest.

Caleb hadn’t even asked what happened. He hadn’t questioned me. He hadn’t listened. He simply decided I was guilty.

I walked inside and went straight to the wardrobe. My hands moved automatically as I pulled out clothes and folded them into a suitcase. Somewhere deep inside, I realized the truth—I hadn’t gone to his office just to confront him. I had gone hoping for reassurance. For something—anything—that would make me stay.

But his eyes earlier had told me everything.

There was nothing left to hold onto.

I was halfway through packing when the door slammed open behind me. Caleb stormed in, his face flushed, his scent sharp with anger. If he noticed the open suitcase, he didn’t comment.

“Get dressed,” he ordered. “You’re coming with me.”

He grabbed my arm.

I yanked it free. “Don’t touch me!”

“Now, Aurelia,” he barked.

“Where are you taking me?” I demanded, digging my heels in.

He didn’t answer. His strength overwhelmed mine easily, his wolf lending power to his grip as he dragged me outside.

“To the hospital,” he said flatly. “You’re going to fix this. Bianca is hurt because of you.”

“Fix this?” I stared at him. “I didn’t do anything to her! She fell on her own!”

“Stop lying!” he shouted. “Your jealousy nearly got her killed. How cruel can you be? The least you can do is give her your blood so she survives.”

“But I didn’t—”

“I don’t want to hear another word,” he snapped.

“How can you trust her over me?” My voice cracked. “Over your mate?”

“She screamed,” he shot back. “Everyone heard it. I heard it. You refused to stop, and she almost died because of you.”

He shoved me into the car and slammed the door. As he drove, the pieces finally fell into place. Bianca’s scream. The timing. The fall.

She had planned everything.

A bitter smile curved my lips. Even after five years, even with a mate bond sanctioned by the Moon, Caleb chose to believe her instead of me.

The hospital loomed ahead.

He dragged me inside, straight to the emergency ward where Bianca had been taken.

“If you care about her that much,” I said bitterly, “why don’t you just buy blood for her?”

Caleb shot me a sharp look. “Her blood type isn’t available. There were too many accident victims today. The supply is empty.”

A doctor approached, and Caleb immediately turned to him, pointing at me.

“She’s O-positive,” he said urgently. “Use her blood. Save Bianca.”

The way he looked at the doctor—desperate, pleading—shattered something inside me. He hadn’t looked at me like that in years.

Not since Bianca entered his life.

Before I could protest, nurses led me away. A needle pierced my skin. Cold crept through my veins, and the world slowly faded to black.

When I woke up, harsh white light stabbed into my eyes. My head throbbed. My lower abdomen ached dully. I groaned and glanced around.

The room was empty.

“Hello?” I called weakly.

The door opened. Caleb stood there, his expression icy.

“You’re lucky,” he said. “Bianca made it.”

I let out a hollow laugh. “You don’t even want to ask how I am?”

“She’s the one who was injured,” he replied sharply.

A doctor entered, his expression heavy with pity.

“Mr. Montgomery,” he said gently, “you’re her husband, correct?”

Caleb’s gaze flicked toward me, filled with disgust. “I don’t have a wife that cruel.”

Then he turned and walked out.

The last fragile pieces of my heart crumbled.

The doctor sighed. “Mrs. Montgomery… there’s something you should know.”

“What is it?” I asked quietly.

“You were one month pregnant,” he said.

My breath hitched. “Were?”

“I’m very sorry,” he said. “You lost the baby during the transfusion.”

The room spun. “Why… why did you take my blood if I was pregnant?”

“Your husband authorized it,” the doctor answered softly.

My heart raced. “Did he… did he know?”

The doctor hesitated, then nodded.

“Yes. He knew.”

Aurelia

“Mrs. Montgomery?”

The doctor’s voice sounded distant, muffled, as if I were underwater. I curled forward instinctively, one hand pressed to my lower abdomen while hot tears blurred my vision. I had wanted a child for so long—longer than I ever admitted out loud. Two years ago, Caleb and I had tried earnestly, tracking moons and timing nights, hoping the Moon Goddess would bless us. Nothing came of it.

Then Bianca entered our lives, and everything changed.

Caleb barely touched me after that. When he did, it was rare and hollow—usually when he came home drunk, his scent unfamiliar, his wolf restless and impatient. Still, I clung to hope. I told myself that if I could just give him a child, a true heir of our bond, it might pull us back together. That it might save what was left of our family.

But Caleb hadn’t cared.

He had signed the order that ended my child’s life without hesitation.

The realization burned through me, hot and violent. Rage surged so fast it scared me. I refused to let myself fully feel the grief—not yet. I knew if I let it in, even for a second, it would destroy me completely. I was already too broken to fall apart again.

