CHAPTER 172: CHAPTER 172 TEARS AT DAWN,ALONE AGAIN

Isabella

I shrugged,suddenly feeling like I’d said too much. "I just heard Uncle Adrian mention it to Uncle Levi."

Dad and Aurora exchanged a look I couldn’t decipher. Then Dad sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair—a gesture so like my mother’s that it made my chest ache.

"Isabella,it’s getting late," he said finally. "Why don’t you head up to bed? We can talk more in the morning."

"Can I stay here tonight?" I asked,glancing at Auntie Aurora. "Auntie Aurora said I could,but only if you said it was okay."

Again,that strange tension filled the room. Dad looked at Auntie Aurora for a long moment before turning back to me.

"Not tonight," he said firmly. "You have your studies tomorrow,and your things are at home."

"But—"

"No arguments,Isabella." His voice carried the slightest hint of Alpha command—not directed at me fully,but enough to make my wolf pup whimper in submission.

I gathered my drawings silently,disappointment heavy in my chest. I’d hoped to spend the evening with Auntie Aurora,listening to her stories about the old days,about Grandma Victoria and the magic that supposedly ran in our bloodline—stories Mom never wanted to tell me.

"I’ll bring her home," Auntie Aurora offered. "It’s on my way."

Dad hesitated,then nodded. "Thank you. I need to make a few calls before heading back."

As I went upstairs to collect my things,I could hear their voices below,too low to make out the words but tense enough that even my young wolf could sense the conflict. I moved closer to the stairwell,straining to hear.

"...pushing too hard," Dad was saying. "She’s still recovering from—"

"She’ll never grow stronger if you keep treating her like she’s made of glass," Auntie Aurora replied. "Luna Victoria would have—"

"Don’t tell me what my mother would have wanted for my daughter," Dad cut in,his voice carrying that dangerous edge that made even grown wolves cower.

I backed away from the stairs,my heart pounding. Dad never spoke to anyone that way—except when Mom had packed her bags and told him she was leaving. I’d hidden at the top of these very stairs that night,listening to their final argument,hearing the cold fury in Dad’s voice as he told Mom she was making a mistake she would regret.

Mom had replied just as coldly: "The only mistake I regret is believing you ever saw me as your equal."

As I gathered my backpack,I wondered if Mom ever thought about me anymore. Did she miss me? Or was she happier now,away from us?

Auntie Aurora appeared in the doorway,her smile back in place as if the tense conversation downstairs had never happened. "Ready to go,sweetheart?"

I nodded,shouldering my backpack.

"Don’t worry about your father," she said softly as we walked to her car. "He’s just under a lot of pressure right now,with the territory negotiations and everything else."

"Is that why Mom left?" I asked. "Because Dad was too busy?"

Auntie Aurora helped me into the passenger seat before answering. "Your mother left because she wanted different things than what being a Luna requires," she said carefully. "Being an Alpha’s mate is a tremendous responsibility—one that not everyone is equipped to handle."

"But you could handle it," I said,watching her face. "Couldn’t you?"

Something flickered in Auntie Aurora’s silver-blue eyes—something that made my young wolf stir uneasily. But then she smiled,and the moment passed.

"What matters is that your father finds someone who can stand beside him as a true partner," she said,starting the car. "Someone who understands the weight of leadership and the sacrifices it demands."

As we drove through the quiet streets of the territory toward my father’s house—no longer "home" since Mom left—I stared out the window at the moon hanging low and full in the sky. In my mind,I saw the white wolf cub from my dreams running beneath it,free and wild and unafraid.

I wondered if I would ever feel that way again—free,without this constant ache in my chest that had been there since the day Mom walked away from us.

When we arrived,the house was dark and empty. Auntie Aurora walked me to the door,using her key to let us in—Dad had given her one for emergencies after Mom left.

"Will you be okay until your father gets home?" she asked,kneeling to my level.

I nodded,used to being alone in the big house. "I’m not a baby."

"No,you certainly aren’t," she agreed,kissing my forehead. "You’re a future Alpha’s daughter,with ancient magic in your blood. Never forget that,Isabella."

After she left,I climbed the stairs to my bedroom,passing Mom’s old office on the way. The door was slightly ajar,and on impulse,I pushed it open.

The room smelled faintly of her still—lavender and something uniquely Mom. Her desk was empty now,all her computers and papers gone. The walls were bare where her degrees and certificates had once hung.

It was as if she’d never existed here at all.

I closed the door and continued to my room,clutching my drawing pad tightly against my chest. Once in bed,I opened it to my favorite sketch—the white wolf cub running free under the moon—and traced the lines with my finger.

"Mom doesn’t want us anymore," I whispered to my wolf pup. "But that’s okay. We don’t need her."

But as I drifted off to sleep,my dreams filled with forests and moonlight and the white wolf running ever faster,a single tear escaped down my cheek.

Because no matter how many times I said it,my wolf knew I was lying.