Chapter 2

2.

The winter night wind crept through the window cracks. It turned the room into a freezer.

Three years of "curse." Now I was about to get a new title too.

My wolf curled tighter into herself, nose buried in her own tail. She hadn't whimpered in a long time. Nothing left to grieve.

No one remembered. Today was also my eighteenth birthday.

No one believed I hadn't touched Vanessa.

Vanessa reached out from the couch, gently patting Mom's heaving chest. She arranged her face into that look of tender understanding.

"Mom, don't talk to Aurora like that. She's your real daughter after all. Your blood. I'm just an adopted orphan who's been hogging your love and Caleb's love for years. Of course she doesn't like me. I completely understand."

"I'm sorry."

My own voice. Flat and abrupt. Cutting her off.

The room went quiet again.

Mom and Caleb both froze. Even Vanessa blinked in surprise.

I let out a slow breath and repeated it.

"It was my fault. I apologize."

This scene had played out countless times over the past three years. Every time, I had stubbornly refused to admit fault. Even when it was fake, I wouldn't say the words. My wolf would bristle, refusing to bow to a lie.

But I was leaving tomorrow.

If admitting fault could give them peace, could let me carry one decent memory out of my last twenty-four hours in this house, then fine. At least when I thought of them from some Vanguard Corps training base, my mind wouldn't be filled with nothing but curses and cold stares.

Caleb recovered first. That "I knew it" look spread across his face.

"Finally decided to say it. Good. You'd better not do it again. Vanessa only sprained her ankle this time. If you actually hurt her next time, an apology won't be enough."

I made a low sound of acknowledgment. Nothing more.

Facing a threat from my own brother, it would be a lie to say it didn't sting. But I pushed the ache down and turned to go upstairs.

Vanessa grabbed my wrist.

She smiled and handed me a freshly issued family ID card. She made sure I saw the name on it.

Vanessa Sol Miller.

"Sol." The only one.

The only daughter of the Miller family. The only sister.

Mom's voice drifted over from the couch. Casual. Dismissive.

"From now on, Vanessa is our family's only darling. Don't get confused."

Caleb nodded. Then he turned to Vanessa, his face full of doting affection, and apologized to her. For what? For that brief moment when he had said "we all saw it." For briefly, mistakenly treating me like a person who existed.

Vanessa giggled and jumped up, looping both arms around his neck. She was already negotiating for a limited edition handbag as compensation.

Mom noticed I still hadn't responded. She set her coffee cup down on the table with a heavy thud.

"Did you hear me? Are you mute?"

I kept my head down. My voice was quiet.

"I understand. From now on, only Vanessa."

After tomorrow, there wouldn't be an Aurora in this house either.