Chapter 3 UNRAVELING

Aurora's POV By the fourth day, I was breaking. The worst part was that I couldn't tell whether it was my wolf or my heart.

I woke drenched in sweat, my sheets twisted around my legs. Fever burned beneath my skin, and every breath felt like a struggle against something desperate to claw its way out of me.

My wolf. She was no longer content to stir restlessly in the back of my mind. She was fighting me, pushing against my ribs with a desperation that frightened me.

I stumbled into the bathroom and gripped the sink. My reflection stared back at me. Silver eyes.

Not a fleeting flash this time. They remained, flickering beneath my lashes like a warning I couldn't understand.

I was running out of herbal supplements. Only three left in the bottle. My hands shook as I splashed cold water on my face, trying to calm the fire under my skin.

"She's showing signs." My mother's voice trembled. "We need to tell her."

"Tell her what?" Vincent's voice was harder than I'd ever heard it. "That you've been poisoning her for nineteen years?"

My fingers tightened around the sink. Poisoning? "I was protecting her!" "And how long do you intend to keep lying to her?" "If they find out what she is..."

A door slammed and then followed. I stood frozen, with water dripping from my chin. What am I?

I dragged myself to campus, trying to act normal despite the fever making my vision blur at the edges. Lucas found me at my locker before I had even opened it, appearing out of nowhere like he had been waiting.

"You look like hell, Canadian." His usual grin was absent, replaced by something that looked almost like worry. "Thanks. Exactly what I needed to hear." I fumbled with my combination lock, my fingers not working properly.

Lucas reached out and touched my forehead, his hand cool against my burning skin. "You are burning up. Let me drive you home." I pulled away. "I am fine."

"Stubborn and beautiful. My favorite combination." But his eyes showed genuine concern, searching my face like he was trying to solve a puzzle.

He took my bag from my shoulder without asking and walked me to class, staying close enough that I could feel the heat from his body.

Other she-wolves glared as we passed, their expressions a mix of jealousy and disbelief. Lucas Pierce did not show care.

Between classes, he cornered me in an empty hallway. "Have dinner with me tonight. Not The Den. Somewhere quiet with just us." "Why are you doing this?" I asked. For once, Lucas didn't answer immediately.

His gaze searched my face, and the familiar amusement in his expression softened. "You really don't know, do you?" "Know what?"

"Most people decide what they want from me before they even speak to me. They either want my attention or they're terrified of getting it."

"And what do you think I want?" "That's the interesting part." His smile returned, although it wasn't quite as careless as before. "I haven't figured you out yet."

"Maybe there's nothing to figure out." "Maybe." He stepped aside to let me pass. "Have dinner with me tonight, and I'll decide."

I saw honesty in his eyes for the first time, vulnerability hiding behind his usual confidence. Against my better judgment, against every warning in my head, I heard myself say, "Fine. One dinner."

His grin was victorious, lighting up his entire face. "Be ready by seven, sister. I have something to do, so I'll meet you at home by that time"

As he walked away, I caught movement across the quad. Logan stood there watching us; he looked so furious, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

I stormed home early, my body shaking with fever and rage and confusion. I found my mother in the kitchen and did not bother with pleasantries. This particular question has been in my mind all day.

"What did you mean, you were protecting me? Protecting me from what?" Her face crumbled. "Aurora, please..." "Tell me the truth. Now." My voice came out harsh, but I was done with secrets.

Elena's hands trembled as she gripped the edge of the counter. "Sit down. Please." "I don't want to sit down!" I slammed my palm against the granite.

"You've been lying to me my entire life. Vincent said you poisoned me. He said nineteen years. What does that mean?"

She flinched as I had struck her. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over, but I refused to feel sorry for her. Not yet. Not until I understood.

"You are a Silver Wolf," she whispered. I stared at her. "A what?" "A Silver Wolf. Your grandmother was one, too."

I waited for her to explain, but she only looked at me with frightened eyes. "Mum, you're going to have to do better than that." She swallowed.

"Silver Wolves are incredibly rare, Aurora. Most wolves believe your kind is extinct. Your bloodline carries extraordinary power, and the strength you could bring to a pack makes you valuable to every Alpha who knows what you are."

