Chapter 177: What Love Really Is.
Aurora’s POV
After Alessandro left, I quietly stepped into Annie’s hospital room. She was sitting by the window, the sunlight catching in her hair as she turned to look at me.
“Hey,” she said gently.
“I heard something outside… What happened?”
I didn’t answer right away. I just sank into the chair beside her and let out a long, heavy sigh.
Annie did not push me. She just sat there, looking kind with her eyes wide, calm, yet eager to know more.
"It's Leonardo," I let out at last, so quiet. "He fell down."
Her eyes got big. "What? Is he... is he alright?"
"They say he will be. "A healer is with him now," I said low, my eyes on the ground as if it had the answers. "But seeing him like that... it scared me."
We were quiet for a bit. Annie moved, her hands tight on the blanket in her lap.
"You still care for him," she noted, no blame in her voice, just stating a fact.
I took a second to answer. My heart felt tight.
"I don't know what I feel," I shared. "I hate what he did to me. I hate what he let happen. But when I saw Alessandro's face... when I heard Leonardo had fallen... something in me broke."
Annie nodded slowly. "That's normal, Aurora. Feelings don't go away fast. Not when someone was that important to you."
I looked out the window. Outside looked too still.
"I don't want to go back," I said low. "But part of me fears that some part of me already went back."
Annie reached out, her hand catching mine.
"Then don’t look back," Annie said firmly, her voice low but full of steel.
"Let him be the one to suffer for what he did. You’ve survived too much to let him pull you down again.”
I sighed, rubbing my hands together, my chest tightening with all the things I couldn’t say out loud.
Annie watched me for a beat before leaning forward slightly. “I want to ask you something, Aurora.”
I looked up, my eyes meeting hers.
“What is it?”
She hesitated, but just for a second.
“Do you love Alessandro… or do you just like him?”
I blinked, caught off guard.
Her tone didn’t waver.
“I’m not asking to pry. I’m asking because you need to figure that out for you.
Because whatever’s going on in your heart… Leonardo shouldn’t be part of it anymore.”
“Annie…”
“No. Listen to me,” she said, scooting closer, her eyes fierce.
“That man, Alessandro, he has done more for you than anyone else. Even when he didn’t want to. Even when he hated you.”
I swallowed hard, but she didn’t stop.
“He saved you from the beast that nearly killed you in the woods. You remember that?
He could’ve left you to die. He wanted you gone from the pack then. But he still saved you.”
I looked down, the memories rushing back like a cold wind.
“And what about when you were accused of seducing that beta? The one who snuck into your room to hurt you?
Everyone whispered. Even Leonardo hesitated. He should’ve been the first to protect you, but it was Alessandro who stood by your side.”
My throat tightened.
“When Lena kidnapped you during their wedding just to force Leonardo to marry her again, it was Alessandro who found you.
Not Leonardo. Not your so-called ex-mate.”
I pressed my lips together, but Annie kept going, her voice growing heavier with every word.
“And when you were taken by their uncle, when Leonardo conspired with that man to steal the Alpha title, it was Alessandro who risked everything to bring you back. Everything.”
Silence fell between us like a drop of thunder.
“The same man who once didn’t want you in this pack,” she said, her voice soft now, “is the same man who would move the earth to keep you safe. That says something.”
I felt my chest ache in a way I didn’t know how to name. My heart had been pulled in too many directions too many times. But deep down… I knew she was right.
Annie reached for my hand.
“You need to get your head straight, Aurora. Don’t let Leonardo back into your world just because he knows how to make you feel guilty, or nostalgic, or confused.
You owe yourself better. You have better.”
I nodded slowly, feeling tears sting the corners of my eyes.
She wasn’t wrong.
I just didn’t know if I was strong enough to let go… completely.
Not yet.
I didn’t say anything at first.
I just sat there, feeling the weight of her words press down on me like a truth I’d been running from.
Because everything she said was right.
Alessandro had been there for me… again and again. Even when he didn’t want to be.
Even when I was the last person he wanted in his world, he still protected me.
And Leonardo?
Leonardo had let things happen to me. Stood by. Looked the other way.
Sometimes he even chose to be the reason I bled.
“I know you’re right,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
Annie squeezed my hand gently.
“But knowing it… and feeling it—those are two different things.”
My eyes burned, and I blinked hard. “Leonardo was my mate. My first everything.
There was a time I would’ve given my life for him without thinking twice.
And for so long, I believed that meant something. That it had to mean something.”
I laughed softly, bitterly.
“Even when he stood silent as they accused me… even when he turned away when I needed him most… I still looked for him.”
Annie didn’t interrupt. She just let me speak.
“But Alessandro… He never asked me to look for him. He didn’t promise me forever.
He didn’t even like me at first,” I said, a small, tearful smile forming.
“But he showed up. Over and over.”
My voice cracked.
“He saved me. Not just from the people trying to kill me… but from the parts of myself that wanted to disappear.”
I looked at Annie, my chest rising and falling unevenly.
“And that’s the part that scares me the most.
Because I don’t think I ever loved Leonardo the way I’m starting to love Alessandro.”
Annie exhaled slowly, her eyes softening.
“I think… I think I’m just afraid,” I admitted.
“Afraid to let go of the past completely. Afraid of who I’ll be without it. Without him.”
Annie reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Then be afraid. But don’t be stupid.”
That made me laugh, even through the tears.
I wiped my face, nodding slowly.
“I don’t want Leonardo to live rent-free in my heart anymore. I just… I need time to evict him.”
Annie smirked.
“Start now.”
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