Chapter 96

Aurora’s POV

Images of Thorne marrying some other woman flash through my mind, and nausea rolls through me. My breath catches in my chest, making my head spin.

Thorne snatches the wedding invitation out of my hand with a growl.

“Why is this on my desk?” I ask, my stomach clenching in fear and disgust. “I thought your wedding wasn’t for two more months. I thought we had more time to stop it.”

I know Thorne is supposed to get married soon, but I also know that he’s fighting to convince his parents and the pack to cancel the wedding. Though, I guess things just took a turn for the worse because the wedding is no longer set for two months.

“It’s set for one month from now, not two. What are we going to do?” I ask, and he looks up from the invitation. If we were in a cartoon, there would be steam shooting out of Thorne’s ears.

One second, he’s silent, and the next, Thorne is crushing the invitation to his own wedding in his fist. The resounding growl that rolls from Thorne’s chest sends a shiver down my spine, even though I know it’s not directed at me.

Bright gold eyes find mine as another growl fills the room, “I’ll handle this matter. Anders!”

Anders pops his head back into the office and instantly loses his smile and moves to my side.

“Watch over Aurora while I’m gone. If I’m not back by the end of working hours, take her home for me,” Thorne orders, rushing out of the room like he’s on fire. Anders stands there, his eyes moving between me and the door.

However, I can’t move. My mind fills with multiple scenarios of Thorne being forced to marry someone else. In my mind, I know he doesn’t want to marry another woman, but my heart still aches at the thought.

He loves me and wants to be with me. Thorne isn’t one to let others force him to do things that he doesn’t want to do, so I have to trust that he’ll take care of this.

“Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?” Anders touches my arm, pulling me from my thoughts, and I shake my head.

“I’m okay. I should get back to work, though,” I murmur. He nods and follows me out of Thorne’s office where everyone is staring. I stop in my tracks, suddenly feeling the need to hide, but instead, I lift my chin and walk to my desk.

Anders pulls a chair up and sits next to me, planting himself between me and my coworkers. He’s large enough that I can’t see around him, and I have a sudden thought.

“Are you secretly a bodyguard who’s pretending to be a doctor?”

Anders’s head whips around, “What?”

I lean in, cup my hand at my mouth, and whisper, “It’s okay. You can tell me. You are, aren’t you?”

“You’re a smart little thing,” he chuckles, raking a hand through his hair.

“I knew it!”

He raises a brow at my declaration, and I have to force myself to sit back down before speaking again, “I knew it. You’re the biggest man I’ve ever seen, and being a doctor just doesn’t fit you.”

“I am a doctor, though.”

“You are? For real?”

Anders nods, “I am, but I could also be a bodyguard. I’ve trained for both positions my whole life.”

“You wanted to be both?” I ask, curious.

“I did. My father was a warrior, and my mother was a healer, so I learned from both of them,” he explains, leaning back in his chair. “Actually, being a doctor makes me an even deadlier fighter because I know the body’s weak points and how to cause irreparable damage.”

My gut clenches, and I sit up straighter. “R-right. Remind me not to get on your bad side, then.”

“I doubt that could happen, little human,” he says, flicking my nose again in an almost brotherly way.

Thorne’s POV

No one dares to stop me as I shove the doors to my father’s house open. They bang loudly against the wall, causing the maids to jump, but I ignore them. I head straight to the parlor, not disappointed when I find both my father and stepmother just where I knew they would be.

My stepmother continues sipping her tea and flipping through wedding catalogs while my father reads his newspaper.

“I do hope you’ve come to your senses, Thorne,” my stepmother snips. “There’s someone here who would like to meet you.”

As she says this, a tall, dark-haired woman in a tight red dress walks into the room. She struts toward me in her heels, smiling when she spots me and running forward. Her arms go around my neck as she gasps in delight.

“I’m so glad to meet you, Thorne,” she cries. “I can’t wait for the wedding. I’ve been training my entire life to be a good Luna for—”

Taking her arms in my hands, I pry them off my neck and move back. “That won’t be necessary,” I announce. Her eyes flicker with disbelief before a frown pulls at her mouth.

“What right do you have to control my life?” I growl, turning to face my father and stepmother. Neither of them gives me more than a passing glance, which only sends my anger rising. They think that because they’re older and once held the power here, that they are untouchable.

Well, it’s time to make them understand that I’m in charge of my life.

Not them.

“Look at me!” I bark in my Alpha tone, which forces them to obey. The woman beside me squeaks and scurries away, giving me a bit more room to breathe.

Stiffly, they lift their heads. I throw the crumpled wedding invitation down on the foyer’s table, “I will not be marrying anyone who is not my mate. I don’t care how you ran things while you were Alpha, father, but you will not force me into a marriage I don’t want.”

I can feel my wolf scratching just below the surface, and I take deep breaths to hold him back.

My father’s eyes narrow, but I don’t give him a chance to speak.

“Shut up and listen.”

The Alpha tone works wonderfully, because my father’s mouth closes.

“Aurora is the woman I love. I will not marry anyone other than her in this life,” I swear. “She is my mate who was given to me by the Goddess, but even if she weren’t, I would still choose her. Aurora is—”

My stepmother scoffs, “Thorne, listen to yourself—”

“Shut.

Your.

Mouth.”

I stalk forward and sweep my hand across her little table, sending all the wedding catalogs and papers flying across the room.

Leaning in, I look both of them straight in their eyes, making sure they’re listening really well before I speak, “Aurora is mine, and I am hers. She is the most important person in my life. Nothing you say or do will change that, and if you can’t support my decisions, you are free to leave my pack and never return.”