Chapter 6 Things You Never Asked

Aurora's POV

Keith's voice snapped through the thick air between us, sharp and full of blame.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this earlier?" he accused, his tone filled with frustration as if I was somehow at fault for everything that was finally coming out tonight.

I looked at him. For a moment, I didn't even feel anger. Just exhaustion.

"I did," I said calmly. "I explained everything. Over and over."

But in their eyes, every time I spoke, it was brushed aside as "excuses." No matter what I said, it was always twisted. Always dismissed.

My words never mattered to them.

My thoughts drifted briefly to the small ways my parents had always treated Helen and me differently.

Helen had private tutors for every subject, while I had to study alone. She was given gifts for every small achievement, while my successes were barely acknowledged.

She got a new dress for every party. I wore hand-me-downs. She received the newest phone.

Mine was secondhand, with a cracked screen I couldn't afford to replace.

And no matter how hard I worked, they always found a way to make it seem like I wasn't trying hard enough.

Keith's voice pushed again, cutting into my memories.

"You should reflect on whether you're simply not working hard enough," he lectured.

"If you spent more time studying instead of worrying about money, maybe you wouldn't be in this position."

And besides..." His voice turned cold. "You're already past eighteen and you still haven't awakened your wolf. You can't even transform."

I stared at him for a moment, my chest tight, but I refused to look away.

"I couldn't transform because after being expelled from the pack, I was left alone."

Keith's face tensed, but I didn't give him a chance to interrupt.

I paused, my breath tightening as the memories clawed their way back. My voice wavered, but I pushed through.

"Do you know what happened when I was out there? Rogues found me."

My hands curled slightly as I spoke, the words tasting bitter.

"They chained me with silver, Alpha Keith. Silver chains."

My voice shook slightly, but I forced it steady.

"They wrapped them around my neck, my wrists, my legs."

The images flashed like old wounds reopening, but I didn't let him see me falter.

"They tortured me. And in the process... they damaged my wolf instincts."

For a moment, Keith's confident Alpha expression wavered. His face stiffened, and his eyes darted away like he couldn't handle hearing the truth.

"And my mother," I continued, my voice cold now, "should know better than anyone why I was expelled in the first place."

The silence that followed was heavier than before.

The tension grew thicker. Keith's expression darkened, and suddenly, he lashed out, his voice sharp and defensive.

"You barely kept up in school!" he snapped. "Your grades were always at the bottom, and now you stand here acting like a victim?"

His words hit hard, but I didn't flinch. I held his gaze, my voice calm but cutting.

"For three years in high school, I was first in my class, year after year," I said firmly. "You didn't even know, did you?"

Keith's face twitched, his confidence wavering. The disbelief in his eyes was clear.

"That's right," I added coldly. "You don't even know which school I went to. So how could you possibly know how I performed?"

I stared at him. My chest tightened again,

All this time, he had no idea where I had studied, how I had lived, or what I had been fighting through.

My life had been a battlefield, but my family hadn't even bothered to learn the name of the place where I tried to survive.

For three years, while they celebrated Helen and built her future, I sat alone at a small desk, studying late into the night, hoping that maybe I could escape my cursed label if I worked hard enough.

Now, only after everything had been exposed, did Keith even think to ask.

How ironic. The brother who claims he has my interest at heart couldn't even name my school.

Keith looked toward our parents now, shifting the pressure away from himself.

"Father, Mother," he demanded, "what school was she attending?"

Frank hesitated, eyes narrowing. His usual cold arrogance seemed to falter as he realized the question he had no answer to.

Melissa's face paled slightly, her eyes darting nervously as the room grew tense again. The whispering around us resumed, like a wave sweeping through the hall.

"They don't know," I said softly, breaking the silence myself.

My parents said nothing.

The guests continued to murmur around us. Some shook their heads in quiet disbelief, others whispered softly about the Donald family's growing scandal.

Their perfect reputation was crumbling, and every new truth was another crack in their polished mask.

Their silence made him anxious, and he asked me, "Where exactly did you go to high school for those three years?"

For a moment, I didn't answer. My breath caught in my throat, the words heavy before they even left my mouth.

I stared at the floor, my hands tightening at my sides.

"I went to Britsford High School," I said softly.

The moment I said the name of my high school, the entire room seemed to freeze.

The air thickened as my parents and Keith stared at me, struck as if lightning had cracked open the ground beneath them.

Frank's face hardened, Melissa's eyes widened, and even Keith's Beta aura wavered for a moment. They knew exactly what that school meant.

Britford High School was known across the country for its brutal admission standards.

The kind of school that didn't care about who your family was or how much money you had. Only scores mattered. Only results.

And I had ranked first every year. Year after year, I had pushed myself to the top. One step away from Harvard. One step away from freedom.

Keith finally broke the silence, his voice sharp, defensive, almost desperate. "Impossible," he said quickly, shaking his head.