Chapter 51: Shattered Trust.

Aurora’s POV
Help!
Help!!”
My voice echoed through the pack house, and within seconds, I heard footsteps rushing toward me.
“Aurora!” My mother’s voice rang out, followed by Gabriel’s.
Relief flooded me as they appeared at the end of the hallway. Their expression shifted from concern to confusion as they took in my tear streaked face and Marcus emerging from my room, clutching his shoulder.
“What the hell is going on here?” Gabriel demanded, his voice ice cold as his eyes burned into Marcus.
“He tried to—” I couldn’t finish the sentence, but my trembling voice and torn expression said enough.
Just then, Leonardo appeared at the end of the hallway. Relief washed over me as I saw him a flicker of hope in the midst of chaos. I wanted nothing more than to run to him, to feel safe in his presence.
But my mother’s voice stopped me in my tracks.
“You always do these things, Aurora,” she said coldly, her words sharp and filled with disdain.
I froze, her accusation slicing through me like a blade. “I always do these things?”
My voice cracked as I turned to look at her, tears blurring my vision. Painful memories surged forward memories of the years I spent under her roof, enduring the predatory advances of her many husbands.
Each time, she dismissed my cries for help, calling me dramatic, blaming me for their actions.
Leonardo’s voice cut through the suffocating tension. “What’s going on here?”
His tone was calm, but there was an edge to it, a cautious skepticism that made my stomach twist.
I rushed to him, seeking his protection, and positioned myself behind him.
“He… he tried to rape me, Leonardo,” I stammered, pointing a trembling finger at Marcus. The words felt heavy in my mouth, but they had to be said.
Marcus threw his hands up, his voice loud and desperate. “I didn’t do anything!
She’s lying, I swear!
She’s making this up!”
I flinched at his denial, my heart beating with a mix of fear and anger.
“She’s obviously lying,” my mother interjected, her words colder than Marcus’s denial. “She’s done something like this before.
This isn’t the first time Aurora’s made up some wild story to get attention.”
Her words hit me like a slap, leaving me breathless. “It’s not… true,” I whispered, my voice trembling.
“He really tried… he tried to…” My words faltered, and my legs felt weak, the memory of Marcus’s predatory smile paralyzing me.
“Stop lying, Aurora!” my mother snapped.
Her tone was harsh, cruel, as if she took pleasure in twisting the knife deeper.
“Why would Marcus try to rape you, huh? Did he break into your room? Or did you invite him in and then change your mind?”
I wanted to scream, to defend myself, but the weight of her words crushed me. They robbed me of my voice, leaving me standing there, helpless and trembling.
I turned to Leonardo, my eyes pleading with him to believe me, to see the truth in my fear.
His expression was unreadable, his gaze moving between me and Marcus. I searched his face, desperate for some sign of support, but what I saw made my chest tighten.
Doubt.
It was there, faint but undeniable. His hesitation felt like a betrayal, and my heart ached at the possibility that he didn’t trust me.
He stood there, frozen, his jaw tense, as if torn between the accusations and the denial.
“Leonardo, you’ve known me since we were kids!” Marcus exclaimed, his voice filled with desperation.
“You know I’d never do something like this. She’s making it up, why would I even need to? Look at her!”
He gestured toward me dismissively, his words dripping with contempt.
My breath hitched, and tears spilled down my cheeks. “Leonardo,” I whispered, barely able to speak.
“Please…”
He looked at me, his face a mix of conflict and uncertainty. “Aurora… are you sure?” he asked, his voice quiet but heavy.
“Marcus isn’t—he’s not someone who would—”
His words trailed off, but the damage was done. He didn’t believe me.
Or at least, not fully. He was trying to weigh the situation, but in doing so, he left me stranded, vulnerable, and alone.
“Sure?!” My mother’s laugh was bitter.
“She’s never sure. She’s always been dramatic, always making things about her.
Isn’t that right, Aurora? You’ve been crying wolf your whole life.”
Those words shattered me. My knees buckled, and I sank to the floor, my sobs wracking my body.
Every fear, every trauma I’d buried came rushing to the surface.
And still, Leonardo didn’t move. He stood there, caught between believing me and believing Marcus, his childhood friend.
I felt a darkness creep into my heart, a weight of despair unlike anything I’d known before.
How could the one person I trusted most hesitate in the moment I needed him the most?
How could he let my mother, of all people, dictate the truth?
I looked up at him one last time, hoping, praying for him to see me to really see me.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he stepped away, his expression unreadable.
It felt like the floor had fallen out from under me. I was drowning, and no one not even Leonardo was willing to pull me out.
My heart shattered into pieces, and the air around me seemed suffocating.
Just then, someone stormed past us with a force that startled everyone in the room.
The figure rushed straight toward Marcus, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against the wall.
“You son of a bitch!
I finally caught you red-handed!” a voice growled, dripping with fury.
I looked up, barely able to register what was happening. My tear-streaked face lifted, and my eyes widened in disbelief.
Standing there, his grip like steel around Marcus’s throat, was the one person I never thought would help me.
The one person I thought would always stand against me.
Alessandro.
His presence was commanding, his expression twisted with pure rage. Marcus gasped and clawed at Alessandro’s hand, his attempts to free himself futile. Alessandro leaned in closer, his voice low and menacing.
“You’ve been hiding behind your Beta title for too long, Marcus. You think I haven’t noticed the way you prey on the vulnerable?”
Marcus sputtered, his face turning red as he struggled to respond. “I didn’t… I didn’t do anything! She’s lying!” he choked out.
“Shut up!” Alessandro barked, his voice echoing through the hallway like thunder. His grip tightened, and I saw genuine fear in Marcus’s eyes.
Leonardo stepped forward, his voice hesitant.
“Alessandro, stop! We need to—”
Alessandro cut him off with a glare so fierce it silenced his brother mid-sentence.
“Don’t you dare defend him, Leonardo. You may be blind to what’s happening, but I’m not.
Aurora doesn’t need to prove anything to you or anyone else.” His voice softened slightly as he glanced at me, though his anger still burned.
“I believe her.”
Those words hit me like a tidal wave, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Alessandro the person I thought despised me the most was standing up for me when no one else would.
My mother, who had been watching silently, finally spoke up.
“Alessandro, you don’t know the full story. Aurora has a history of—”
“Enough!” Alessandro roared, his voice silencing her instantly. He turned his sharp gaze on her.
“You’re her mother, yet you’ve done nothing but tear her down. Don’t you dare try to twist this to fit your narrative.”
Her face paled, and she took a step back, clearly intimidated by the intensity in his voice.
Alessandro turned his attention back to Marcus, his grip still firm. “You’re done here, Marcus.
I’m taking this straight to my father, and you’ll answer for what you’ve done. If I find out you’ve hurt anyone else in this pack, you’ll wish you’d never been born.”
He released Marcus with a shove, causing him to stumble and fall to the floor, gasping for air.
Alessandro pointed to two nearby pack members who had been drawn to the commotion.
“Take him to the cells. Now.”
The men hesitated for only a moment before obeying. They grabbed Marcus, who was too stunned to resist, and dragged him away.
The silence that followed was deafening. Alessandro turned back to me, his expression softening for the first time.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.
Ensnared by My Stepbrothers' Realm
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