Chapter 2: Fear

Aurora

Absolutely not! Never!” Mother said firmly.

"What?" I stared at her, disbelief tightening in my chest as my heart plummeted.

I had expected resistance,maybe a little reluctance—but eventually, I thought she’d come around, maybe even feel a flicker of pride or excitement.

 Instead, she looked at me as though I’d just proposed something unthinkable, her eyes wide with horror. She had denied me my very dreams without a second thought.

"But I made the cut!" My voice rose, thick with frustration. "Do you even know how hard that was? It was practically impossible!"

"You know how much this means to me. I've always talked about it!" I shouted, my hands trembling.

"And I never supported it!" she snapped back, her tone biting. "I just let you go on about it. How was I supposed to know you’d actually get in?"

Her words cut deep, like a slap I wasn’t prepared for. My heart sank further as I stepped back, staring at her in shock. She didn’t believe I was good enough. She never had.

"You cannot and will not leave Clearwater," she continued, her voice softening but losing none of its resolve. "You’ll stay here with me. Stay here where it’s safe." She reached for my hands, pleading.

"Ugh!" I groaned, pulling away in frustration.

It was always this with her, this endless cycle of fear, control, and irrationality.

She wasn’t just against me going to Twilight. She was against everything I wanted.

"What are you so scared of?" I demanded, my voice cracking.

She didn’t answer, but her fear was palpable, radiating from her like heat. It was suffocating.

Her paranoia had ruled my life for as long as I could remember. It wasn’t just her refusal to let me go to Twilight; it was everything. The way she sheltered me, kept me hidden, made me feel like some kind of dirty secret she was so desperate to hide. 

Weird. Freak. Mutt. Rejectling.

Those were the names I heard almost all my life. And it wasn't just because I couldn't shift yet, I wasn’t the only one my age who hadn’t gotten my wolf or learned to shift yet, but I was the only one treated like that because of how I was, because of her.

Mom had kept me locked away from the world until I was thirteen, hidden like some fragile thing that couldn’t survive under the weight of reality. While other kids played and explored, I lived behind closed doors, staring out at a life I wasn’t allowed to touch.

Her paranoia made me different, made me strange, made me weird.

And now, she wanted to keep me here forever, stuck in Clearwater, in her safe little bubble.

Her wide brown eyes—so unlike my own, were filled with fear as she stared at me now, silently begging me to understand. But I couldn’t.

"What are you so afraid of, Mom?" I whispered, my voice quieter now but no less desperate.

She didn’t answer, just shook her head and held on to my hands like they were the only thing keeping her tethered to the earth.

Her fear had shaped my life, molded me into someone who was cautious, hesitant, and painfully awkward. I thought we’d moved past that stage. I thought she trusted me to step out into the world and stand on my own.

But now, as she stared at me with panic in her eyes, I realized she hadn’t changed at all. And I was still trapped. If she had her way, I would never leave her sight or this house. Would never try new things

How was I supposed to learn to be a skilled shifter and healer if I wasn’t going to stretch my wings and fly? Leave the cave?

I couldn’t.

That was exactly the point. She didn’t want that. She didn’t want any of it. She wanted me to stay hidden, locked away in the safety of Clearwater, confined to a life where I’d never grow, never become more than what I was right now.

"Mom." I grabbed her hands, my voice trembling as tears welled up in my eyes.

"You know this has always been my dream," I said, pleading with her.

“Again with the Twilight nonsense,” she muttered, avoiding my gaze, her tone dismissive as if my aspirations were nothing more than childish fantasies.

It had taken me hours, hours, to convince her to let me apply for the list of candidates in our pack who would undergo assessments for Twilight. I’d had to fight tooth and nail, making every argument I could think of, begging her to just let me try.

Even then, it wasn’t me who ultimately convinced her. It was Beta Mason who demanded I be allowed. 

I still remembered the way he’d spoken up for me that day. 

Now, standing in the kitchen, she sighed softly. Her gaze met mine for a fleeting moment, and I saw it—she hadn’t believed I’d make it. Not really.

"That was all nonsense," she said, shaking her head. "Letting you apply was nonsense. And now you want to leave the pack completely? To a different place? No!" Her voice rose to a thunderous roar, echoing through the small space.

“Mom!” I shouted back, frustration boiling over.

“There’s so much danger out there, Aurora! So much!” Her voice cracked, and I saw the fear in her eyes, raw and unrelenting.

There was nothing out there, nothing but the opportunities I craved, the future I deserved. Her fears weren’t real. They were all in her head, built up from years of paranoia.

