The Human Girl Who Tamed Alpha King Chapter 175

AURORA

The night air felt cool against my skin as I sat perched on the highest tower of Ancient Moon Shadow. Below me sprawled our territory—my father's kingdom. My home. Moonlight washed over everything, bathing the world in silver.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, resting my chin as I stared up at the full moon. Twenty-two years old, and still no wolf. Still broken.

Dad became King when I was little. Mom—not my birth mother, but my *real* mother, Aria—became Queen. I grew up in the heart of our pack, watching them rule with strength and compassion.

Vanessa Wintercrest gave birth to me, then abandoned us both when I was just months old. Her name tasted bitter on my tongue whenever I thought it. For five years, it was just Dad and me against the world. He juggled being Alpha and raising a daughter alone.

Then Aria came into our lives.

God, I remember that day so clearly. I was barely five. She walked into our territory with Uncle Gabriel and Lucas, and something about her just... glowed. She was beautiful, funny, impossibly gentle yet so strong. And human. The only human in our entire pack.

I felt connected to her immediately. One afternoon, I tumbled down the stairs. I was running too fast, but what five-year-old pays attention? I braced myself for the painful impact, but instead, warm arms caught me. Aria. The safety I felt in that moment—I can't explain it.

When she became my father's mate and my stepmother, I was literally the happiest pup in existence. Soon after, she gave birth to my brother Atlas, and later, my twin sisters. Our family was complete.

We didn't live in the main area of Ancient Moon Shadow, even though we were the royal family. We had our own private home, filled with love and warmth. I loved that house.

I moved into the castle (in the main area of Ancient Moon Shadow) when I turned nineteen. Needed independence, you know? Couldn't live with my parents forever. Dad and Mom understood, though Dad insisted I take a large suite in the castle for "security reasons." It's practically a small apartment—bedroom, main area with a TV, study corner, kitchenette, bathroom. My brother Atlas gets his own wing when he turns eighteen. Future King privileges and all that.

I sighed, tracing the moon's outline with my finger. My eighteenth birthday should have been perfect. Dad and Mom threw this massive coming-of-age celebration, inviting packs from everywhere.

That's when I met Romeo.

Romeo from Stone Claw Pack. Twenty years old. Future Beta. My fated mate.

The pull was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. That first week was magical—the connection, the butterflies, the way his touch sent electricity through me.

Then he wanted to run beneath the moonlight. In wolf form. Together.

I had to tell him the truth—I couldn't shift. My mother's rejection had damaged my wolf spirit development. No wolf form. No werewolf form like my father's. Nothing.

The disgust in his eyes haunts me still.

"You're not a real werewolf," he spat. "You're too weak. I can't have a mate who can't shift. I'm going to be Beta."

He rejected our mate bond right there. The pain was... fuck, it was beyond anything imaginable. Something inside me ripped permanently. How my father survived Vanessa's rejection, I'll never understand.

I curled up alone in sacred grove for hours afterward. The pain left me immobile, unable to call for help. Without a wolf form, I couldn't mind link with pack members. Only a faint blood magic connection to my family remained.

I felt so hopeless. So certain I'd never feel happiness again. A mate's rejection brands your soul with scars that never fully heal.

Atlas was only thirteen then, but he noticed Romeo storming off pack grounds. My little brother—always intuitive—sensed something was wrong and told Dad. When mind link attempts failed, they organized a search party. My twin sisters stayed home while everyone else looked for me.

Uncle Lucas found me first, curled beneath an ancient tree, shaking uncontrollably. He alerted Dad and Mom immediately.

Dad carried me home himself. He and Mom took turns sitting with me all night, reassuring me I was loved, wolf form or not.

The family's rage toward Romeo was intense, but nothing compared to Atlas's reaction. My thirteen-year-old brother tracked Romeo down alone and attacked him—a twenty-year-old werewolf twice his size. He broke several of Romeo's bones before he was pulled away.

Dad was furious with Atlas's recklessness. "Even if someone is wrong, you cannot lose control like that," he scolded.

Atlas just stared back, defiant. "Nobody hurts my sister without consequences. Not even if he were ten Betas."

Dad grounded him for two weeks—no friends, no electronics, not even training. But Mom later told me Dad was secretly proud of Atlas's bravery in defending me. That's the thing about family—the complicated tangle of love and protection.

That experience changed me forever. Painful, yes, but it showed me what family truly means.

I'm twenty-two now. Still no signs of shifting. My family has never once made me feel lesser because of it.

I gazed at the moon, wondering about Vanessa. Did she ever think about me? Did she ever care?

Dad asked her to leave pack lands years ago, to protect me and the pack. When I was older, my parents explained things in ways I could understand. Mom—Aria—made it clear that if I wanted to meet my birth mother someday, she'd understand. She'd never feel betrayed.

I love Aria with my whole heart. She's my real mother—not Vanessa.

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I found my birth mother. I'm still too young, though. For now, I just dream about it during these secret midnight trips to the tower.

I stretched my stiff limbs. Time to head back. Mom was teaching me to identify healing herbs tomorrow, and Dad insisted I continue self-defense training. Being unable to shift doesn't mean I can't protect myself.

As I crept back to my room, careful not to wake anyone, I felt grateful. Despite everything—my birth mother's abandonment, my inability to shift, Romeo's rejection—I had something precious.

A family who loved me completely, broken pieces and all.

I closed my bedroom door softly behind me. Tomorrow would be a new day. Another day to live as Aurora Carter, daughter of King Jace and Queen Aria, princess of Ancient Moon Shadow.

Wolf or no wolf, I belonged here.