Chapter 36Aurora’s POVOliver glanced at me, his shoulders relaxing as though he’d finally reached home. “Welcome to the Threshold Plains,” he said.It looked… empty. Stretched wide before me was a vast expanse, like a desert but not quite—an endless land with fine, towering trees scattered across it, their shadows stretching long and thin under the strange light. The ground shimmered faintly, almost silver.“Where are the werewolves?” I asked, frowning.He smirked. “This is just the entrance. Think of it as… the crossing point between worlds. Like your world has continents and countries, this realm—the Supernatural Vale—has territories, each claimed by different packs.”“Territories,” I whispered, trying to take it all in.He nodded. “And this? It’s only the beginning. To truly arrive, you need to pass through to a pack’s domain.”We walked on across the Threshold Plains, the silence broken only by the crunch of our footsteps. After a while, I blurted out the question that had been
Chapter 35 Aurora’s POV I kept dragging my feet behind him, every step heavier than the last. “Seriously,” I huffed, “how much longer? My legs are about to give up.” He slowed just enough to glance back at me, eyes narrowing. “You’re too weak,” he said flatly. “Werewolves aren’t weak. I didn’t think a half-human, half-werewolf could be this fragile.” I stopped dead in my tracks, glaring. “Excuse me? I wouldn’t be this weak if I had actually eaten dinner last night—or, you know, breakfast this morning.” My stomach growled right on cue, and I threw my hands up. “See?”. He stared at me for a moment—then laughed. Actually laughed. “Maybe you’ll find your inner strength… eventually,” he said, smirking. I rolled my eyes, but inside I was a little proud I’d cracked his stone-face for once. We left the bustle of people behind and stepped into the mouth of the woods. At first, it was just trees and scattered sunlight, but the deeper we went, the more the forest seemed to close in
Chapter 34 Aurora’s POV My hands wouldn’t stay still. They twisted in my lap, tugged at the hem of my shirt, rubbed my knees. Today was the day. The day I was leaving with him—the stranger who promised answers, the one who knew what I was. My stomach knotted, part fear, part anticipation. Grandma had already been discharged from the hospital. She looked healthier, but the sadness in her eyes had deepened. “When are you coming back, Aurora?” she asked gently as she folded some clothes beside her bed. I swallowed hard. “I… I don’t know, Grandma. But I promise I’ll be back as soon as I get the answers I need. It shouldn’t be that complicated.” My voice cracked. “And… I want to see Dad. I want to try to start over with him. But I wish I knew where he went.” Her face crumpled, and tears shone in her eyes. “I miss my son too. I wish he hadn’t left us. I wish he’d stayed.” The heaviness in the room made it hard to breathe. “Grandma… I hate leaving you all alone. But it’s better
Chapter 33 Aurora’s POV I lingered across the street from Larry’s diner, scanning faces in the crowd, my heart hammering like I was about to commit a crime. The neon sign flickered the same way it always had, and for a second, bile rose in my throat. That place… I could still see my disgusting ex-boss trying to corner me, his greasy hand reaching out. But then a grin spread across my face. Oh, but I didn’t let him get away with it, did I? Yeah, Aurora: one, Creepy Boss: zero. I actually let out a small laugh and shook my head. Then reality kicked back in. “Now… how am I supposed to find one man in all this chaos?” I whispered, my voice heavy, not mocking this time. My hands rested on my hips, but it wasn’t confidence—it was exhaustion. People moved past me in waves, laughing, talking, living their ordinary lives, while I stood here searching for the only person who might hold an answer to mine. It shouldn’t be this hard, I told myself. He’d been here before. Watching me. Lurking
Chapter 32 Aurora’s POV Tears streamed down my cheeks as Grandma’s words sank in. The noise of the hospital faded into nothing, leaving only the pounding of my heart. My father… blamed me? For my mother’s death? He hated me for it? And my mother… she was a werewolf? My life suddenly felt like a book someone else had written for me, page after page of secrets I was never meant to read. I struggled to breathe, my chest tight as I tried to piece it all together. Grandma’s wrinkled hands cupped my face, her eyes glistening with both love and guilt. “I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you anything. I thought since your father’s human, you wouldn’t get any werewolf traits. I had no one to ask about this world, Aurora. I didn’t know where your dad was, and I wasn’t close with your mother or any of her relatives. I figured, since you didn’t show any signs, it was better to let you live a normal life. I’m so sorry, my baby girl.” Her voice broke, a soft whine of pain that made my heart ach
Chapter 31Raymond’s POVAmber was gone.The words had lost their weight, or maybe they had grown too heavy for me to carry. My wife was dead. My world was dead. And though I was still breathing, I didn’t feel alive anymore.I sat in silence most days, my body moving through life like a shadow. The only sound that reminded me of life was the soft cries of my daughter—Aurora. But even her cries felt like a knife twisting into me. Every whimper, every giggle, every time she reached her small hands out for me, I saw Amber. I saw the way she should have been here. I saw the way her eyes should have shone with pride, holding the baby we both dreamed of.Instead, it was my mother who cradled Aurora.She moved into the house after Amber’s death, saying nothing but carrying everything. She cooked, she cleaned, she sang lullabies that soothed Aurora when I couldn’t. It was she who named her Aurora, whispering, “That’s what Amber wanted… Aurora, her little light.”I had nodded, unable to speak.