Aurora’s POV
“Helena, I’m fucking lost,” I curled up on the couch, my voice shaking. “They look at me like I’m some kind of monster.”
Since that disastrous Pack gathering, Mom and Roman had completely cut me off. My texts went unanswered, my calls ignored. Right after the gathering, Mom had kicked me out of her house. The whole thing was awkward as hell, with everyone acting like I didn’t exist. Was this how Thea felt all those years? It was ironic that I was now experiencing the very thing I used to inflict on her.
“I warned you so many times,” Helena’s voice came through the phone, not an ounce of sympathy in it. “From the day you told me you were pregnant, I kept telling you to come clean, but you never listened.”
She had warned me. Every time she tried to bring up Wyatt, I’d instantly activate my defenses like a damn firewall. For six years, she kept trying to make me face reality, and for six years, I kept running from it. Sometimes I’d even get angry, we’d fight, and wouldn’t speak for days.
“I know,” I sighed, completely drained.
Sleep had become a luxury. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Thea’s angry face, Mom’s disappointed expression. These phantoms followed me, making rest impossible.
“No, you don’t,” Helena said mercilessly. “I don’t think you understand how much pain you’ve caused, not just your family, but Wyatt and Jaxon too. Pups are a blessing from the Moon Goddess, but you treated your son like a curse. Have you ever thought about how Wyatt felt all these years? I still don’t understand why you did this, or how you could.”
In truth, it had been easy. Erasing Wyatt from my life was as simple as deleting an unwanted file. My human side never wanted him, never acknowledged him. I only want to bear Sebastian’s children.
“Cut the crap, Helena,” I interrupted irritably. “I don’t need a moral lecture from you. What I need is a way to get my family to accept me again, to get everything back on track.”
“Listen to yourself!” Helena’s voice rose sharply. “You’re still only focused on yourself! Aurora, I’ve supported you in many things, but you know this is the one thing I never agreed with. You’re my friend, so I have to tell you: the way you treat your son is fucking despicable.”
“You know they were just a mistake to me. All I ever wanted was Sebastian. I never truly accepted Jaxon, let alone his child.”
Why couldn’t anyone understand my pain? Why did they assume motherhood was automatic? Was I supposed to love Wyatt unconditionally just because my body created him?
“Wake the fuck up, Aurora,” Helena snapped. “You’re still dreaming. Sebastian and Thea already have a son, and from all indications, he doesn’t want anything to do with you. That means your dreams of a family with Sebastian can only exist in your own imagination.”
I deflated instantly. I couldn’t argue because deep down, I knew she was right. My dreams had started crumbling the day Thea announced she was pregnant with Sebastian’s child. Sebastian had already told me he didn’t want anything to do with me, and now he knew about Wyatt. Thea had successfully turned everyone’s perception of me upside down. I looked like a demon in her light. She was the caring and loving mother of pups, while I was the cold-hearted woman who abandoned her own child. She’d destroyed the image I’d carefully maintained for years without even trying.
“I get how you feel, Aurora, but honestly, I’m glad Thea exposed this secret,” Helena continued. “Wyatt needs his mother, whether you accept that fact or not. Maybe it’s time you let go of your obsession with Sebastian, acknowledge that you’re a mother, and start acting like one.”