Chapter 103
The palace had never looked more beautiful. White silk draped every archway. Thousands of candles flickered in golden holders, casting soft light across the great hall. Flowers—white lilies, red roses, pale ivy—filled the air with sweet perfume. Elders sat in rows of honor. Pack members stood along the walls, dressed in their finest. Music played softly—strings and flutes weaving a gentle melody that filled the space like moonlight.
Aurora stood at the entrance.
Her gown was breathtaking. White silk flowed like water, embroidered with silver threads that caught every candle flame. The veil fell from a delicate crown, long and sheer, trailing behind her like mist. She held a bouquet of white roses. Her hands trembled slightly. The maids had spent hours on her hair—dark waves pinned with pearls—and her makeup—soft, glowing, perfect.
She looked every inch a bride.
But inside, she was breaking.
The doors opened.
The music swelled.
Aurora walked forward.
The hall fell silent except for the song and the soft rustle of her gown. Every eye followed her. The queen smiled with tears in her eyes. The king stood tall, proud. Elders nodded approvingly.
Kairo waited at the altar.
He wore deep blue and silver—royal colors. His golden hair was neat. His face lit with love and relief. He had returned from the border two days ago—wounded, but alive. The silver burn on his shoulder was bandaged under his tunic. He had come back in time. Just as he promised.
He watched her approach with eyes full of wonder.
Aurora walked slowly.
Each step felt heavier.
She passed rows of faces. Pack members who had welcomed her. Servants who had dressed her. The queen who had mothered her. The king who had given her a home.
And in the back corner—chained to a pillar under guard—Hardin.
His back was still bandaged from the flogging. His wrists raw from chains. His face bruised. But his eyes never left her. They burned with love. With pain. With hope.
Aurora reached the altar.
Kairo took her hands.
He smiled. “You are beautiful.”
Aurora looked at him.
She saw kindness. Safety. A future.
But she also saw a life that was not hers.
The elder stepped forward. The one who would perform the vows.
He began.
“Kairo, Prince of the pack, do you take Aurora to be your mate, your wife, your queen? To love her, protect her, honor her, in this life and the next?”
Kairo said, “I do.”
The elder turned to Aurora.
“Aurora, do you take Kairo to be your mate, your husband, your king? To love him, stand by him, build a life with him, in this life and the next?”
Aurora looked at Kairo.
He smiled. Squeezed her hands. Eyes full of love.
Aurora’s throat closed.
She looked past him.
At Hardin.
Chained. Bleeding. Watching her.
She remembered.
Everything.
The pack house as a child. Hardin giving her a red rose. Sebastian’s cold face when he marked Brittany. The pain of the broken bond. The weakness. The hunters who burned her first home. The river. The palace. The lies.
Her name was not Aurora.
It was Rhianna.
She looked back at Kairo.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I can’t,” she whispered.
The hall went dead silent.
Kairo’s smile faltered. “Aurora?”
She pulled her hands away.
“I can’t marry you.”
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
The queen stood. “Child, what are you saying?”
Aurora turned to the hall. Voice shaking but clear.
“My name is not Aurora. It is Rhianna.”
Murmurs rose.
The king said, “What is this?”
Aurora said, “You lied to me. All of you. You found me on the riverbank. You gave me a new name. You told me I had no past. You didn’t want me to remember. But I remember now. I remember everything.”
She looked at the elders. “You knew.. You kept it from me. You made me believe this was my only life.”
The queen stepped forward. “We were protecting you. You were dying. Broken. We gave you a new start.”
Aurora said, “You gave me a cage.”
She turned to Kairo.
“I am sorry. You are kind. You are good. You loved me when I had nothing. But I am not Aurora. I am Rhianna. And the person I love is in chains because of me.”
She pointed to Hardin.
The hall erupted in whispers.
Kairo’s face went pale. “Rhianna…?”
Aurora said, “Yes. That is my name. Hardin knew me before. He protected me. He loved me. He came here to find me. And you punished him for it. You flogged him. You chained him. You tried to erase him.”
Kairo looked at Hardin. Then back at Aurora.
He said, “I didn’t know… I thought he was a threat.”
Aurora said, “He was never a threat. He was my home.”
She turned to the king.
“Let him go. Release Hardin. Let us leave. We will go far away. We will not come back. Or I swear on my blood—on the blood of Rhianna—I will kill myself right here. And my blood will be on the royal family forever.”
The hall went still.
The king stared at her. Long. Hard.
Then he looked at the guards.
“Release him.”
The guards hesitated.
The king said, “Now!”
They moved. Unlocked the chains.
Hardin stood slowly. Back bleeding through bandages. Legs shaky. But he walked forward.
Aurora ran to him.
He caught her. Held her tight.
She cried into his chest.
“I remember,” she whispered. “I remember you.”
Hardin said, “I know.”
Kairo stood frozen. Heartbroken. Eyes wet.
He said, “Rhianna…”
Aurora looked at him. “I’m sorry. You gave me kindness when I had none. But my heart was never mine to give. It belonged to him all along.”
Kairo nodded slowly. Tears fell.
He said, “Go.”
Aurora looked at the king.
The king said, “Leave. Take him. Go far. Never return.”
Aurora nodded.
She held Hardin’s hand.
They walked out of the hall. Past the elders.
Past the pack.Past the queen who cried silently.
Past Kairo who stood alone.
Out the doors.
Into the night.Into the woods.
Together. The wedding was over.
The lies were over.
The past had come back.
And Rhianna was finally free. Free from the royal family and going back home not as Sebastian broken mate but as hardin's woman because that Is where home lives....