“Mrs. Montgomery?” the doctor called once more, louder this time.

I lifted my head slowly, my vision sharp with fury.

“That bastard,” I spat.

Without another word, I ripped the IV from my hand and swung my legs off the bed.

“Mrs. Montgomery, you’ve lost a dangerous amount of blood,” the doctor said urgently, hurrying after me. “Please, you need to lie back down—”

“Where is he?” I demanded, my voice shaking with restrained violence. “Where is Caleb—and his bitch?”

“Mrs. Montgomery, please—”

The look I shot him made him fall silent. After a moment, he hesitantly pointed toward the next room.

I didn’t hesitate.

I shoved the door open and walked in to see Caleb seated beside Bianca’s bed, his hand clasped tightly around hers, his head bowed toward her like she was something precious, something fragile.

The sight snapped the last thread holding me together.

“You damn monster!” I screamed.

Before he could even stand, my hand connected with his face in a sharp, echoing slap. The sound cracked through the room. Caleb froze, shock written all over his face as he stared at me.

“That,” I shouted, my entire body shaking, “is for murdering my child!”

“Caleb… what’s happening?” Bianca’s weak voice drifted from the bed.

Hearing her speak nearly sent me into a frenzy.

“You filthy whore!” I yelled, lunging toward her. “This is all because of you!”

I didn’t reach her.

Caleb stepped in front of her instantly, shoving me back with force. I lost my footing and crashed to the floor. Pain ripped through my stomach, sharp and searing. Warmth spread down my legs as blood stained the white tiles beneath me.

“I hate you!” I screamed, sobbing openly now, my wolf howling in agony inside me.

Caleb didn’t flinch.

“Go back to your room, Aurelia,” he said flatly. “Clean yourself up.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “How can you stand there,” I cried, “after killing our baby? Our child, Caleb!”

“You were the only viable donor,” he replied coldly. “Was I supposed to let Bianca die?”

“So you chose her,” I snapped, my voice breaking. “You chose her life over our child’s.”

“Watch your mouth,” he barked. “And the baby wasn’t meant to be harmed. If you lost it, maybe it just means you weren’t meant to be a mother.”

The words hit harder than any slap.

I recoiled as if struck, staring at him in stunned silence.

“Caleb, please,” Bianca said softly, her voice trembling. “Aurelia is hurting… this is my fault.”

I didn’t listen anymore.

I pushed myself off the floor and walked out, my steps unsteady, my mind numb. His words echoed in my head over and over, cutting deeper each time.

“You’ll regret this,” I said without turning back.

I returned to my ward. When the nurse cleaned the blood from my legs and changed the sheets, I didn’t react. I just stared at nothing, my heart empty.

Two days later, I was discharged.

When I returned to the house, relief washed over me at the realization that Caleb hadn’t come back. I finished packing in silence. Among the mail waiting on the table was a thick envelope. I opened it slowly.

Divorce papers.

I nodded to myself, strangely calm.

There was no turning back now. I signed my name without hesitation and laid the document neatly on the bed.

Caleb had proven—again and again—that Bianca mattered more than I ever did. There was no coming back from this. Not after what he’d done to me. Not after what he’d taken.

A sob tore from my throat before I could stop it.

I grabbed my suitcase and walked out. My Uber was already waiting.

At the airport, I checked in and sat quietly at the gate. When my phone rang, my chest tightened. Caleb’s name flashed on the screen.

After a moment, I answered.

“What is this bullshit on the bed, Aurelia?” he demanded. “And where the hell are you?”

I laughed bitterly. “Sign the divorce papers, Caleb. We’re finished.”

There was a brief silence.

“You don’t mean that,” he said sharply. “You have nowhere to go. No money. I’ve taken care of you all these years. Come home right now and stop acting insane.”

“Never call me again,” I replied calmly. “If you do, you’ll regret ever meeting me.”

“Aurelia—”

I ended the call, pulled out my SIM card, and tossed it into the trash.

Just then, boarding was announced.

I stood, heart heavy but resolute, and stepped onto the plane.

It had been five years since I’d walked away from my pack, my family, my true name. Now, I was finally going back.

And this time, I would do exactly what my parents had wanted all along.

Caleb and Bianca would pay.

For my child.

Aurelia

The plane touched down with a muted jolt against the runway, the vibration shuddering through the cabin floor and traveling straight up into my bones. The impact was gentle, routine even, but it sent my heart racing all the same. I closed my eyes as the wheels slowed, my fingers tightening instinctively against the armrest, and let out a shaky breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding since the descent began.

Five years.

The number echoed in my mind, heavy and unforgiving. Five long, painful years had passed since I last set foot on this land, since I had walked away from everything that had once defined me. In those five years, entire seasons had come and gone without me. Moons had risen and fallen over pack territory I no longer called home. Traditions had continued without my presence, and my place—once secure—had been left empty.

