Chapter 63

Aurora

I’ve known Ann Hastings the longest. She is a small spitfire, a fighter, and I’ve envied her a lot throughout my life. She is tougher than anyone other girl I’ve ever met, so seeing her in worried shambles makes my heart hurt. She is anxiously rattling her leg as we sit on the porch steps, the stars splattered all over the dark sky overhead.

We point out shooting stars as we wait, as though it will make things better. As if mindless wishes on stars will make a damn difference in this situation. We want everyone to be okay, we want everyone to be safe, and afterwards we will settle into this new normal. Whatever this new normal may come out to be.

“When did life get so difficult?” Ann asks, speaking to the moon above like a star will fall into our laps with an answer tied to it.

“When I found my mate,” I mutter. “Or I should say, he found me.”

She glances over to me for a moment, as if examining me, and I feel on display. “You rejected him, right?”

I only nod.

“And he hasn’t accepted it?”

“He won’t,” I say, sure. “He said once I reach my twentieth birthday I’ll feel the fated pull and it will all work out.”

“Do you believe that?”

I shrug, my head spinning. “I know he’s my mate, he wouldn’t put up with me and all of this mess otherwise. I mean, fighting Xander, rejecting his father’s pack; never to be the Alpha king. He would have to be my mate to make those decisions.”

She nods, hesitating, and I wish this conversation would wither out. “I didn’t like him at first,” she admits, pretty much having the same initial feelings as I had when I found out I was mated to a royal prince. “But I see now that he is choosing you over the royal pack. That’s pretty amazing. I don’t know any royal who would do something like that.”

“I feel guilty about that,” I breathe, my words stinging. “He gave up his whole life for me and after everything I’ve done; I rejected him, kissed Luke, and made a mess of this entire ordeal.”

“Did he forgive you?”

I nod. “Almost instantly.”

“So why don’t you forgive yourself? You’ve both made mistakes. He hasn’t been perfect, right?”

I furrow my brow at her philosophical take on these things. “I thought you said you didn’t like him. Why are you sticking up for him now?”

“If my mate would give up their pack, or their Alpha title, I would keep him,” she hums.

I look discant. It’s hard to forgive myself. He is making this huge change for me, after I’ve wounded him, after sending him off on a task to save the man I kissed while we were still mated. But she has a point. He hasn’t been perfect. I spent most of our first few months in the palace, locked in my room. It was for my safety, sure, but it secluded me all the same.

Watching Ann, I almost catch something I never thought I would see. She watches the stars, a hint, a small pinch, of jealousy. It’s as if Ann envies the relationship I have with Jaxson, like it’s something she wants to obtain, even after knowing the troubles and hardships we have both had since finding one another.

I would never anticipate us as something to yearn for.

My eyes shoot up at the sounds of steps, a large, daunting wolf trotting down the beach. My heart may still hurt but I don’t mind, leaping off the porch and rushing down the sandy terrain, toward the man who shifts back to his perfect, chiseled form, unharmed.

I find myself leaping into his arms, feeling his body take the brunt of my forceful embrace.

He feels so warm, so pumped with adrenaline, and he smells so familiar, like my home in the North Woods. His arms are thickly wrapped around my back, holding me and intending to never release. I wouldn’t want him to either.

Ann was right. I forgive myself, I forgive him, like he has done for me.

I nuzzle my face into his neck, his hands grabbing at my back and sides, holding me like I will let go of him and he doesn’t want that; I don’t want it.

He looks up, my feet finally hitting the sand again, unknowingly hanging over it for a moment in time. His lips brush mine, softly, and temporary. I hear Ann approaching from behind I let go of my mate, one of his arms still keen on being snaked around my hips, pressing me into him.

“Everything went well,” he breathes to the both of us.

Ann nods, first looking at Jaxson, then to me. “I guess that means it’s time for me to go.”

My pulse hardens, my heart heavy. “Already?”

Looking to me, she nods, ignoring my mate like he is no longer here. “That’s the plan, Aurora. I’m meeting the others at another pack far away and meeting Luke, Row and Paul.”

I gaze at Jaxson. “This is it, huh?”

He gives me a somber nod.

I release from his side and embrace Ann, my friend so close to me it’s as if we were sisters. But I know that part of my life has to be fleeting. I have my mate, I have to focus on him, and that means leaving everything from my past behind, every single part of it. She gives me one last tight squeeze, her arms retracting before we watch her turn to leave.

I want to say something meaningful, something profound about our friendship, but it’s too hard to find the words when you are saying goodbye to the last part of our past. It’s time, though. I can admit it at last. It feels like a weight is pulled from my back, tossed aside to never be worn again. It’s tough, and I weep, but Jaxson slings an arm around my shoulders in a way that let’s me know that while I give up my past, my future is brighter.

He pulls me to his chest for a long, deep kiss. He taste better than ever before for some reason. He moves his lips against mine, then strolling them down my neck, and soon he is making out with my collarbone, the sensation of his lips grazing my surface making me shudder.

I want to pull back, but I push myself in further, moaning just a little, and it’s enough to see and feel his pulsing erection slowly rise against my hip. I freeze, nervous, but I can’t keep holding onto the past and my fears, mostly the memories of his brother.

I need to ask about Xander, if he killed him, but it’s not the time. His lips distract me, his hands yanking me forward, and I make amends with the fact that now is not a time for words.

It’s time for action.