Chapter Twelve

Replaced and Forgotten

Aurelia’s POV

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think straight. The voices of the women had faded into the distance, but their words remained.

Luna ceremony.

Alpha Cassian.

He’s lucky to have found her.

Their words rang in my head, taunting and mocking. My hands tightened around the reins.

For two months, I had imagined this moment. Seeing Cassian and running toward him. Maybe even cry. Maybe hitting his chest for leaving me. Maybe forgiving him before he even apologized.

I had imagined everything except this.

Someone else. Another woman standing beside him. Another woman wearing the title that had once been promised to me.

I swallowed hard.

“Who is she?” The words came out barely above a whisper.

The women hadn’t noticed me yet. I almost didn’t want them to. I wanted to turn around. I wanted to pretend I had never heard anything but my body refused to move.

The older woman answered.

“Her name is Vivienne Sterling. She’s an Alpha’s daughter and her father helped bring back Silverscrest to its glory.”

I closed my eyes.

Vivienne.

The name lodged itself somewhere inside my chest.

An Alpha’s daughter, huh? Who am I compared to that?

“How long have they been together?”

The other woman laughed softly. “Long enough. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time. I’ve heard that her father, Alpha Silas, had been pushing it for years. I guess Alpha Cassian had gotten back to his senses after the attack and accepted the proposal.”

Long enough…

My stomach twisted.

Everyone knew. Everyone except me.

I opened my eyes.

The mountains ahead were blurred by tears. I remembered the night before the festival.

Cassian’s hand in mine. His voice. His promise.

I’ll come back. I love you…

I had believed him. I had survived because I believed him. And now I wondered if he had ever meant it. Any of it.

“Are you all right?” The voice beside me made me turn. I had forgotten the man Lucien ordered to go with me was still here.

I wiped my face quickly. “Yes.” But of course, he didn’t believe me.

“You don’t have to continue.”

“I do.”

“Not if you’re injured.” I wasn’t sure if he was pertaining to my now open stitches or something else entirely.

But nonetheless, I said, “I’m fine.”

My voice sounded unfamiliar.

It sounded cold and empty. I could barely recognize it.

He hesitated. “Should we go back?”

Back.

That word hurt.

I looked behind me.

The road disappeared into the forest. Somewhere beyond it was the place I had spent two months calling home in my head. The place where Lucien had taken me. Where I had healed. Where I had learned to stand again.

But I had never thought of staying. Not really.

I had always thought about leaving because I thought someone was waiting for me. Now I wasn’t sure anyone was.

“Take me back.”

It felt like millions of broken shards of glass had pierced my heart the moment I turned my back, away from Silvercrest. But I had no other choice.

That place had completely replaced me. I wasn’t sure if I was still welcome there anymore.

The journey back was silent. I didn’t cry. I didn’t speak. I just stared ahead the entire time.

The mountains slowly disappeared behind the trees. I watched until I couldn’t see them anymore. Until I couldn’t see the only place I thought was home. Only then did I allow myself to close my eyes.

I thought about Cassian because there hasn’t been anyone who had the power to take over my mind like he had.

Was he happy? Was he preparing for the ceremony? Did he love her? Had he loved her before the attack? Was I already forgotten?

Did he ever love me at all?

The questions kept coming and I hated every one of them.

When we finally returned, I climbed down from the horse. My legs shook, not from weakness, but from something else.

Lucien was waiting near the entrance. The guy who accompanied me must have mind-linked him already.

His eyes immediately went to my face, carefully scanning my expression.

He didn’t ask what happened because he knew.

Maybe it was obvious. Maybe I looked as broken as I felt.

“You came back.” He didn’t sound surprised.

I nodded.

He looked at the road behind me, then back at me.

“Did you see him?” I couldn’t answer and somehow, that was enough. Lucien’s expression changed. Not much, but I noticed. “What happened?”

I looked away. “He has a Luna.” Silence. The words sounded strange when spoken aloud. “He chose someone else.” My voice broke.

Lucien didn’t say anything. I waited for him to tell me something. Anything. That perhaps there was a mistake. That perhaps I had misunderstood.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he asked quietly, “Do you want to go back?”

My head snapped toward him. “What?”

“To Silvercrest.” I stared at him. “If you still want to go, I’ll arrange it.”

I couldn’t understand. “You’d still let me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“After everything?” After the betrayal. After they replaced me with someone…much more capable than I ever was and would ever be.

His eyes remained on mine. “You did everything to recover because you wanted to return to him.”

I looked down. He was right. I had. Every step I had taken over the last two months had been toward Cassian.

Every painful morning. Every sleepless night. Every attempt to stand. Every moment I forced my body to heal.

All because I believed there was someone waiting for me. But now…

There was nothing.

“I don’t know.” It was the first honest answer I had given all day.

Lucien nodded. “You don’t have to decide tonight.”

I looked at him. “I thought you’d want me gone.” Wasn’t that the reason he was arranging this? So he wouldn’t have me as a burden anymore.

“I thought you wanted to leave.”

I faltered. “I…I did.”

“And now?”

I swallowed. “I don’t know where I want to go.”

For the first time, Lucien looked almost angry. Not at me, but at whatever had caused the emptiness in my voice.

He stepped closer. “Then stay.”

I looked up. “Here?”

“Until you know where you want to go.” I stared at him. “You don’t have to leave simply because you thought you had somewhere else to go.”

Something inside my chest cracked.

I looked away before he could see my eyes fill. “I don’t want your pity.”

“It’s not pity.”

“Then what is it?”

He was silent for a moment. “An option.” I looked at him again. “You can leave whenever you want.” He paused. “But if you don’t want to go back…” His voice softened. “…you can stay for as long as you need and for as long as you want. Just…stay.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. Because suddenly, staying didn’t feel like failure. It felt like the only thing I could do.

I turned away from him.

My fingers found the ribbon around my wrist, the one from Cassian. The same ribbon I’d carried all the way back.

I slowly untied it.

For a moment, I held it in my palm. I felt every muscle in my body holding on to it, to every memory we made, to the first man I ever loved, and to the man who broke my heart.

Then I let it fall onto the table beside me. The sound was barely audible. But it felt final.

I had spent two months trying to return to the life I’d lost. Now I understand something.

That life had continued without me.

Maybe it had never been waiting. Maybe I was the only one who had been.

My chest tightened.

The warmth I’d felt so many times before suddenly returned, but this time, it was stronger. Much stronger.

I grabbed the edge of the table. My breath caught.

Something moved beneath my skin. I heard a heartbeat, but it wasn’t mine.

Another.

A low growl echoed inside my mind. I froze.

‘Enough!’

My eyes widened. The voice came again. Stronger. Closer.

‘You have mourned them long enough.’

I stumbled backward.

Lucien immediately reached for me. “What happened?”

I pushed his hand away.

“I…”

The pain came suddenly. I dropped to my knees, my fingers dug into the floor. Something inside me was tearing open.

I screamed.

The room blurred. The walls disappeared, and for the first time in eighteen years…I felt my wolf fully awaken. Her voice filled my mind.

Cold. Fierce. Certain.

‘You survived.’

Another wave of pain tore through me. I cried out, and then I heard her whisper the words that would change everything.

‘Now let them see what they buried.’

My eyes opened.

Silver. Bright as the moon. And somewhere far beyond the forest…the life I once loved continued without me. I no longer wanted to chase it.

I wanted to become someone it would one day fear.