Renee looked down at her lap, an ugly half-knitted scarf was lying neatly there. She raised her gaze and looked at Aurora.
Gritting her teeth, she had to go back to knitting to force herself to focus on something else. Otherwise, she'd sit there and worry about Aurora and causing her stress level to rise, which was, believe it or not harming the baby.
Renee exhaled heavily, nothing was the same. When Anderson and Aiden came back that night they said nothing.
Renee tried everything she could think about to get Anderson to tell her why Aurora was in the state she was when they came back. Not only was Aurora's body cold like ice, but she also seemed almost like a puppet. Only to move when you pull her strings.
She knew it was because of Ren, but she didn't expect it to be this bad. Aurora was depressed, it was the type of depression where if she was left alone even for a little bit, no one knew what she'd do.
Aurora hasn't eaten for herself in days, she also hasn't drunk water on her own. It was always them forcing her to eat or drink. It was like she was trying to starve herself to death.
And she'd stare at them dead in the eye with a blank look while they forced her to eat, drink and swallow. It was uncomfortable meeting her dead gaze.
With no expression, no movement, Aurora began to act like a puppet even more as the days went by. Clearly, she showed them that there was no spark left in her eyes anymore, the bubbly girl they knew was gone.
They all took turns watching her to make sure she ate, drank, and slept. Even going so far as to monitor her as she used the toilet. Of course, only Renee and Cherise were allowed to do this for obvious reasons.
The strain it was causing on the family was showing more and more each day. Renee had no idea how much more this she could take. Anderson, since two days ago, began disappearing during the day and coming back late in the night. He never entered the bedroom he shared with Renee for anything but clothes these days.
It was like he was deliberately avoiding her. If he were out of the house, then he would be watching Aurora. It was frustrating for Renee, who needed her mate to comfort her. Renee made up her mind to confront Anderson tonight, things couldn't go on as they were.
So when Cherise came in to relieve Renee from babysitting duty, Renee stood up and kissed Aurora on her head before leaving. Cherise sat in the place Renee was sitting and watched Aurora. She let out a sigh as she looked at Aurora.
Aurora was sitting by the window in a soft chair, just staring out the window absentmindedly. Her eyes weren't really looking at anything. Well, as far as Cherise could tell, she wasn't actually looking at anything.
"I've told you before you need to snap out of this funk." Cherise got up and went to Aurora's side and grabbed her hand in his as she crouched down beside the chair. "It's not only hurting you, it's hurting everyone here. Did you know your mom and dad haven't spoken to each other in days? It's because of you."
Aurora turned her head and looked at Cherise. She said nothing. She only stared, Cherise was staring right back at her sternly. She felt as if everyone was willing to tiptoe around Aurora, then she'd be the one to dish out some tough love.
"When your father arrives home, I'll take you to have a listen to their conversation. I guarantee you are the main topic."Cherise nodded her head as she told Aurora. Aurora simply turned her head and went back to staring outside.
Renee sat in the living room, waiting for Anderson. It was half past ten in the night when he came home. When she sensed him coming, she got up and went to the hallway. That way he couldn't avoid her.
"You're home late." Renee mumbled as he walked through the door, "What are you up to these days? I know it's not the business because Aiden is taking care of that."
"Doing my part for the pack," Anderson grunted, his answer made Renee's eyes bludge out of her sockets. "Don't look at me like that."
"Oh, how am I supposed to look at you? When did you decide to do your part for the pack?" Renee scoffed and asked. "You, who was adamant about not getting involved in pack affairs."
"I had no choice in the matter, I never informed them of the side effects of rejection. This is me paying them back for my deceit."Anderson looked at Renee and explained.
"Oh, well great. More reason for you to continue to avoid me. A rather good reason to. Let me guess you are in charge of training the warriors." Renee guessed. Anderson pursed his lips and nodded.
Anderson was put in charge of training young warriors as punishment for keeping the facts of the rejection from everyone. If they had known, it simply wouldn't have been done. That's what the elders said, but since it was already done, there was no use crying over split milk.
Jason thought his punishment was a little light and also added that Anderson was to accompany Kent to the newly created pack, Haven, as part of the delegation. Sighing over his grizzly fate, Anderson wanted nothing but to go to bed after a hot shower.
"I get that your busy and all but Anderson, I'm struggling. I need you, all you do is either you out there or with Aurora." Renee stepped closer to Anderson. "We really need to talk."
Anderson eyed Renee before simply extending his hand towards the living room and saying, "It's been a long day, whatever you need to say, say it while I'm sitting down."
The pair moved to the living room. Anderson sat down on the couch while Renee began pacing in front of him. "I understand that you didn't like my decision to question you in the hospital, but you need to understand I never experienced this. Only heard about the little bits of it. And this was different. Aurora is my daughter and I'm a parent, so I overreacted a bit, so please understand that."
"You're the one person I thought would always have my back and understand my decisions, or at least not question them in front of others." Anderson looked at Renee and said. "Do you think I'd intentionally harm the children? What was the reason I gave up my alpha title Renee?"
Because she was pregnant with Aiden and he feared the council would finish the job if he stayed as the alpha of the pack. Anderson put a lot of thought into which pack to integrate into. It couldn't be a weak pack and the alpha had to be strong, but not too strong because of Anderson's strength. It could lead to problems.
"Anderson, I remember and I know, but you can't fault me for being in a panic. I never experienced what you experienced. I knew what you guys let me know. How was I supposed to react?" Renee argued?
"Not like that!" Anderson raised his voice, "I did what I thought would be the best thing for Rory. Don't fucking act like you weren't there when they came and laid my family and friends' heads at our feet!"
"Anderson, that is not why I waited here. I don't want to fight, I just. Oh, goddess just please let's not argue. Please." Renee closed her eyes and pleaded. "This thing with Aurora is draining me already. I can't anymore, I'm still pregnant!"
"Then what do you want?" Anderson sneered. " You came to me and started it, you know."
"This," She hesitated, " Can't you come to bed with me? I'm almost to term and the doctor said that I'm being too emotionally stimulated. Having you there will help. If you will not do it for me, do it for the baby at least."
"Fine," Anderson muttered as he stood up from the couch. "Until you sleep."
"No!" Renee exclaimed loudly. "Stay the entire night. I need you Andy please."
Anderson looked at his haggard mate and sighed. To be honest, the entire house was on edge. Anderson didn't need to take a look in the mirror to see he also looked haggard.
"Okay fine, " Anderson relented before making a move to head upstairs. The two are oblivious to the two young women listening to the conversation. Cherise glanced at Aurora and noticed the frown she had on her face.
They didn't really go into depth about Aurora but their conversation was already enough in Cherise's book as it invoked a reaction, out of Aurora. She never knew that her decision of tough love would push Aurora to make an extreme decision.