"Valuable?" The word tasted bitter. "I'm your daughter, and you're talking about me like I'm something people can buy."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of." Her voice cracked. "I watched what happened to my mother. I watched Alphas destroy everything around them because they wanted her."

My legs felt weak. I pulled out a chair and sat across from her. "If I'm so powerful, then why have I always been weak? Why couldn't I shift like everyone else?"

"Because I made you that way." Her voice broke on the words. "I gave you wolfsbane from the time you were two years old. Diluted, just enough to suppress your wolf, to hide your scent, to make you seem ordinary. I told you they were herbal supplements for your health, and you trusted me."

Horror crawled up my spine. "You poisoned me?" "I protected you!" She reached across the table, but I pulled my hands back.

"Aurora, please understand. I was sixteen when three Alphas went to war over my mother." Elena's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.

"They burned our territory. Wolves who had nothing to do with their rivalry died in the fighting. And when it was over, one of them took her."

She stopped. For a moment, I thought she wouldn't continue.

"He treated her like a breeding stock. He wanted children who would inherit her bloodline, and he didn't care what it cost her. By the time she died, there was almost nothing left of the woman I remembered."

Her eyes filled with tears. "I was nineteen when I lost her." The pain in her voice was real, and it made my chest ache. But it did not erase what she had done.

"So you decided to do the same thing to me?" I asked quietly. "You took away my wolf when I was two years old. You made me believe I was defective every time I failed to do something the other wolves could do."

My voice cracked. "Do you know what it's like to spend your entire life wondering what's wrong with you? To watch everyone else grow stronger while you keep falling behind?"

I shook my head, struggling to breathe. "You didn't just hide my identity, Mum. You made me ashamed of myself."

"I gave you a normal life!" Her voice rose, desperate. "Do you know what would have happened if anyone knew what you were? Alphas would have come for you the moment you turned eighteen. They would have fought over you, claimed you by force, used you for your bloodline and nothing else. You would never have had a choice, never had freedom, never been anything more than a prize to be won."

"So instead I got to be the weakest wolf in my pack!" My voice cracked. "I got to be pitied and overlooked. I got to thinking I was broken! Do you know what that does to a person, Mom? Do you know what it's like to hate yourself because you think you're not good enough, not strong enough, not whole?"

"I know." Tears streamed down her face. "I know, and I'm sorry, but I would do it again. I would do anything to keep you safe."

"Safe?" I laughed bitterly. "I'm not safe. You brought me here to Seattle, to a pack full of unmated wolves, and you stopped giving me the wolfsbane. Why? If you were so desperate to protect me, why did you stop?"

Elena looked away. "Because Vincent promised he could protect you. Shadowpine is one of the strongest packs in the region. No Alpha would dare challenge Vincent for claiming rights."

"Does he know?" I gripped the edge of the table. "Does Vincent know what I am?" "Yes." She met my eyes. "That's why he agreed to bond with me. He knew the risks, and he promised to keep you safe. This pack is strong enough to fight off challengers."

My stomach twisted. "And the twins?" Elena hesitated, and that pause told me everything I needed to know. "Not yet. But Logan, he suspects. I can see it in the way he watches you."

"Is that why he hates me? Because he can sense what I am?" "I don't know." She reached for my hand again, and this time I let her take it. Her fingers were cold and shaking.

"Aurora, I never meant to hurt you. Every decision I made was because I love you. I watched my mother die because of what she was, and I swore I would never let that happen to you. Even if it meant you would hate me.

I looked at her. I saw the guilt carved into the lines around her eyes, the fear that had been living in her chest for decades, the love that had twisted itself into control. She had caged me to save me and destroyed me in the process.

"I don't hate you," I said quietly. "But I don't know if I can forgive you either. Not yet."

She nodded, tears still falling. "I understand." I stood up, my whole body trembling. "I need to go." "Where?"

"I don't know." I backed toward the door. "I just need to think. I need to figure out who I am without your lies covering everything."

"Aurora, please be careful..."

"I'm done being careful!" The words exploded out of me. "I'm done being weak and small and hidden. You took my wolf from me for nineteen years, and I will never get that time back. So now I'm g