Why couldn’t she just let me be normal?

I wasn’t normal. I knew that. I was the weird girl, the one everyone whispered about. The weird girl with a weird strange aura and even weirder hair. But couldn’t she at least let me pretend for once?

“Mother, please,” I begged, dropping to my knees, tears streaming down my face.

Didn’t she realize how much this meant to me? How much I needed this?

I ignored the sting of her earlier words, the way she had undermined me, dismissed my abilities, said she never thought I’d meet Twilight’s standards. 

"What’s going on here?"

The deep, familiar voice made my heart leap with a flicker of hope. I turned to see Beta Mason standing in the doorway of the kitchen, his brows furrowed in concern.

Ever since we had moved to this pack, he’d been there for us, always stepping in. 

 He was more than just our Beta. He was a father figure to me in so many ways—a widower who had lost his mate years ago but still carried himself with a strength that I admired.

It was Beta Mason who had dragged me out of the house that day years ago, enrolling me in school despite my mother’s protests. If it weren’t for him, I might have been homeschooled forever, trapped in the suffocating bubble my mother had built around me.

I was a werewolf, an overprotected, underdeveloped one thanks to her.

"Mom won’t let me!" I cried, turning to him desperately.

“Agatha,” he said firmly, addressing her in that commanding tone of his.

“Not now, Beta Mason!” she snapped, cutting him off with a sharp wave of her hand.

He sighed heavily, running a hand through his greying hair. 

She's the only one, Agatha, who actually made the cut. Twilight has high standards, but she's the only healer from this pack whose score met the mark.“ 

I looked at my mother, confused. Why didn’t she get that? 

"That doesn’t matter," she said stiffly, her tone sharp.

"She will remain here with me. She cannot go to Lunovia!" Her words were firm, like a line drawn in the sand.

Mason's voice broke through the tension, calm but steady. "You do want what's best for her, right?"

"Yes," my mother replied.

"And this pack is what's best for her," she added, sighing heavily, almost as if she were convincing herself.

Mason nodded and then looked at me. 

"You just don’t understand," my mother muttered, frustration in her voice.

"Why? What are you so scared of?" Mason’s voice was calm, but there was an edge to it now.

"I’m not scared, Mason," she replied, but her voice trembled lightly.

"I just don’t want her outside of this pack. There's a reason we came here."

Mason was silent for a moment. "And that reason is?"

"To live peacefully... just the two of us," she whispered, her voice heavy with a hidden sorrow.

"You can’t live your whole life in fear," Mason said. "Make her live in fear too? Let her chase her dreams. She’s gifted. She stands a chance."

"I can’t," she refused, the words coming out almost like a plea. "I can’t risk it."

“Mom.“ I whispered feeling my heart break even more. 

Mason sighed, his patience thinning. "She's capable, Agatha. I've been patient, but you have no reasonable explanation for this."

Beta Mason stood up straight, taking a breath before speaking again. "I imagined you might react this way. So I already spoke with the Alpha."

"The Alpha?" My mother and I both froze, the shock clear on our faces.

Mason nodded, his expression resolute. "I knew you'd try to stop her, so I told the Alpha. He’s invited you two for dinner." His tone left no room for argument.

My heart raced. Dinner with the Alpha? This was bigger than I had imagined. What had Beta Mason done?

"Ah, there's the star child," Alpha Derrick said, walking over to us that evening.

Alpha Derrick was a massive figure, with a hard gaze that could freeze anyone in their tracks. He was one of the strongest men I’d ever encountered, and his aura alone radiated such insane power. It was funny to think about, really—that someone like him was considered nothing, not even close to the higher werewolf breeds.

I couldn't help but imagine how a Lycan Primals aura would feel if Alpha Derrick was this imposing. A Lycan’s  would undoubtedly feel deathly.

We were soon seated at his table, ready to have dinner.

"Your daughter is very skilled," the Alpha said, his voice steady. "I believe she’ll make waves there." He gave me a small smile. It was one of the few times someone actually believed in me, and for a moment, it meant more than I could express.

I returned his smile, but before I could speak, he continued, "I mean, you're not much of anything—just a shifter or a healer, but Aurora, on the other hand, she’s wow."

I blinked, slightly caught off guard.

The Alpha let out a light chuckle, his tone teasing. "If I didn’t know better, I’d say she wasn’t your biological daughter."

I could feel my mother stiffen beside me, but the Alpha's words were lighthearted enough that I couldn't help but laugh along with him.