All because of Caleb.

I had chosen him over my family. Over my pack. Over the legacy woven into my blood long before I was old enough to understand its weight. I had turned my back on my parents’ warnings, on my brother’s anger, on the quiet expectations of an entire lineage that had prepared me from birth to lead, to protect, to endure. I told myself love was enough to justify that choice. I told myself I was strong enough to build a new life from nothing.

The plane taxied slowly along the runway, and with every passing second, the truth settled deeper into my chest.

I hadn’t just left a place.

I had abandoned who I was meant to be.

Now, as the aircraft rolled to a stop and the seatbelt sign chimed softly overhead, the weight of that realization pressed down on me harder than any judgment my family could have ever given. I had come back carrying regret, grief, and a heart cracked open by betrayal—but I had come back all the same.

Whether this land would still recognize me as its own, I didn’t yet know.

But as my wolf stirred faintly beneath my skin, responding to the familiar pull of pack territory, I understood one thing with absolute clarity.

No matter how far I had run, this was still home.

As the aircraft slowed to a stop, I tightened my grip around the strap of my bag, my palms damp with nerves. My wolf stirred faintly inside me, restless and uneasy, as if she recognized where we were even before I consciously did. The air itself felt different here—cleaner, heavier with familiar scents carried on the wind beyond the airport walls.

I followed the stream of passengers out of the plane, my heart pounding louder with every step. The moment my feet touched the terminal floor, a strange mixture of dread and longing settled deep in my chest. I hadn’t just come back to a place. I had come back to everything I once abandoned.

The arrival hall buzzed with movement and voices, the scent of humans and wolves blending together in a way that felt overwhelmingly familiar. I scanned the crowd nervously, my gaze darting from face to face.

I didn’t have to search long.

They were standing near the entrance, exactly as I remembered—my mother’s posture straight but tense, my father standing slightly ahead of her like a silent shield, and Declan looming beside them with his arms crossed, his presence impossible to miss. Even after five years, my brother looked exactly the same—broad-shouldered, sharp-eyed, his wolf’s aura barely contained beneath his calm exterior.

My mother saw me first.

Her eyes widened, her breath catching visibly as she nudged my father with trembling fingers. The moment his gaze found mine, his composure cracked. And then my mother was already moving, weaving through the crowd with desperate urgency.

“Aurelia!”

Her voice carried over the noise, raw with emotion.

Before I could even respond, she was there, her arms wrapping tightly around me, pulling me into her familiar embrace. The scent of her—lavender, earth, and the comforting undertone of our pack—hit me all at once, and the dam inside me broke.

“Mom,” I whispered, my voice barely audible as I buried my face against her shoulder.

She held me as if she would never let go, her fingers pressing into my back like she was afraid I might disappear again. When she finally pulled back, her hands immediately came up to cup my face, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she studied me closely.

“Let me look at you, my baby girl,” she murmured. “You’ve lost weight… your face looks thinner.”

She swallowed hard, then forced a smile. “But you’re still beautiful. Still my Aurelia.”

“Mom, you’re going to suffocate her,” Declan cut in, his voice teasing but thick with emotion.

He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me in a crushing hug, lifting me slightly off the ground as if I weighed nothing.

“Declan!” I laughed weakly, swatting at his arm. “Put me down!”

“You’re really here,” he said quietly as he set me back on my feet. “You’re home.”

My father stepped closer then, his presence grounding and steady. He didn’t pull me into a hug like Mom or Declan did. Instead, he rested a hand on my shoulder, his grip firm and reassuring.

“You’re home,” he repeated, his voice rough with feeling.

I nodded, my throat tightening painfully. “I’m home.”

For a brief moment, surrounded by the people who had loved me long before Caleb ever existed, I felt something close to relief. Safe. Anchored. And yet, beneath it all, the weight of everything I had lost still clung to me like a shadow I couldn’t shake.

Then my father spoke again.

“Where’s Caleb?” he asked, glancing past me toward the crowd. “Is he handling the luggage?”

The question struck like a blade.

My smile faltered instantly. My fingers curled into fists at my sides as a familiar ache spread through my chest. I swallowed hard, my wolf whimpering softly inside me.

“He’s… not here,” I said quietly.

My mother frowned, confusion flashing across her face. “Aurelia? What do you mean, he’s not here?”

The words I had been holding back surged forward all at once. Tears spilled over before I could stop them, my vision blurring as I covered my face with trembling hands.

“Aurelia!” Mom exclaimed, alarmed. She reached for me immediately. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

I shook my head helplessly, but once the first crack appeared, everything came pouring out.