Family's Regret After She Kneels

Aurora’s POVThe scent of silver and herbs clung to the air like smoke. Machines hummed softly beside the bed where Vicky, Alpha Damian’s sister, lay motionless. Her skin was almost translucent beneath the sterile lights, her lips pale as frost.The Beta doctor hovered near her bedside, murmuring instructions to a nurse who scribbled notes with trembling hands. The faint metallic tang of wolf poison lingered in the room.No one said the word out loud, but everyone knew.Someone had poisoned her.When the Beta doctor finally turned toward us, his voice was low, heavy with restrained disgust. “She’s stable,” he said, “but the poison was mixed into her morning medication. Only Aurora and Helen came to visit her today, are you sure there was no one else in the room?.” “I don’t know…” she whispered, her lower lip quivering as she pressed her hands to her chest.Helen, the daughter my mother had adopted years ago, stood near the door, her hands clasped tightly to her chest, wide eyes shim

Aurora’s POVAfter the trial, I thought the worst was over. I was wrong.Damian made sure my punishment didn’t end with a sentence. He bribed the guards and the other inmates to torment me, starving me, beating me, forcing me to kneel until my knees bled. Every strike stripped away a piece of my wolf, every insult carved deeper into what was left of me. When the poison’s side effects didn’t kill me fast enough, Damian found a new way to destroy me. He called it mercy when he ordered them to send me to a mental hospital. But I knew the truth, he just wanted to watch me break slower.In this hellish situation, five years flew by in the blink of an eye. Every now and then, I’d hear through the grapevine that Helen and James were living the perfect life. James had become a hotshot lawyer,all thanks to the Vicky poisoning case. Helen?She was still her mom’s spoiled little princess. But me?My mom had begged me, tears streaming down her face, to take the fall for Helen. Every promise

Aurora’s POVMy hair was short, uneven from where it had been hacked away during my time in the hospitaMy skin still had faint bruises and scars, some from restraints, others from rough handling.Even after bathing, I still felt the cold trace of the hospital on me, as if its presence clung to my skin no matter how clean I was.As soon as I stepped into the hall, the air shifted.The guests fell silent for a moment, eyes locking on me. Then came the whispers. Quiet at first, but spreading quickly like wildfire.An older woman nearby glanced at me with wide eyes. She had just been making small talk with someone but froze as she recognized me.“Is that… Aurora?” she whispered.“She used to be a dancer, you know,” another voice said softly. “She was a good dancer, very good moves then, she was famous for it.”“But now… now she’s a lunatic,” someone else whispered.And then, the real cruelty began.“Word is she slept around with the inmates in that mental hospital. Not just mentally unst

Aurora’s POVAlpha Keith stepped forward quickly, forcing a smile toward the guests. His voice was strong, as if trying to steady the scene. “Please don’t misunderstand. Aurora has been through a lot, but she is still a member of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan.”Then his eyes shifted to me. He leaned close enough that only I could hear. His words were low and sharp. “You should have considered your family. If you have AIDS, you should have told them beforehand.”The words cut through me like a blade. My back stiffened. My reply came out cold and sharp. “I’ve had a physical exam. I am healthy.”His gaze hardened, his jaw tight. “You’re lying,” he spat.Before I could respond, Helen’s soft voice rang out. She stepped forward, her expression gentle, her tone sweet, crafted for the audience. “I’m not worried about whether Aurora has AIDS or any mental illness. She is my family. I’ll accept her no matter what.”Gasps and whispers circled through the crowd. To them, her words sounded generous, s

Aurora’s POVI walked off the stage and ran into Beta James, he had obviously seen everything that had just happened.He stood right in my path, as if waiting for me. His eyes locked onto mine for a brief moment. But I quickly turned my gaze away. My heart ached, a dull twisting pain that made my chest tighten, but I pretended not to see him and kept moving forward.Every step felt heavier than the last. My legs moved, but the weight inside me dragged like chains. The closer I got to the exit, the more suffocating everything became. The murmurs from the banquet hall faded into a distant hum, but the pressure in my chest grew sharper.I didn’t want any more entanglement with him, not after everything. I didn’t want to hear his explanations, his regrets, his carefully chosen words.I just wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.He had rejected me.That wound was deeper than any physical pain I had suffered. I remembered that pain, and how it felt not just like the pain of