Chapter 42

AURORA

“Your dad’s right,” Lana chimed in. “Losing his family, meeting me—it wasn’t easy. We’ve all had to learn to let go of the past and move on. Struggling with that doesn’t make you weak.”

Rin sucked in a sharp breath, wincing, but nodded. “I get it, and I’ll try to stop seeing it that way.”

“Good,” Jekia said. “But right now, we need to find Flora. Now that we know she’s alive, she could have important information for us.”

“You knew Flora, right? She said she came here to help Rin when he was a kid. Did you hear she’d been killed and that’s why you thought she was gone?” I asked.

“After Flora helped us with Rin, word got around that she’d been killed. I didn’t check it out myself, but it seemed likely. There was hardly any news from Lila, and we had the lycans to deal with. It was sad, but I didn’t have time to look into it,” Emelio explained.

Jekia frowned at him. “I get that, but I wish you’d taken the time. There were things I wanted to check with Flora, just to put my mind at ease.”

I knew what he meant. Flora had told me about it—the lycans working with Lila when they attacked Jekia’s family.

“Flora did talk to me before that monster attacked us. She said her sister was working with the lycans. That’s what you’ve been wondering about, right?” I asked.

“That’s it. I always suspected she was involved, especially with moving that mountain troll,” Jekia confirmed.

Emelio gave me a knowing look. “I bet she also told you that Lila’s been after you for a long time.”

“What do you mean?” Rin asked, looking a bit better now that his wound was clean and Vishu was stitching it up.

“Flora probably told Aurora all this, but I’ll say it too: nothing in the worlds happens by chance. We meet, we part, we form bonds that last lifetimes and beyond. It’s all written by the fates, under the Creator’s orders. Like your mom, Aurora was always meant to be here, in this world, in this family. She even had contact with this side when she was young,” Emelio told him.

I tilted my head, confused. “What do you mean? I don’t remember anything like that. Did the Faerie queen do it and erase my memory?”

“That’s possible. Sage erased my memory until after I got here,” Lana admitted.

“The answer to that is both yes and no,” Emelio said.

Jekia looked skeptical. “How can it be both? Either Lila had someone contact her or she didn’t.”

“In that sense, no. No one from Lila’s side contacted Aurora,” Emelio clarified. “But someone else did. A messenger from Lord Azrael and the fates. We’re not sure why, but part of it was to tell Aurora that her destiny was more than just living with those awful humans she called her parents.”

“So, it was to keep her strong until the time came?” Jekia asked.

“Sounds like they didn’t like her parents either,” Rin added, wincing as Vishu finished stitching him up.

“Don’t move your arm too much,” Vishu told him, standing up. “I’ll get your bandages so we can cover this.”

Once Vishu was gone, Lana spoke up. “What’s next? If they’ve been watching Aurora from the start, and so has this queen, there must be more to come,” she reasoned.

“There’s only one queen, and that’s you. I’m tired of calling this Faerie the Golden Queen. She doesn’t deserve that title. From now on, she’s just Lila.” Jekia stood, offering Lana a hand up. “As for what’s next, we keep our guard up and let Rin heal. Then we’ll all work together to figure out how to get rid of Lila.”

“I’m in. I want to see that witch pay for what she’s done,” Rin agreed.

“I know you do, but you need to rest for now,” Lana reminded him.

“I know, I know!” Rin huffed.

“I’ll make sure he does. He doesn’t need to push himself,” I added.

Vishu came back in with the bandages and giggled. “You should know better than to cross your beta,” she warned Rin, covering his wound.

“Not a good idea,” Jekia agreed, looking amused. He glanced at Lana, who was smiling knowingly.

Rin’s medical treatment wrapped up not long after, leaving us alone in the room. I helped him to his feet, noticing the slight grimace as he moved his right arm.

“You sure you’re okay?” I asked, concern lacing my voice.

“I’m good. Just tired. Haven’t slept in three days and now this damn cut,” Rin admitted.

“Really?” I murmured, though I wasn’t surprised. I’d seen how hard he was on himself. “Lie down, Rin. You need some sleep.”

I arranged a few pillows for him. He eased onto the bed, wincing as he settled against them.

“Join me. It’s been too long since you were here beside me,” he said.

“It’s only been four days, but it feels like forever to me too,” I confessed.

I climbed onto the bed, curling up on his left side. He wrapped his arm around me. There was a comforting familiarity in this, something I’d missed since that awful night. I was back with Rin, and it felt right.

We both relaxed, Rin’s breathing deepening as he drifted off to sleep. I was close behind, though my mind kept replaying my encounter with Lady Flora. It struck me as odd that Emelio didn’t know this Faerie was alive, especially given her role against the Golden Queen.

No, Jekia said not to call her that. She didn’t deserve the title. She was just a powerful Faerie named Lila.

“Aurora.”

Rin’s soft voice pulled me back to the present. I’d thought he was asleep.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine. The pain’s manageable. But I wanted to ask you something.”

“What’s up?”

Rin took a deep, pained breath. “You said earlier that you loved me, that you chose me. Did you mean it?”

Right. I’d confessed my feelings. Maybe he didn’t believe me, given the circumstances.

“I meant it,” I assured him, holding him a bit tighter, mindful of his pain. “I’m sorry for hurting you. Even if Lila influenced me, I slept with Rayne. I regret it. I like Rayne, but only as a friend. I feel so dumb. It took all this for me to realize how much I love you.”

“You’re not dumb. We’ve both been avoiding our feelings since we met. But I’m glad you love me. I love you more than you know. You’re growing into a strong beta, whether you see it or not,” Rin said.

“You think so? I don’t feel strong,” I admitted.

“Believe me, you are.” Rin took another deep breath. “We’ll talk more tomorrow. We both need rest.”

“Okay.” I leaned up and kissed him gently. “Just relax. I’m here.”

Rin smiled at me. “I know. I’ll rest easier knowing that.”

I’d never forget that smile. It was the most genuine I’d ever seen. I felt a similar happiness in my heart. I’d made the right choice, even though I knew it might hurt Rayne. Hopefully, he’d move past his feelings soon. Then we could defeat Lila and reunite our family, stronger than ever.

What I hadn’t anticipated was the lengths we’d have to go to achieve that, or what I’d have to do.