Three days passed and Aurora's cold got better. She was able to leave when Nailiah gave her the clear but when it was time to leave she refused.
When Aurora and Jace introduced themselves that night, they became fast friends. It was not a surprise that they did. Considering what they were growing through.
Aurora's decision to stay came with the fact that when she left the hospital it wouldn't be easy to sneak back in without someone catching a glimpse of her.
The other night when they rushed there was an exception as Anderson released his aura making any wolf weaker than him turn away.
And when Jason brought Jace he ordered nobody to be in specific parts of the hospital where they passed.
And even as they did all this, some people wondered. The two families knew that they had to come up with a way to hide Aurora and Jace's conditions.
People are beginning to ask more questions. Luckily, for The Dale family Aurora was sick and in the hospital when three of Aurora's friends came to their house.
Stacy, Kansas, and Jeremy arrived yesterday evening just as Renee was about to go see Aurora.
'Knock! Knock!'
Renee heard the knocking and opened the door and was greeted by the three teenagers. 'Shit!' Renee's lips twitched slightly before she curled them into a smile.
"Hey, you three! I wasn't expecting you."Renee greeted them like she normally would. The three stood there with their backpacks indicating they had come immediately after school.
They all politely greeted Renee and she invited them inside. To the teens, nothing seemed out of place with Renee's demeanor.
" Hey, Miss Renee. Where's Aurora?" Kansas asked, the tall dark skin girl pursed her lips as she anxiously waited for the answer.
Ever since the parking lot incident. Nobody has seen Aurora or Jace. Rumors are beginning to swirl around and every time they asked Maya about Aurora. She shuts them off. Which is not only unsettling it's also worrying.
Maya and Aurora had been best friends for years.
Ever since they were kids they were hooked by the hip. Yet ever since that day, things changed.
Maya came back pregnant with the future alpha's pup and was also his mate. But there is no sign of Aurora by Maya's side or their sides.
"Oh, Aurora was disciplined for that fight in the parking lot. Almost harming the future Luna who's pregnant was a big deal." Renee calmly explained but this only made the three teens frown.
"That, why is the punishment taking so long? Shouldn't Rory be back at school by now?" Renee's slight smile faltered a bit. It was enough for Jeremy to notice and clench his fist secretly.
"Oh, Aurora is a little depressed about what happened. A momentary lapse of judgment and losing control of her wolf made her regret it. Besides Aurora found her mate!" Renee panicked for a split second before recovering smoothly.
"She told us she didn't find her mate in her uncle's pack though." Jeremy couldn't help but mention.
"This is true, some of you may not know this but the pack had visitors recently, and one of those visitors turned out to be Rory's mate."Renee was honestly making these things up as she went. This goes to show how unprepared for this she was.
" So Rory's gone?" Stacy looked as if she was going to cry, "I thought we were friends with her? Why would she go and not say anything?"
"No, no Rory's not gone she only followed her mate back to his pack to get to know his pack better." Renee pursed her lips after she said this. She felt like she was digging a hole for herself.
"That doesn't explain why she's ignoring our mind links or why she felt the need to hide this from us." Kansas squinted her eyes angrily. " First Maya now Aurora! What the hell is going on?"
"As I said Aurora Is depressed, she doesn't know how to face you guys after that farce in the parking lot. She coming back in a few days, so how about I tell her to call you guys over?" The three teens looked at each other before nodding and agreeing with Renee, dropping the topic.
The three didn't stick around any longer and got up to leave. Renee saw them to the door and the last to leave was Jeremy. As he passed Renee he tapped her shoulder before tapping his head twice.
Realizing what he wanted she connected a mind link between them and he said. '
Your excuses weren't believed by any of us, you better come up with better excuses. Don't worry, we'll help curb some rumors about Aurora and Jace also. I don't know what's going on but you guys better act soon. People are talking about Aurora and Jace too.' after saying his piece he left Renee with a stiff smile on her face.
As the car drove away the stiff smile on her face crumbled completely. In a fit of rage-filled anxiety, she slammed the door so loudly the door was completely off its hinges.
'Anderson, we have a serious problem!' Renee mind-linked Anderson.
'What is it? The baby? Aurora?' Anderson asked back in the mind link.
'Kansas, Jeremy, and Stacy were here. Rumors are swirling around. I think those kids came here knowing something was wrong but didn't dare ask directly. They came here to warn us.'Renee told Anderson.
'That's a problem. Don't worry about it, I'll deal with it, just focus on the baby and Rory.' is what Anderson said but as a mother who knew the danger, how could she not worry?
The following day, In the private room next to Nailiah's office, Jace and Aurora were lying down and facing each other talking.
"Go ahead and ask. You have been wanting to ever since we began talking." Aurora permitted him to ask the question that mattered to him.
"Does it get easier?"Jace asked and Aurora gave him a are you serious look which made him smile sheepishly.
"It doesn't get any better, whoever said it would, lied," Aurora told him softly. "Go on ask me."
"What was it like? Your last shift." Jace asked again chickening out from his real question. This time Aurora didn't give him any looks she only sighed.
"Take your first shift's pain and multiply it by ten thousand. It was the worse physical pain I ever felt but nothing trumps the other thing." Aurora explained.
"Wh... what's it like, not having a wolf?" He stammered over his question. Aurora looked Jace in his eyes silently before taking in a deep breath.
"I wish I held on to her, not a day doesn't go by where I don't think about it. I'd rather suffer with pain every day just to have her with me an extra day." Aurora confided in Jace, what she was about to say she never said out loud to anybody. It was a scary thought, one that can have dire consequences.
"You want to know what it's like? Let me tell you it's indescribable pain, pain that never goes away. A constant pain within my being worse than any pain I've ever felt. It took the place she was, a stinging reminder that she is gone. And I can never get her back. I wish I had died along with her because I don't dare to end my life myself, not yet at least. I don't think I'm very far from doing it myself. I don't want to live like this anymore" when she finished saying that they both fell silent.
Silent tears rained down from Aurora's eyes, it was the truth. A truth that if known by her family they would desperately try to prevent it not knowing they would only encourage it.
"We can live through this Ror. We just need to stay positive and I think if we lean on each other then we can do it." After a few minutes, Jace told Aurora. That was his personality, he always sorts to see the bright side of things. He held his pain and the weight of everything on his shoulders and even now as he lay there in constant pain he wanted to take her pain and make it his.
"There's a difference between surviving and living Jace," Aurora told him grimly.
"I suppose that is the truth. But if we have each other then maybe we can survive long enough just for it to become living."Jace grunted as the pain intensified for a split second.
" Let's talk about this when you had your last shift." Aurora said, "When you feel what I have felt only then I will consider this."
"Okay," Jace agreed before adding. "I want you there. To be with me when I shift one last time."
"Are you sure? It's not my place." Aurora frowned.
"I'm sure, I feel as if I would need a friend there for moral support and with how things are now. You're all I got plus you know exactly what it's like." Jace explained.
"Alright, I'll be with you the entire time." Aurora agreed.